§
Increasing population in Middle Ages .
§
More food due to better farming techniques.
§
Wanted to continue trade with
§ Section 1: Trading Centers
§
Important trading centers located on sea routes.
§
Island port located in modern
§
Used ocean since did not have fertile land for crops.
§
Became leading port and full-time merchant (MER).
§
Removal of the threat of Muslims in
§
Expanded cities as trading seaports in MED.
§
In
§
Famous for wool.
§
Dominated
§
Traded a lot with
§
Land routes grew as well as sea routes.
§
MER traveled together for safety.
Fairs
§
MER stooped at different places that became fairs.
§
Became regular event where merchants sold goods.
§
Moved from system of bartering to exchanging precious metals for goods.
§
Banks developed to trade coinage.
The
Growth of Towns
§
MER began to stay in one place and these places became towns.
§
People settled by mer. since they built walls and moats for security.
§
Cities called Burgs (the name of castle that towns often grew by in
§
Gradually more people moved to towns and they became center of life not
the manor.
§
Towns were rich enough to have stone walls.
§
But towns also were very crowded and did not have closed sewers.
§
Open sewers led to rats and rats transmitted a plague called the Black
Death.
§
The Black Death killed much of the population and some people tried to
escape by leaving towns.
Burgher
Life
§
Burghers (rich merchants) paid to have products made in country and
then sold them in towns for a profit.
§
Burghers were religious, ate well, and had servants.
Changing
Ways
§
Due to feudalism the land towns were built on was owned by a noble.
§
That noble taxed the townspeople and charged burghers fees for market.
§
Nobles & the Church were concerned about the power of burghers and
tried to keep them in their place.
§
Burghers tried to get more power and became loyal to a town instead of
the noble who owned it.
Communes
and Charters
§
Communes (political groups of townspeople) worked against the bishops
and nobles to try govern themselves.
§
Some charters (documents allowing a town to run its own affairs) were
issued and this allowed for some elections and independence.
§
Towns with charters started to develop their own laws and sometimes
punished people severely.
§
~1100s guilds (business groups whose purpose was to make sure that
their members were treated equally) started.
§
Guilds controlled an entire trade in a town.
§
Guilds determined rates of pay, made sure there was quality work, took
care of sick members, and were social clubs.
§
To become a member of a guild a person had to be an apprentice
(trainee) to a master (expert) for 2-7 years
§
Then they became a journeyman (a person who worked under a master for a
daily wage) and later had to pass a test on their craft to be a master.
§
Masters could sell their own goods.
§
Some people felt guilds restricted trade.
§
The rise in power of burghers, guilds, and bankers led to a decline in
power of the nobles.
§
People had more leisure time since they were richer.
§
Towns were also able to give money to support the arts.
§
Townspeople also wanted a strong central government and supported
kings.