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Pilgrimage - the Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer Geoffrey Chaucer's Canterbury Tales was written c. 1390. It tells stories about a group pilgrims who had undertaken a pilgrimage to Canterbury. Each pilgrim had their own 'Canterbury Tale'. The route of the pilgrimage was along Watling Street and the Old Kent Road in London which led to the ancient "Pilgrim's way" from Rochester to Canterbury.

A farmer could now trade grain for meat, or milk for a pot, at the local market, which was seldom too far away.

where the climate and natural resources produced different things.

but was lucrative for the middlemen willing to make the journey.

luxury goods like spices, textiles and precious metals.

Cities that were rich in these commodities became financially rich, too, satiating the appetites of other surrounding regions for jewelry, fancy robes and imported delicacies.

linking cultures for the first time in history.

By the second millennium BC, former backwater island Cyprus had become a major Mediterranean player by ferrying its vast copper resources to the Near East and Egypt, regions wealthy due to their own natural resources such as papyrus and wool. Phoenicia, famous for its seafaring expertise, hawked its valuable cedar wood and linens dyes all over the Mediterranean. China prospered by trading jade, spices and later, silk. Britain shared its abundance of tin.

another was by sea

Cities grew up in the fertile basins on the borders of those rivers and then expanded by using their watery highways to import and export goods.

There were at least 17 rules to the knights code of chivalry and vows of knighthood. The most important were to serve God, serve their liege lord (the King), be courteous to all women (though what they meant was all women of the noble class), and to defend the weak. Other rules included to fight for the welfare of all, to live by honor and glory, and to refrain from the wanton giving of offence; basically, don’t act like ye olde arse.

this was meant to defend the elderly, women and children, but of the upper class. Knights were often brutal to peasants and it was considered acceptable because of the low social status of the peasants. 

From this, came rules like if a woman was of equal or higher status, he should stand when she enters a room and sit only after she does, the best foods at a meal should be offered to her, and when walking on the sidewalk, the man should walk closest to the street. This was to protect the woman from getting spattered with mud and the contents of chamber pots (buckets that were used as toilets) that were thrown out windows. It was a way to show that the gentleman honored the woman to have the poop hit him instead.

nights kept their skills sharp by competing in tournaments known as jousts where two heavily armored horseman race at another at high speed

Medieval tournaments brought knights and lords together in friendly competitions to show off their skills at hand to hand combat, horse back riding, and of course, jousting

A head shot for example was the most damaging but also the most difficult target, and therefore was awarded the most points.

Cash prizes, called a purse, would be given to the winners and this was the best way to move up the social ladder if you didn't get a chance to show off your skills on the battle field. 

To become a knight was a long and difficult path.

sent to live in the castle with his Lord where his training would begin around the age of seven

road to knighthood he was known as a page. A page's training involved learning to ride a horse and receiving religious instruction from the priest of the manor. And, when he wasn't riding or praying, a page spent his days running errands and serving the ladies of the manor. He would also be taught to dance, sing, and play a musical instrument which were considered honorable qualities for a knight to have.

a page would be promoted to the role of squire. A squire worked directly with his knight. The squire learned skills from his knight (who was also his Lord) such as sword fighting and hand to hand combat. The squire pretty much acted as personal assistant to his knight, polishing his armor, caring for his horse, and even waiting on him at meal times. During times of battle, it was the job of the squire to help his Lord into the armor and look after him if he was wounded. He also had the awful task of cleaning out the armor which, after a long day on the battle field would be covered in all sorts of bodily fluids.

A tax farmer was a person who bought the right from the Senate to tax all the people and business in a certain area

didn't set up any controls

Tax farming was a business, and the tax farmers were in it to make a profit.

Plus, since the tax farmer decided who got taxed and who didn't, you could bribe the tax farmer to make your taxes low or maybe tax your competitors out of business, or if you had enough bribe money,

you and your entire family could be sold into slavery.

Rome was going broke.

Under Roman law you could pay someone to vote for you.

Since they bought the position from the Senate, the Senate set the amount it cost and decided who actually got the job

Senate decided who got to build the roads, arenas etc.  So construction companies bribed the Senate to get the construction contracts.  Finally since the Senate made all the laws, people could bribe senators to make laws that they wanted.

