1. Commerce and industry expanded greatly from the twelfth to the thirteenth century, fueling the growth in number, size, independence, and importance of towns.
2. In the various states of Europe, representative assemblies gained power, and constitutional stability improved.
3. In the East, the Byzantine Empire reestablished itself as a significant, although reduced, power, while the Moscow used Mongol overlordship to create the kernel of the modern Russian state.
4. Corruption and involvement in politics decreased the prestige of the Papacy, while lay piety grew stronger.
5. Dante's Divine Comedy, perhaps the greatest synthesis of Medieval culture, combined Scholasticism, courtly romance, spiritual journey, classical learning, and contemporary politics.
