Scania Market

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The annual Scania Market for herring was a major event in the Hanseatic world around the Baltic Sea, and the cornerstone of the Hanseatic Leagues' wealth.

The market took place from August 24 to October 9 at the Falsterbo Peninsula, chiefly between the two towns of Skanör and Falsterbo, at the southern mouth of Öresund, although much of the connected industry was spread out in the surrounding peninsula. Beside the Hansa, also traders from England, Scotland, Flanders and Normandy came to the herring market, trading a wide variety of different goods, among them horses, butter, iron, tar, grain and handicraft products from the North, Prussia, and Livonia.

The basis for the market's popularity was the rich herring fishing around the peninsula. During the fishing season, the necessary salt and barrels for conservation were provided by Hanseatic traders mainly from Lübeck, and to some extent also work force, ensuring a swift salting of the landed fish. The demand for herring, which was salted with salt from Hanseatic Lüneburg, was great as the Catholic Church demanded fasting (from meat), in Christ's following, in connection with Lent. In a strict sense, even Friday was considered a meat-free day.

As early as the 12th century the Falsterbo Peninsula became a centre for the herring trade. The fishing and the Scanian market yielded a large income to the Danish Crown, and made together with the Sound Toll the state virtually independent of tax incomes for extended periods of time. A good fishing year in the 14th century could mean an export of 300.000 barrels of herring; and it is estimated that one third of the Danish king's income came from the Scanian market, that due to the large production and the great demand became the most important market of the region in the 14th century.

Legend tells that the herring fishery off the Scanian coast was so rich, that one could scoop up the fish with one's hands. According to a German view, the Danes got herring "for nothing from God" — only to sell it dearly. Most of the 14th century was characterized by strifes and wars between Danish kings and the Hansa, although with the Treaty of Stralsund a peace was settled in 1370 that left the Hanseatic League in control of the Scanian herring fishery for 15 years.

The abundance of herring abruptly ceased in the beginning of the 15th century.