1. Merchants and Artisans By: Isabella Garcia Jaeger, Sophia Grossweiler, Gabby Becerra History 4a

2. The importance of Merchants and Artisans to the economy of the Middle Ages- Western side. -Merchants contributed to the creation of companies - created more job opportunities. -Local merchants ran out of business - could not compete with traveling merchants -Trade - Made merchants rich - Brought wealth to rulers of the land. - Many cities became rich - Became independent states and were exempt from the feudal system -Exchange of goods became common between Flanders and Italy, started off as a Barter Economy - The Counts of Champagne initiated trade fairs - A demand for gold and silver coins - Money Economy emerged - Trading companies and banking firms were set up to manage the exchange and sales of goods. - Commercial Capitalism

3. The importance of Merchants and Artisans to the economy of the Middle Ages- Eastern side - Macedonians brought economic prosperity to the empire - Sold silk and metalwork to the Western side of Europe - Made Constantinople flourish - Constantinople - had several industries producing: - Luxury goods - Military supplies - Hardware - Textiles - Merchants from Constantinople traded with merchants of the East and West - Tremendous wealth was accumulated - dominated trade - The Byzantine gold coin was the standard currency in the Mediterranean basin for over 500 years.

4. Systems that encouraged trade and professional development, as well as how they functioned. Guilds - Established when taxes placed by landowners became too excessive for the merchants and craftsman - Provided protection for members of the Guild as well as its consumers - Became involved in civic duties - Expected to provide their town with protection - Two kinds of Guilds - Merchant Guilds and Craft Guilds - Merchant Guild was a group of traders - Craft Guild was a group of craftsmen with the same occupation - Three phases to becoming a member: - Apprentice,Journeyman, and Master

5. Systems that encouraged trade and professional development, as well as how they functioned. Hanseatic League - League of merchant associations in North German and Baltic cities - Merchants travelled together for protection and alliances formed - Formed because of trade along the “salt road” between the merchant associations of Hamburg and Luebeck - Over sixty cities joined the association - Formed a loose Parliament - Main goals were to protect each other and produce a German monopoly - Produced the Baltic cog which was reliable and seaworthy - Ships sailed together for protection - “factories” served as a merchant’s base of operations on land - Three stories - League established foreign trade posts - Denmark’s attack against the trade post at Wisby led to the league’s fall

6. Systems that encouraged trade and professional development, as well as how they functioned. Fairs - Originally, the townspeople used the marketplace to trade goods - Trade fairs became the new marketplace - Could last for two weeks - Merchants were taxed by the landowner or king to “rent” their space - Created an income for landowners - Held outside - Merchants were taught to be wary of thieves - Contained various contests and entertainment

7. The Social and Political influence of merchants and artisans in the society of the Middle Ages. – Western side Political Influences - Revival of trade and the cities began to arise - Peddlers went from town to town selling their goods - Demand for gold and silver at fairs - Ports of Italy began to trade with East - English, Belgians, Germans, and Dutch began to trade with peddlers - Townspeople did not want to be treated like regular servants - Later gained other rights - People became “free” - Town governments were formed - Companies were formed - Created new jobs

8. The Social and Political influence of merchants and artisans in the society of the Middle Ages.- Western side Social Influences - Townspeople became more distinguished than regular servants - No longer a part of the “serfs” classification - Different clothing led to the differences in social classes - Social events began to take place - Medieval Drama

9. The Social and Political influence of merchants and artisans in the society of the Middle Ages.- Eastern side Political Influences - Creation of Empire depended on countryside of Constantinople - Merchants and Artisans supplied goods - Were able to pay tax revenues - Big trading network was developed with Asia, Russia, and Scandinavia - Silk Production and other luxurious goods - Put the empire in a favorable trading position - Byzantine Empire began to also trade with India, Arabs, and East Asia - Traded only simple things with the West side of Europe - Kept complete control over peasant class - Not distinguished different classes

10. The Social and Political influence of merchants and artisans in the society of the Middle Ages.- Eastern side Social Influences - Empire followed traditions of Hellenism - Education of bureaucrats - Evolution of Christianity was highly stressed - Literary and artistic creations - Paintings of religious figures - Iconoclasm later became a big controversy - Created serious tension between monks and state

11. How Dark were the Dark ages? - The Dark Ages were dark, but only to a certain extent - Merchants that traveled from village to village prospered and were able to become wealthy - Were able to purchase more things for themselves - Merchants that settled permanently however, were less probable to succeed - Could not compete with quicker investments made by traveling merchants - Were run out of the town - Towns often fell into ruin - Overpopulation in the capitals - Diseases were easily spread because of the foreigners killing thousands of people