FROM THE ANNUAL FAIRS OF THE 11th CENTURY TO EARLY INTERNATIONAL BANKING

The decline of the Roman Empire in the 5th century A.D. meant the gradual disappearance of most of its trade and the feudalisation of economic and social relationships. In the Roman dominated Europe, the Latin “feria” was synonymous with holy or free day, and is the origin of the word “fair.𠇝 Each feria was a day when a large number of people would take time to gather, worship and trade. This explains that in the Middle Ages the Church was so active in sponsoring such events as it was not only an opportunity to worship and state its importance in society by ruling and customs, but also a significant source of income. Sunday grew to be a popular day for markets and fairs. Folks could attend church and then stroll in the market to trade, entertain themselves and socialise. The fair represented for the people a break from regular life and hence from regular purchase. Until Copernicus (1473–1543), most merchants took for granted that the Earth was flat, but their main problem with that theory was the fact that explorers had yet to reach the edge of the world and avoid being swallowed by the Great Abyss. Plato and Pythagoras had earlier mentioned the possibility of a spherical shape, but it was not until the Portuguese navigator Ferdinand Magellan circumnavigated the world in the 16th century, funded by the Spanish Crown, that the matter was really settled for good. This changed the world and it changed international trade.