Overseas travel was one of the main activities of Western Europeans in the Middle Ages, divided into sea travel and land travel, but whether at sea or on land, their journeys would encounter difficult risks, but Western Europeans were not hindered by danger, they took various methods to avoid the difficulties of the journey, and bravely explored.
<h1 class = "pgc-h-arrow-right" >, the land obstacles of Western European travelers, harsh natural conditions and man-made obstacles add risks to land routes</h1>
The Pope of the Holy See in the Middle Ages always ordered ecclesiastical envoys to travel throughout Western Europe to administer the diocese, the nobles and officials of the kingdom would travel all over the territory in order to collect taxes, the merchants would sell goods to obtain wealth and travel to various markets, and the people who suffered from war wandered around, which became the reason for the people of the Middle Ages to travel.
The medieval journey was difficult and the natural environment was harsh, the long journey was extremely difficult, there were difficulties brought by nature and man-made dangers. In his Decameron, Boccaccio recorded 3 incidents in which natural disasters threatened travelers, and 6 dangerous incidents of miscreants against travelers.
Nature poses a threat to travelers first and foremost by climatic conditions, and the cold winters make already difficult travel even more difficult. Winters in Western Europe are cold and wet, and the roads caused by low temperatures and blizzards pose a great threat to travelers.
In the 10th century, merchants from the Gurgaon region went to Turkey to trade, and they wrapped one leather jacket after another, robes, cotton pants, snow hats, leather boots and cotton boots, which showed that the temperature in Europe was quite low in winter, but it still did not stop them from going out.
The summer heat also made the journey very frightening, and in 1467 the German lords who traveled in Western Europe encountered a sweltering heat in the Bikas region.
"The horses were exhausted, and many of us were trekking through the forest and couldn't find water everywhere."
The complex terrain also caused difficulties for travelers, the medieval forest area was much larger than in present-day Europe, and disorientation and occasional beasts posed a threat to travelers who wanted to cross the forest.
Henry IV walked through the forest through the forest for two days without eating or drinking during the war; the French missionary recorded on his way to Chartres that he was lost in the forest's path, and getting lost at multiple forks of the road made him walk for more than 1 day through the great forest.
Many medieval literature depicts the dangers of the forest, and although it is only a creation, it is still a portrayal of the danger of crossing the forest.
The desert and the Gobi were also obstacles for medieval travelers, and the great temperature difference between day and night, the lack of food and water, and the fear caused by the endless sand sea brought risks to crossing the desert and the Gobi.
Marco Polo recorded in his travelogues that the desert was frightening, that it would not end even if it was a year's walk, and that it would take a month to cross from the nearest place; the pilgrim Felix recorded entering the desert at midnight, and the extreme cold made him hope that the sun would rise to bring warmth, and after dawn he wanted the sun to bring coolness to the mountain early.
The natural environment of the Middle Ages has made the journey very harsh, and the artificial obstacles have brought more difficulties to travelers, first of all, the impact of road traffic damage on travelers.
A hundred years ago, the Roman roads were dilapidated, the roads that were once paved with stones had turned into mud, the roads were muddy in rain and snow, dusty on sunny days, and the bridges and roads were damaged. The means of transport are also very backward, travelers mainly walk, and horse-drawn carriages have a hard time playing a role in the road.
The lack of hotels in medieval travel also brought inconvenience to the road, and in the first few hundred years of the Middle Ages, travelers carried food with them and often needed to sleep in the open.
Hotel facilities were slightly improved in the late Middle Ages, but even staying in a hotel did not mean that it was necessarily safe, and drunken disturbances, theft, and bad manners were frequent in hotels.
Numerous checkpoints and taxes have brought economic obstacles to travelers, and the dilapidated roads have not allowed the crossing checkpoints to be cancelled, and more taxes have been added. In the Middle Ages, the lords set up checkpoints everywhere to collect transit fees, but the money was not used to build roads and bridges, and all went into the pockets of the lords.
Complicated taxes have placed a heavy financial burden on travelers, and tax evasion has occurred frequently.
Theft and robbery are the biggest artificial obstacles on the journey, and the inability to predict their appearance makes it difficult to guard against, which is more abhorrent than levels. Medieval Europe used a large number of bandits on every road.
