CHAPTER 26 RISE OF TRADE AND TOWNS

1. CHAPTER 26 RISE OF TRADE AND TOWNS SECTION 1: TRADING CENTERS-Explains the growth of trade and rise of towns SECTION 2: MERCHANTS- discusses the medieval merchant class SECTION 3: LIVING CONDITIONS- identifies living conditions in the towns SECTION 4: THE RISE OF GUILDS-describes the guilds (unions of professional skilled workers) SECTION 5: CULTURAL CHANGES- summarizes the cultural developments in medieval towns

2. The Growth of Towns and Trading Centers The Decline of Serfdom Serfs left for towns. Serfs could earn money by selling crops to townspeople. Changing agricultural methods pushed them off the land. The Black Death killed many people in Europe so the demand for workers increased.

3. Section 1 Trading Centers • Large trading centers connected western Europe with the Mediterranean Sea, Russia, and Scandinavia. • Two earliest and most important centers were Venice and Flanders. • Venice: Island port in the Adriatic Sea close to the coast of Italy.

4. Section 1 • Venice • Inhabitants made a living from the sea due to poor farming soil. • During 1100s, most citizens became merchants. • Learned to read, write, use money, and keep records; set up effective banking system • Prosperity spread to mainland Italian towns which became manufacturing and shipping centers. • Italian navies drove Muslims from Mediterranean making it safe for Italian cities and opening Europe to the Near East. • By the 1500s, fighting among Italian cities allowed European towns along the Atlantic to develop successful trade routes.

5. Flanders(The Flemish people) • Flanders, today is part of Belgium. • Known for its high quality wool and weaving industry. • Earliest Atlantic trading center. • Built towns and harbors along the northeast coast of Europe to connect trade ships from Scandinavia to the Mediterranean. • By 1300, England was their most important trading partner. • Flemish traders set up shops in London and shipped English wool to Flanders to be make into cloth.

6. Italian ships brought goods back from Near East. Viking ships brought Asian goods to northern Europe. The Crusades stimulated trade. Revival of Trade Flanders became a meeting center of different trade routes along northeast European Coast.. Venetians forced Muslims out of Mediterranean sea. SECTION 1 Trading Centers-Why they Started

7. Section 2 Merchants • Overland routes expanded especially over the Alps. • Land routes connected Flanders and Italy; other routes spread throughout Europe. • Merchant caravans often travelled with armed escorts to stop robbers.

8. Trade Fairs and Growth of Cities • Travelling merchants initially traveled through the main trade route in France going from town to town; would meet at gatherings called trade fairs. • Merchants and craftsman settled in these towns, and some grew to be cities of several thousand people.  • This fundamentally altered the way people lived in Europe, and marked the beginning of the end of feudalism as serfs began to pay their feudal obligations with cash instead of service. • An economy based on money, not barter emerged.

9. Fairs • Fairs sponsored by nobles that would collect taxes on sales (yes we still have them today). • Over time, merchants came from England and Egypt. • Merchants could buy, sell, or settle debts. • Eventually they used precious metals instead of bartering. • Italian money changers tested/weighed coins from many countries to determine their value. • From the banc, or bench, comes the English word bank, which we still use today.

10. The Growth of Towns • Merchants eventually tired of moving around and wanted to settle permanently to store and sell their goods. • Settled along trade routes near waterways or crossroads; near castles or monasteries for protection. • Built high stake fences and moats around their settlements; most towns developed from these settlements. • Germans called castles, burgs, or bergs. • Towns were called burgs because they were near castles. • Towns with markets grew as more people came to buy and sell goods, eventually leading to villages and towns where people lived and worked.

11. Section 3: Living Conditions • By the 1200s, towns were wealthy and large enough to replace fences with walls and towers. • Crowded conditions were unhealthy- open sewers and garbage in the streets. Rats were everywhere. • During the 1300s, diseased rats from the Middle East carried a plague called the “Black Death.” • Disease swept through Europe killing millions. • To escape, people ran to the countryside and trading, farming, and war came to a temporary halt.

12. The Bubonic Plague, a.k.a. “The Black Death” • The bubonic plague was a highly infectious disease spread by fleas on rats. Rats were common in the cities of this time. • This particular outbreak first appeared in China In the early 1300’s with deaths of about 35 million Chinese. • It was a global epidemic that that spread through the increased trade between countries. Middle Eastern ships brought many infected rats to Europe. • Between 1347 and 1353, the plague killed one person out of every three in Europe; over 25 million.

14. Burgher Life • Merchants and artisans controlled a town’s business and trade. They resented feudal laws. • Workers from the countryside were hired to make goods for them. • Initially, they were all called burghers, later it was used only for the rich merchants. • Burghers (super rich merchants) and their families led a rich life and began to gather power and wealth that often was more than local nobles and church officials.

15. Changing Ways • Under the feudal system, the land on which the towns were built was owned by the nobility and church. • They taxed people and charged them to use the marketplace. • Burghers resented feudal laws and restrictions placed on them by the nobles; or serving in their army. • Nobles viewed the towns as a threat to their power and the Church feared that profit would interfere with religion.

16. Burghers resented the feudal laws used to keep them in line. • They used their wealth and power to resist the efforts of nobles and bishops. • Burghers banded together to build schools, hospitals, and churches; changes were demanded from the bishops and nobles.

17. Communes and Charters • In the 1100s, townspeople in northern Italy formed political groups called communes. • Purpose was to work against nobles and bishops by establishing local self-government. • Idea went to northern European towns; kings and nobles gave townspeople charters, or documents allowing them to run their own affairs.

18. Charters allowed people to elect officials to run their towns. • Councils collected taxes and set charges for merchants to do business in town. • They repaired streets, formed citizen armies, ran hospitals, orphanages, and special homes for the poor. • Towns enforced laws and set up courts to punish those who broke the law, used stocks to punish minor crimes.

19. Section 4: The Rise of Guilds • Around the 1100s, merchants, artisans, and workers formed guilds, business groups that made sure their members were treated equally and were not threatened by non guild members. • Craft guilds controlled the work of artisans such as carpenters, blacksmiths, shoemakers, etc. • Various trade associations were created for all sorts of workers in specified business field.

20. Guild members were not allowed to compete with one another. • Only members could do business in towns; new arrivals had to get permission from the guilds. • Guilds decided the fair price for goods/services, and all members had to charge the same. • Guilds could fine members for poor work or cheating business customers. • Guilds also took care of one another and families if illness or death hit a member.

21. Job Training • To join a guild, a person had to be an apprentice, or trainee, in a trade for 2-7 years. • Apprentices were taught by masters, or experts. They had to live with and obey their masters until their training was finished. • The next step was journeyman, or a person who worked under a master for a wage. • To become a master, they had to take a final exam, a hands on test, given by guild officials. • Journeymen had to present a “masterpiece” to prove they learned their craft. If passed, they were considered a master. • By the 1400s, many merchants, apprentices, and artisans began to challenge the power and control of the guilds

22. Section 5: Cultural Changes • By the 1400s, merchants, artisans, and bankers became more important and powerful than ever before. • Many townspeople were as rich, or richer, than the nobles. • Bankers lent money to kings, nobles, and church officials for wars, repairs, and entertainment. • Townspeople began to see the value of education and leisure life. • A scholar named Dante wrote the Divine Comedy in Italian and it became the most famous poem in the Middle Ages. Geoffrey Chaucer wrote the Canterbury Tales in English. These are both still popular today. • Townspeople thought differently from nobles and peasants and began to look to kings for leadership and a strong central government to improve their lives.