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Bruges, Flemish Trading City

Type Object Region Flanders Time 1161–1170

In the 1160s Bruges was a leading commercial and craft center of the County of Flanders, linked to the North Sea via the Zwin waterway and key to nor…

Timeline

  1. 1161–1165Bruges · BrugesBruges maintained navigable access to the North Sea through the Zwin estuary; merchant ships brought in English wool and Baltic goods and carried out Flemish fine cloth, while the city's markets and storage facilities expanded with growing trade volumes.
  2. 1166–1170Bruges · BrugesUnder Count Philip of Alsace, Bruges weavers' guilds and merchants' associations led the production and export of high-quality cloth; the wool-and-cloth division of labor with port cities like London further consolidated its status as a Northern European trade hub.

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