Anyone who wants to give presents to their loved ones at Christmas or cover their festive table with delicacies can now access products from all over the world. However, importing gifts and food on a large scale is not a modern invention: Even in the late Middle Ages, people had large quantities of festive goods, toys and jewelry delivered from abroad in time for Christmas, as customs registers from London from the years 1380 to 1560 show.
If you are looking for Christmas gifts or delicacies for Christmas dinner in the corner store or in the online shop, you will find goods from all over the world. It is now a matter of course for us to be able to draw from the wealth of international offerings. But since when do people in Europe have this luxury? Where did people who celebrated Christmas in the Christian tradition centuries ago get their goods from?
Christmas: Goods imported into London
History scientists led by Werner Scheltjens from the University of Bamberg investigated this question. To do this, they digitized and searched customs records from London from several centuries: from 1380 to 1560. They then used this data set to reconstruct what trade, consumption and everyday life looked like in the Middle Ages. “By reading these sources not just as economic but as cultural-historical evidence, we can understand how tastes, consumption habits and preferences spread across borders,” explains Scheltjens. The customs register entries from November and December provide researchers with information about which goods were imported specifically for the Christmas season.
The result: People in medieval London often imported religious goods related to the Christian festival, such as rosaries, Jesus figures and Agnus Dei jewelry, which symbolizes Jesus Christ as the sacrificial lamb. But children’s toys were also purchased for Christmas, including rattles and dolls, balls, game boards and dice. The records also list jewelry and fine leather gloves, as well as large quantities of fruit and spices. “The amount of toys, trinkets, fruit and festive treats imported each winter shows that medieval people enjoyed a vibrant consumer culture with affordable goods,” says Justin Colson of the Center for the History of People, Place and Community in London. “These records challenge old assumptions about a barren or bleak medieval life.”
Lots of toys in the Middle Ages
The customs records also reveal how children in the Middle Ages lived outside of Christmas. Accordingly, people back then basically owned a lot of toys. “Customs records confirm that toys were produced in large quantities and widely distributed both locally and through international trade,” says Hazel Forsyth of the London Museum. Historians cite clay figures from today’s Benelux countries, delicate metal rattles and tennis balls as examples. The goods came to Great Britain from mainland Europe via the North Sea, including from Antwerp, Venice, Barcelona, Seville, Lisbon and the Baltic Sea region. This confirms that London was an important European trading center in the Middle Ages.
Source: Otto Friedrich University of Bamberg