Luxury Products. Because of the difficulty of transport, the luxury trade was the most conspicuous part of long-distance trade in medieval Europe. Traders had to expect large profits for the things they imported or there would be little point in assuming the risks. There were two varieties of luxury trade in Europe in the fourteenth century. The first variety was internal to Europe itself. A few regions specialized in high-quality manufacturing in traditional European products. The most notable were the woolens and silk industries in the towns of Northern Italy and the Low Countries (present-day Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxembourg). This internal European luxury trade made cities such as Bruges and Florence prosperous beyond the usual standards of manufacturing centers. The second variety of luxury trade was in products that were not manufactured in Europe. This long-distance trade was the most...