The law of international commerce is subject to increasing Essay

The law of international commerce is subject to increasing harmonization - Essay Example One can trace the establishment of trade fairs, from the Frankfurt Book Fair to the Antwerp Cloth Fair, to the 1200’s to 1400’s, at which time producers and buyers would meet on a regular basis to exchange goods for currency or promissory notes. This safe passage was ensured by the increasing influence of kings and rulers, who were able to tame warring factions and create a system of tolls, laws and enforcement which did not exist during the Dark Ages. Although it was expensive to take a trade route (the Rhine, for example, had over 40 toll stations), the benefit of security outweighed the cost for those who had high-value goods and ready markets in other areas. Trade posed some specific problems which required harmonisation relatively early on. A couple of examples will suffice to explain how these problems arose, and how they were solved. If a trader, for example, were to go to the Frankfurt Book Fair in the Spring of 1450, he might want to find books for his patrons and residents of his home area (say, Tuscany and the de Medici’s). The trader, fearing the dangers of robbery on the roads, or perhaps just lacking the resources, does not take gold with him on the long, arduous journey from Tuscany to Frankfurt. Rather, he brings along letters of introduction from his patrons. In some cases, if the trader was rich enough or well-known, he could trade ‘on his reputation.’ In either case, when he arrived at the Book Fair, he brought documents with him. If our Tuscan trader visits a stall of, say, a Stuttgart bookmaker and decides to buy a few of his books, the bookmaker would like to be paid. Since the trader didn’t have gold or silver with him, he offered to pay the bookmaker with a promissory note. This method of payment led to a series of questions: (1) how do I (the Stuttgart bookmaker) know that this person is who he says he is? And (2) what