Chapter 14.2- Trade, Towns, and
Financial Revolution
 Between 1000 and 1300, agriculture, trade,
and finance made remarkable progress
 Towns and cities grew…due in part to
growing population and territorial
expansion of western Europe
 Unleashed creativity led to the birth of a
new institution in Europe- the university
I. A Growing Food Supply
 Needed a better way of farming
 Expanding civilization requires an increased
food supply
 Farming was helped by a warmer climate
(800 to 1200 CE)
 New methods as well
A. Using Horsepower
 Oxen were depended on previously…easy
to keep, but moved very slowly
 Horses needed better food, but a team of
horses could plow twice as much land in a
day as a team of oxen
 Needed new type of harness…early Middle
Ages, harnesses went around the horses’
neck (like a dog collar) and would nearly
strangle them when it pulled
 Before 900, new harness was introduced
that fitted across the horse’s chest…taking
pressure off its neck
o As a result, horses gradually replaced
oxen for plowing and for pulling wagons
B. The Three-Field System
 Villagers also began to organize their land
differently
 Old, 2-field system- 1 field used to plant
food, the other field lay fallow (1/2 of land
wasn’t in use at any one time)
 Around 800, some villages switched to 3
fields…2/3 land in cultivation, with 1/3
laying fallow
 Three-Field System…growing on 2/3 of land
instead of 1/2, food production
increased…villagers had more to eat
 With food surplus (and healthier foods)
came a population increase
 Deforestation also occurred, as more forest
land was cleared for cultivation
II. Trade and Finance Expand
 Trade and finance expanded along with
agriculture
 Partly a response to population growth
 By 1000’s, artisans and craftsmen were
manufacturing goods by hand for local and
long-distance trade
 Trade routes spread across Europe from
Flanders to Italy
 Trade routes were opened to Asia, partly
due to the Crusades
A. Fairs and Trade
 Most trade took place in towns
 Cloth was the most common trade
item…also bacon, salt, honey, cheese, wine,
leather, dyes, knives, and ropes
 With local fairs, self-sufficient manors
became obsolete
B. The Guilds
 Guild= an association of people who
worked at the same occupation…similar to
a union today
 In medieval towns- guilds controlled all
wages and prices in their craft
 Over time, skilled artisans began craft guilds
o Ex: wheelwrights, glassmakers,
winemakers, tailors, druggists
o Guilds enforced standards of quality
o Only masters of trade could be guild
members
o Child was apprenticed to a master for 57 years to learn the trade
o Then the apprentice was a journeyman
and could work for wages
o Journeyman then needed to make a
“master piece” and if their product met
the guild standards, they were
welcomed into the guild as masters
C. A Financial Revolution
 The fairs and guilds created a need for large
amounts of cash
 Merchants had to purchase goods first to
be able to sell later, but Church forbade
usury
 Usury= lending money at interest…or selling
to make a profit
 Many of Europe’s Jews lived in the growing
towns and were moneylenders
o Guilds excluded Jews
o Moneylending was one of the few ways
that Jews were permitted to make a
living
o Many Jews had to live in segregated
parts of towns called the ghetto
o Jews were also forbidden from holding
land, so they had never become part of
the feudal system
 Over time, the Church relaxed its rule on
usury…eventually banking was an important
business, especially in Italy
III. Urban Splendor Reborn
 All over Europe, trade blossomed, and
better farming methods caused a spurt in
population growth
o 1000 to 1150- population of western
Europe went from 30 million to 42
million
 Towns grew (but still smaller than
Constantinople)
 Europe’s largest city= Paris…about 60,000
people by 1200
A. Trade and Towns Grow Together
 By the later Middle Ages, trade was the
lifeblood of new towns
 Feudalism began breaking down, some serfs
ran away
 Most medieval towns developed
haphazardly
 Streets were narrow and filled with horses,
pigs, oxen, and their refuse
 No sewers, people dumped household
waste, animal and human, into the street in
front of their house
 Most people never bathed (expose yourself
to evil spirits)
 Houses were built with wood and thatched
roofs (wattle and daub), so they were a
constant fire hazard
B. Towns and Social Order
 By the 1100’s, custom developed that a serf
could become free by living in a town for a
year and a day.
