Trade Networks
Trade networks were a vital part of the political, economical, and cultural developments of Europe, the Middle East and Africa, and China. A trade route is a network used to transport goods to other countries. Trade networks made a huge impact on the political, economical, and cultural developments in China, the Middle East and Africa, and Europe.
The Chinese were greatly influenced because of trade. Marco Polo was a political influence because of trade. He left Venice, and crossed Persia and Central Asia to reach China. He then spent seventeen years in the emperor's service. Finally Marco Polo returned home and wrote an account of the splendor and wealth of China, which would not become popular until the printing press invention.
…show more content…
One political influence was the spread of Christianity. Differences had emerged in time over church leadership. The Byzantine Christians rejected the pope’s claim of authority over all Christians. During the Middle Ages the two branches, the Roman Church and the Byzantine church, drifted apart. In 1054 the Great Schism occurred, separating the Byzantine church, which became known as the Eastern, or Greek Orthodox Church, and the Roman Catholic Church. Europe also had many economical impacts. One extremely vital impact on Europe was the Renaissance. The Renaissance was a time of creativity and great change. It marked the shift to an urban society in which trade had a huge effect. During the Renaissance new technology and ideas were being traded. Because of Italy’s location on the Mediterranean Sea trade was encouraged with the Muslim world. Italian merchants led the growth of trade across Europe. Trade also provided the wealth that fueled the Renaissance. There were many cultural influences in Europe, one influence was from the Roman empire. At the center of the city, Byzantine emperors and empresses lived in splendor. They dressed in extravagant silk and attended chariot races at the Hippodrome arena. The arena was a reminder of Roman heritage. As the heir to Roam it blended ancient Greek, Roman, and Christian influences with other customs of the Mediterranean world. Because of all these influences
networks? (Indian Ocean, Mediterranean, trans-Saharan, Silk Routes)After a global trade network was developed, focus shifted away from regional trading networks, therefore leading to less dependence on them. However, these routes were still used to trade New World goods throughout Eurasia.
| * Trade was very international. * Silk roads linked Eurasia, and goods traded hands many times along the roads.
Between the time period 476 and 1200, many continuities and changes occurred in Europe. At the beginning of this time period, the Roman Empire fell splitting Europe into Western Europe and Eastern Europe, later known as the Byzantine Empire. Western Europe faced Germanic invasions and lack of unity while the Byzantine Empire developed as a prosperous continuation of the Roman Empire. However, by the end of this time period the Crusades had weakened the Byzantine Empire but had allowed contact between Western Europe and the Islamic world. As a result, many changes concerning political organization and social interactions occurred in Europe between 476 and 1200.
The Silk Road was a network of trade routes that extended from the Mediterranean to China. These trade routes nurtured the spread in religion, diseases, wealth, culture, and products. Buddhism became the dominant faith
Silk Roads - The Silk Roads were a network of trade routes, formally established during the Han Dynasty of China, which linked the regions of the ancient world in commerce.
“No nation was ever ruined by trade.” This quote was said by Benjamin Franklin in the late 1700s. These words are so simple, and it seems like anyone could have said them. However, this quote has a bigger meaning in that throughout world history, trade has been so important to so many countries and it has led to many empires successes. It has occurred for a very long time, and it has progressed dramatically. Trade has changed a lot, but some parts of trade stayed the same over a long periods of time. In the era between 300 CE and 1450 CE, trade between Eurasia and Africa changed because the empires and kingdoms in power were replaced and their control over trade differed;
Throughout early history, civilizations often sought to receive resources from afar to sustain their societies and keep themselves thriving, and to this end trade relations and eventually trade routes began to emerge. This aided civilizations in their discovery of foreign items that they may use to better their societies. These items traded ranged from complex technology to something as simple as nutmeg. The main trade routes that were utilized in East and South Asia were the silk road and the Indian Ocean Trade Network. In the 7th- 12th centuries, both the silk road and Indian ocean trade route had affected east and south Asia by the introduction of religions such as Buddhism changing government forms and altering the belief systems of society and changing how individuals live their daily lives, however differences were present in the impact that these routes had on daily lives, such as the Indian Ocean Trade Route giving rise to an entire new culture in Africa known as the Swahili and leading to the innovation of the sailing boat known as the Dhow, and the silk road led to the transmission of religion and resources throughout Eurasia and it led to utilization of caravans and animals as a means of trade.
