Idle Sails · research · the flow matrix
Under PLAN-3 a port’s prominence is an output — the sum of trade-system voyages touching it per decade (midpoints of the authored ranges) — not a load-bearing input. This is the world the flow matrix describes; compare it with the counted-record rankings to see what the European archive could and could not show.
Figures are voyage-touches per year (each voyage counts half to each endpoint). A ° marks a port not yet sailable in the simulation (no baked routes — its flows are recorded, not rendered). Istanbul, Shanghai, and Tianjin in the early decades are the point of the whole exercise: ports the ranked record could not represent, restored by evidence-classed reconstruction.
| Decade | #1 | #2 | #3 | #4 | #5 | #6 | #7 | #8 | #9 | #10 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1550s | London 639 | Amsterdam 558 | Danzig (Gdańsk) 441 | Istanbul (Constantinople) 440 | Shanghai 300 | Tianjin 240 | Alexandria 231 | Smyrna (İzmir) 202 | Amoy (Xiamen) 182 | Kaffa (Feodosia) 178 |
| 1560s | London 697 | Amsterdam 607 | Danzig (Gdańsk) 476 | Istanbul (Constantinople) 442 | Shanghai 305 | Tianjin 244 | Alexandria 233 | Smyrna (İzmir) 207 | Newfoundland (St John's & the Banks) 188 | Amoy (Xiamen) 187 |
| 1570s | London 755 | Amsterdam 656 | Danzig (Gdańsk) 512 | Istanbul (Constantinople) 444 | Shanghai 310 | Tianjin 248 | Alexandria 235 | Smyrna (İzmir) 211 | Newfoundland (St John's & the Banks) 200 | Amoy (Xiamen) 192 |
| 1580s | London 822 | Amsterdam 714 | Danzig (Gdańsk) 548 | Istanbul (Constantinople) 446 | Shanghai 315 | Tianjin 252 | Alexandria 237 | Smyrna (İzmir) 216 | Newfoundland (St John's & the Banks) 213 | Hamburg 207 |
| 1590s | London 879 | Amsterdam 763 | Danzig (Gdańsk) 583 | Istanbul (Constantinople) 446 | Shanghai 320 | Tianjin 256 | Alexandria 239 | Newfoundland (St John's & the Banks) 225 | Smyrna (İzmir) 220 | Hamburg 220 |
| 1600s | London 931 | Amsterdam 783 | Danzig (Gdańsk) 578 | Istanbul (Constantinople) 446 | Shanghai 325 | Tianjin 260 | Alexandria 240 | Newfoundland (St John's & the Banks) 238 | Hamburg 227 | Newcastle 227 |
| 1610s | London 981 | Amsterdam 809 | Danzig (Gdańsk) 573 | Istanbul (Constantinople) 445 | Shanghai 330 | Tianjin 264 | Newcastle 254 | Hamburg 240 | Alexandria 238 | Newfoundland (St John's & the Banks) 233 |
| 1620s | London 1042 | Amsterdam 838 | Danzig (Gdańsk) 568 | Istanbul (Constantinople) 443 | Shanghai 335 | Newcastle 281 | Tianjin 268 | Hamburg 254 | Alexandria 236 | Smyrna (İzmir) 233 |
| 1630s | London 1097 | Amsterdam 872 | Danzig (Gdańsk) 567 | Istanbul (Constantinople) 442 | Shanghai 340 | Newcastle 308 | Tianjin 272 | Hamburg 269 | Smyrna (İzmir) 237 | Alexandria 234 |
| 1640s | London 1184 | Amsterdam 897 | Danzig (Gdańsk) 567 | Istanbul (Constantinople) 440 | Shanghai 345 | Newcastle 335 | Hamburg 278 | Tianjin 276 | Smyrna (İzmir) 241 | Alexandria 233 |
| 1650s | London 1240 | Amsterdam 916 | Danzig (Gdańsk) 566 | Istanbul (Constantinople) 439 | Newcastle 362 | Shanghai 350 | Hamburg 287 | Tianjin 280 | Smyrna (İzmir) 245 | Marseille 235 |
