The first ones, in the late Middle Ages, specialised in commercial news, mainly from abroad.

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By the late Middle Ages, most of Europe was thriving under this arrangement.

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But it has some important exceptions: Even in the late middle ages, the theologians-cum-proto-economists realized that the arbitrage effect is net of transportation costs.

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One should not downplay the importance of literacy, too, as the printing press and the ability to mass-produce cheap paper ignited an explosion in publishing throughout Europe in the late Middle Ages and the Renaissance.

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Robert Irwin, from the School of Oriental and African Studies, says the stories were written to entertain in normal, conversational Arabic of the late Middle Ages - and were aimed at the tradesmen and the lower-middle classes.

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This cosy French city of roughly 66, 000 people in the eastern Alsace region is home to five charming winter fairs, all part of La Magie de Noel (Christmas Magic) market, a tradition that dates back to the late Middle Ages.

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Paradigm shifts like the rise of the corporation in the late Middle Ages, paper money, free labor and central banking, among many others, all came about as a response to particular political, social and technological pressures, needs, and problems.

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