Notes on Sections 2, 3, and 4.

Section 2 : The Revival of Trade.
- After the collapse of the Roman Empire in the 400s, trade almost died out in western Europe.
- Because of the Crusades, trade began to grow again in Europe.
- Northern Europe wanted Asian goods, and those goods could be bought in southwest Asia.
- The Italian city-states of Genoa, Pisa, and Venice became important trading centers.
- Ships from Italian cities took Crusaders to Palestine, and on the trip back they brought goods from Asia.
- Trade also began to grow in Northern Europe. 
- Flanders became an important trading center.
- German cities on the Baltic, and North Seas also became important trading centers.
- The three most important were Bremen, Hamburg, and Lubeck.
- The Crusades had increased Europeans demands for new items.
- At first, business at fairs was done through a simple barter economy. Goods and services were exchanged for other goods an services, with no money.
- The system of manufacturing that developed during the Middle Ages was known as domestic system.
- Christian church did not allow usury, or charging interest on loans.
-Capital is wealth that is earned, saved, and invested to make profits.

Section 3 : The Growth of Towns.
- Townspeople made their living by making and trading goods.
- In each town, a merchant guild had the sole right to trade there.
- Skilled workers came together in craft guilds, which were a group of talented people who made things.
- At first, a boy would serve as an apprentice, and then a young man became a journeyman.
- Towns guild memebers became middle class.
- In the Middle Ages, most northern and western European cities had fewer than 2,000 people.
- Towns offered serfs a chacne to help improve their lives.
- Some serfs escaped to towns to gain freedom.
- In the Middle Ages, cities often stood on hilltops or lay along riverbeds.