Bologna: 1000-1505

Continued from Bologna: 1000BC-1000AD

Bologna: A Medieval Boom Town

All Europe started to revive after the Dark Ages, around the year 1000, and in few places was the sudden upsurge of medieval civilization more pronounced than in Bologna. This previously sleepy and unremarkable community started off the new millennium with a bang, founding one of Italy’s first free comunes and starting what would become Europe’s first university.

Bologna had benefited from the new trade fostered in the Po valley by the first great commercial metropolis of western Europe, Venice, and now the city was starting to generate wealth of its own, from trade in wool, linen and hemp (for ropes) as well as luxury manufactures, especially silk. The presence of 2,000 students provided another boost to the economy, and led to a new industry – Bologna was the first city in Italy where books were copied for sale.