Levant Company

The company established during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I to organize commerce between the Levant (modern-day Turkey) and England.

During the course of the 16th century, the English, like other western Europeans, wanted to acquire goods from the East. In earlier times Venetian merchants, sitting astride the critical meeting place of East and West (see Venice), had controlled much of this commerce. However, by the late 16th century, when various commercial enterprises such as the Dutch East India Company and the English East India Company began operations, the time was ripe for a venture to organize trade with the Levant. Thus, on September 11, 1581, Elizabeth granted to Sir Edward Osborne and Richard Staper a patent for the Turkey Company to organize trade with the Levant. The patent was to last seven years, although it could be extended if the trade became a success. By 1590, when the company reviewed its operations, it found that since the mid-1580s it had used 19 ships, which together had sailed back and forth 27 times; their efforts and those of the 787 men they employed had led to ?11,359 added to the nation’s customs houses, a testament to the potential of the business. A parallel venture, known as the Venice Company, aimed to organize trade between England and that Italian republic.

After a series of political disputes, members of the two companies joined their efforts and received a patent for the Levant Company on January 7,1592. The company had the right to organize trade with Venice and the East, including the East Indies. Once again, success followed, especially when demand for currants boomed in the early 17th century.

Further reading: Mortimer Epstein, The English Levant Company: Its Foundation and Its History to 1640 (New York: Burt Franklin, 1968); H. G. Rosedale, ed., Queen Elizabeth and the Levant Company: A Diplomatic and Literary Episode of the Establishment of Our Trade with Turkey (London: Henry Frowde, 1904).