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What factors led to the trade revival in Western Europe between 1000-1200?
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The revival of trade in Western Europe between 1000-1200 was driven by several factors. The Crusades opened new markets and trade routes, stimulating demand for foreign goods. Italian ports thrived, and the Silk Road reopened trade with East Asia. Improved roads and shipping technology facilitated safer and more profitable trade. Additionally, the Agrarian Revolution increased food supply and created town centers, promoting labor division and the rise of guilds, further boosting trade.
Throughout the early Middle Ages, Europe was an incredibly insular society. There had been limited local trade since the fall of the Roman Empire, but very little that went far beyond neighboring kingdoms.
That all changed around the beginning of the second millennium. The primary factor was the Crusades, which began in 1095. Europeans started traveling to the Middle East in vast numbers to retake the Holy Land from the Seljuk Turks. In the process, they discovered new markets, commodities, artisanal products, and trade routes. This led to a growth in demand for foreign goods in Europe.
Italian ports began to thrive during this period, and a new merchant class arose. Many of these ports became tax-free zones and were able to spread goods throughout the continent. Additionally, ties with East Asia were reopened along the Silk Road, meaning that access to the markets of China was established.
As time...
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went on, roads were improved, making the movement of goods into the interior of Europe easier, safer, and more profitable. Trade guilds were founded in order to protect merchants and set fair and competitive prices. Ship technology also improved with the adoption of the triangular sail and the compass, both of which were brought to Europe through the Crusaders' contacts with the Arabs.
Within Europe, the warming climate during the Middle Ages made for ideal conditions to increase the yield of wheat, barley, and grapes for wine. This led to an Agrarian Revolution, in which not only were yields improved by better climatic conditions, but new agricultural techniques were developed, such as the three-field rotation, and the use of horses instead of oxen, the horses being more efficient beasts of burden and ploughing. All these agricultural changes led to an increase in the food supply, which created town centers as an area for the exchange of produce. As the population and standard of living increased, a division of labor and specialization occurred. This allowed for the beginnings of the guilds, where skilled craftsman could promote their goods and services, which also stimulated trade.
Externally, the Crusades, beginning in 1095, brought an emerging European power into the Middle East, nominally to free the Holy Land; more practically, Europe desired the reopening of trade routes and markets closed by the Muslims.