When analyzing trade and commerce differences between Western and Eastern Europe, Islamic encouragement towards trade and commerce in Eastern Europe in the late 8th and 9th century led to the increased importation of Eastern goods into Western Europe. This increase in exotic goods ultimately increased the wealth of Western Europe and boosted its economy. This in turn, attracted the Vikings to pillage and raid communities in order to increase their own wealth in Northern Europe.
We see in the mid-7th century the Muslim Invasions conquering Cathage, Alexandria, and Spain. By the Muslims increasing their empire, this led to a spread not only people, but also Islam. The Sunnah encourages Muslims to trade and make money to support themselves, such
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as when it states, “the best things which ye eat are those which ye earn yourselves or when your children earn.” (Of Labor and Profit.) The Sunnah creates a culture in Islam that is pro-trade and commerce. In The Sunnah, it states how in order to be a good Muslim, one must help others by giving an individual the goods he needs in order to be successful. When the individual is finally successful, he then must return the favor with other individuals that are in need, and so the cycle continues. The Sunnah also condemns merchants of lying and cheating, saying they “shall be raised up liars on the day of resurrection, except he who abstains from that which is unlawful, and does not swear falsely, but speaketh true in the price of his goods.” (Of Labor and Profit). By The Sunnah expressively saying that merchants and traders should be fair and honest, this encourages trading throughout Eastern Europe in how there is an overall trust between the merchants and sellers within the region. As Islam began to spread geographically, this encourages more trade to circulate in and out of Eastern Europe to further areas. By the middle of the 7th century, Western Europe’s economy was deteriorating due to decentralization, disease, and cultural tensions with Eastern Europe. Because there was decentralization, towns and communities reduced their short distance trading on land. Epidemics like the Bubonic Plague halted the already weakening shipping trade. Lastly, religious tensions between Eastern and Western Europe disrupted a substantial amount of trade as well. Even though there was disconnect between Eastern and Western Europe, the West became dependent on Eastern goods more so than previously due to its faltering economy. Because the West still imported Eastern goods, this helped influence the pro-trading culture within Eastern Europe. With Eastern goods coming to Western Europe, this increased the wealth that was circulating throughout the region, which eventually caught the attention of the Vikings of Scandinavia. Originally, the Vikings were traders as well; mainly trading raw goods such as leather and fur, for manufactured ones, like coinage and pottery. The Vikings were aware of the changing trading situations between Western and Eastern Europe because they did much of their trading along the Northern Arc, encompassing the Caspian, Baltic, and North Seas, Russian Rivers, and the English Channel. The Vikings were also known to go south and east to trade, going along the Southern Arc, the trade network surrounding the Mediterranean, and as well going as far as Constantinople and as east as Asia. (Bianchini, Lecture). Only until there was major economic fallout in Scandinavia was when the Vikings turned to violence in order to create a profit. In the 8th century, Scandinavia has a population boom, which ultimately creates an economic shortage at home for the Scandinavian people.
(Bianchini, Lecture). There became extensive amounts of landless sons because of this demographic takeoff, and they eventually turn to piracy in order to make a profit. However, while Scandinavian men turned outwards for financial gain, also in the 8th century Western Europe’s economy began to improve. This positive economic turn was due to the influx of Arabic silver into the European economy. (Bianchini, Lecture). The influx of silver was mainly cause of the European slave trade that was happening across the Mediterranean and North Africa. The decrease of people and increase of silver became a major stimulant for the Western European economy (Bianchini, Lecture). Eventually, Western Europe’s progressing economy caught the Vikings’ attention. By realizing the wealth growing in Western Europe and that is was readily accessible, this was enticing for the Vikings to see and wanted it for …show more content…
themselves. What made the Vikings so successful at raiding was their focus on simple wealth.
They were nomadic, pagan people who did not raid others for the purpose of gaining territory or promoting their religious beliefs. They would ravage communities of their valuables and return to Scandinavia so they would be able to support themselves. Because their main focus was obtaining wealth, they paid immense attention to the trading patterns happening throughout Eastern and Western Europe. This attributes to why they travelled to Western Europe to attack just as the economy flourished. They also paid attention to political changes in Western Europe, as when there was political confusion or tension, they knew that area would be vulnerable to attack. (Bianchini, Lecture).
