Expansion of European Economy

Agricultural Innovations

• Improved plow(carruca) iron plow,which cut deeper into soil. This allowed seed to germinate and produce more crop.

• New collar harness for the horse. This shifted the weight to the horses shoulders. Old harness had been designed for oxen would choke the horse.

Other innovations in agriculture

• Horseshoe: metal shoe protected horse’s hooves from stones.

• 3 field system: allowed more land brought under cultivation

• Watermill: grind grain

• Windmill: grind grain and provide water even cut wood

Settlement of new lands

• Feudal lords encourage, too raise $. Serfs begin to pay rents.

• Decline of feudalism( Feudal lords promise serfs freedom as an incentive to get them to become renters).

Revival of Trade

• Greater food production= population growth

• Larger number of people free to work at non-farming tasks.

• Population growth contributes to a demand for goods

New business practices

• Trade Fairs: Craft people set up booth at major trading sites to display their products

• Partnerships: 2 or more people pool their money to finance long distance trade

• Insurance-cover loss or damage of goods- reduced risk

Banking

• Moneychangers: exchanged coins of one region for currency of another

• They began to loan $ and charge interest =Banking

• Letters of Credit- allowed businessmen to travel without a large amt. of cash

Guilds

• Organization of merchants and master artisans to set regulations and protect members

• Prevent outside traders from setting up shop

Craft Guilds

• Made up of artisans who practiced the same trade

• Closed shop of those not accepted

• Discouraged competition

• Prevent members from making more money than others ( same hours , equal quality, just prices)

Levels within a Guild

• Apprentice- worked for 2-7 years for a master artisan to learn a trade

• Journeyman- worked for a daily wage with the master artisan

• To become a master artisan, you had to present a “masterpiece”, best example of the quality of your work.

• Master artisan- owner of the shop

Growth of Towns

• Started along seacoasts,crossroads, near castles or monasteries.

• Townspeople made their own laws

• Had no feudal obligations

• Charter- document granted the townspeople the right to govern themselves

• Contributes to the decline of serfdom( “City air makes a man free”) if a serf fled to a town and lived there a year and a day he was free by custom

• Growth of the Middle Class( their world was the market)