As trade increased with demand and production in northern Europe, trade routes on the Atlantic and the North Sea joined with Mediterranean routes, and carried trade goods in to Europe by river trade and across the Alps. Towns and Trade Routes In AD 1212Despite warfare during the long period of the Crusades, Italian merchant cities like Amalfi, Genoa, Venice and Florence strengthened trade ties with ports in the Levant (eastern Mediterranean coast), where they allied with crusader states to gain access to ports such as Latakia, Tripoli, Acre, Alexandria, and Damietta. Increased contact and trade was part of the reason for the rise of towns and cities in western Europe, starting in Italy. The contribution of the Crusades was that trade increased as Europeans traveled and became more familiar with exotic goods. Among the most precious articles of trade were metal wares, silk textiles, and glass, as well as some food stuffs, dyes and perfumes. Sicily, under Muslim rule and then under Norman rule, was a source of contact and production of goods. Italian merchants traded across the Mediterranean with Constantinople, Syria and Egypt, and Spanish Muslims and Christians traded actively and produced fine goods for sale. ![]() The Crusades did not mark the beginning of trade between Muslim and Christian lands in Europe. Urban life remained active in the east, where cities grew especially with the rise of Islam, when Muslim societies-though not unified in a single empire-spread from the borders of China to the Iberian Peninsula in Europe on the Atlantic and Mediterranean. Towns and Trade Routes In AD 1000Trade in much of Europe declined after the fall of Rome, and towns and cities declined in size, roads were not safe, and feudal manors were an important and self-sufficient unit.
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