Taryn Wilson

Middle Ages Trade & Commerce - the Italian StatesThe conquest of Palestine by the Crusaders had first opened all the towns and harbours of this wealthy region to Western traders, and many of them were able permanently to establish themselves there, with all sorts of privileges and exemptions from taxes. The Eastern commerce furnished the first elements of that trading activity which showed itself on the borders of the Mediterranean and the emergence of the republics of Amalfi, Venice, Genoa, and Pisa becoming the rich depots of all maritime trade.

Middle Ages Trade & Commerce - ProductsThe Medieval navigators imported spices, groceries, linen, Egyptian paper, pearls, perfumes, and a thousand other rare and choice articles. In exchange they offered precious metals in bars rather than in coins, and it is probable that at this period they also exported iron, wines, oil, and wax. England prospered during the Middle Ages due to the commerce and trade in the wool which was brought from England.Middle Ages Trade Centres

Middle Ages Trade & Commerce

Middle Ages Trade CentersMany new products were introduced to Europe during the Middle Ages which came from the Eastern lands which the Crusaders travelled through to reach Jerusalem. Middle Ages Trade and Commerce changed to include different products, especially spices, from Cairo and Alexandria in Egypt, Damascus in Syria, Baghdad & Mosul in Iraq and other great cities which became important commerce and trading centers because of their strategic location, astride the trade routes to India, Persia and the Mediterranean. The products were then carried across the Mediterranean to the Italian seaports and then on to the major towns and cities of Europe.

Middle Ages Trade Centers

During the 1100's CE, merchants, artists, bankers, and other professionals grouped

themselves together in a business association called guilds. The bankers belonged to the bankers guild. The bakers belonged to the

bakers guild. And so on.  Purpose of the Guilds: The purpose of the guilds was to keep each member's territory

exclusive. If you were a baker, your guild promised you a certain amount of space before

another baker could build a shop. As well, if your shop burned down, the guild would care for you

and your family. Guilds also arranged social occasions and festivals for its members.

http://medievaleurope.mrdonn.org/guilds.html

Guilds in the Middle Ages were associations or groups of craftsmen. Each guild focused on a specific trade such as the candle maker's guild or the tanner's guild.

Why were guilds important?

Guilds in the Middle Ages played an important role in society. They provided a way for trade skills to be learned and passed down from generation to generation. Members of a guild had the opportunity to rise in society through hard work.

The guild protected members in many ways. Members were supported by the guild if they came onto hard times or were sick. They controlled working conditions and hours of work. The guild also prevented non-guild members from selling competitive products. Some guild members were even exempt from paying high taxes from the lords and kings.

http://www.ducksters.com/history/middle_ages_guilds.php

Guilds in the Middle Ages

Guild Positions

In each guild in the Middle Ages there were very well defined positions of Apprentice, Journeyman, and Master. Apprentices usually were boys in their teens who signed up with a master for around 7 years. They would

work hard for the master during this time in exchange for learning the craft plus food, clothing, and shelter.

Once the apprenticeship was complete, he became Journeyman. As a Journeyman, he would still work for a master, but would earn wages for

his work.

The highest position of the craft was the Master. To become a Master, a Journeyman would need the approval of the guild. He would have to prove his skill, plus play the politics needed to get approval. Once a Master, he

could open his own shop and train apprentices.

Rise of Trade Fairs: At first, trade fairs were traveling marketplaces, offering goods for sale by many different sellers. A fair would be set up for a couple of weeks. Then the sellers would move on to another location. 

Trade fairs grew quickly in both size and importance. Goods were pouring in by ship and by caravan from Africa, Asia, and other parts of Europe. 

Some traders, from faraway places, arrived personally with goods to sell in the growing trade fairs. Along with goods, the traveling merchants and traders brought their own coinage.  

http://medievaleurope.mrdonn.org/banks.html

Banks: Traders needed moneychangers who would exchange one form of currency for another. Moneychangers charged for this service, just as bankers did in ancient Greece, and just as banks do today. Moneychangers only charged a small amount per exchange, but so many exchanges happened at the fairs that most bankers became quite rich.

Money: Barter was no longer an accepted form of payment. Merchants wanted money for their goods. The nobles wanted the luxury goods they sold. But the nobles did not have a lot of cash to use to buy them. Nobles had always used the manorial system, a barter system, to gain the goods they needed. 

