• The Silk Road was the first international trading route
connecting people from Asia with those in Europe.
More than goods were passed along these routes:
 Exchanges of ideas and knowledge
Italy was seen as Europe’s gateway to the east. Why?
Camel caravans travelled long distances moving goods from one region to
another.
• The Crusades were a series of Holy Wars fought between
Christians and Muslims.
• There were two important results of the Crusades for Europeans
• Contact with Muslim Civilization
• Trade
• During this time, the Muslim world was more advanced than
Europe
• Because of the Crusades, Europe was exposed to new ideas about
medicine, astronomy, math, literature
• The Crusades brought many new goods to Europe, including oil, spices and
various varieties of fruits
• Europeans wanted more of these goods and this led to an increase in
trade.
• Renaissance Europe did not look the way Europe does today.
• Italy was not yet a country like it is today but rather it was more
like several kingdoms or empires. Italy was a collection of citystates.
• A city-state consists of a city that is politically independent.
• Dozens of city-states developed in Italy, there success
depended on four things
• Geography
• As Italy had a lot of coast line transportation was easier and cheaper
than in other European countries
• Climate
• Warm climate meant trade was not dependent on weather
• Leadership
• Italian city-states had their own governments, armies and controlled
their own affairs without a monarch
• Social Organization
• Feudalism did not have nearly a strong a hold of Italy as the rest of
Europe.
• Rivalry among city-states was common as all wanted to expand
trade and business.
• Resources, goods and luxury goods was common in city-states
• Money lending and banking began to take hold as Usury (the
practice of charging interest when lending money became a
way for people to gain wealth.)
• The Economy went into a depression in the years following the
Black Death, but merchants and bankers continued to grow
wealthier through trade and commerce.
• Bankers and merchants brought wealth and money to their city
• Florentine bankers established banks across Europe
• Usury – the practice of charging interest played an important part in
creating wealth
• During the Middle Ages the bank considered usury a sin
• Rise of international trade required large investments that would be tied
up for years and therefore usury became a common practice.