Creating New Identities (750-900) - An Empire in Spite of Itself - The Wealth of a Local Economy

3 important questions on Creating New Identities (750-900) - An Empire in Spite of Itself - The Wealth of a Local Economy

What was the Carolingian economy based on?

  • The Carolingian economy was based on plunder, trade, and agriculture. After the Carolingians could push no further and the raids of Charlemagne's day came to an end, trade and land became the chief resources of the kingdom.
  • To the north, in Viking trading stations such Haithabu and Birka, archaeologists have found Carolingian glass and pots alongside Islamic coins and cloth, showing that the Carolingian economy meshed with that of the Abbasid caliphate.

How did the Carolingians handle silver?

  • Silver from the Islamic world came north across the Caspian Sea, up the Volga River, and to the Baltic Sea settlements.
  • There the coins were melted down and the silver traded to the Carolingians in return for wine, jugs, glasses, and other manufactured goods. The Carolingians turned the silver into coins of their own, to be used throughout the Empire for small-scale local trade.

Where was a reorganization taking place? What did that mean?

  • On the far-flung and widely scattered manors of rich landowners - churches, monasteries, kings, and aristocrats - a major reorganization and rationalization was taking place.
  • The most enterprising landlords instituted a three-field rather than a two-field cultivation system. It meant that two-thirds of the land rather than one-half was sown with crops each year, yielding a tidy surplus.

The question on the page originate from the summary of the following study material:

  • A unique study and practice tool
  • Never study anything twice again
  • Get the grades you hope for
  • 100% sure, 100% understanding
Remember faster, study better. Scientifically proven.
Trustpilot Logo