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TRADE ROUTESIn the 12th and 13th centuries, a general growth inpopulation, towns, and wealth, together with devel-opments in shipbuilding and banking, helped toestablish strong international trade in Europe. Thegeneral basis for this trade was the exchange ofraw materials and necessities, including cloth(Europe’s main export) from northern Europe, forluxuries imported from Asia through Mediterraneantowns such as Venice. Along trade routes, and par-ticularly at seaports and on navigable rivers, impor-tant trading cities developed. Often trading citiesallied together for mutual protection and to extendtheir trade. The famous Hanseatic League of Baltictowns dominated north European trade in the late1300s.

Major European trade routes ● Main north-south axis of international trade: land

routes from northern European centers of com-merce to the Mediterranean; sea routes from theEuropean Mediterranean to the Middle East

● East-west land routes distributing goods all overEurope from the main north-south routes

● Sea route (14th century onward) linking Veniceand Genoa with northern European towns

GREAT FAIRSThe chief forum of exchange for international com-merce was the great fair. Champagne, in the heartof commercial Europe, was an important location ofgreat fairs. Merchants brought goods by river orroad to sell from open booths. Big fairs were heldfour times a year, often during religious festivals totake advantage of the influx of pilgrims. In the1400s, the Champagne fairs declined because ofdisruption caused by the Hundred Years’ War andbecause Italian traders began sending goods tonorthern Europe by sea. Seaports, such as Bruges,became more permanent and became importantcenters of exchange.

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xi Khanbalik

WORLD HISTORY ON FILE™ 2.17THE EXPANDING WORLD INTENSIFIED HEMISPHERIC INTERACTIONS, 1000–1500

Hanseatic League and Italian City-States 1200–1450

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HANSEATIC LEAGUEBy the 1200s, German expansion eastward into theBaltic region had resulted in the establishment of manynew towns and an increased demand for goods.Merchants in new and older north German towns beganto join together in a trade league. By about 1358, theunion had become known as the Hanseatic League. Byassociating with one another, the German towns aimedto exclude all trading rivals, protect their ships frompirates, and expand their markets.

Hanseatic League at its height in the 1370s ● Included more than 50 cities ● Dominated all trade in the North and Baltic seas and

within northern Germany. Important centers wereLübeck and Danzig (controlling Baltic trade), Hamburgand Bremen (controlling North Sea trade), andCologne (controlling trade on the Rhine River)

● Controlled wool trade between England and Flanders,and northern imports of furs and wax from Russia

● After conflict with rival Denmark (c. 1370), controlledthe salt herring industry (salt herring was a staple diet)

ITALIAN CITY-STATESIn 1200, northern Italy was part of the Holy RomanEmpire, but several city-states had achieved near inde-pendence. In Lombardy, cities joined in leagues formutual advantage and protection, but seafaring cities,such as Venice and Genoa, remained in conflict overtrade markets. Italian city-states, with their ancientmonopoly on Mediterranean trade routes, profited fromthe expansion of trade in northern European goods forAsian luxuries. Merchant and banking classes grewwealthy from the growing market and became patrons ofthe arts.

Developments in Italian city-states, 1300s and 1400s● Commercial wars between city-states: Venice gained

control of the spice trade, and Genoa, the silk trade● Introduction of banks and a new system of credit ● Private trading companies with trading posts in major

European towns formed by wealthy merchants● The Medici family in Florence established the largest

trade and banking company in Europe. Florencebecame a center for textiles (rivaling Flanders) and afocus for the Renaissance from as early as 1300

Long-distance trade was an im

portant part of many A

sian and African cultures. S

ome goods could only be

found in certain areas. For exam

ple, for a long time, silk w

as produced only in China. S

pices such ascloves and cinnam

on only grew in S

outheast Asia. To m

eet the demands for these goods, regular trade

routes developed throughout south and east Asia.

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