Map of Elizabethan Trade with Europe, c. 1600
This map illustrates the expanding trade networks between England and continental Europe during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I (reigned 1558–1603). It highlights the growing reach of English merchants across the North Sea, the Baltic, and the Mediterranean as new markets and trading privileges transformed England into a rising commercial power.
With the decline of the Hanseatic League’s Baltic monopoly, the opening of Amsterdam’s vibrant commodities market, and the foundation of new chartered companies—such as the Muscovy, Eastland, Levant, and East India Companies—English merchants gained unprecedented access to continental and global trade. Exchanging wool and woolen cloth for goods like grain, timber, wine, and furs, they also tapped into wider networks bringing silk, spices, gems, and exotic fruits from China, Africa, and the Americas, laying early foundations for England’s global commercial ambitions.
