The feudal economy

In the High Middle Ages (VI-X centuries), the economy was based on subsistence
agriculture. The peasants were very important because they paid taxes and worked to
keep the clergy and nobility. There were two categories of peasants and serfs free men.

1. The free peasants or settlers were classified francs and villains. The settlers leased the
feudal lord a small plot of land; the villains were small landowners who lived in villages
or

towns

and

subsisted

on

what

they

surrendered

their

land.

2. Servants belonged by birth to the estate of his lord and could never leave his fiefdom.
The lords possessed them, their work and their property. Some servants performing
domestic work and should remain in the house of his master or one of their farms. Others,
however, Mr. cultivated land, but they had their own home and fed with the product of
their work. Most peasants in a situation of poverty and exploitation. Families lived in a
one room shack, where there was a table, some benches and straw mattresses.

Agricultural expansion
By the end of the eleventh century there was an increase in agricultural production. This
was due mainly to the climate became warmer and technological innovations such as the
following were introduced:
1. The use of wheeled plow, which not only allowed to open furrows, but also remove dirt.
2. The replacement of the ox by the horse to plow the fields. Although the horse was more
expensive

and

not

very

effective

in

mountainous

areas,

plowing

faster.

3. The introduction of the three-course rotation, alternating different crops in each of the
three plots where a crop field was divided: the first year wheat was sown; the second
year, another cereal or legume; the third year is left to rest the field. Thus, the soil is not
exhausted.

The situation of the peasants

"Ciruea villagers must work one day a week in the lands of the monastery of St. Andrew
in various tasks: plowing, digging, mowing, vendimiar or fix roads, as ordered them
merino monastery. This, in turn, will feed them half wheat bread and half a loaf of wheat
and barley mixture, cheese and onions; and for dinner, two cups of cooked vegetables.
Both the food and the dinner, the villagers will take three measures of wine. The four days
they have to work a month in the lands of San Andrs, one of them, farmers will have
meat for dinner. "

The revival of trade

During the late Middle Ages (XI-XIII centuries) dominated trade and urban life. From the
twelfth century, profound changes occurred in Europe: the rural and closed own
economy of feudalism, became gradually in an open, trading economy. Hence the
industry, and money markets would regain importance. The commercial revival reached
its

peak

in

the

thirteenth

century

due

to

the

following

factors:

1. Increasing agricultural production.

2. The peace that Europe lived, because after several centuries of invasions and conflicts
had security on the roads and in the seas.
3. The population growth, resulting from the decline in wars and better nutrition.
4. The Crusades, which opened new trade routes and revitalized trade between East and
West.

New forms of commerce

The first type of trade that became important in the Middle Ages was the local trade, ie,
which took place between the countryside and the city. Through this trade, free peasants
and the feudal lords sold their surplus to the city: agricultural products, wood, leather
and wool, mainly. Then, with the profits, buying more processed goods, such as fabrics
and tools. Later, in the thirteenth century, they reached important fairs, which were large
markets located in the contact zones between the Mediterranean and the Nordic trade,
where merchants came from all over Europe. The fairs were not permanent markets; They
celebrated only in certain periods of the year.
Trade routes between Europe and Asia
For long-distance trade, the merchants had three ways: a) by the land within Europe,
costly and dangerous-for as tariffs; b) the waterway, which took advantage of the
channels of large rivers-was safer, but was also burdened by taxes; and c) the Seaway,
much cheaper and accepted despite the risks of shipwreck and piracy. Large commercial
areas were in northern Italy (Venice and Genoa), who dominated trade in the East; and
Flanders, enjoying a strategic location in the North Sea. The Flemish region belonged to
an important business alliance, the Hanseatic League, organized by German merchants.
This was a network of trade houses bought and sold goods from England to Russia. The
Hanseatic League came to include 200 cities.