The Russian market in world trade, 1500-1860

The Russian market has played a prominent part in world trade throughout the ages. In Viking times Russia was a source of furs and slaves for the Arabian caliphate. However, from about AD 1000 the situation changed and from then on western Europe provided the market for Russian products. The trade with Novgorod and later on also with Riga came to be a vital element in the activities of German merchants, and the Hanseatic League's counting-house in Novgorod was an important rallying-point. In early medieval trade it was fur and wax products that were the chief exports from the Russian market. In the later Middle Ages other important products emerged: flax, hemp, tallow, ashes and skins. Flax and hemp were key articles for the shipbuilding industry, being used as materials for the rigging, ropes and sails. Flax was also an essential raw material for the textile industry. Tallow was used for the manufacture of soap and candles and also in making cloth and leather. Ashes and potash had a variety of technical uses, for example in the textile and glass industries. Skins were the raw material for the manufacture of leather. The products enumerated were virtually monopoly goods of eastern Europe and were regarded as quality goods. In western Europe there was a constant demand for Russian products.