Reasons attributing to the Viking’s success included their inability to be stopped by Western Europe and the fear that was installed into the residents of Western Europe. The viciousness of the attacks is clearly described in the Three Sources on the Ravages of the Northmen in Frankland, c. 843 – 912. The collection of these three texts describe various Viking attacks throughout Frankland, giving the reader a clear idea of the horror that the people of Frankland endured when attempting to resist the
Vikings.
During the period 1550-1800, the colonization of the Americas by European civilizations led to massive shifts in economic power from the West to East and vice-versa. An increase in global competition among western civilizations and against their asian counterparts drove Europeans to search for wealth elsewhere, and thus colonizing the Americas. One of the easiest ways to generate a profit, increase a civilizations wealth, and ultimately their military power was through the silver trade. In monopolizing said trade, Europe was able to establish a somewhat steady economic connection to the very wealthy Asian civilizations. However, european nations were struggling to keep control of the silver trade out of Asian hands, which caused major shifts
The modern world is linked through networks of communication and exchange between peoples. These exchanges between regions has changed cultures, economics, and politics. Through time the cultural influence between regions has consisted of many factors and elements but comes down to the spread of religion and religious teachings , movement of peoples, technological and cultural advancements affecting trade and commerce. Beginning with the Middle Ages in the years 1100-1500 , Africa, Asia, and Europe developed and influenced each other in several different ways. Starting with religion. The birth of Islam in the Middle East rapidly spread throughout Afro- Eurasia. Islam was attractive to people who were uninterested in the requirements of Christianity and the Church.
During the 15th century Europe had numerous changes. The population expanded rapidly which gave rise to new classes of merchants. European nations were very wealthy when it came to spices. Therefore, they traded them on the land route from Asia. These land routes were controlled by the Turkish Empire, which lead to many problems for the countries who were trying to trade these spices and acquire other valuables. This then steered them to begin searching for other routes of trade to essentially cut out the “middle man”. A race then began to erupt between many European countries such as Portugal, Spain, France, and England. These four countries all wanted to be the first to discover new land. However, Portugal pulled ahead and sailed along
... had control various territories. Many merchants learned the Islamic language and became custom to their traditions. This allowed for its culture to spread and Islam had received converts. The trading industry has a major effect on the economy and allows the spread of one’s culture.
TheVikings have been sailing for thousands of years (Steel 1). The Vikings traveled for 2 years this was called a Vikings trial (Steel 1). They would go out in search for land and new wonders in life. They would build their own boats out of wood and hides of animals. They were known as the best sailors of their time.
The blood-thirsty Vikings had such a strong influence and impact on Western Europe that their impact of Viking contact spread throughout the world and lives on today. Three significant ways they affected the world was by the Vikings amazing technology skills of ship building and navigation as well as their polytheism religion.
This book is a very important primary source for historians because it contains the only primary source concerning the Vikings before they converted to Islam, and many other accounts of important information including Viking raids. The book shows how the Eastern Vikings lived and how the Muslim world interacted with them. It also gives insight into the state of Islam in the tenth through twelfth century. Almost all of the information is this book is relevant to historians and the eye witness accounts are very useful concerning the people and places in this time period.
In The Sea Wolves: A History of the Vikings, Brownsworth argues that the Vikings attacked Europe for money and glory. Vikings are feared, dominate, and superior among all the people in this time period. The Vikings developed the use of longships to use in fighting, they were very diverse in land and sea attacks and ¬¬¬¬they conquered places that allowed them to have better positions for different things. In Sea Wolves, Brownsworth explains who the Vikings were and why they did the things they did. Furthermore, he expresses how the Vikings development of longships to gain control of land, the different lands they conquered, and the different rulers that ruled in this time period.
