Trade Vs Manorialism

Each of the english monarchs had grown more and more power. William tightened the iron fist by creating feudalism 2.0, the domesday book, and built plenty of castles. Henry I followed suit, establishing the exchequer and creating traveling judges to try courts, then Henry II, started a 12 man jury and allowed nobles to buy their way out of becoming a knight. So when Henry II died and left his son, John, to the throne, it seemed natural that the king's power would continue to grow...well not exactly this time (sorry King John). Nobody really liked King John. He was always trying to increase taxes, including illegal church taxes and noble's taxes, and inevitably lost most of England's french land ( AU REVOIR JOHNNY). Usually, the
The lack of trade wasn't really a worry for people then though, considering that the manors were self sufficient and produced any goods necessary to live, this economic system was called manorialism. All the new established routes carved by the crusaders made a great base to begin trade once again and for the first time since the fall of the Roman Empire, trade was resurrected. Due to the crusades, and the cultural diffusion that came with it, trade kick started back up. Crusaders brought luxury goods from Asia and the Arabian peninsula back to Europe. Eventually, merchants needed a more formal place to trade and took their goods to large cities and villages, because of this, both villages and towns grew simultaneously. Manorialism and feudalism were practically wiped out, not right away but slowly. Trade boomed in places like Italy, because they were by the sea. The revival of trade and growth of towns directly benefited the monarchs. Growing trade was great for kings because it meant they would tax the incoming and outgoing goods and make more MONEY. Aside from money, the middle class favored the king because he protected trade. This was good for the king because he ultimately had more support and power over his people if they liked him. For nobles though, it wasn't as great. Since the middle class favored the king, the middle class was no
Mostly because of the fact that trade had been revived, and people in the Middle Ages were pretty gross, ("It was not unusual for people to go for months and months without changing clothes or taking a bath"(Ponticelli).) the plague spread really fast, and really far. Most people believed that the plague was started in Central Asia, and was spread along the Silk Road by fleas and rats. The rodents that lived on merchant ships most likely brought the disease into Europe on these trading boats. The plague was a terrible disease "Plague causes fever and a painful swelling of the lymph glands called buboes, which is how it gets its name. The disease also causes spots on the skin that are red at first and then turn black"(The Black Death: Bubonic Plague). Rashes, headaches and chills were also common. On average, 5-7 days after the first symptoms were noticed, the victim would die (The Black Death). So many people lived in fear and even died because of this disease, including an estimated 800 people a day in France (Nelson). Often times whole villages were destroyed by the plague, leaving not a single person left. Because of the plague, the populations in Europe and Asia significantly decreased "China’s population was reduced by nearly ½"(Ponticelli), and 24 million people died in Europe. Many believed that the plague was a punishment from God, others thought that fleeing to the country side would save them. Some blamed