Trade Routes. European trade followed two "urban belts" that stretched east-west along the Mediterranean Sea and south-north from Italy to the Netherlands. The Italians played a central role in both trade networks and held almost monopolistic control of the southern east-west axis. Mediterranean trade was lucrative because of the high number of luxury items from Asia, such as spices and silk, that flowed through Italy. These items were carried overland across Asia and placed on Italian ships in the eastern Mediterranean area known as the Levant. Venetian and Genoese merchants dominated Mediterranean trade as far west as Cadiz and Lisbon. The Italians used the Iberian ports to sell eastern goods and to purchase textiles from northern Europe. The Italians also played a major role in the south-north trade routes by shipping items north to England and Flanders or transporting them overland...