High Middle Ages Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! === Italy === {{Main|Italy in the Middle Ages}} In Italy, with the Norman conquest, the first great and powerful state was formed, the [[Kingdom of Sicily]] with hereditary monarchy. Subsequently joined to the Holy Roman Empire, it had its moment of maximum splendor with the emperor [[Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor|Frederick II]]. In the rest of Italy, independent city states grew affluent on [[Eastern Mediterranean]] maritime trade. These were in particular the [[thalassocracy|thalassocracies]] of [[Pisa]], [[Amalfi]], [[Genoa]] and [[Venice]], which played a key role in European trade from then on, making these cities become major financial centers.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Trade in Medieval Europe|url=https://www.worldhistory.org/article/1301/trade-in-medieval-europe/|access-date=2021-06-04|website=World History Encyclopedia|language=en}}</ref> Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here. You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource (see Christianpedia:Copyrights for details). Do not submit copyrighted work without permission! Cancel Editing help (opens in new window) Discuss this page