Western Civilization Commercialization

By the 11th century, a new period of rapid change struck the Western civilizations since the fall of Rome, but none were as extensive in comparison to the early 1000's when Europe experienced extreme changes of commercialized revolution. Introducing new practices such as systematic crop rotation, the use of livestock, windmills, and iron tools, lead to agricultural advancements. Once agriculture efficiencies reached a peak, the farmers raised crop yields and the expansion of markets began to flourish, causing cerealization to fuel Europe's population growth. This period of relative prosperity urbanized Europe, while rapid development allowed the nations of Europe to engage in new economic practices, theological discourse, and intellectual thought.

With major development in the field of agriculture, Europe saw larger populations and the resources needed to maintain them. The money gained from these new resources and the taxation from the growing populations allowed for the state to invest in luxury items and institutions, creating the beginning of a middle class and a population of skilled laborers. Although this brought people into larger, more centralized towns and cities. Many people who were skilled in trade, worked in food preparation as butchers and bakers, transferring these goods from one place to another. Over time, these tradesmen formed associations with similar tradesmen of the same occupation, forming guilds to better profit from their services. A guild was a union of workers of the same craft who would employ their services in order to avoid suffering economically from the high taxes imposed upon them by their feudal lords. This in turn allowed them to sell their items or services for a fair price, and at higher quality. The guild system not only ensured a skilled class of laborers and merchants, but also allowed the lower classes and consumers to benefit from the economic

The first universities in Europe began as parts of monasteries and churches. Similar to commercial guilds, universities implemented strict rules to define the curriculum, examinations, and the granting of degrees. With the rising power of both student and master who were vital to the economy in the cities, the nations of Europe began to invest in independent universities by the mid-thirteenth century. The students of these institutions would go on to serve in the state, the church, and the guild systems. A vital part of the University experience where the liberal arts, consisting of grammar, logic, the basic sciences, mathematics, art, and music studies; further specializing in one or multiple of these schools of thought and earn a degree similar to how one would attend a university