The Decline of Feudalism When Medieval Society began to emerge late in the 9th century, it was chaotic and uncertain times. The theme of security was once again gone and feudalism was predominant throughout Western society. It was based on the idea that each individual relied on each other, which lead to mutual obligations that were based on a mans word and a handshake. It was a semi-democratic society where the leaders relied on their kingdom for goods and services. The kings and knights even worked together in harmony. The effects of trade, the emergence of towns and the interjection of money into the economy truly revolutionized Western society economically, socially and politically. Many crusaders began to foster the economic relationships that would benefit themselves greatly. Merchants from Italy realized that there were profits to be made by taking their products northward. As they made their way north, they entered into a predominately rural society. They found that trade was hard to establish since this was a very rich agricultural society. The Italian merchants established temporary settlements called trade fairs. They tended to set up shop at a relatively accessible point, usually near a river. Another important deciding factor for location was security. They would want to set up the trade fair at a place that could be easily defended. Merchants could swap goods at these trade fairs using the barter system since there was still no monetary system in place. The trade fair would stay in one particular location for about one month and then pack up and move onto another location. After a few months of setting up from place to place they would head back to Italy to re-supply. Eventually, these merchants wore tired of moving their fairs from place to place and wanted to have a permanent settlement. From this need of permanent settlement