Trade in Mercury: Crafts, Networks, and Demand in Post-Roman Western Europe

Abstract

In Late Antiquity and the medieval period, gilded objects and lavish manuscripts attest to the widespread diffusion and use of mercury, a material that circulated over large distances in western Europe. Relevant instructions in recipe books show that mercury was essential to specialized crafts. However, given the paucity of the written sources between the fifth and the eighth centuries, mercury has remained elusive. In particular, we do not know much about its circuits of trade and distribution. The present article combines an analysis of the textual sources having to do with mercury, including the fundamental evidence offered by craft treatises and the archaeological remains for production. This interdisciplinary approach opens new perspectives on the system of long-distance maritime routes which, through the Atlantic Ocean, connected Spain with France, Ireland, and Britain during Late Antiquity; particular attention is devoted to Britain and its position at the periphery of this network. Moreover, tracing this neglected but important metal permits us to ask questions about the demand for specialized crafts in different social strata in the post-Roman period.