Economic Integration, Competition and Hierarchization of the Atlantic Ports of Northern Spain (13th-15th Centuries)

The aim of this article is to analyze the relationships and the hierarchy of the port-towns of Atlantic Northern Spain between the 13th and 15th centuries. The port-towns operated in an intermediate level, both regional and international, of the European trade structure. The half a hundred port-towns on the Cantabrian coast played a vital role in the urban connectivity of the international maritime traffic between the Mediterranean and the Atlantic. This phenomenon, despite lacking an homogeneity, was a success because it was based on some key factors, such as geographical features, port infrastructures, royal support and very dynamic societies. Besides, politics and governance adopted common and distinct characteristics in these peripheral towns to respond to local needs and conditions, very influenced by their character as a maritime border of the kingdom of Castile