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By the early 13th century (c. 1200 CE), long-distance trade networks across Eurasia and the Mediterranean had regained a level of interconnectivity not seen since late antiquity. After the political fragmentation that followed the fall of the Western Roman Empire (c. 476 CE), economic recovery, population growth, and institutional stabilization gradually revived exchange between Europe, the Islamic world, Byzantium, and Asia. Trade routes, both maritime and overland, once again linked distant regions, enabling sustained movement of goods, capital, and information across cultural and political boundaries.
Despite persistent conflict, including the Crusades (1096–1291), commerce between Christian and Muslim realms flourished. The Mediterranean functioned as a major artery of exchange, where Italian maritime republics expanded their commercial reach, while Islamic states such as the Ayyubid Sultanate under Saladin (reign 1171–1193) controlled key urban and transit hubs. The Eastern Roman (Byzantine) Empire, though territorially reduced, continued to serve as a vital intermediary between East and West. At the same time, overland routes through Central Asia, soon to be stabilized under Mongol rule (from the early 13th century), fed into this system. Europe increasingly exported woolen textiles and metal goods, importing silk, spices, and luxury products from the eastern Mediterranean, India, and China, marking a decisive re-integration of Eurasian commerce on the eve of the Mongol era.
I would like to thank @Martin_Maansson for his extensive research, inspiration, and amazing map of the medieval trade routes.
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Cite This Work
APA Style
Netchev, S. (2022, May 24). Map of the Trade Networks in the Middle Ages, c. 1200. World History Encyclopedia. https://www.worldhistory.org/image/15923/map-of-the-trade-networks-in-the-middle-ages-c-120/
Chicago Style
Netchev, Simeon. "Map of the Trade Networks in the Middle Ages, c. 1200." World History Encyclopedia, May 24, 2022. https://www.worldhistory.org/image/15923/map-of-the-trade-networks-in-the-middle-ages-c-120/.
MLA Style
Netchev, Simeon. "Map of the Trade Networks in the Middle Ages, c. 1200." World History Encyclopedia, 24 May 2022, https://www.worldhistory.org/image/15923/map-of-the-trade-networks-in-the-middle-ages-c-120/.
