Italian City-States

Italy during this time was a collection of city-states, or:

• entire civilizations dominated by agriculture

• large self-governing cities and their surrounding communities and farms

• small communities centered around the Pacific Ocean

• closely aligned cities that always cooperated with each other and had the same laws

Check the names of Italian City States

• Florence

• Alexandria

• Venice

• Milan

Places such as Florence, Venice, and Milan grew in power and influence, due mostly to an increase in ______ and ______.

• technology and the Silk Road

• stone masonry and bricklaying

• farming and agriculture

• trade and banking

The growth in cultural diffusion during this time was aided by all of the following, EXCEPT

• the Crusades strengthened contacts between western Europe and Byzantine and Muslim cultures.

• the Mongol conquests in Asia made it safer for traders to travel along the Silk Road to China

• the dominant social hierarchy system of feudalism, which encouraged entrepreneurship and a movement to cities

• Merchants brought goods and ideas from the old Byzantine Empire that helped to reawaken interest in classical culture.

The increase in trade led to a new kind of economy. During the Middle Ages, people traded goods for other goods. By the end of the Middle Ages, however, people were using (a)   to buy merchandise, creating a money economy.

As a result of this new economy, all of these groups of people became more important in society, EXCEPT

• craftspeople

• merchants

• priests

• bankers

What is a guild, and what was their influence in Italian City-states?