Chapter 2 Expansion of Trade
The Impact of Trade Italy and the Polo family
What do you know about The infamous Marco Polo? 3
Trade & Expansion Before the Plague Europe was expanding Trade played a huge role in this Why is trade so important for expansion/growth? 4
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The Silk Road(s) Polos Go to Route Connected Mediterranean of the West Pacific Ocean of the East Traded Goods Precious gems/stones Spices Perfumes Fabrics Knowledge and Ideas? What? 7
The Polo Family Wasn t The 1 st! Trade was established before during The Crusades What were the Crusades? Holy Wars 8
Palestine = The Holy Land What caused them? Land of Palestine Religious sites sacred to.. Jews Christians Muslims Under Christian Control 9
Palestine = The Holy Land! 7 th Century Turks Enter Kill and Conquer Under Muslim Control 1095 Pope Urban II launches war 1 st time lost / 2 nd time win 10
Palestine = The Holy Land! Now there was a Christian Kingdom in Palestine for about 100 years 1187 Sultan Saladin United Muslims and together they regained the land There 4 Majors Crusades total 11
Was There Anything Good to Come of This? Thousands died Land was ruined Money was spent but Trade occurred and Muslim culture was explored Why is this important?! 12
Why was Italy such a powerful hub city? 13
The Lay of the Land Europe was a very different place back then with different borders / geography Most were more like kingdoms ruled by Monarchs! Italy in particular were city states! Politically independent Rural area surrounding it Rural areas were called Hinterlands 14
Success by Luck..? As realtors say Location Location Location! Italy was prime why? Geography Closest to the Northern Africa & Mediterranean Sea Easy access point with low shipping costs 15
Success by Luck..? As realtors say Location Location Location! Italy was prime why? Climate Warmer climate so trade was never interrupted by cold/snow Better growing seasons = bountiful crops 16
Success by Luck..? As realtors say Location Location Location! Italy was prime why? Leadership While most od Europe were kingdoms Northern Italy was not It was divided into city-states Their own rule = more wealth and growth! 17
Success by Luck..? As realtors say Location Location Location! Italy was prime why? Social Organization Italy = not a lot of Feudalism Nobles lived in the cities Many involved in politics and business = growing wealth/economy 18
Competition for Trade! 19
Competing City-States Everyone wanted to expand and grow Too much competition so lots of battling for position Where you were mattered More exposed vs less exposed Venice was ideal Good access Easily protected Grew to a trading superpower! 20
Competing City-States So merchants would travel and buy the goods Negotiate and buy low then re-sell high Ex: Spices, luxury fabric Raw Materials were big trade too! Buy raw wool sell to cloth makers! The Polo family were huge merchants! 21
Another ReVolt! Remember when peasants revolved against nobles? Oh it happened again except Ciompi (wool carders) did it too Black Plague = deaths Deaths = high unemployment Ciompi had no guild allegiance (they were workers) Guilds / Government said they couldn t make their own Revolt Won for a little (lower class/higher class) then outsted 22
Trade = Banks With growing trade came wealth & with wealth comes banks (banking houses) Florence got so big and powerful its currency was the most valuable Usury Charging interest on borrowed money The interest led to a lot of wealth Church did not like this practice Eventually supported it sort of 23
Trade = Banks Money = power to them so lots of feuding between people Everyone wanted more so lots of fighting and wars between people Eventually this led to people stepping forward to lead Lots of promises to bring people together / keep things fair Good one stayed and spread word across Europe, increased trade, grew wealth Bad ones GONE! 24
Economics + Citizens Black Death = Depression (Financial) Italy did not rebound until the 1500s while individual merchants / bankers got rich Why does this matter? Robert Lopez (historian) argued it caused people with money to invest in arts and communities due to no real business opportunities People were happy and culture grew! 25