PROMPT: How did the Crusades impact the economy of Europe?
Essential information to know:
1. An explanation of the economic system in Europe before and during the Crusades
2. A description of the roles of people in the economic system of Europe.
3. A knowledge of why and where the Crusades took place.
4. Identification of changes in the economic system of Europe after the Crusades.
DBQ – Using documents to answer questions!
Using the information from the documents and your knowledge of history, answer the questions that follow each
document. Your answers to the questions will help you write a response to the prompt.
Historical Context:
Throughout history, different economic systems have influenced specific nations, regions, and peoples.
Manorialism, the system during the Middle Ages in Western Europe, transformed into a market economy.
PROMPT: How did the Crusades impact the economy of Europe?
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Document 1: Background of the Middle Ages
Source: http://regentsprep.org/Regents/global/global.cfm
The Middle Ages were a dark age for Europe. Near constant invasions and scant resources required that
Europeans develop a new system for living. This system included all aspects of life, social, political, and
economic. It was called Feudalism.
Feudalism was a social, political, and economic system that dominated all aspects of medieval life. The economic
portion of feudalism was centered around the lord's estates or manor, and is called manorialism. A lord's manor
would include peasant villages, a church, farm land, a mill, and the lord's castle or manor house.
Manors were self sufficient; all economic activity occurred on the manor. This meant that little to no trade
occurred during this time period. Most of the peasants during the Middle Ages were serfs. Serfs were generally
farmers who were tied to the land. They were not slaves because they could not be bought or sold, but they
could not readily leave the manor either. Serfs were given land to farm in exchange for service to their lord. This
service usually involved working the lord's fields, maintaining roads and the manor, and providing military service
in times of war. Serfs paid taxes to their lord in the form of crops. This is also how the paid the fee to use the
manor's mill or other services.
The lords had responsibilities also under this system. In return for the service and fees paid by the peasants, they
provided land and protection to them. Lords also had to pay fees and give service to high lords and the king.
Feudalism affected all levels of society.
The Feudal System
Kings
Give large land grants to Upper Lords called fiefs
Give Protection
Receives money, military service, and advice
Upper Lords
Give land grants to Lesser Lords
Give Protection
Receives money, military service
Lesser Lords
Give land grants to knights
Receives money, military service
Knights
Give land to peasants/serfs
Receives crops, labor
Peasants/ Serfs
Receives land to farm
Pays with labor, crops
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The Crusades
Toward the end of the European Middle Ages, the Catholic Church launched a series of Holy Wars against the
Muslims in the Middle East. These wars were known as the Crusades, and while their original goals were not
achieved, they nevertheless, had long reaching effects. A major result of the Crusades, was an increase in trade.
European interest in goods from the east was stimulated by returning Crusaders who brought back many things. As
the Crusades ended, ships that were once used to carry soldiers to the Middle East, now carried trade goods.
Merchants from rich Italian city states, such as Venice and Florence, dominated this trade. Goods from the
Middle East would arrive in Venice, before following newly established trade routes to the rest of Europe. Along
these new trade routes, trade fairs were established in towns with larger populations, or at major crossroads. Over
time, merchants and craftsman settled in these towns, and some grew to be cities of several thousand people. This
fundamentally altered the way people lived in Europe, and marked the beginning of the end of feudalism as serfs
began to pay their feudal obligations with cash instead of service.
Between the 14th and 18th centuries, life in Europe drastically changed due to a renewed interest in the rest of the
world, and subsequently, an increase in trade. The initial motivating factor for the renewed interest was the series
of holy wars known as the Crusades. Fighting men returning from the wars brought back many different products.
These products became the basis for early trade which expanded over time. Along with trade goods came new
business practices and a shifting in the European way of life.
