Yes, and the other trading states, too. The price of expanding trade. Thing a lot of people don’t know is how thoroughly the Arabs had cut Europe off by sea. They conquerers Sicily and threatened to conquer Italy.Piracy was rampant. The came the Vikings and they were the badest pirates of all. Thenthey settled down and became Christians of a sort. But they were in competition with Byzantium which explains a lot about how the Crusades went.
Because of their big pot of money, the German pushups have a lot of clout overseas. Their wealth explains why Rome is so inclined to listen to Bishops who are for all intents and purposes, Arians. Sixty years ago, In Spellman’s heyday, they kept in good weigh the American Church. But Spellman was an untramontanist.
Thank you for filling in that history information. I knew that Arab influence was strong on the Iberian Peninsula, but didn’t appreciate how it all fits together.