| 1660s | London 1451 | Amsterdam 935 | Danzig (Gdańsk) 564 | Newcastle 496 | Istanbul (Constantinople) 437 | Shanghai 355 | Hamburg 299 | Tianjin 284 | Smyrna (İzmir) 253 | Marseille 248 |
| 1670s | London 1661 | Amsterdam 950 | Newcastle 630 | Danzig (Gdańsk) 562 | Istanbul (Constantinople) 434 | Shanghai 360 | Hamburg 310 | Tianjin 288 | Marseille 262 | Smyrna (İzmir) 261 |
| 1680s | London 1872 | Amsterdam 965 | Newcastle 764 | Danzig (Gdańsk) 559 | Istanbul (Constantinople) 433 | Shanghai 365 | Hamburg 320 | Tianjin 292 | Marseille 276 | Smyrna (İzmir) 270 |
| 1690s | London 2082 | Amsterdam 980 | Newcastle 897 | Danzig (Gdańsk) 557 | Istanbul (Constantinople) 432 | Shanghai 370 | Hamburg 331 | Sunderland 299 | Tianjin 296 | Marseille 290 |
| 1700s | London 2295 | Newcastle 1031 | Amsterdam 996 | Danzig (Gdańsk) 555 | Istanbul (Constantinople) 431 | Shanghai 375 | Sunderland 344 | Hamburg 341 | Marseille 304 | Tianjin 300 |
| 1710s | London 2484 | Newcastle 1118 | Amsterdam 1063 | Danzig (Gdańsk) 588 | Istanbul (Constantinople) 431 | Shanghai 382 | Sunderland 373 | Hamburg 368 | Marseille 328 | Tianjin 305 |
| 1720s | London 2676 | Newcastle 1204 | Amsterdam 1157 | Danzig (Gdańsk) 648 | Istanbul (Constantinople) 432 | Sunderland 401 | Hamburg 395 | Shanghai 389 | Marseille 352 | Smyrna (İzmir) 323 |
| 1730s | London 2870 | Newcastle 1290 | Amsterdam 1252 | Danzig (Gdańsk) 707 | Istanbul (Constantinople) 432 | Sunderland 430 | Hamburg 423 | Shanghai 395 | Marseille 376 | Smyrna (İzmir) 342 |
| 1740s | London 3076 | Newcastle 1376 | Amsterdam 1342 | Danzig (Gdańsk) 758 | Sunderland 459 | Hamburg 455 | Istanbul (Constantinople) 432 | Shanghai 402 | Marseille 400 | Smyrna (İzmir) 360 |
| 1750s | London 3282 | Newcastle 1463 | Amsterdam 1432 | Danzig (Gdańsk) 810 | Sunderland 488 | Hamburg 487 | Istanbul (Constantinople) 433 | Marseille 424 | Shanghai 409 | Smyrna (İzmir) 379 |
| 1760s | London 3565 | Amsterdam 1630 | Newcastle 1594 | Danzig (Gdańsk) 971 | Hamburg 539 | Sunderland 531 | Marseille 442 | Istanbul (Constantinople) 428 | Shanghai 416 | Smyrna (İzmir) 391 |
| 1770s | London 3862 | Amsterdam 1877 | Newcastle 1725 | Danzig (Gdańsk) 1173 | Hamburg 602 | Sunderland 575 | Marseille 460 | Istanbul (Constantinople) 423 | Shanghai 423 | Riga 410 |
| 1780s | London 4159 | Amsterdam 2120 | Newcastle 1856 | Danzig (Gdańsk) 1375 | Hamburg 666 | Sunderland 619 | Marseille 478 | Riga 471 | St Petersburg 463 | Shanghai 430 |
| 1790s | London 4444 | Amsterdam 2349 | Newcastle 1975 | Danzig (Gdańsk) 1583 | Hamburg 717 | Sunderland 658 | St Petersburg 550 | Riga 543 | Königsberg 474 | Marseille 448 |
| 1800s | London 4529 | Amsterdam 2138 | Newcastle 2094 | Danzig (Gdańsk) 1398 | Sunderland 698 | Hamburg 673 | St Petersburg 550 | Riga 531 | Shanghai 443 | Königsberg 413 |
| 1810s | London 4527 | Newcastle 2213 | Amsterdam 1877 | Danzig (Gdańsk) 1173 | Sunderland 738 | Hamburg 626 | St Petersburg 550 | Shanghai 450 | Riga 439 | Istanbul (Constantinople) 384 |
Idle Sails · PLAN-3 · derived from research/flows/*.json (60 systems × 27 decades) · regenerate with research/tools/build-s3-pages.mjs · see also The chart’s silences