These yeomen had their own fraternities and were often
on strike. Some yeomen in the large London industries, e.g.
goldsmiths, tailors, clothworkers, who had served an
apprenticeship started their own businesses in London suburbs
outside the jurisdiction of their craft to search them.
The Merchant Adventurers created a London fellowship confederacy
to make membership of their society and compliance with its
regulations binding on all cloth traders and to deal with common
interests and difficulties such as taxation, relations with
rulers, and dangers at sea. They made and enforced trading rules,
chartered fleets, and organized armed convoys when the seas were
unsafe and coordinated policies with Henry VII. Membership could
be bought for a large fee or gained by apprenticeship or by being
the son of a member.
Foreign trade was revived because it was a period of comparative
peace. The nation sought to sell as much as possible to foreign
nations and to buy at little as possible and thereby increase its
wealth in gold and silver, which could be used for currency.
Ships weighed 200 tons and had twice the cargo space they had
previously. Their bows were more pointed and their high prows made
them better able to withstand gales. The mariners' compass with a
pivoting needle and circular dial with a scale was introduced. The
scale gave precision to directions. Ships had three masts.
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