To raise money, the nobles began to sell their crops for cash. They used the money they made to buy luxury goods. Many ordered more luxury goods than they had cash to purchase. To get more cash, some nobles borrowed money from the new banks, offering their land as guarantee of payment. 

It never occurred to these nobles that they actually had to pay the banks back. The banks were owned and operated, for the most part, by peasants. It came as a huge shock to the nobles that their king was going to make them pay back their loans or lose their lands. 

Although the nobles were shocked, and many did lose their land, the king was thrilled with the new money system. It allowed him a way to easily tax the noble lords, the craftsmen, the traders - both local and foreign - and the moneychangers. 

Medieval Banks Rise of Trade Fairs: At first, trade fairs were

traveling marketplaces, offering goods for sale by many different sellers. A fair would be set up for a couple of weeks. Then the sellers would move on to another location. 

Trade fairs grew quickly in both size and importance. Goods were pouring in by ship and by caravan from Africa, Asia, and other parts of Europe. 

Some traders, from faraway places, arrived personally with goods to sell in the growing trade fairs. Along with goods, the traveling merchants and traders brought their own coinage.  

http://medievaleurope.mrdonn.org/banks.html

Medieval Banks

Banks: Traders needed moneychangers who would exchange one form of currency for another. Moneychangers charged for this service, just as bankers did in ancient Greece, and just as banks do today. Moneychangers only charged a small amount per exchange, but so many exchanges happened at the fairs that most bankers became quite rich. 

Money: Barter was no longer an accepted form of payment. Merchants wanted money for their goods. The nobles wanted the luxury goods they sold. But the nobles did not have a lot of cash to use to buy them. Nobles had always used the manorial system, a barter system, to gain the goods they needed. 

To raise money, the nobles began to sell their crops for cash. They used the money they made to buy luxury goods. Many ordered more luxury goods than they had cash to purchase. To get more cash, some nobles borrowed money from the new banks, offering their land as guarantee of payment. 

It never occurred to these nobles that they actually had to pay the banks back. The banks were owned and operated, for the most part, by peasants. It came as a huge shock to the nobles that their king was going to make them pay back their loans or lose their lands. 

Although the nobles were shocked, and many did lose their land, the king was thrilled with the new money system. It allowed him a way to easily tax the noble lords, the craftsmen, the traders - both local and foreign - and the moneychangers. 

Transportation in the Medieval World was slow, uncomfortable, and usually dangerous. A two-wheeled cart was often the mode of transportation. The Romans had developed efficient methods of sea transport for horses, which were improved by the Arabic nations in the Early Middle Ages; these transports became common in Europe from the 10th century.[Small boats (often referred to as tarides) could be powered by oar (or sometimes by sail), and were able to be loaded and unloaded directly on a beach, using doors as loading ramps; these could carry up to 20 horses. Later boats were larger, capable of carrying over 1500 men, but could not land men or animals directly. The merchant roundship was often adapted for warfare, and in the 13th century, two- and three-deck ships could carry 100 horses (or 600 men). However, the need for fodder and water probably restricted the number of horses that could be carried; in the 14th century, ships transporting horses between Scotland and Ireland never carried more than thirty-two. Adapting a ship for horse transportation required the installation of wooden stalls or hurdles, probably with supporting canvas slings.

Records of cavalry transportation abound throughout the period, reflecting the changes in warfare. For example, the Scandinavians had adapted the horse-transport technology by the 12th century as part of their move away from the traditional Viking infantry. The first illustration displaying such horse-transport in western Europe can be found in the Bayeux Tapestry's depiction of the Norman conquest of England. This particular military venture required the transfer of over 2000 horses from Normandy.

The development and building of horse transports for use in war meant it remained easy to transfer horses for breeding and purchase during peacetime. After William of Normandy's successful conquest of England, he continued to bring horses across from Normandy for breeding purposes, improving the bloodstock of the English horses. By this time, the Normans had already been transporting horses around the Mediterranean, and in 1174 an Italo-Norman force attacked Alexandria with 1500 horses transported on thirty-six tarides. By the time of the Hundred Years War, the English government banned the export of horses in times of crisis.

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