Question

Which statements about trade in the Byzantine Empire are true?

Choose all answers that are correct.

A.
The Byzantine Empire broke China's age-old monopoly on producing and trading silk.

B.
Byzantine cities buzzed with merchants and traders from many far-off lands.

C.
The Byzantine capital was located far from major land and sea trade routes.

D.
The law code enacted by Justinian forbade Byzantine merchants from trading with foreigners.

Answer 1

@Kc1999

Answer 2

@Loser66

Answer 3

I would say B for sure, but D looks suspicious

Answer 4

it can be more than one

Answer 5

@Kc1999

Answer 6

i think its a and b

Answer 7

@Kc1999 i think its a and b what do u think

Answer 8

Silk was used by the state both as a means of payment, and of diplomacy. Raw silk was bought from China and made up into fine brocades and cloth-of-gold that commanded high prices through the world. Later, silk worms were smuggled into the empire and the overland silk trade became less important. After Justinian I the manufacturing and sale of silk had become an imperial monopoly, only processed in imperial factories, and sold to authorized buyers.[66] The raw silk merchants could buy the raw silk from outside Constantinople but did not themselves have the authority to travel outside the city to get it - possibly in order not to jeopardize the activities of the provincial merchants selling the silk.[67]

(C and P from Wikipedia)

Answer 9

@whpalmer4 are a and b right

Answer 10

hello

Answer 11

I think LeezaMatrix is right -- (A) and (B) are correct.

Silk making used to be exclusively held by China until Justinian I who aided two Christian monks in the smuggling of silk worms out from China. After that, the empire became the heart of European silk production (it was treated as a state monopoly) for most of the Middle Ages until the Italians' own silk industry took off (and after a lone decline of the Byzantine empire's fortunes). Merchants still traveled to China for silk, but the Byzantines' efforts would slowly whittle down the monopoly they held.

(B) is also true since the Byzantines were literally the gateway to Europe for many trade routes coming in from the Middle East and Asia. It's one of the reasons why the capital sat on what had long been nicknamed the "Golden Horn" because of all of the wealth that flowed through it and into Europe proper.

(C) doesn't make much sense because of (B). The capital was a major port and trading city. Again, that whole "gateway to Europe" thing.

(D) also doesn't make a whole lot of sense, either, because foreign merchants were exactly who the Byzantines did a lot of business with in the first place. Without them, there would be no trade coming in from Asia or the Middle East at all. They later had an axe to grind with the Latins (particularly those from the Italian city-states) going so far as to expel them from Constantinople later in its history, but for the most part, the Byzantine Empire's trade economy was pretty cosmopolitan.