900-1300; One of the longest periods of sustained growth in human history

Factors of Growth

• A long-term rise in the population
• Technological innovation and dissemination
• Medieval people vastly expanded cereal production; Greater use of horses as draft animals
• 1000-1050; The three-field system very widely used across Europe
• A growing tendency to agricultural specialization
• Improved roads and transport vehicles
• Increasingly far-flung urban markets
• The church and secular government worked to protect trade
• Various cities leagued together to protect their commercial interests
• More sophisticated contracts
• Partnerships and corporations
• Insurance
• Vast commercial networks
• Greater efficiencies in surface mining (stone mining)
• The growth of towns
• 1000-1100; Communities of merchants began to settle permanently