In light of our discussion of the Byzantine Gunpowder Empire, I picked up Oxford's History of the Byzantine Economy, which makes a few interesting points:
We see some interesting developments in agriculture in the 11th century; there's an increase in sericulture, and a proliferation of references to watermills in our sources.
At the same time, se wee more active evidence of Byzantine goods in the west; Byzantine pottery replaces Sicilian and Egyptian ware in Italy, with a proliferation of silk production in Thebes and Corinth, as opposed to just centering it in Constantinople.
Byzantine merchants were surprisingly active as well; Benjamin of Tudela mentions their presencei n Barcelona and Montepellier, and there are other references to them in Cairo.
Merchants also became members of the senate in the 11th cetury, but this was stopped with the accession of Alxius I.
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So what happened, such that Byzantine merchants went into eclipse? As the Byzantine Empire went through crisis after crisis after Manzikert, the Venetians (and other Italians) were able to gain favorable benefits, such as tax advantages, that were unavailable to their Byzantien counterparts, putting them in a comparative disadvantage. IIn many ways the 4th Crusade was a death blow, as it turned the Aegaean into an Italian colony, with Byzantine merchants (lackin the security Venetians and others could rely on) playing an auxiliary role, at best.
But, in a Byzantine Empire that continues to grow and do well after Basil, things might end looking different. The buoyant conditions of the 12th century's economy, combined with a buoyant empire, might get interesting.
Thoughts?
We see some interesting developments in agriculture in the 11th century; there's an increase in sericulture, and a proliferation of references to watermills in our sources.
At the same time, se wee more active evidence of Byzantine goods in the west; Byzantine pottery replaces Sicilian and Egyptian ware in Italy, with a proliferation of silk production in Thebes and Corinth, as opposed to just centering it in Constantinople.
Byzantine merchants were surprisingly active as well; Benjamin of Tudela mentions their presencei n Barcelona and Montepellier, and there are other references to them in Cairo.
Merchants also became members of the senate in the 11th cetury, but this was stopped with the accession of Alxius I.
[/LIST]
So what happened, such that Byzantine merchants went into eclipse? As the Byzantine Empire went through crisis after crisis after Manzikert, the Venetians (and other Italians) were able to gain favorable benefits, such as tax advantages, that were unavailable to their Byzantien counterparts, putting them in a comparative disadvantage. IIn many ways the 4th Crusade was a death blow, as it turned the Aegaean into an Italian colony, with Byzantine merchants (lackin the security Venetians and others could rely on) playing an auxiliary role, at best.
But, in a Byzantine Empire that continues to grow and do well after Basil, things might end looking different. The buoyant conditions of the 12th century's economy, combined with a buoyant empire, might get interesting.
Thoughts?
