Page 154 [154]
132 COMMERCE
was certainly favoured in this respect; but we want some other reason.
We find accordingly that the freedom and security of the city counted
for a great deal in the Middle Ages. So too it was an easy port to
reach from the Low Countries and the mouth of the Elbe, which opened
to it the way to the most important cities of the Hanseatic League.
Again, for ships
going to France
or to other ports
down Channel the
short cut through
what is now prac¬
tically dry ground
between the main¬
land of Kent and
the Isle of Thanet,
rendered at least
the first part of a
voyage a very safe
and easy perform¬
ance for even the
frailest craft.
There were har¬
bours of refuge
farther on at
Dover, at Hythe,
and at Kye or
Winchelsea, where
ships could lie
till the weather
allowed of a short
MINCING LANE