Growth of trade Flashcards
What elements of worldview did the Silk Road effect?
Geography
Knowledge
Economy
The Silk Road
Interconnected series of ancient trade routes from China to the Mediterranean Sea
Extended over 8 000km
How did the Silk Road start?
The Roman empire which is now the Middle East had welcomed exotic goods from China and Japan
Goods such as silk, glassware, pepper, spices, most are extremely rare
Also shared ideas such as religion, science, technology, philosophy and math
The goods would move from trader to trader by foot or by caravan along the trade network
The demand for these goods was so high that it increased the contact between these societies despite the enormous distances
Why was it dangerous to travel along the whole of the Silk Road?
White hot sand dunes
Mountains
Winds
Bandits
Venomous snakes
Water was scarce
Extremely hot in the day
Very cold at night
What were Roman explorers looking for when they travelled to China?
They were looking for the “Silk People”
What was the impact of the Silk Road on Geography?
Geography would impact the resources that the people traded and what they had available to them
People traded goods that weren’t available in other areas using the goods they had a lot of
Transportation was very slow and dangerous leading europeans through ocean routes to Asia
What was the impact the Silk Road had on Knowledge?
Merchants along the Silk Road transferred knowledge as well as goods
What was the impact the Silk Road had on the economy?
The demand for goods such as silk and spices from Asia increased dramatically in Europe
What was the crusades?
A series of military conflicts fought between the christian’s and muslims based on religious beliefs
Fought between 1095 to 1291 CE
What were they fighting over in the crusades?
They were fighting over the Holy Land otherwise known as Palestine
The Holy Land is an area that contains sites sacred to Jews, Christians and Muslims
They all have religious connection to Palestine because the religions all come out of the same religious history
The ownership fo this land is still fought over today
Why did the Christians believe that the Holy land should be in their hands?
They believed this because everyone else thought that their religion is the correct one
The land was under christian rule starting in 1st century CE
Later taken over by the Muslim Turks in the middle of the 7th century
What were the goals of the Crusades?
- Recapturing Jerusalem and the rest of the Holy Land from muslim rule
- Stopping the expansion of Turkish Muslims into the Middle East
How did the crusades start?
The first crusade started when Pope Urban ll isssued a proclamation after the council of Clermont
The proclamation told the christian’s to go forget for control of the Holy Land
Christian and Muslim warriors joined the fight as a one way opportunity to heaven
The first crusade created a christian kingdom in the Holy Land that lasted about 100 years until 1187 when the muslims recaptured jerusalem
The christian’s launched 3 more crusades over the next hundred years in an effort to claim the land for their religion
What were the two unintentional results of the crusades?
- Contact with the muslims
In general Muslim countries were more advanced that christian ones at the time
Christian’s gained new ideas in medicine, astronomy, philosophy, math and literature
- Trade with the muslims
Crusaders brought back many goods to Europe (oil, spices, etc.)
This led to increased demand of products from the Middle East which increased the trade
How did the crusades impact beliefs?
Christian’s Muslims and Jews all claimed the Holy Land as their own due to shared religious history and important religious sites in Jerusalem and the surrounding areas
How did the crusades impact knowledge?
Christian Europeans made further contact with the muslims of the Middle East
Europeans continued to pick up more new ideas in medicine,astronomy, philosophy, mathematics and literature from their travels
How did the crusades impact the economy?
Christian’s brought back many new trading goods from the Middle East and the demand for these products in Europe led to increased trade
The crusades were very expensive so they stopped
How was the economy after the black plague?
Weakened feudal system continued
People still lived in rural areas
Economy still based mostly on agriculture
Heredity
Power transferred to the eldest son of the king
Or to whoever was the heir to the throne
How could you raise your status in the commoner class?
Become freeholders who rented land and farmed it for profit
Open a shop or other business in town
This would allow you to maybe raise your status slightly
City state
A politically independent city and the hinterland around it
Hinterland
The rural area around the city-state where resources are extracted from
Why were most city states in Italy?
Good geography
Society
Economics
Why was the geographic location of Italy good for city states?
It’s located in southern Europe
Surrounded by the Mediterranean sea and by the Alps in the north
The mediterranean sea allowed the people to trade easily with Northern Africa, Middle East and Asia
Goods were quicker and cheaper and more efficient to transport by water
Why was the climate in Italy good for city states to be built?
Climate ranged between temperate to warm
Weather was milder than the European countries north of the Alps
The climate allowed for long growing seasons for crops in the hinterlands
The climate also allowed for year round trade
Republic
A state which is held by the people and not a monarch
How were the leadership/government different in city states?
None of the city states were monarchies
All city states’ power was held by the people
Each city state was dependent from others having its own government and army
Controlled it’s own affairs
What was the result of feudalism not having a strong hold on Italy?
Nobility would tend to live in towns and cities, not rural areas
Peasants weren’t tied to the land and could move to the city to change their career if the want to
This resulted in increased urbanization in city states
More people lived in cities than rural areas
Especially after the Black Death
By the 14th century, what cities were the largest in Europe?
Florence
Venice
Milan
Genoa
What would the wealthiest people fight over during the city states?
Flight over control over the cities
Money= Power (distribution of wealth was still unequal)
An example of this is the Medici family who were merchants and bankers
Competed with rival families and with each other for control over the Republic of Florence
Explain the 2 types of buisnesses
- The master buys wool gives it to his journeymen to wash, comb, spin, etc
Then pays his workers according to social position and enough for their family
Then sells it to be fair for the seller and not enough to make a large profit
Buisness is a way of making a living not to get rich - A merchant imports wool and distributes it to shops for processing
The merchant buys back the wool paying the workers
Sells it for more uses the money to expand buisness and make even more profit
How did the city-states trade?
The increased demand for goods was huge resulting in new industries and jobs
Merchants would buy goods then sell them for higher price
Everyone involved in trade supported leaders who could keep the city state peaceful
War is bad for business peace is the better option
Bills of exchange
A pice of paper given to someone when they deposit gold into the bank
Can be taken to another bank and exchanged for gold
Make it easier and safer than carrying gold along trade routes
Like a debit card
Insurance
A small fee paid to insure goods when travelling
If goods are damaged they get replaced by the bank
If they don’t get damaged bank keeps the fee
To help merchants feel more confident about trading
Help them if something goes wrong in transport
Nowadays you can ensure anything
Buisness partner ships
Buisness teaming up to support each other to get a large project done
Used to raise money for large projects that are too risky to do alone
Companies create partnerships all the time nowadays
Companies buy each other’s stock if they see financial gains nowadays