Most people think of the Vikings as rude, rough, mean people who simply wanted to destroy and steal everything. But is that really true? Was there a reason behind the Vikings rage and destructive mentality? Their way of life was different from most of the people at the time. But they were very skilled at many things.
When Europeans invaded Asia they reproduced many of the physical surroundings of their homeland. The city became commercialized and extremely financial. It was the chief port for the ships which brought in the spices of the East to Europe. For those who lived on or nearby the coast of Africa the European exploration had a great affect. As the trade in slaves increased during the sixteenth through eighteenth century, about a million people were taken out of their homes and deported to plantations in the New World. The arrival of the Europeans also affected the conquerors and the conquered. Ancient social and political structures were tore apart and replaced with European institutions, religion, language, and culture.
Typically, the image of a Viking is a barbaric, bearded man plundering and destroying a neighboring village. This is actually the stereotypical viewpoint. In actuality, Vikings, have a very different image. For example, Vikings did not wear furry boots or furry armor, they did not have horned helmets, they invaded Britain, and they also were the first to discover America! They were also experts in nautical technology, crafts, trading, warfare and many other skills (Jonsson 1). With all of these traits, the Vikings seem like an unstoppable force in the European continent. But, who were the Vikings? The Vikings were actually venturesome seafarers. This means that they were travelers who were constantly exploring and looking for new areas of land. There roots can be traced all the way back to 6000 B.C. were nomadic men traveled in primitive crafts up the Denmark coast. Fast forward two millennia and these nomadic people have established permanent homes, but still using the boat for food and travel. As stated before, they were not just raiders, although they did do this frequently, but they were actually expert traders, trading all around the world. It wasn’t until around 793 A.D. that a Viking explosion took place in northern Europe (Jonsson 2). Raids began to take place on neighboring villages and their places of worship. To some this is the only type of knowledge they have about Vikings. However, their culture was something to be admired. Trading, religion, and everyday life are all important parts of a Viking culture.
In 793 a vessel of Northmen landed on the shore of Lindisfarne. These massive brutish mean stormed the shore, to find a beautifully erect monastery waiting to supply their greedy needs. They plundered and pillaged heartlessly as thou there were no soul within them. Their piratish actions left no room for remorse and death in their footsteps. It is hard to escape the medieval view of who the Vikings are. They have been played upon as savages, heartless and hungry, a long with animated versions of brave warriors for children’s sake. In truth the Vikings have been many things and historians have in fact proved that raids began before Lindisfarne in 793. However, neither the Vikings nor their “victims” escaped the long the impact on Europe.
Meanwhile, the Crusades had expanded trade routes to the East and given Europeans a taste for imported goods… and luxurious textiles,” (History).
In the earliest years of the Vikings, there was little history recorded due to the polytheistic views that they followed. After the Vikings converted to Christianity, there were eventually written documents created pertaining to their existence. In Viking Warfare, I.P. Stephenson states that the Vikings “first described attack took place in AD 789”(11). The Vikings were also known as Norsemen. They were great storytellers, and that is perhaps how society knows so much about them today. The stories that the Norsemen told were called Sagas. Today, Vikings are often depicted as murderous savages, but while they were not pillaging villages they were actually quite a peaceful civilization. There were three countries that Vikings evolved from; Norway, Denmark, and Sweden. Although it may seem that all Vikings were on the same side, they quarreled with each other as well. Despite the fact that Viking battles were bloody and gruesome they were also known to be the most hygienic out of many of the earlier civilizations. There was not a huge percentage of Vikings that went out and raided but when they did they made a huge impact on what Vikings are now known for. The success of Viking warfare and raids relied primarily on the uses of armor, weapons, long ships, and battle tactics.
“Gold, God and Glory” were motivators of exploration and led Europeans to colonize in ways that fostered economic development and Christianization. The conquest of European expansion and or conquest of the 15-16th century was mainly led by the declination of resources as well as essentials for new ones. European nation-states rivaled by two nations wanting to gain these increasingly scarce resources due to the depletion. This meant that all nation-states were aggressively looking for new land. They dreamed of finding new territories and gaining enormous riches.