In the late 1300s, Italian City States became the center of the resurgence of trade. This was due in part to their
location on the Mediterranean, which was a economic super highway during this time period. Also, these city states
never experienced the full effects of medieval life because of frequent contact with the Islamic Empire during its
golden age. Venice was the richest and most powerful of these states. From Italy, goods were shipped to large
trade fairs, which were located on major trade route crossroads. The larger of these trade fairs evolved into towns,
with a change in the way of life for their inhabitants.
The growth of trade, towns, and cities resulted in a commercial revolution. A new social class emerged composed
of merchants, artisans, and traders. This new social class was called the Middle Class. The middle class quickly
gained power and influence as feudalism came to and end, and the economies of Europe became reliant on money
instead of service.
The Commercial Revolution and the resurgence of trade across Europe completely reshaped society. These
changes resulted in the decline of feudalism, and a revival of arts, literature, and science known as the
Renaissance.
The resumption of trade following the Middle Ages in Europe resulted in a demand for goods from Asia. Trade
routes established across the Mediterranean and through the Middle East were soon disrupted by the expansion of
the Ottoman Empire. Europeans were forced to seek alternative ways of importing and exporting goods to and
from Asia. The result was an exploration of water routes to Asia, and eventually the discovery of the Americas by
the Europeans.
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Understanding what you have read… identify the descriptions of key terms from document #1.
The area stretching from the eastern Mediterranean Sea to the western side of
the Indian subcontinent. Consists of countries such as Israel, Iran, Iraq, Saudi
Arabia, and Egypt.
A gathering of merchants, craftsmen, and artisans to buy and sell goods and
service during late Middle Ages.
Time period in European history between the fall of Rome in 476 C.E. and the
beginning of the Italian Renaissance in the early 15th century.
The exchange of goods or service between people.
European Christian military expeditions made between the 11th and 13th
centuries to retake the Middle Eastern Holy Lands occupied by the Muslims.
A person who sells goods or services. A member of the middle class in most
societies.
A social, political, and economic system that dominated all aspects of medieval
European life.
A person forced to work for another with no payment or freedom to seek work
elsewhere. A slave can be bought and sold.
Italians City-States which were the center of the rebirth of European trade and
culture at the end of the Middle Ages.
A rebirth of cultural and intellectual pursuits after the stagnation of the Middle
Ages. This period in European history, from about the 14th through 16th
centuries, features major cultural and artistic change.
The sending of goods to another country for sale or trade.
The bringing in of goods from another country for sale or trade.
Farmers who were tied to the land. They were not slaves because they could
not be bought or sold, but they could not readily leave the manor either. They
were given land to farm in exchange for service to their lord.
Social and economic class usually composed of merchants, artisans, and
business people. Usually the backbone of society as they are generally more
moderate in their economic, social, and political habits.
A person who is skilled at a craft, such as weaving, or woodcarving.
Economic portion of feudalism where all aspects of life were centered on the
lord’s manor including peasant villages, a church, farm land, a mill, and the
lord's castle or manor house.
A group of people within a society who share the same social, political, and
economic status.
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Document 2
Source: Kime and Stich, Global History and Geography, STAReview, N & N Publishing Company
1.
Based on this diagram, state one economic characteristic of the medieval manor.
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Document 3
Tenants on a manor owed services to their lord. Some of these services are listed below.
. . . To carry manure for two days, with a cart and two oxen, receiving food as before [3 meals
each day];
To find a man to mow for two days receiving food as above; it is estimated that he can mow
1 1/2 acres in the two days;
To gather and lift the hay so mown, receiving 2 meals for one man;
To carry the lord’s hay for one day with a cart and three of the tenant’s own beasts, receiving
3 meals as before;
To carry beans or oats for two days in the autumn, and wood for two days in the summer, in
the same manner and with the same food as before; . . .
{Source: S. R. Scargill-Bird, ed., Custumals of Battle Abbey in the Reigns of Edward I and Edward II (1283–1312),
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The Camden Society (adapted)}
1. Based on the Custumals of Battle Abbey, state one benefit the lord received under manorialism.
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2.
