Throughout Europe the period from about 1150 to 1300 sees a steady increase in prosperity, linked with a rise in population. There are several reasons. More land is brought into cultivation.
Along with the improvement in rural wealth is the development of cities thriving on trade, in luxury goods as well as staple products such as wool.
Prominent among the trading centres of the 13th century are the coastal Italian cities, whose merchants trade across the Mediterranean. In a similar way the cities of the Netherlands are well placed to profit from commerce between their three larger neighbours - England, France and the German states.
In the 14th century this economic prosperity declines. Land goes out of cultivation, the volume of trade drops. There are various possible reasons. There is an unusual run of disastrously bad harvests in many areas in the early part of the century.
The final straw is the Black Death, which kills a third of Europe's population in 1348-9.
The Black Death is an unwanted result of international trade!
Do you remember the patterns of conquering civilizations from unit 3? Here we go again...
The Ottoman Empire (or the Turkish Empire) expanded in the region and fought and conquered the Christian Byzantine Empire, establishing the Islamic Ottoman Empire (lasting 600 years).
The Ottoman Turks seized and conquered the Byzantine capital Constantinople in 1453 and continued to expand their territory for many more years to come (Constantinople is modern day Istanbul in Turkey).
The conquest of Constantinople is very imported in the story of world trade.
Located along the trade routes connecting Europe to Asia, Constantinople grew to become the most important trade hub in the region.
After the fall of Constantinople
(1453) international trade collapsed. The Ottomans closed the trade routes to the west!
It became
imperative that alternative trading routes were found.
After all, the world is a globe, so it should be possible!
Key Vocabulary
Prosperity
Rise in Population
Cultivation
Rural
Thriving
Staple Products
Prominent
Commerce
Decline
Harvest
Black Death
Ottoman
Constantinople
Trade Hub
Imperative
Questions
What were the reasons for the rise in populations?
Why were the European coastal cities so prosperous?
Why did this prosperity decline in the 14th Century?
What is meant by "The Black Death is an unwanted result of international trade!"
Why was Constantinople described as a prominent trading hub?
What were the effects on trade after the Ottoman conquest of Constantinople? (consider both good and bad effects)
EXTRA:
Yesterday one of our inquiring students asked: 'How did the Black Death end?
This is a GREAT question as it is not mentioned in the general resources that I use in grade 6 or in grade 7. In response to this question, I found the following:
The most popular theory of how the plague ended is through the implementation of quarantines. This entailed staying out of the path of infected individuals, rats, and fleas. The uninfected would typically remain in their homes and only leave when it was necessary. Those with the financial resources would traditionally escape to the country, far away from the Black Death-infested cities, and live in the comfort of a lavish estate. In cases where infected persons were sharing living quarters with healthy persons, the entire household was quarantined together; this may have been effective in controlling the disease in Milan, Italy, where some families were walled up in their homes and left to die.
Even religious officials did their utmost to quarantine themselves from possible infection. Because their roles required them to interact with the public, many found creative ways to fulfill the demands of their jobs while protecting their health. One bishop in Germany, for example, offered communion to his congregants via a long pole.
Practicing proper hygiene also likely played a role in the abatement of the Black Death. Before the pandemic struck, personal hygiene was lackluster at best. It was common to consume contaminated water. People did not wash regularly, and the dead were buried in mass graves.
During the years of the Black Death, however, people began to practice better personal hygiene. More people washed, and though bacteria had yet to be discovered, this cleanliness removed the microorganisms. People began to boil drinking water. As the bodies piled up it became more efficient to burn them, again inadvertently preventing the further spread of disease.
