English Wool Export Crisis

Timeline

1. 1430–1434Flanders (Bruges-Calais trade corridor) · FlandersThe Hundred Years' War continuously drained royal finances; after English defeats in France the frontier became unstable and the Calais-Bruges wool trade route grew riskier. The Flemish cloth industry, affected by the war and Burgundian policy, saw fluctuating demand that pressured English wool prices and export volumes, reducing the income of local graziers and merchants.
2. 1434–1436London (parliamentary legislation) · LondonParliament passed a series of wool acts requiring raw wool to be exported through the Calais staple, strengthening royal customs collection and cracking down on smuggling and illegal trade. The legislation aimed to protect royal fiscal revenue and London merchants' interests, but provoked dissatisfaction among local graziers and some exporters who felt the staple monopoly increased transaction costs.
3. 1435–1439Calais · CalaisAfter the Congress of Arras in 1435 Burgundy reconciled with the French king, leaving England more isolated in Low Countries trade and diplomacy. Wool exports through the Calais staple remained depressed, customs revenue insufficient to fund the war, and the crown relied more on extraordinary taxes and parliamentary subsidies; economic pressure turned into political controversy, providing the economic backdrop for social unrest such as the Kent rebellion of the 1450s.