Factors for the Protection of Merchants in Early Medieval Northern Europe

Abstract The very first historical sources which shed light on economic life in early medieval Scandinavia demonstrate that measures were being taken in order to provide for the security of trade. Merchants themselves made efforts to develop cooperative forms of organization designed to provide the greatest possible protection for life and goods when they were on the move. Kings and other territorial lords were also interested in removing threats to merchants and markets within their dominions, particularly since vigorous trade meant higher tax income for them. Early medieval Northern Europe witnessed the execution of economic policies designed to succor trade and direct it in orderly channels.