Based on the Custumals of Battle Abbey, state one benefit that tenants received under manorialism.
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Document 4
. . . Of necessity, the manor was a self-sufficient economic unit in view of the overwhelming
difficulties of transportation in the period. International trade was carried on only to serve the
demands of the wealthy, and it was largely in the hands of aliens [different peoples]—Greeks,
Jews, Moslems. Local society made almost no use of money. To the extent that local exchange
was carried on, it was conducted by barter. The small amount of international trade precluded
[ruled out] the need for gold coinage. The Carolingians minted only silver coins, which were all
that was usually necessary when the smallest silver coin could buy a cow. When gold coins were
needed, Byzantine and Moslem currency was used. . . .
Source: Norman F. Cantor, The Civilization of the Middle Ages, Harper Perennial
1.
According to Norman Cantor, what are two ways manorialism influenced the economy of Europe?
a. _________________________________________________________________________________
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b. _________________________________________________________________________________
Document 5
Consider, I pray, and reflect bow in our time God has transferred the West into the East, For we who were
Occidentals now have been made Orientals. He who was a Roman or a Frank is now a Galilaean, or an inhabitant
of Palestine. One who was a citizen of Rheims or of Chartres now has been made a citizen of Tyre or of Antioch.
We have already forgotten the places of our birth; already they have become unknown to many of us, or, at least,
are unmentioned. Some already possess here homes and servants which they have received through inheritance.
Some have taken wives not merely of their own people, but Syrians, or Armenians, or even Saracens who have
received the grace of baptism….Our parents and relatives from day to day come to join us, abandoning, even
though reluctantly, all that they possess. For those who were poor there, here God makes rich. Those who had few
coins, here possess countless besants {an ornament} ; and those who had not had a villa, here, by the gift of God,
already possess a city. Therefore why should one who has found the East so favorable return to the West? God
does not wish those to suffer want who, carrying their crosses, have vowed to follow Him, nay even unto the end….
SOURCE: Chronicles of Fulk of Chartres, late 11c.
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1. What are the financial benefits of fighting as a Crusader?
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2. According to Fulk of Chartres, what is happening to those Europeans who come to fight in the Middle East?
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Document 6
From trade fairs to towns
In the twelfth century, towns and trade in Western Europe, which had long been in decay since the end of the
Roman Empire, saw a renewed outburst of energy.
First, there were the old Roman cities in Italy that had evolved from centers of defense into thriving towns with a
strong middle class primarily concerned with trade and manufacture.
The emerging feudal order helped make possible two other factors vital to the rise of towns and trade. One was the
agricultural revolution that could support town populations. The other was the end of Viking and Arab raids that
made the roads safer for trade.
These factors helped create more political stability, which encouraged merchants to take to the roads once again.
In the middle of the old Roman trade routes linking Italy and Flanders was the French county of Champagne, whose
counts were shrewd enough to take advantage of this trade by sponsoring six annual trade fairs held in four rotating
locations. Rather than robbing these merchants, the counts charged them for the use of booths, local justice,
lodging, food, and protection. Among those attending these fairs and providing the counts with revenues were
wealthy merchants from Italy and Flanders.
The excitement these fairs generated was infectious. So were the profits. With each new fair came greater
incentive to stifle troublesome local nobles and increase political order. This in turn stimulated more trade fairs,
more profits, more law and order, and so on.
Eventually fairs and trade became so common that merchants started settling down in permanent towns. Generally,
such settlements were on well-traveled routes that could attract the trade of passing merchants. They also were
under the protective walls of a lord's castle, an abbot's monastery, or a bishop's settlement. Even today, many
European towns have a castle in or near them, evidence of their medieval beginning.
Source: http://www.flowofhistory.com
1. Give two reasons why trade fairs were possible?
a. _______________________________________________________________________________
b. _______________________________________________________________________________
2. How did trade fairs become towns?
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