Literacy in a business context: literacy practices of some Bristol merchants in the sixteenth century

This article considers the education and literacy practices of Bristol merchants involved in overseas trade in the sixteenth century by focusing on their business concerns. It argues that these demanded complex literacy skills and the discussion explores why writing was so central to their work. The merchants required specific training in order to produce and handle documents relating to their mercantile activities. As well as receiving practical training under apprenticeship with a master, merchants’ manuals were available for further guidance. A manual produced by John Browne, a Bristol merchant, is examined to highlight the principles that guided merchants’ literacy practices. Business writings by other Bristol merchants are also discussed to reveal the values that governed their practices. The discussion aims to illustrate how their literacy practices were situated in the context of early modern trade.