 Merchants and craftspeople didn’t fit into
the traditional medieval social order of
noble, clergy, and peasant
 Burghers= town dwellers
 Burghers eventually resented feudal lords
attempts to levy fees, taxes, and rents
 Many burghers organized themselves and
demanded privileges
IV. Revival of Learning
 Growing trade and cities brought a new
interest in learning
 The University stood at the center of the
growth of learning
A. Scholars and Writers
 University originally designated a meeting
of a group of scholars, not the building
 Early universities in Paris, Bologna, Oxford,
Salerno
 Most students were the sons of burghers or
well-to-do artisans
 For most students the goal was a job in
government or the Church
o Bachelor’s degree in Theology= 5-7
years
o Master of Theology= about 12 years
 Scholars and writers continued to use Latin
 Vernacular- everyday language of a
person’s homeland
 Some poets began using the vernacular in
their writings
 Dante Alighieri wrote The Divine Comedy
(1321) in Italian
 Geoffrey Chaucer wrote The Canterbury
Tales (1387-1400) in English
 Christine de Pisan wrote The City of Ladies
(1405) in French
 Brought literature to the masses
B. The Muslim Connection
 Revival of learning sparked European
interest in the works of ancient scholars
 Growth of trade was accelerated by the
Crusades
 Brought Europeans into contact with
Muslims and Byzantines
o Muslims and Byzantines had preserved
the writings of Greek philosophers in
their libraries
 1100’s, Christian scholars from Europe
began visiting Muslim libraries in Spain
o Few Western scholars knew Greek
o Jewish scholars translated Arabic
versions of works by Aristotle and other
Greek writers into Latin
 Crusaders also brought back superior
Muslim technology in ships, navigation, and
weapons
C. Aquinas and Medieval Philosophy
 Christian scholars were excited by Greek
writings
 Question: Could a Christian scholar use
Aristotle’s logical approach to truth and still
keep faith with the Bible?
 Thomas Aquinas- mid-1200’s, scholar who
argued that the most basic religious truths
could be proved by logical argument
o Wrote the Summa Theologica, between
1267 and 1273
o Influenced by Aristotle
o Combined ancient Greek thought with
Christian thought of his time
 Aquinas and his fellow scholars were known
as schoolmen, or scholastics
o Used their knowledge of Aristotle to
debate many issues of their time
o Teachings on law and government
influenced the thinking of many western
Europeans, especially the English and
French
o Democratic institutions and traditions
began to develop.
Name:
________________
Date:
_________ Period: ___
Chapter 14.2 Formative Reading Quiz
1.
Who was Thomas Aquinas? (Time
Period, Location, Key Achievements).
Thomas Aquinas- mid-1200’s, scholar who
argued that the most basic religious truths
could be proved by logical argument
 Wrote the Summa Theologica, between
1267 and 1273
 Influenced by Aristotle
 Combined ancient Greek thought with
Christian thought of his time
2.
Draw a Diagram of the Three-Field
System, and explain its impact and
significance.
Field 1- Crop
Field 2- Crop
Field 3- Fallow
Three field-system increased amount of land
under cultivation at one time from ½ to
2/3…1/3 was left fallow to rest…resulted in
food surplus and population increase
3.
What was usury, and what was its
impact on medieval society?
Usury- charging interest on a loan, or
increasing price of item to make a
profit…considered a sin by the early Catholic
Church…as a result majority of early
moneylenders, bankers, and merchants were
Jewish and Muslim…eventually, Catholic
Church softened its stance against usury, and
Christians got involved in commerce and
finance…especially Italian cities.