Life improved for people in the late Middle Ages.

•Population grew

•Better ways of farming helped farmers grow more food.

•Peasants left farms to wok in villages as skilled artisans.

•Merchants exchanged luxury goods with the East.

26 – 1 Trading Centers

Venetians depended on the sea for a living.

•Exchanged their products for wheat (Italy) and fabrics and spices (Byzantines).

•They fished in the Adriatic and produced salt from the water.

•Developed an effective banking system

•Shipped cloth from mainland towns to other areas.

•Its navies drove Muslims from the Mediterranean insuring safety for merchants.

Flanders was a trading town that developed in northern Europe.

•Italian towns quarreled among themselves over profits and trade routes.

•Raised sheep and used wool to develop a weaving industry.

•Rivers joined together into the North Sea and harbors were built where they met.

Flanders became an international port.

•It was an important link between Constantinople and North Sea.

•Traders relied on English shepherds for supplies of wool

•Finish cloth was sent back to England clothiers.

Who was Marco Polo? Where was he from?Where did he travel? Why?

26 – 2 Merchants

Merchants were an important part of European life.

•The first merchants were adventures.

•They traveled in armed groups in open wagons pulled by horses.

Medieval fairs

•Merchants stopped to trade with each other at special gatherings.

•Fairs were held once a year and sponsored by nobles.

•Merchants would buy and sell goods settle disputes and show their wares.

The medieval bank

•Merchants began to use precious metals to pay for goods.

•Italian money changers tested and weighed many coins.

•The banc or bench was where they sat in the rear of the fair.

Marketplaces grew into towns.

•Merchants settled permanently in places to store their goods.

•They chose places along trade routes near a castle or monastery.

•German towns came to be called burgs.

•Markets became centers of business and social life.

26 – 3 Living ConditionsLiving conditions were poor in the towns of the Middle Ages.•Buildings were jammed close together.•Sewers were open.•Garbage was thrown in the streets.•Rats brought the “Black Death”•Fires were common.

Burghers were rich merchants.•Their day started with morning prayers and ended at 9 PM.•Burghers went to the docks or markets and met with their business partners.•Wife kept house.•The family at 2 meals – 10 AM and 6 PM.

Burghers wanted to end feudal ways.•Did not want to pay taxes or market fees•Resented having to ask nobles’ permission•Did not like serving in the army•Had a sense of loyalty to town, not noble (or king)•Built schools, hospitals and churches

Charters affected town life.•Communes were formed to work against the nobles.•People wanted to establish local government.•Charters were documents allowing towns to run own affairs.

•Elect officials•Collect taxes•Set charges for merchants•Public works•Enforce laws with courts•Stocks were used for minor crimes.

Europe’s Bubonic Plague

What was the Bubonic Plague? How did itChange Europe? How many forms were there?

26 – 4 Guilds

Purpose of Guilds

•Business group to make sure members are treated equally.

•Members lived and worked in the same area.

Artisans and craftsmen were guild members.

•Carpenters

•Shoemakers

•Blacksmiths

•Masons

•Tailors

•Weavers

•Seamstresses

•Embroiderers

•Laundresses

•MaidservantsGuild rules

•Non-competition

•Could not advertise

•Had to work the same number of hours

•Had to employ the same number of workers

•Had to pay the same rate

Three stages of guild membership

APPRENTICE

•Lived with master and his family (attic); parents paid to have him taken on

•Subject to the master

•Learning period lasted 2 – 7 years

•Not expected to get married

JOURNEYMAN

•Entitled to earn a wage

•Had to work on own time to produce a masterpiece

•Must use his own tools and raw materials

MASTER

•Completed a masterpiece and voted to be accepted in guild

•Economy guided the vote acceptance

Guilds also provided for mutual aid and other social functions.

•Provided funeral expenses for members

•Covered members with a type of health insurance

•Helped in the construction of churches

•Patrons for holiday (holy day) celebrations

•Contributed to emergence of education in Europe

Medieval Manuscripts

Who maintained the manuscripts? How were they made?

Apothecaries’

Guild

Innkeepers’

Guild

Writers’

Guild

Masons’

Guild

Tentmakers’

Guild

Jewelers’ Guild

Metalworkers’

Guild

Potters’

Guild

Armorers’

Guild

Woodcrafters’

Guild

Glassworkers’

Guild

Miners’

Guild

Clothiers’

Guild

Physicians’

Guild

Locksmiths’

Guild

Guild Guess: