#  "A note and a Caveat for Merchants”: Mercantile Expertise in Elizabethan England 

 



Eric H. Ash

This paper introduces a new character in the world of early modern expertise: the "mercantile expert," who collected information on markets and trade throughout the world, and made his unique, specialized knowledge available to patrons who required it. Several examples of the mercantile expert in Elizabethan England (including Sebastian Cabot and the elder and younger Richard Hakluyts) are explored, with attention to their interests and methods, as well as their impact upon the world-view of various Elizabethan patrons, including Privy Councilors and courtiers.

**\[WP # 99003\]**