欧洲中古的城市,有的是继续维持上古以来的繁荣的,如君士丁堡是;有的是只有很短时期衰落,不久即恢复其繁荣的,如威尼斯在六世纪后即很繁荣;但大多数上古的城市,在中古初期,都毁灭或变为不重要了。到了十一世纪,如意大利、法兰德,又有不少重要城市了;十二世纪时,北欧及东欧部分地区,也有很多重要城市出现。今将其情况概述如下:一、意大利最重要的是两个商业共和国威尼斯和热那亚。她们把东方货物分散到西欧各地去,在东罗马 Some medieval European cities continued to maintain their prosperity since ancient times, as in the case of Fort Constantin. Some only experienced a short period of decline and soon regained their prosperity. For example, Venice flourished after the sixth century, but most of the ancient Cities, in the early Middle Ages, were either destroyed or became unimportant. In the eleventh century, such as Italy and Flanders, there are quite a few important cities. In the twelfth century, there were also many important cities in parts of northern and eastern Europe. The situation is summarized as follows: First, Italy’s two most important commercial republics are Venice and Genoa. They scattered Eastern goods all over Western Europe, in the east of Rome