This is part of the
Medieval European History Metanode.
Trade and towns had declined in
Europe during
the early Frankish Empire and
the Carolingian Dynasty. Trade began to rebound in
Italy around 900 CE. The
Venetians sparked long-distance trade with the
Byzantines and the
Moslems; they
exported salt, grain, wine, and glass, and
imported silk, spices, and luxuries.
Amalti,
Piza, and
Genoa followed suit. The
Crusades were a boon to the Italian economy, because they transported
soldiers and goods, and traded with the
Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem,
Damascus, and
Baghdad.
Flanders led the way in the North, beginning around 950. They manufactured cloth on the
Rhine River, close to
England. Flanders became a gateway for
trade. England, in turn, became an important supplier of raw
wool.
France and
Spain exported
wine to the
British Isles; the
British Isles supplied them with
grain; and
Scandanavia sent
furs,
timber, and - you guessed it -
herring to the South.
The
Counts of
Champagne reaped great benefits from the trade revival by holding "trade fairs" in various towns. These fairs were held in an open space with
booths for the
merchants; the Counts supplied moneychangers, a
police force, and
judges to settle disputes. The Counts received a
sales tax on all goods,
rent for the booths,
fines from those convicted of crimes, and commission from the moneychangers. Southern and Northern trade came together at these fairs, and soon other counties held fairs as well. Italians became the dominant merchants, and eventually they invented
banks so that their merchants wouldn't have to carry gold
florins through
Europe.
The revived trade also precipitated the invention of trade
guilds. The guilds had a dual purpose: they were religious
fraternities which helped pay for
funerals, give support to
widows, etc.; and they secured a
monopoly of retail trade within a town. The guilds assured
quality of
merchandise and set fair prices. In the 13th century, they split into two types of guilds: merchant guilds (for merchants - duh) and craft guilds (butchers, bakers, candlestick makers). The guilds provided
apprenticeships and created the offices of
journeyman and
Master.
Advances in
Medieval technology led to a population surge between 1000 and 1300 CE. As a result, towns grew as well. There are several schools of thought among
historians as to the origins of these towns; Edith Ennen's theory is most accepted. She proposes that the origin of the towns depends on their location within three zones:
South: In
Spain, southern
France, and
Italy, there was a continuity with the old
Roman towns. The nobles here were
urban, so the towns survived. You can tell that these towns were originally Roman because they were laid out in a
grid pattern, with
streets running at
right angles to each other.
Central: In northern France,
Belgium, and the
Netherlands, the towns were of mixed origin. Some were Roman and some were new. The Roman towns were
ecclesiastical and still had trade. The new towns centered around an "attractor" (
monastery,
church, or
burgh). A "wik" - a settlement of merchants outside the walls - formed around the attractor.
North: East of the
Rhine and in the
British Isles, all of the towns were new. There never had been any Roman towns east of the Rhine, and invasions destroyed the towns on the British Isles. New towns in the North formed around the
burghs.
As they grew, the towns demanded more and more liberties from the
government. The seven elementary liberties of towns were:
1.
Personal Freedom: If a
serf fled from the
manor and stayed in a town for a year and a day, he gained his freedom. Thus the saying, "Town air makes one free."
2.
Locomotion: The right to come and go freely.
3.
Exemption from all
servile manorial obligations
4.
Burghage Tenure: The right to buy and sell land and leave it to
heirs without hindrance (taxes!)
5.
Town Law: as opposed to manorial law
6. The right to
trade freely; and
7. Minimum structure of
government.
Towns could also
petition for advanced liberties. Some towns even became self-governing
Republics. Symbols of advanced liberties were the town
seal, the
town hall, a
gallows, and a
tower.