BUSINESS LIFE 51

the citizens over strangers. The gammas fairs
were held under the authority of the Archbishops,
who assumed the rule of the city and suburbs for
the period of the fair. The sheriffs' authority, in
consequence, was suspended for that period. The
Archbishop, meanwhile, took tolls, and all cases
that arose during the holding of the fair were
judged by a court set up by him.

Fairs combined both trading and entertainments,
for they were held on public holidays. They
fostered trade and served to provide a change from
the ordinary routine of life. It was perhaps at
fairs that mediaeval people were at their noisiest, for
these were occasions when they gave themselves up
unrestrainedly to merry-making, wild and clamorous.
Strolling players and the whole variety of mediaeval
entertainers set up their stands and booths, and
amused the dense surging crowds that thronged the
squares and streets.

York had a large overseas trade, especially
in wool and manufactured cloth. Some of its
merchants owned property abroad. Some went
abroad and encountered perils by sea and perils
from foreigners on the continent. York traded
with the Low Countries, -where Veere (near Middle-
burg) and Dordrecht were ports that ships entered
to discharge cargoes loaded on the York quays.
The trade between York and the Baltic ports was
much greater than that done with them from any
other English port.

Foreign sailors were to be seen in the streets
of fifteenth-century York; foreign goods were
handled in the city. Wines were imported from
France, fine cloths from Flemish towns, silks, velvet,
and glass from Italy, while from the Baltic came
timber and fur. From th$ North sea came fish,