The+Merchant


 * Part one**
 * Merchants in the middle ages were kind of like entrepaneurs in todays world. The merchants were like traders in the middle ages. The merchants were the lowest class in the middle ages and now there the highest class. Women played the leading role in the middle ages. Merchant guilds kept track od the prices, quality, weights, and measures, and business pratices. The most commonly traded items by merchants were salt, iron, and textiles. Merchants were not part of the medieval feudal society, yet they had a great influence in it.**

. Women plied several of these crafts, and in some, like weaving and brewing, they played the leading role. Traveling merchants brought much-desired items to small towns and villages far from the major trade routes. Merchant and traders were not part of the medieval feudal society, yet they had great influence in it. As trade developed, towns along the trade routes became richer and richer. Some developed into great cities, such as Paris, France. This increase in wealth and riches lead to the increased prosperity of the local merchants, and also of the farmers in the area. There was more of a need for their services, and more and more money to be made each day. Many wealthy trading towns became virtually independent states, and they soon became exempt from the feudal system.
 * [|Merchants]** set up businesses in the towns that began to grow in the later Middle Ages. The most commonly traded items were salt, iron, and textiles. There were also rarer items, such as silk and spices, that came from the trade with China and the Middle East. As trade grew, a new class of highly skilled crafts- people developed. These artisans produced cloth, shoes, beer, glass and other goods that required more expertise than was available on many manor farms. Other artisans cut and shaped the stones for the

Merchants were low on the social ladder.

**Merchant Guilds.** Guilds controlled the trade in a town. Merchant guilds regulated prices, quality, weights and measures, and business practices. The power of the guilds was absolute in their domain, and to be expelled from a guild made it impossible to earn a living. Each guild had a patron saint, celebrated religious festivals together, put on religious plays, and looked after the health and welfare of the members and their families.

Chaucer didnt mention what the merchants daily lifes were like. He also didnt mention much about the merchants at all.

A merchant would be like an enterpraunour.


 * Part two**
 * The merchant had a divided beard. He wore a real big t-shirt with tights he was very full of himself. He wore a hat made of beaver fur. His boots were very tight. He spoke his mind. Remembering the good times and bad even if it turned out good. He would protect the sea at any cost. He went from town to town to make more money. He kept all of his priorities striaght. Everyone knew he was wealthy. He made sales and let other people borrow things. He is an honorable man. At the end he cant remember his name.**
 * Part three**
 * Chaucer thought that the merchant was very full of himself but very worthy at the same time. The lines from the poem discribe this. The vocabulary from this time period is girt and forked beard.**