ortant trading connections with all
the ports of the Mediterranean, that at the end of the fourteenth century
consuls were appointed at each of these towns, in order to protect and
direct their transmarine commerce. A traveller of the twelfth century,
Benjamin de Tudele, relates that in these ports, which were afterwards
called the stepping stones to the Levant, every language in the world
might be heard.

Toulouse was soon on a par with the towns of Lower Languedoc, and the
Garonne poured into the markets, not only the produce of Guienne, and of
the western parts of France, but also those of Flanders, Normandy, and
England. We may observe, however, that Bordeaux, although placed in a most
advantageous position, at the mouth of the river, only possessed, when
under the English dominion, a very limited commerce, principally confined
to the export of wines to Great Britain in exchange for corn, oil, &c.

La Rochelle, on the same coast, was much more flourishing at this period,
owing to the numerous coasters which carried the wines of Aunis and
Saintonge, and the salt of Brouage to Flanders, the Netherlands, and the
north of Germany. Vitre already had its silk manufactories in the
fifteenth century, and Nantes gave promise of her future greatness as a
depot of maritime commerce. It was about this time also that the fisheries
became a new industry, in which Bayonne and a few villages on the
sea-coast took the lead, some being especially engaged in whaling, and
others in the cod and herring fisheries (Fig. 194).

Long before this, Normandy had depended on other branches of trade for its
commercial prosperity. Its fabrics of woollen stuffs, its arms and
cutlery, besides the agricultural productions of its fertile and
well-cultivated soil, each furnished material for export on a large scale.

The towns of Rouen and Caen were especially manufacturing cities, and were
very rich. This was the case with Rouen particularly, which was situated
on the Seine, and was at that time an extensive depot for provisions and
other merchandise which was sent down the river for export, or was
imported for future internal consumption. Already Paris, the abode of
kings, and the metropolis of government, began to foreshadow the immense
development which it was destined to undergo, by becoming the centre of
commercial affairs, and by daily adding to its labouring and mercantile
population (Figs. 195 and 196).

It was, however, outside the walls