While self sufficiency is much spoken of in rural areas, there is always a surplus of some produce and a lack of other commodities which make trade. Even the poorest farmer can have too many cabbages and no chickens. In this way, transport of food and markets to buy, sell and barter grew up in very early times and exchange between people soon became business.
Trade in food and drink must have made up the majority of early transactions, although pottery and cooking utensils have been bought and sold for centuries. Proof of this trade is seen in archaeological digs world-wide with Roman and Phoenician ware turning up everywhere. Viking goods are found in many places in England showing trade went along with raiding and pillaging.
Farmers and landowners would not have been experts in baking, butchery, milling or brewing and the formation of these and the Guilds in Medieval Europe reflect the increasing sophistication of taste choice and diversity.
Most food trade had to be on a small scale over short distances, especially in perishable goods purely due to the difficulties with travel and storage. Local produce would have been taken to the market on foot or by cart to be sold the same day. Many towns held Markets every day, often with different produce on different days, while other towns had one or two markets a week. Root vegetables, with a longer shelf life, wheat, seeds and live animals could be carried further but most foodstuffs were bought and sold within a district and within a days travelling distance. Roads and transport did not lend themselves to long distance travel for cheap plentiful goods. Import and export of staple foods was rare in the 12 Century.
Bacon, once cured could be exports and was shipped abroad from Eastern England to Germany and other parts of Europe.
Livestock was not transported generally, due to the logistics of keeping the animals healthy and not wearing them out. The space required to keep them on the hoof was so large, it was easier to send carcasses. If animals went abroad alive it was for breeding, such as sheep, draught such as oxen, riding, such as horses or sport, such as hawks. The Italians made a fine living out of trading exotic animals for pets like monkeys and parrots, even leopards and bears for their rarity.
Fresh fish can only last a few days unless salted or smoked. Saltfish and fish oil were the principal exports of Norway, Iceland and the Black Sea area. Salt herrings came from Holland and Southern Sweden. Caviar came from Southern Russia in small quantities.
Salt, used for curing fish and meat, as well as for flavouring food, had its own ancient routes and some rich merchant families. It was produced by the evaporation of sea water around the coasts of Europe and was also mined in places like Salzburg in Austria which became an influential city on a trade crossing in middle Europe. Great quantities of salt were shipped to the ports on the Baltic an Black Sea from France by the Hanseatic League. The League was a Federation of towns based on trade. By the 14th Century it controlled the trade in Northern Europe from England to Germany, Sweden to Italy. There were 160 towns in the League including Danzig, Lubeck, Stockholm, Cologne and Hamburg.
From further afield, especially the East Indies came the highly spiced food that Europeans loved ( who said Chicken tikka Masala was anything new, its been popular in some form or other for over 500 years). Cinnamon, cloves, garlic, galanga, mace and nutmeg were highly prized and very expensive and medicinal products included aloes, cassia, camphor, rhubarb, senna and perfumes, ambergris, balm, incense musk and myrrh. Liquorice came form Spain and was exported back to the Middle East.
Sugar came from the Near East, honey from Spain, Portugal and Russia. Grain was imported from Poland and the Baltic.
Although vegetables were consumed locally, bulbs, seeds and pulses could travel for several months and came to England from far and wide.
Plums and pears do not travel well but apples, lemons and oranges, olives and pomegranates could be transported as well as dried fruits. Currants, dates and figs moved through Europe from North Africa and Israel. Nuts, especially almonds were sold in large quantities.
Oil could be easily stored and transported by land and sea and had been traded for centuries by Greeks and Romans, especially Olive oil, so vital for that spaghetti bolognese!
Ale and Beer was brewed by the vat and drunk by most in preference to the water, which often was not that good. Hops were added to beer in Europe but the English preferred 'small beer' a flat watery drink only vaguely alcoholic.
Vines have been grown in England since Roman times and are still cultivated in the South but the climate has changed and English wine has a poor reputation alongside its European neighbours. Most wine was imported from Germany and France as well as sweet wines like Madeira, Romney and Malmesey from Portugal and Greece.
The right to hold a market was generally granted by Royal Licence and tolls collected from stall holders generated considerable income for the civic or church authority.
Once or twice a year a larger fair brought people from further afield and it was often here that the farmer would sell lambs or pigs or buy a horse or cow. There were four grate fairs in England in the 13 Century - Northampton, St Ives, Boston and Winchester, six in Champagne at Lagny, Bar-sur- Anbe and two at Troyes and Provins. Here produce from the Mediterranean and Islamic worlds were traded in food and clothes.
The road system used in the Mediaval period was almost entirely based on the Roman network ( and why not, they were built on trade routes) through France, Germany, Holland and Northern Europe. Mountainous areas were difficult to pass and were often only crossed on foot or with a pack animal. Most goods were carried by four wheel carts drawn by horse or Ox. The bettor off merchants had their own vehicles, others had a share or rented space on carts or hired cart and driver. Bulk transport by sea was cheap and moved long distances.
The hazards of travel were many. By land there was accident, robbery, poor weather, bad roads, war and fraud. By sea there was piracy, poor navigation, weather, spoilage or delay. However, the trade routes were full of merchants and goods travelling surprising distances throughout Europe and the East.