The Mediterranean in the 12th century

The Mediterranean in the 12^th century : a crossroad between 3 civilisations

The Mediterranean in the 12^th century was a crossroad between three civilisations which were the Muslim Empire in the east, the Christian Empire in the west and the Byzantine Empire in between. Those three civilisations had a lot of contacts around the Mediterranean: that’s why it was a crossroad between those civilisations.

They had violent and peaceful contacts. The most famous of their violent contacts are of course the 4 crusades with the first one which was launched in 1095 by the Pope Urban the 2^nd.

But they had some peaceful contacts with trade for example:

The Muslim Empire was very wealthy since there were plenty of silk, gold, precious stones and slaves (unfortunately) to sell. That’s why the Muslims earned a lot of money. Moreover, the Muslims were ahead in sciences and medicine.

For the Christian Empire, trade was the first source of income, selling cloth and wood.

Lastly, the Byzantine Empire was very rich, with trade of cereals and fur.

Another example of peaceful contact were cultural exchanges:

The Normans, in Palermo (Sicily) let the other civilisations live freely in Sicily so long as they paid a tax. It was the same case in Toledo (Spain).

All this shows the importance of the Mediterranean in the 12^th century, which was a real crossroad between three different civilisations living around it.