Tijdvak 4

1000-1500

'Tijdvak 4: De Tijd van Steden en Staten', begins around 1.000 CE and ends around 1.500 CE. The other name for this period is late Middle Ages. During this period there was a lot of long distance trade with western Europe and the rest of the world.There was so much trade the cities started to grow and there was more work for people. Cities were built around important crossroads. Crossroads is where people went to trade. Even new states were formed. Because of the trade, there was a lot of money, especially in cities. Rulers could tax these cities and use that money to pay civil servants and improve their governments. Cities also started to become more independent. They wanted to make their own laws and be able to defend themselves. There was also a big war betweenWestern Europe and the Islamic World, they war was called crusades. At the end of this period had one of the worst disease outbreaks in history: the Black Death. This disease killed nearly one in every three Europeans in a little bit less then six years. They trade never really went away.