The Cantelowe Accounts appear to offer the earliest evidence of an English merchant using Italian as a second language. They were written by John Balmayn, an unknown Londoner, who travelled to Tuscany to oversee the sale of a valuable wool shipment in 1450-51 on behalf of his master - the Mercer, Sir William Cantelowe. The author uses an intriguing mix of four languages, combining Middle English, Latin and Anglo-French with the administrative Tuscan that he has learnt working alongside Florentine partners, such as the Salviati company. Two other striking features of the text are the extensive use of Arabic numerals, unparalleled in fifteenth-century English accounting, and the unusually detailed descriptions of merchant marks that were used to identify the woolsacks. Overall, the accounts are unique amongst multilingual medieval sources and will interest economic historians and historical linguists alike.
| ISBN: | 9780197266854 |
| Publication date: | 3rd November 2022 |
| Author: | Megan Tiddeman |
| Publisher: | British Academy an imprint of OUP/British Academy |
| Format: | Hardback |
| Pagination: | 204 pages |
| Series: | Records of Social and Economic History |
| Genres: |
Economic history History |
The Cantelowe Accounts appear to offer the earliest evidence of an English merchant using Italian as a second language. They were written by John Balmayn, an unknown Londoner, who travelled to Tuscany to oversee the sale of a valuable wool shipment in 1450-51 on behalf of his master - the Mercer, Sir William Cantelowe. The author uses an intriguing mix of four languages, combining Middle English, Latin and Anglo-French with the administrative Tuscan that he has learnt working alongside Florentine partners, such as the Salviati company. Two other striking features of the text are the extensive use of Arabic numerals, unparalleled in fifteenth-century English accounting, and the unusually detailed descriptions of merchant marks that were used to identify the woolsacks. Overall, the accounts are unique amongst multilingual medieval sources and will interest economic historians and historical linguists alike.
The Cantelowe Accounts features in the following genres: Economic history, History
The Cantelowe Accounts is available in Hardback
The Cantelowe Accounts was written by Megan Tiddeman and published by British Academy an imprint of OUP/British Academy
The Cantelowe Accounts has 204 pages
Yes it is part of Records of Social and Economic History series
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