Trade, Commerce, and Market Competition 600 CE to 1450

While different provinces and people within the Roman empire had their own traditions of craftsmanship, Rome's silver and glass workshops were considered the best in the world for millennium.

Egypt and other regions of the empire excelled in the crafting of papyrus and paper, not Rome.

Jade, ivory, and silks were all available in ancient Rome, but from distant provinces' trade with other empires; none of these goods came from Rome.

Cyprus was conquered by Richard the Lionheart in 1191 and formally introduced into the Crusader Kingdoms as the Kingdom of Cyprus. It was one of the final crusader kingdoms to fall, thanks to its defensibility and isolation from the mainland. It would stay in Catholic hands until 1489 when it was conquered by the Republic of Venice, and later by the Ottoman Empire.

This answer is correct because Western European nations like the British and the Dutch were not yet engaged in Indian Ocean trade in this period, and as a result showed no increase in wealth as a result of the Indian Ocean trade in the years mentioned.

Ghana and other West African states became immensely wealthy in the thirteenth, fourteenth, and fifteenth centuries due to control of the lucrative African gold trade. Gold arrived in Ghana from southern Africa and was exchanged with Arab traders for luxury goods like salt.

The first guilds began to appear in Europe in the tenth and eleventh centuries, during the period of time known as the High Middle Ages. A guild is a community of people engaged in the same skilled occupation (like blacksmith or tanner), who work together to further their interests and protect their industry. Guilds were a common way to organize labor throughout Medieval Europe.

For many hundreds of years the majority of trading between Europe, the Middle East, North Africa, and Asia was facilitated by Muslim traders who operated trading caravans. These caravans would move over vast distances carrying goods from one region to another. Caravansaries were important establishments that sprung up to cater to the needs of these traveling caravans. Their presence was generally indicative of a wealthy city -trade begets wealth.

From 1405 to 1433, the explorer Zheng He conducted seven voyages on behalf of the Ming dynasty for the purposes of diplomacy and trade. After his death in 1433, the Ming dynasty vastly reduced its naval expenditures due to increasing military threats.

The Ottoman Empire straddled the border between Africa, Asia, and Europe, dominating trade between these regions. The Malian Empire, while extraordinarily wealthy, was in West Africa and ill suited to dominate trade between Europe and Asia. Likewise, the Ming dynasty was powerful and wealthy, but on the east coast of Asia, separated from Africa and Europe by the entirety of the Asian landmass. The Frankish kingdom dominated mainland Europe, but had little influence in Asia or Africa. Finally, the Spanish Empire was largely created out of an attempt to circumnavigate the Ottoman position.

Dhows were sailing vessels which were commonly used by Indian and Arab traders in the Indian Ocean and the Arabian Sea.

The Crusades allowed for Europeans to come into greater contact with Muslim societies, many of which had preserved classical Greek and Roman texts that had been lost in Europe. Furthermore, the increased movement of people resulted in the establishment of additional trade networks between the Middle East and Europe. While the Crusades also gave Europeans temporary holds on Middle Eastern territory, the conquered lands were located within the Levant.