1. how did the crusades affect trade and daily life in europe near the end of the middle ages? the crusades decreased trade because merchants were afraid to travel in the midst of brutal battles. the crusades increased trade as treasures from foreign lands were brought back to europe, creating a desire for more. the crusades increased trade since soldiers were paid a salary and therefore had more resources. the crusades limited trade as families lost breadwinners and, therefore, had no money to spend.

in his book, the riddle of the rosetta stone, james giblin talks about how there was a young british polymath and physician named thomas young who made a lot of advances on the deciphering of the rosetta stone. he says that even though young made a lot of mistakes because he was working under false assumptions, he also made huge contributions like deciphering three out of the seven symbols (more than anyone else before him). young published his findings and continued his good work but he wasn't able to progress much further due to some unfavorable situations, he still laid the basis for many other scholars and of course for the man who has been generally known to have deciphered it, jean-françois champollion