As the frontlines shifted, their ability to ship wine and other goods to Bordeaux would wax and wane. These were the areas most affected by the war. The majority of wine exports came not from vineyards around Bordeaux but the Haut Pays, up the valleys of the Dordogne and Garonne and their tributaries from as far away as Bergerac on the Dordogne, Cahors on the Lot, Gaillac on the Tarn, Agen on the Garonne and Condom on the Baïse. The effect of this frequent warfare was suffocating for the wine trade. Then, from 1338 to 1453, the duchy would suffer repeated incursions and devastating raids known as ‘chevauchées’ – one in 1437-38 led by the Spanish mercenary Rodrigo de Villandrando got as far as the walls of Bordeaux itself. In 1308-09 a record 102,724 tuns passed through the Gironde estuary.īut feudal quarrels over the duchy’s dominion cast a long shadow over what should have been a lucrative trade.Įven before the outbreak of the Hundred Years War, Gascony had been invaded by the French in 12. Although it lasted for the better part of England’s 300-year rule of the Duchy of Gascony and wine imports were one of the leading sources of revenue for the English crown, it nonetheless faced constant obstacles stemming from the various political, economic and social crises of the era.Įncouraged by John I of England, who gave generous privileges and tax exemptions to Gascon merchants, the wine trade between England and Bordeaux began to flourish in the early 13th century.īy the early part of the 14th century, an average of 80,000 tuns of wine a year were exported from Bordeaux, about a quarter of it to England. This was never more true than during the years of the Anglo-Gascon wine trade in the Middle Ages. It is a reminder that, despite its longevity and profitability, the trade link between England and Bordeaux has not always been smooth sailing. That she was named after a town founded by the English and integral to Bordeaux’s wine trade is especially ironic. Libourne was possibly the last British merchantman making the ‘wine run’ from Bordeaux to an English port that fell prey to a commerce raider. She was steaming back to Liverpool after delivering coal to Bordeaux, where she had taken on a cargo of gherkins, a great deal of brandy, claret and Sauternes (10,000 bottles – all uninsured). The vessel – and three of her crew – were U-54’s last victims of the war. On the 29th of September 1918, the German submarine U-54 surfaced off the Cornish coast to torpedo a British merchant ship.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |