AP Euro Unit 1 Commercial Revolution

Commercial Revolution

The transformation of the European economy as a result of changes in business procedures and growth in trade.

Manorialism

A system in which a lord or noble owned a large estate and surrounding acreage that was worked by the peasant class in exchange for food and/or wages.

Freehold Tenure

Wealthy landowners enjoyed the ownership and control of lands indefinitely.

Open Field System

Dominant ag. system in Europe where the Lord divides land surrounding the manor into strips, which is then worked by the peasantry.

Crop Rotation

The practice of rotating use of different fields from crop to crop each year to avoid soil degradation.

Enclosure

The consolidation of common land into carefully delineated and individually owned farm plots.

Merchant/ Craft Guilds

A band of merchants in a town that prohibited nonmembers from trading in that town.

Double-Entry Bookkeeping

A system of banking where debits (in-flow) is kept in one column and credits (out-flow) is kept in a second. Allowed for quick calculations and insurances that balances were always correct.

Bank of Amsterdam

A deposit and transfer banking institution in the Netherlands, largest in Europe.

Hanseatic League

An organization of Northern European coastal cities that controlled trade and commerce in the region.

Price Revolution

Prices for food and common goods increased six-fold in a 150-year period between the 15th and 17th centuries, making life difficult for the lower-class but extremely profitable for the wealthy.

Capitalism

An economic system based on the free market, open competition, and private ownership.