SILVER AND GLASS IN MEDIEVAL TRADE AND CULTURAL EXCHANGE BETWEEN VENICE AND THE KINGDOM OF BOHEMIA

The study was written with two main intentions. The first idea is to refer to the connection between reforms of coins, weights and measures, realized in the 1260s and 1270s from the decision of Premysl II Ottokar, King of Bohemia (1253-1278), and legal and administrative changes, carried out at the mint of Venice (Zecca) and the house of German merchants (Fondaco dei Tedeschi), as a background for the development of trade contacts between the Kingdom of Bohemia and Venice. The second aim is to point to the fact that this long-distance trade had a cultural dimension. The archaeological finds from the Czech lands support a direct connection between exported silver bullion and imported Islamic and Italian glass, linked to a high dining culture focused on a wine consumption.