Wool And Wine: 'Two Wings Trade Pattern' In The South England Oversea Trade, 1200-1300

In the initial several years of the 13th century, the foreign trade pattern in South of England changed greatly.'Two wings trade pattern'came into being. The trades in Southeast and Southwest directions developed prosperously instead of former overall pattern. The Southeast based on Flanders arriving at South of Alps by the routes of Champagne and Rhineland. While the Southwest based on Gascony including South of France and North Iberia arriving at Mediterranean Sea by Biscay-Lion Isthmus. The trade in Southeast mainly consisted of wool and cloth as well as other goods. The most important goods traded in Southwest were wine.'Two wings trade pattern'took shape in the first ten years of the 13th century, and the process lasted for almost the whole century. However, the pattern appeared new characters at the end of the 13th century. The west line started to abandon Biscay-Lion Isthmus, arriving at Mediterranean Sea directly from the sea route with the detour from the Straits of Gibraltar. While the east line abandoned traditional Champagne route, taking the Rhine route. Thus'Two wings trade pattern'was finally transformed into'Braudel Circle'at the beginning of 14th century.The effects of'Two wings trade pattern'were obvious: It benefited England greatly, laying the solid foundation for a formidable country in the 14th century. France began to fall behind England in commerce, which was one of the vital factors leading to France's disastrous defeat in the initial stage of the Hundred Years'War between England and France.This paper is made up of four parts.The first part elaborates the trade pattern before the formation of'two wings trade pattern'and the formation of'two wings trade pattern'. The second and the third part discuss the contents and characteristic of Southwest and Southeast trade routes respectively. The fourth part expounds the evolution and development of'two wings trade pattern'during the period from the end of the 13th century to the beginning of the 14th century.