Chapter 8 Lesson 3 Notes: Economic Expansion and Change During the High Middle Ages
Iron plowsinstead of wooden plows New harness for horses rather than oxen NEW TECHNOLOGY
Windmills used to grind grain into flour
Three-field system for growing crops instead of two-field system, allowing one field to always lay fallow (unplanted) for one year to restore fertility to soil More, better food production = increased population
Constantinople, the Middle East, and farther eastern Asia New trade routes using armed caravans on land and sea, esp. to / from REVIVAL OF TRADE Constantinople, the Middle East, and farther eastern Asia
Trade fairs to buy and sell goods and services New towns are formed with their own charters (a signed legal document granting freedom to townspeople from the lord or king)
BANKING Investment capital provided by banking houses Joint-stock ventures among partners Insurance available for merchant shipments Bills of exchange provided for long distance trading
Christians forbidden by Church to charge usury (interest) on loans so Jews became moneylenders, often causing anti-Semitism
ROLE OF GUILDS IN MEDIEVAL TOWNS Associations of merchants dominated town life Associations of craft artisans to counter merchant guilds
Steps to becoming a guild member: apprentice (trainee) at age 7; journeyman (salaried worker) by age 14; becomes master when guild accepts his “masterpiece”
SOCIAL LIFE Feudalism undermined when serfs became tenant farmers Development of a middle class (merchants, traders, artisans; later to include doctors and lawyers) Status of women improved as they entered business world Cultural diffusion caused a great European transformation by sharing ideas, cultures, and technology through trade