The office and function of the royal agent

Despite the unquestioned significance of Hinton's contribution to the study of England's Baltic trade, several of his conclusions need re-evaluation in the light of new information. Perhaps the most important of these is his negative view of the efficacy of government support for the Eastland merchants and his categorical denial of the existence of permanent consular or ambassadorial representation in the Eastland. It is partially the purpose of the present study to modify these conclusions by demonstrating that such permanent diplomatic representation did indeed exist in Poland, in the person of the royal agent, and that this representation fulfilled the roles normally assigned to consuls or ambassadors, but at a substantially lower cost.

There is evidence for the existence of a royal agent in the Polish Commonwealth as early as 1538, though his description as ‘the King's merchant for Danske’ suggests a commercial role confined largely to the city of Danzig and not a political role in the Polish hinterland. The agent's duties involved supplying the king's ships with necessary commodities and this was the function performed by William Watson in the 1540s and 1550s. Apart from purchasing and the like, Watson was occasionally instructed by the Privy Council to procure supplies of rye and wheat for shipment to England during times of dearth. Interestingly enough, during this early period there may have been several individuals performing the functions of royal agent: Watson's naval purchases continued at least until 1558, but as early as 1551 another agent, John Borthwick, was ordered to obtain the release of English cloth seized in Danzig.