Travel - Medieval Expansion Reading Summary The Medieval Expansion of Europe - J. R. S. Phillips · Argues that R. S. Lopez describes the expansion of medieval Europe's international commerce very well - quote on p. 96 - goes through the centuries from 10th to 14th and mentions numerous places, talking about how new routes were discovered by international traders · Argues that Lopez aptly demonstrates the geographical range of medieval trade but also the activities undertaken by European traders in the east was not just due to the result of Mongol conquests in the 13th century but also the expansion of the European economy which had been a process starting in the 9th century · Phillips argues that due to the increased demand for exotic, eastern presents, prices could be high and so some merchants such as the Polos and Vivaldis would risk travelling to find them, which resulted in European merchants establishing themselves, much like missionaries did, across Asia . During the 13th century, Italy was the geographical centre of international commerce and trade routes as it had first revived international trade and was the birthplace of many of the exploratory merchants - partly due to the gold coinage that came out of Genoa, Florence and Venice and became the first proper gold currency of the west and soon became international standards of value . The actual volume of eastern trade was limited - "three state convoys" of goods imported to Venice from Constantinople, Beirut and Alexandria p. 97 - roughly 1,000 to 2,000 tons of overall goods but they were high in value · Goods such as pepper and other spices, which were the most expensive and in demand, originated in areas of Asia that Europeans did not have direct access to so Alexandria was a major trading port for Europeans until the final decades of the 13th century (more detail on p. 98) · Details of attempts to find new trade routes and sabotage the trading of other nations can be found on p. 98 - 99 . There was no real European naval power in the Indian Ocean until the early 16th century with the conquests of the Portuguese which meant there could not be a huge amount of trade in the region as it was unprotected but it did not mean numerous merchants did not travel this stretch of water before, such as in the 13th century (details on p. 99) . There was an alternative route to the east on the banks of the Black Sea and it followed an ancient overland caravan route (details on p. 99 - 100) . All the routes that were on offer were dependent on local conditions and were closed to European merchants until the Mongols arrival - except for when areas of territory were in Frankish or Christian control · Appearance of Chinese silk in Genoa in 1257 demonstrated a new development in international commerce, as did the journey of the Polos to China between 1262