27.4 Europe: a.d. 1201 to 1300  (Page 3/14)

Silk production had begun in northern Italy and Milan, a city of 200,000 ruled in this century by the Guelf, Della Torre, was already famous for its metal work. Wool was exported to the East and textile industries were developing rapidly. With respect to this there is an interesting sidelight. Local wool, chiefly from Tuscany, was of poor quality and the best cloth, on which the Tuscan merchants became rich, was bought as raw wool from Spain, Minorca, Africa, or from the Coswolds of England. In this way the shepherds of those far away isles helped to create the fortunes of the Bardi, the Medici and the Frescobaldi, who in turn financed the coming Renaissance. The wool-based wealth of Florence led to the establishment of the great Florentine banking families and the whole apparatus of modern commerce such as trading associations, modern company shares, credit systems and the like. (Ref. 137 , 213 ) Additional Notes

The last half of this century was the period of the famous journeys of the Polo family of Venice. The brothers Nicolo and Maffeo traveled in Asia and China in 1255 and 1256 and made a second journey with Nicolo's son, Marco, beginning in 1271. Marco, after extensive service and traveling for the Mongol Khan in Asia, China, Burma and India, returned to Europe in 1295, only to be imprisoned by the Genoese. On page 753 there is a map showing these travels.

Central europe

It is clear from the preceding paragraphs that this was the century of the Mongol invasions of Europe. Those nomads from the East were never decisively beaten in Europe but withdrew finally by their own choice. Europeans had ignored the light Asian and the tall slender Arab horses and developed a large, massive, slow breed of their own to carry the heavy armor inherited from Roman times. Thus, they were no match in battle against the invading, nimble horses of Asia. Furthermore the same defect was apparent in the Crusades when the large European horses perished in droves, contributing to the general defeats. (Ref. 122 )

Germany

After the installation of Otto IV, son of Henry the Lion, as emperor, the empire rapidly lost prestige to France and in effect became a loose confederacy of magnates giving little actual power to the emperor. (Ref. 137 ) This situation changed somewhat with the ascension of Emperor Frederick II, who, as noted above, was the grandson of Frederick Barbarossa and of King Roger II of Sicily. Frederick had been raised in Palmero as a proud Sicilian, speaking Latin, Greek, Italian, French and Arabic and with a passion for science, astronomy, falconry and ornithology. He felt that Islam was a superior world and he had Moslem mercenaries and a harem. It was he who introduced Arabic numerals and algebra to Christians and he alternately cajoled and fought with the papacy, although he would not allow his own people to deviate from the straight Catholic line and actually helped to promote the Inquisition. Frederick, himself, was a "free-thinker" and some accused him of being more Moslem than Christian. He protected Jews in spite of the pope's orders. Forced to start a Christian Crusade in 1228 he set out against his friend, the Sultan of Egypt (who had just given him a giraffe) and he came back from Egypt with a secret ten year lease on Jerusalem, Bethlehem and Nazareth and tried to take over Rome as his capital. As a result of all this, neither he nor the pope was in a position to help King Bela of Hungary when the Mongols arrived. (Ref. 27 )