[History question help request] Economy during the Crusades

[andysonofbob]

Hi

I have a sixth form (16-18 year old) student who, for history, is writing an essay (her choice) on the factors affecting the economy during the Crusade period, throughout the areas affected by the Crusades. Her History teacher has warned her that it is an incredibly general topic.

The student is obviously aware of the tensions around the major trade ports in the area and how trade influenced the conflicts but is struggling to find specific information.

I was wondering if anyone would be aware of any decent articles etc which might help her.

Thanks!

I have copied this thread in the Crusader Kings forum too but thought here would be a natural place to post it too!

 

[Rubidium]

Well. my first inclination is to echo that this is an incredibly general topic, and she might want to narrow it down, or at least define her terms. Is she focused on the economy of the Crusader states? How the Crusades affected the economies of the crusaders' home countries? How they affected the broader Middle East, or even Eurasia more broadly? What the economy was like in that area, regardless of how the Crusades affected things? Each of these is an entire book in and of itself. She might also want to define what she means by the Crusader period, as the First Crusade was declared in 1096, and the Crusade of Varna ended in disaster in 1444, so you have a fairly large chunk of the middle ages right there, and things were not at all static during that time. She'll also definitely want to define what she means by "the economy."

I say this because paradoxically it may be easier to search for useful information/resources if you narrow things down a bit. People may not talk about "the economic effects of the crusades" in any great level of specificity, but they will talk about "the impact of the Fourth Crusade on Venice," for example. That last obviously has to do with the economic impacts of the crusades (or at least of one particular crusade), but won't necessarily show up as easily in a search for the first topic. That's also why it helps to define your terms/narrow your question, as you may or may not care about "the impact of the Fourth Crusade on Venice," depending on what your focus will be, and it helps to have a sense of that before you decide whether to invest time in that article.

I know this isn't exactly what you are asking for, but I always tell students that it helps a bit to think about what precisely they are looking for before they go looking for it. Your original research question doesn't have to be (likely won't be) your final research question, but starting with one will help you focus your search productively.

 

[andysonofbob]

Thanks!
I'll print this out and hand it to her.

 

[JodelDiplom]

Well. my first inclination is to echo that this is an incredibly general topic, and she might want to narrow it down, or at least define her terms. Is she focused on the economy of the Crusader states? How the Crusades affected the economies of the crusaders' home countries? How they affected the broader Middle East, or even Eurasia more broadly? What the economy was like in that area, regardless of how the Crusades affected things? Each of these is an entire book in and of itself. She might also want to define what she means by the Crusader period, as the First Crusade was declared in 1096, and the Crusade of Varna ended in disaster in 1444, so you have a fairly large chunk of the middle ages right there, and things were not at all static during that time. She'll also definitely want to define what she means by "the economy."

I say this because paradoxically it may be easier to search for useful information/resources if you narrow things down a bit. People may not talk about "the economic effects of the crusades" in any great level of specificity, but they will talk about "the impact of the Fourth Crusade on Venice," for example. That last obviously has to do with the economic impacts of the crusades (or at least of one particular crusade), but won't necessarily show up as easily in a search for the first topic. That's also why it helps to define your terms/narrow your question, as you may or may not care about "the impact of the Fourth Crusade on Venice," depending on what your focus will be, and it helps to have a sense of that before you decide whether to invest time in that article.

I know this isn't exactly what you are asking for, but I always tell students that it helps a bit to think about what precisely they are looking for before they go looking for it. Your original research question doesn't have to be (likely won't be) your final research question, but starting with one will help you focus your search productively.

Nah, that's not how you assign subjects to high school students. They don't need subjects to be narrow unless it's decidedly a college preparation course. Narrowness is a hallmark of academia. High schools need not adopt that, their task is general education and simulation of wide, not overly focused, interest in the sciences in the students. The most important thing is that students find topics that interest them, and develop their knowledge on their own, driven by intrinsic motivation, not that they fulfill precise and narrow assignments and meet teacher expectation on factual content of their essays.

I'd interpret the teacher's assignment as telling the student to find a subject that interests him within this broad topic, and then do the research and write work within limits defined by the student's own limits of interest.

Possible questions:

How did the knights build the castles? Who even built them for them, and how did the knights get money to pay them?

What did the Venetians and Genoans do for a living, why were they so important in the med at that time in history and why were they so mean to each other?

Why did Raynauld of Chatillon raid those pilgrim caravans, and what were the caravans doing in the desert in the first place?

What happened in a trade port like Acre, who would go there to buy stuff and who would go there to sell stuff? Who ran the place, how did they tax people, who else was angry that they couldn't trade there the way they wanted to?

If the child is one of those who moan and groan endlessly, and will do anything to avoid having to develop an interest in a topic that's not about video gaming or fecal obscenities, task them to come up (on their own) with three possible questions that THEY think are economic questions about the crusades era, and then talk with them about which one they want to pick as the topic for their essay. The key is to make them a bit invested in the topic and thereby their motivation up.

 

[Director]

Do not ignore the financial and banking innovations/reforms of the Templars and the Italian city states.