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Explain the role of Italy in the world economy?
- North Italy takes the lead:
- -Abandoned cities towards recovery: early medieval period: Venice, Pisa, Genoa expands during the Muslim invasion in the 900s-the link to trade.
- -Italy becomes the centre for long-distant trade
- -Intermediaries: advanced East connected with the poor west.
- -Migration→increased population→productivity→Market expansion/trade=Modern market
- The role of Italy 1100-1200
- - Luxury goods: import of spices, silk, porcelain, brocades, precious stones (China)
- -Bulky goods: alum and cotton (levante)
- -Re-export of goods from the North-west: wool, salt, fur, timber-linen cloth, metal goods, glass.
- -Venetian trades secured a favoured and privileged position in trade with the Byzantine Empire.
- -Genoa defeated Pisa: control of the trade with west mediterranean and northern africa
- Northern Italy 1200s-1350s
- -Venice and Genoa: centres for trade, banking, financial activities
- -Capital growth
- -Increased agricultural productivity close to major cities →urbanization
- -Inventions spread: book-keeping, banking (bank notes form China), banking terminology- financial instruments needed for trade and capital formation
- -Urban markets and trade constituted a pull factor for economic and social/institutional development.
- Modern economic features; North Italy:
- -Labour services replaced by money rents
- -Increased productivity by means of technology→migration to cities
- -The market based system necessitated feudal decline: competing cities
- -In europe only the Netherlands and present Belgium had areas of similar economic significance: high population density, advanced agriculture, markets and commercial centres.
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Explain Chinas link with Europe?
- -Chinese wealth and skills in craft work and metallurgy attracted Italian traders 12-1300s
- -Inventions:Compass, banknotes, gunpowder
- -Open for trade and exchanges (The mogol empire)
- -The silk route to Europe and the mid East
- -Indian ocean dominated by Arab merchants & traders-links to China
- -China from mid 1300s: economic growth and population growth-large cities -agricultural expansion
- -Centralized government & productive agriculture
- -More developed technology than the west
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Describe the Hanseatic League 1358?
- -Mercantile and political: almost 200 major cities in North sea and Baltic Sea
- -Visby: Entrance to Russia-via Daugava and Novgorod
- -Lübeck (f. 1159) the "queen" of the Hansa
- -The cog-Suberior for trade (efficiency)
- -Exchanging fur, grain, timber, flex, hopes, for salt from Germany and France
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Describe the Hanseatic organization?
- -Low internal transaction costs
- -High external transaction costs
- -Information monopoly on prices
- -MNC: centre in Lübeck- network of cities
- -Innovative in technology & business practises
- -Contributed to urbanization/city growth
- -Strengthened business
- -German language becomes "lingua Franca"
- -Spread of christianity and German customs/culture
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Describe the fall of the Hansa
- Pressures from:
- -Expanding capitalism
- -Rise of territorial states- centralized nation sates in the west (unified states) eg. Sweden
- -Internal political conflicts in non unified German speaking areas.
- -Ideological and social changes; 1600s on: new class of merchants in cities- identifying themselves with the nation state instead of the feudal power
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The North sea and the Baltic sea 1500-1800
- -More important due to Atlantic trade(Britain advances + Netherlands, Sweden, Denmark, Russia
- -Trade routes In eastern europe becomes peripheral
- -Swedish kind-G.Wasa-reduction of church assets
- -Better ships, new goods & global markets
- -Slave trade
- -1721- Treaty of Nystad: Sweden lost Estonia
- -1809: Sweden lost Finland
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