2. The technology advancement of transportation and commercial use created mass traffic of trade and its routes stretched widespread for its current and new trade businesses.
How did the Byzantine Empire impact Europe? The Byzantine Empire impacted Europe in many ways and one of them is the religion. It all started with constantine making the empire one of the first religious empires, worshipping the christian religion. The Byzantine empire was then filled with religious churches and the christianity spread all across of Europe.
Western Europe triumphed from their princes and the Pope ruling since they soon overcame The Byzantine Empire. This was because having more than one ruler can hold together an empire or countries better than one ruler. The princes had control of the government in their areas, and the Pope had control of the entire religion in Western Europe. Having the Pope and the princes dealing with separate issues is better than having just one emperor deal with all of their issues. Another difference of the two halves of Europe was the monasteries and nunneries. Western Europe believed that they should have both priests and nuns teaching and preaching to other people. The Byzantine Empire did not feel that nuns were needed in their empire to preach and to teach other people. This was the most likely cause for the many people in the empire converting to their barbaric enemies religions. If The Byzantine Empire had used nuns to preach and teach their people, instead of having just priests and monasteries, the people would not have converted the their enemies. Hence, The Byzantine Empire, and Western Europe were greatly different than each other.
He traveled farther than any of his predecessors during his 24-year journey along the Silk Road, reaching China and Mongolia, where he became a confidant of Kublai Khan. The story of his journey is told in Il Milione, commonly called The Travels of Marco Polo. Polo's adventures influenced European mapmakers and inspired Christopher Columbus. While the Mongolians political influence in China was more dramatic in the short term of it, the Mongols without a doubt influenced China less than they did to Russia. Economically though, the Mongols had a broad impact on both Russia and China.
During the time period 600 C.E. to 1450 C.E., trade networks were relied upon to transfer goods, ideas, and services. Both the Trans-Saharan and Silk Road trade routes depended on animals, luxury goods, and economic growth. However, the trade routes differed in animals, types of luxury goods, and success of economic growth.
Silk was an important item that was traded and began during the Han Dynasty. The Silk Road was a network of trade routes and the first marketplace that allowed people to spread beliefs and cultural ideas across Europe and Asia. Merchants and traders of many countries traveled technologies, diseases and religion on the Silk Road; connecting the West and East. They also imported horses, grapes, medicine products, stones, etc. and deported apricots, pottery and spices. The interaction of these different cultures created a cultural diffusion. The road consisted of vast and numerous trade routes that went between China and Europe.
Globalization Dating back to the early Middle Ages and progressing to modern day, globalization is perhaps the heart of the world. International trade, airline services, networking, capital flows, and technological advances are just a few examples of what defines globalization. Considering that airplanes, online networking, technology, and capital flows were not thought of during the Middle Ages; one may ask, “How was globalization an important factor during the Middle Ages?” For thousands of years, individuals, groups, and territories have been conversing in trade of all sorts. Even from great distances, countries were able to discover a means of trade.
From 120 BCE to the 16th century, trade was a remarkable part of the Eastern Hemisphere. It played a vital role in the kingdoms and city-states that made up all of what the 21st century calls Europe, Asia, and Africa. Trade was critically important in this time period because of the diverse climate that was scattered all across the continent. Due to the climate, every location had different resources that were provided by nature. Without specific resources, specific goods could not be manufactured. Not only that, but since technology was not as advanced as it is now, specific products were not able to exist in areas. The only way to obtain those products was to trade. Two of the many routes that a merchant could use to trade were the Silk Road and the Sea Roads along the Indian Ocean. Of those two roads, the Indian trade route had the most positive impact around the world. It facilitated the trading of mass goods since rather than using animals to transport goods, they used boats. It also provided a type of wind known as Monsoon wind that merchants could benefit from. Finally, the Indian Ocean trade route stretched out at a greater distance than the silk road, which impacted the goods that could be traded. Overall, the Indian Ocean trade route had the best impact in the Eastern Hemisphere and even the world.