These robbers robbed not only merchants, but also the royal family. When the king of Nusteria sent the prince to study in the Goths, he also added a large number of treasures, and when the prince left the city, he was robbed, and the king had to add an army to escort him.
<h1 class = "pgc-h-arrow-right" > two, the changeable ocean weather and unpredictable pirate groups become sea threats to travelers</h1>
For those who conduct naval aviation, the ocean itself is already a very big threat, and if there is a storm, it will be an even greater disaster, and the storm is very likely to make the travelers lose money.
In 1270, on their way back to Western Europe, the Crusader army encountered a storm at sea, destroying all 18 large ships and losing about 4,000 people and countless belongings.
Another risk of HNA is piracy, and piracy is a risk that can never be solved in HNA. Merchant ships and travelers at sea throughout the Middle Ages were targets of pirates, especially in the western Mediterranean, where pirates formed an organization after the 9th century with the development of shipbuilding.
They waited on the routes through which ships were bound to pass, waiting for the voyagers who had lost their energy because of the long journeys, setting up strongholds in the ports of the Mediterranean, building their own ships, and selecting capable men to go to sea to snatch the goods of the merchants.
In addition to the pirate groups that had already formed, some fishermen also plundered at sea, and in 1450, fishing boats in bristol intercepted and looted a Spanish merchant ship while fishing in the open seas.
<h1 class = "pgc-h-arrow-right" > third, in the face of dangerous travelers on the journey, people try to overcome all difficulties to reach the new world of longing, trade exchanges between various places have enhanced the economic development of Western Europe</h1>
Whether on land or at sea, danger always arose in the itineraries of travelers in medieval Western Europe. Despite the difficulties, the travelers were not repelled and hid at home, but used various methods to overcome the difficulties and bravely explore the unknown areas.
Father Huss, despite his old age and serious illness, overcame all the difficulties of his journey: long distances, snowstorms, muddy roads, food shortages, rugged mountains, etc.
In the face of natural threats, it is very necessary to be mentally prepared and to travel time and materials. The Alps are the natural graben of Western Europeans on their journeys, and if you want to climb over the mountains, it is not suitable for winter, because snow and ice can make the road very difficult.
In November 801, Arab envoys arrived at the foot of the Alps with elephants given to the King, but they decided to wait for spring before crossing the area.
Extreme temperature differences and shifting sands are very dangerous when crossing the desert, and travel guides in Western Europe at the end of the Middle Ages record that September and October are the most suitable periods for crossing the desert, during which the climate is safe, the temperature difference is not large, and the quicksand is less.
In the face of bandits and pirates who act unpredictably on the road, traveling in pairs is the safest way, especially for merchant groups. Trade was an important part of the medieval journey and the target of robbers' best-for-profit.
Many merchants would travel in pairs and take care of each other on the road, enough to fight against a single bandit, and if they encountered a gang of robbers, the merchants would spend a lot of money to arm themselves.
There would also be many merchant ships at sea, the Frisian merchants often formed a fleet of 6 to 8 ships in the 8th century, and after the 12th century, the fleet was even larger, and in 1350 the Spaniards formed a fleet of 40 sailing ships, carrying a large number of shells and mercenaries.
Business travelers used a variety of commercial means to reduce risk, and equipping themselves militarily could not make merchants who often engaged in business pay huge fees for a long time, so medieval merchants would reduce risk by running companies in partnership, commercial credit, marine insurance, and bills of exchange.
The partnership company is jointly operated by a number of businessmen, and the profits are distributed proportionally according to the individual share, and the risk is also shared, which has become the most primitive model of the modern joint stock company.
After the 12th century, all the commercial cities in Italy were developed, and commercial trade was further developed, and the merchants who operated together did not have to personally transport goods, and transportation was separated from commerce into a professional industry.
This business model flourished in Italy at the end of the 13th century, and then became popular in Western European countries, with the establishment of joint-stock companies, bills of exchange and stock credit notes developed into the most commonly used trading methods.
When travelers in medieval Western Europe went out, they encountered natural and man-made threats on both land and sea, but they still used various methods to overcome difficulties. Travel has led to a broadening of horizons, knowledge and understanding of the world, as well as increased exchanges between regions.
bibliography
Medieval Travels
Marco Polo's Travels
Economic and Social History of Medieval Europe