Page 246 - Western Civilization A Brief History, Volume I To 1715 9th - Jackson J. Spielvogel

OPPOSING VIEWPOINTS Two Views of Trade and Merchants
The revival of trade in Europe was a gradual process, but by the High Middle Ages, trade had begun to expand dramatically. During the medieval period, trade already flourished in other parts of the world, especially in the Islamic world and in China. Nevertheless, many people in these societies, including rulers, nobles, and religious leaders, had some reservations about the success of merchants. The first selection is taken from the life of Godric, a twelfth- century European merchant who became a saint. The second selection is from the Prolegomena (proh-li- GAHM-uh-nuh), the first part of a universal history written by Ibn Khaldun (ib-un khahl-DOON), a Muslim historian who traveled widely in the Muslim world in the fourteenth century.
Life of Saint Godric
At first, he lived as a peddler for four years in Lincoln- shire, going on foot and carrying the smallest wares; then he traveled abroad, first to St. Andrews in Scot- land and then for the first time to Rome. On his return, having formed a familiar friendship with cer- tain other young men who were eager for merchan- dise, he began to launch upon bolder courses, and to coast frequently by sea to the foreign lands that lay around him. Thus, sailing often to and fro between Scotland and Britain, he traded in many divers wares and, amid these occupations, learned much worldly wisdom. . . .
Thus aspiring ever higher and higher, and yearn- ing upward with his whole heart, at length his great labors and cares bore much fruit of worldly gain. For he labored not only as a merchant but also as a shipman . . . to Denmark and to Flanders and Scot- land; in all which lands he found certain rare, and therefore more precious, wares, which he carried to other parts wherein he knew them to be least famil- iar, and coveted by the inhabitants beyond the price of gold itself; wherefore he exchanged these wares for others coveted by men of other lands; and thus
he chaffered [traded] most freely and assiduously. Hence he made great profit in all his bargains, and gathered much wealth . . . for he sold dear in one place the wares which he had bought elsewhere at a small price.
And now he had lived sixteen years as a mer- chant, and began to think of spending on charity, to God’s honor and service, the goods which he had so laboriously acquired. He therefore took the cross as a pilgrim to Jerusalem. . . . [When he had returned to England] Godric, that he might follow Christ the more freely, sold all his possessions and distributed them among the poor [and began to live the life of a hermit].
Ibn Khaldun, Prolegomena
As for Trade, although it be a natural means of liveli- hood, yet most of the methods it employs are tricks aimed at making a profit by securing the difference between the buying and selling prices, and by appro- priating the surplus. This is why [religious] Law allows the use of such methods, which, although
they come under the heading of gambling, yet do not constitute the taking without return of other people’s goods....
Should their [traders’] standard of living, how- ever, rise, so that they begin to enjoy more than the bare necessities, the effect will be to breed in them a desire for repose and tranquility. They will therefore cooperate to secure superfluities; their food and clothing will increase in quantity and refinement; they will enlarge their houses and plan their towns for defense. A further improvement in their conditions will lead to habits of luxury, result- ing in extreme refinement in cooking and the prep- aration of food; in choosing rich clothing of the finest silk; in raising lofty mansions and castles and furnishing them luxuriously, and so on. At this stage the crafts develop and reach their height. Lofty castles and mansions are built and decorated sumptuously, water is drawn to them and a great
208 Chapter 9 The Recovery and Growth of European Society in the High Middle Ages
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