ABSTRACT
The basis of life in tenth, eleventh and twelfth-century Europe lay in agriculture: in the growing of grain, rearing of sheep and cattle and of other essential sources of food and drink. It is sometimes suggested that the great sums invested in building in the middle Ages retarded economic development. Especially striking in this context is the paradox of the Cistercians. A later visitor to the abbey was captivated by the adventures of the river Aube, and paid his tribute to the technical achievements of Bernard and his colleagues for although much water had flowed through the channels since Bernard's death. The currencies of France were in appearance imitations of those of the Carolingian age. They actually came from Byzantium or not as ornaments and for occasional barter. The slave trade would appear to have been the most substantial long-distance trade in northern Europe in the early middle Ages. Industrial development is as difficult to define with precision as commercial.
