Why Was Constantinople Important?
Constantinople was important because of trade between Europe and Asia. They traded goods as well as fur, money, and enslaved people from northern Europe. This trading made the empire very wealthy. But most of the people were not merchants but farmers,herders,laborers, and artisans. One of the major industries was weaving silk. Byzantine travelers had smuggled silk worms from China to make silk cloth. This provided a lot of the wealth for the empire.