A Good Source for Info on "Medieval" Ports & Sea Trade?

[robertsconley]

"The Pilot's Almanac" for HarnMaster is one of, if not the best RPG books on the subject of medieval maritime trade. Most of the book is not system-specific. I don't see it on the Columbia Games website, but it's not too hard to find online.

EDIT: Sorry, I didn't notice the "free" part.

The Pilot's Almanac is indeed the best gaming reference for maritime trade. Fairly simple to use but feel realistic. Plus you get shipbuilding rules to boot. It can still be purchased here

http://www.columbiagames.com/cgi-bin/query/cfg/allharnitems.cfg

info is here

http://www.columbiagames.com/cgi-bin/query/cfg/zoom.cfg?product_id=4002

 

[jgbrowning]

Maps are helpful - but what I really want is logistical info - how many ships passed through on a day to day basis? How many tons of goods? What kinds of goods? What were defenses like? What about enforcement of taxes and tariffs? Etc. . .

Civilization and Capitalism, 15th-18th Century, Vol. I: The Structure of Everyday Life by Fernand Braudel and the two that follow will really answer many of these types of questions.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/05...ef=sr_1_4/102-6733901-9910507?ie=UTF8&s=books

The Good Ship: Ships, Shipbuilding, and Technology in England, 1200-1520 has a bunch of useful information concerning its subject matter.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/08...f=sr_1_18/102-6733901-9910507?ie=UTF8&s=books


joe b.

 

[Turjan]

As we are now in the field of the not quite so free stuff :

I found the book Medieval Trade in the Mediterranean World very interesting. It contains translated original documents and gives a good overview about what was traded, all the fees involved or how the stuff was paid for. The book in the link looks expensive, but I bought an older edition very cheaply from a second hand bookstore.

 

[Gilladian]

And don't forget you can always borrow it from the library! (Ask about Interlibrary Loan)

 

[Hussar]

Another not-free book that I have is Pirates! by Living Imagination. It might be a bit tricky to find, but, it's got TONS of goodies for this sort of thing. Very well done. IMO.