Trade and commerce in the medieval world developed to such an extent that even relatively small communities had access to weekly markets and, perhaps a day’s travel away, larger but less frequent fairs, where the full range of consumer goods of the period was set out to tempt the shopper and small retailer. Markets and fairs were organised by large estate owners, town councils, and some churches and monasteries, who, granted a license to do so by their sovereign, hoped to gain revenue from stall holder fees and boost the local economy as shoppers used peripheral services. International trade had been present since Roman times but improvements in transportation and banking, as well as the economic development of northern Europe, caused a boom from the 9th century CE. English wool, for example, was sent in huge quantities to manufacturers in Flanders; the Venetians, thanks to the Crusades, expanded their trade interests to the Byzantine Empire and the Levant, and new financial instruments evolved which allowed even small investors to fund the trade expeditions which criss-crossed Europe by sea and land.
Collection: Images, Multimedia, Texts
Project: 9. Travels and travelers: economic, social and cultural connections.
Chronology: V-XVI
Scope: Secondary Education, Higher Education
Link: https://www.worldhistory.org/article/1301/trade-in-medieval-europe/
Resource type: Image, Video, Text
Format: Images|Multimedia|Texts
Source: Autor: Mark Cartwright, World History Encyclopedia; CopyrightWe strongly believe in the importance of copyright and do everything to respect it. All content on this site is used for non-commercial educational purposes, as we are a non-profit organization. If you believe that we are in breach of your copyright, please get in touch with us.Terms of UseAll content on this site is protected by a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 license unless otherwise stated. You will find a copyright notice under any material protected by copyright (or other licenses) on this site.If you wish to use any of our content for commercial purposes, please contact us directly.
Language: Italian, French, Spanish
Date: V-XVI
Owner: Beatrice Borghi (Modernalia)
Copyright: World History Encyclopedia
Abstract: The trade commerce and the travel in medieval world.
Tags
