Trade and crafts brought Nuremberg wealth, power, and recognition. By the fourteenth century, the city had developed into a flourishing trade center. Nuremberg merchants had extensive international trade connections, maintained branch offices all over Europe, and were represented at all trade fairs and markets. Markets, coining, and customs privileges were the key factors in the city's economic rise.
Extensive documentation provides information about the merchants, the Nuremberg wares traded, the trade fairs and markets, the network of trade routes, customs and trade privileges, coins and bills of exchange, protection against fraud, and the display of wares.