<b>Economic Revitalization<b>

At the start of the Dark Ages, Northern Europe was deeply forested. By 1000 AD,
much of the forest was gone and most of the rest was going, replaced by farmland
and pasture. The soil was generally excellent, a loess of finely ground rock de
posited during the last receding Ice Age. Two key inventions accelerated the def
orestation of Europe and led to increasing food production. The first was the ho
rse collar that originated in China and gradually came west. The improved collar
fit across a horse's breast, rather than its windpipe, allowing it to pull much
heavier loads without choking. The second invention was the heavy wheeled plow,
which was needed to cut into the deep soils and extensive root systems of the o
ld forests. Dramatic increases in food production were the foundation of populat
ion growth and economic revitalization in Europe.
Increasing population, no longer needed on the manors, migrated to the towns tha
t were already growing in response to the needs for larger markets. Food surplus
es and the products of new industries (cloth-making, shipbuilding, and tool-maki
ng, for example) traded in the new markets and trade fairs. Kings encouraged the
growth of towns because residents were usually allied with the central authorit
y rather than local feudal lords. Citizens of towns paid taxes, not feudal servi
ce. Within towns there appeared a new middle class that supported itself by trad
e, industrial production, and lending money. Merchants came to dominate the town
governments, growing both rich and powerful.
Craftsmen and merchants organized themselves into associations that were called
guilds. These associations controlled prices and production, ensured a high stan
dard of service or manufacturing, and organized the training of crafts through a
pprenticeships. These controls ensured both a high-quality product and a high-qu
ality of life for guild members. Guild members often concentrated in one part of
town, such as Threadneedle Street and Ironmongers Lane in London. Guilds formed
an important power block within the political structure of the towns.
Increased trade led to a new boom in manufacturing. Both led to the rise of bank
ing, centered mostly in northern Italy in the thirteenth century. Fledgling busi
nesses needed money to get started and to function efficiently. Money acted as a
medium of exchange and standard of value and was necessary for moving beyond an
inefficient barter economy. Italy had cash surpluses from its lucrative Mediter
ranean trade, especially with the Levant. The gold florin of Florence became the
most popular coin of the late Middle Ages.