Manorialism is the economic system dependent upon serfdom, indentured labor, and the complex political network of alliances of Feudalism. Feudalism in Europe was a class system within which the specifically economic system of Manorialism developed.

The Black Death’s massive death toll – estimates say that as much as two-fifths of Europe’s population was wiped out – had a correspondingly massive impact upon the region’s economy. Farms were no longer producing nearly as much food, whole tracts of land were left untended, and large landowners found themselves left with a severely diminished and weakened workforce. Yet in the midst of all the chaos and confusion, a few social sectors were able to glean some benefits – especially skilled artisans, who were responsible for producing finished products such as furniture, clothes, tools, jewelry, and other hard-to-make items. Many Europeans were eager to remove their minds from their sufferings and so they began to turn increasingly towards luxury products as a way of affirming their tenuous grip upon life. This new trend enabled skilled artisans to charge more for their services, as the demand for their goods increased and their societal prestige rose in accordance with their declining numbers. Their specialized knowledge also became more highly prized; every artisan who succumbed to the plague took a mental treasure trove of craftsmanship techniques and tricks with him into the grave.

A jizya has historically been the name given to a yearly tax levied against non-Muslim residents of an Islamic country. Most famously it was used by the Ottoman Empire to collect taxes from their non-Muslim population.

Mansa Musa was the tenth “Mansa” of Mali Empire in the fourteenth century. He is most frequently remembered for his extraordinary wealth, derived from gold, and his extravagant pilgrimage to Mecca. By some estimates Mansa Musa was the wealthiest relative person in human history - during his pilgrimage to Mecca he gave away so much gold that he devalued the price of gold in Egypt and nearly devastated the Egyptian economy.

Feudalism emerged in Japan in the late twelfth and early thirteenth centuries, at the beginning of the Kamakura period. The Kamakura period began with victory for the Minamoto clan in the Taira-Minamoto war. They established a feudal system, with a Shogun at the top, and a group of landowning Daimyos who pledged their allegiance to the Shogun.

Guilds emerged in Europe during the medieval era as a type of labor union. Guilds were comprised of members of the same skilled occupation (for example, blacksmith). These guild members would work together to maintain monopolies, establish price and quality controls, and provide pensions to retired members. One thing they did not do was sell shares, this was an innovation of joint-stock corporations during the era of European colonialism.

The European and Japanese feudal systems, developed in isolation from one another, were remarkably similar to one another. The only major difference between the two institutions was that in Europe, the feudal arrangement between landowner and knight/peasant was contractually reinforced, whereas in Japan the arrangement was based solely on a sense of honor and loyalty.

Swahili emerged as the lingua franca of the so-called Swahili city-states of East Africa in order to facilitate trade. The Swahili city-states were influential in the Indian Ocean trading network. To provide clarification, a lingua franca is a universal language adopted by a diverse group of people to make communicating easier over large distances. Latin and Arabic are two other notable lingua francas of the classical and medieval periods.

Banking, and the practice of monetization, were both employed during the Middle Ages to lower the risks associated with trading ventures. Prior to the growth of banking, there was an enormous personal risk associated with financing trading ventures (particularly over long distances).

The Theme System was first developed in the Byzantine Empire in the seventh century, and lasted in some form or another until the fall of the empire in the fifteenth century. The Theme System was used to divide frontier lands between various high ranking members of the military. The theory was that if the soldiers and generals owned the land on which they were fighting, they would feel much more personally responsible for its defense. It proved an effective means of administration throughout much of the empire’s history.