New Worlds and Th eir Challenges 105Th e judgment was eventually given by a church commission in 1417. As
so oft en in litigation, it was a disappointment for both sides. Th e Polish re-
quest for the dissolution of the Teutonic Knights was denied. (Vestiges of
the order remain in existence to the present day, performing charitable
work.) Nor was there an express repudiation of the doctrine of dilatatio. An
order of silence was even imposed onto Vladimiri by Pope Martin V. On the
whole, though, the Poles had the greater reason to be satisfi ed with the out-
come, since it was ruled that there was to be no crusade against the united
kingdom of Poland- Lithuania. Th is had the important eff ect of weakening
pop u lar support in the region for the knights’ aggressive activities.Peaceful Ties between the Faiths
It should not be thought that relations between Christians and Muslims
were uniformly hostile during the Middle Ages. Strong economic ties devel-
oped between the faiths— ties that were, in fact, too strong for the liking of
some. As early as 969– 70, the Byzantine Empire entered into an agreement
with the Muslim emir of Aleppo for the free traffi c of caravans between
Byzantium and the central Asian trading cities. Th is agreement also pro-
vided for limitations on customs duties and guarantees of the security of
persons.
Th e various Italian trading cities were not far behind. In the course of
time, there came to be substantial colonies of Eu ro pe an merchants in the
ports of the Byzantine Empire and of the Muslim regions. Th e fi rst of these
were established by merchants from Amalfi in Constantinople and Alexan-
dria in the eleventh century. A statute regulating the aff airs of the Venetian
colony in Constantinople dates from 1082, although the settlement itself was
older t ha n t hat. Pisa a lso had a colony i n Consta nt i nople by 1111, a nd i n
crusader- ruled Acre by 1179, as well as in a place called Subilia (probably in
modern- day Tunisia) by 1166. By the early thirteenth century, the Eu ro pe an
merchant community in Alexandria was some three thousand strong. In
1127, Genoa signed a treaty regulating access to and from Muslim ports in
Spain. It also had a Constantinople colony by 1155, as well as one in Bougie
in Tunisia by 1164. In 1275, it concluded a commercial treaty with Egypt,
enabling it to import slaves into Egypt and to export sugar to the Eu ro pe an
markets. In 1251, the city of Venice concluded a very detailed commercial