Was+there+a+world+economic+network+in+this+period?

=**World Trading Networks: **=
 * __Mediterranean Trade__ between //western Europe, the Byzantine Empire,// and //the Islamic Empire//**.**


 * __Hanseatic League__: collection of city-states in the Baltic and North Sea regions in Europe that banded together to trade, fight off pirates and foreign governments, and to "establish a trade monopoly from the region to much of the rest of the world." [[image:http://www.klitzfamily.com/files/hanseatic_league.jpg width="682" height="388" align="center" caption="Hanseatic League"]]

-military technologies, religions (such as Buddhism, Islam, and Christianity), porcelain, paper, and of course, silk, were traded and spread through the silk road
 * __Silk Road__: Connected //China// to //Mediterranean// cultures


 * Land routes of //Mongols//
 * Trade between //China// and //Japan//
 * Trade between //India// and //Persia//
 * //Trans-Saharan// trade routes between //west Africa// and the //Islamic Empire//

** In conclusion **: //Yes//, there was a global economic network in this time period. The world was very interconnected, and even if one region (like Western Europe) didn't trade directly with another region (like Japan), their goods can still be exchanged by the various trade routes between the two.

__SOURCES:__ Princeton Review (2008 Edition), pages 160-161