Since there was no police force, there was no one to stop them.

Wealthy Romans hired guards and even built their own small armies to protect their homes and families.

Senators didn't trust each other, and they really didn't trust the legions. 

They even passed laws making it illegal for a legion to enter Rome.

In ancient Greece, many cities had land that was used for farming within the city, but most of the people lived in small towns and villages outside of the city.

They compared tree-ring records from Europe with 7,711 historical plague outbreaks to see if the weather conditions would have been optimum for a rat-driven outbreak.

"We show that wherever there were good conditions for gerbils and fleas in central Asia, some years later the bacteria shows up in harbour cities in Europe and then spreads across the continent," Prof Stenseth said. He said that a wet spring followed by a warm summer would cause gerbil numbers to boom.

And because this was a period when trade between the East and West was at a peak, the plague was most likely brought to Europe along the silk road, Prof Stenseth explained.

"Suddenly we could sort out a problem. Why did we have these waves of plagues in Europe?

The team now plans to analyse plague bacteria DNA taken from ancient skeletons across Europe. If the genetic material shows a large amount of variation, it would suggest the team's theory is correct.

Ditches were dug either side of the road to allow for drainage. Roman roads tended to be built higher than the level of earth around them – this, again, helped drainage.

A good road system also made it easier for the emperors to control their empire as messages and orders could be sent quickly

bulk of the actual building was done by Roman soldiers. By doing this, the Romans could rely on the gained expertise of the soldiers. The authorities could also rely on the fact that the soldiers would do the best they could for Rome – by building excellent roads.

The roads were built so that two of these wagons could pass on both sides of the roads.

the Britons did not use their roads. Not only roads were not used, but villas, baths and other buildings were shunned by the Britons because of their association with the Romans.

Rome's naturally defenses made the city almost immune to attack,

The soil and the mild climate helped the Romans grow surplus olives and grain. Reliable food production allowed the population to grow, and the trade in olives and olive oil helped the Roman economy expand.

the republic had virtually no naval forces. To facilitate their invasion of Carthage, the Romans had to build 150 ships from scratch

lack of viable ports.

Rome's geography forced the Romans to rely on overland transportation much more than other empires. The absence of ports and small number of major rivers lead the Romans to build a massive network of roads.

80,000 kilometers of roadways,

transportation system made the city of Rome the critical trade hub

he first constructions in Timbuktu were designed by African architects from Djenne and later on by Muslim architects from North Africa. Trade and knowledge were at their height.

Timbuktu became a celebrated center of Islamic learning and a commercial establishment. Timbuktu had three universities and 180 Quranic schools. These universities were the Sankore University, Jingaray Ber University and Sidi Yahya University. This was the golden age of Africa. Books were not only written in Timbuktu, but they were also imported and copied there. There was an advanced local book copying industry in the city. The universities and private libraries contained unparalleled scholarly works. The famous scholar of Timbuktu Ahmad Baba who was among those forcibly exiled in Morocco claimed that his library of 1600 books had been plundered, and that his library, according to him, was one of the smaller in the city.

The booming economy of Timbuktu attracted the attention of the Emperor of Mali, Mansa Mussa (1307-1332) also known as “Kan Kan Mussa.” He captured the city in 1325. As a Muslim, Mansa Mussa was impressed with the Islamic legacy of Timbuktu. On his return from Mecca, Mansa Mussa brought with him an Egyptian architect by the name of Abu Es Haq Es Saheli.

The Emperor also brought Arabs scholars to Timbuktu. To his great surprise, the Emperor has found that these scholars are underqualified compared to the black scholars of Timbuktu

Mansa Mussa's pilgrimage to Mecca in 1324 had made Mali known worldwide. The great rulertook 60,000 porters with him. Each porter carried 3 kilograms of pure gold, that is, 180,000 kilograms or at least 180 tons of gold (Reference: Volume IV UNESCO General History of Africa, pages 197-200). He had so much gold with him that when he stopped in Egypt, the Egyptian currency lost its value and as result, the name of Mali and Timbuktu appeared on the 14th century world map.