Strassman

PATTY STRASSMANN

Thesis: Spices were so important in the middle ages that they were a driving force in the age of discovery.

INTRODUCTION

The diet of the average European in the middle ages was bland at best. The lack of refrigeration and poor quality meats required some spices to make them edible. When the crusaders returned to Europe they brought a flavor for the exotic oriental goods with them. Spices were available to European through trade routes that they did not control. Additionally, much of the profits of the spice trade went to the hated infidels, the Muslims who did control much of the trade to the far east. The Spanish and Portuguese, the leaders in the age of discovery, were both trying to find a new route to the Indies with thoughts of establishing their own trade with those markets.
SPICES

There were many spices that were popular with Europeans in the middle ages. Cinnamon came from China and Burma and was used not only for flavor but for cosmetics, drugs, balms, oils, and perfume. Nutmeg came from the Banda Islands. Cloves came from only two island; Ternate and Tidore in the Moluccas ( south of Indonesia) which were also know as the Spice Islands. Pepper was grown only in India, although there were some poor substitutes found other places. Pepper was used extensively in cooking but was also used for a tonic, a stimulant, even as insect repellent and an aphrodisiac.

Spices were also used as a means of exchange. There was no international currency exchange at this time. All payments between countries were made in gold and silver. Spices could also be used to pay fines and mortgages, to buy land, to buy a coat of arms or to pay taxes.

HISTORY OF SPICE TRADE

Trade in spices is a very old business. As early as 350 BC sailors from the Malaysian peninsula rode the monsoon to China to exchange goods. These sailors may have gone as far as India, the east coast of Africa, and Easter Island. They pioneered an all sea route from Sri Lanka to China and developed an international market for fine spices from Mallacca.

The Greeks acquired spices through trade with the Arabs, they were especially fond of cinnamon and pepper. Alexander the Great brought rice, cotton ed trade with East Asia, the Spice Islands, China, and the east coast of Africa. Additionally, these Arabs spread information about Chinese and Indian Maritime achievements. Further, the met the Berbers in West Africa who were trading in gold. This Association led to a doubling of the world's gold supply.

The spice route during the time of the great Mongol Kahns, was completely overland across Asia. However by the 14th century, the route had become unsafe from raiders and grazing for the caravan's animals was unreliable. The fifteenth century route was a combination of many nations. At the far eastern end the Chinese collected cloves and nutmegs from the East Indies and delivered the to the Malaysian port of Malacca. Muslim merchants from India, malay or Arabia, transported the goods across the bay or Bengal to India. In India, the cinnamon of Ceylon, and pepper from India was added to the cargo and sold in the spice ports of Calicut, Cochin, Cannore, Goa and Gujerat along the western coast of India. These ports as well as the rest of the Indian Ocean were controlled by Arabs. From India, regular shipments were sent to Persia, Arabia, and East Africa. There were two final routes to the Mediterranean Sea. The first was to travel from Aden and Ormuz up the Red Sea to Bab-el-mandeb. It was hard to navigate very far into the Red Sea so cargoes were transferred onto smaller mostly Egyptian vessels and transported to Cairo and the Nile valley. The other route was through the Persian Gulf to Shatt-al-Arab. The goods were then taken by river boat and camel caravan to Aleppo, Damascus , or Constantinople. The final destination often depended as much on the political climate as demand for the goods. From these ports, the spices were transported on Italian ships to Venice and Genoa. For the final step The goods went by river or pack train throughout Italy; across the Alpine passes to south Germany ; by sea to Marseilles and up the Rhone to central France; by sea to Alicante, Malagar, Barcelona and thence by pack train to the great fairs of central Spain; through the straits in annual convoys of Italian galleys to England, the low countries, and the north. (Parry 44)

The Italian merchants who sponsored these trade caravans became very wealthy and influential. The cost and risk was very high but the rewards were great. It was said that a merchant could ship six cargoes, and lose five, but still make a profit when the sixth was sold. (Parry 43)

By the middle of the fifteenth century , Portugal , under King John I , decided to get a piece of the trade action. The son of King John, Prince Henry, had fought along the Moroccan coast when Portugal captured Ceuta. While he was there he learned from Moroccan traders about gold routes across the Sahara Desert. He realized that Portugal could not take over Morocco, but could possibly intercept the gold at its source, belived to be near the Gulf of Guinea. The Prince, now known as Prince Henry the Navigator established a maritime school. One of Henry s goals was to find the trading center for gold, ivory, slaves, and pepper. The ships from Portugal slowly made their way further and further down the coast of Africa, no small task, since many sailors feared that they would burn up if they sailed too far south. The Portuguese also established themselves in several island off the African coast. After the death of Prince Henry in 1460, the expeditions slowed , but a Portuguese ship did cross the equator in 1473. Realizing that gold was not forthcoming along the African Coast, King John II decided that they should sail around Africa and establish trade with India. In 1487 Bartolomeu Dias sailed from Portugal and made it around the tip of Africa but returned before reaching India. That same year, the king sent a man named Covilha over land routes to India to find out what he could of the Moslem spice trade and shipping routes across the Arabian sea. Covilha reached Calicut on the western coast of India. Calicut was a major trading ceand spices to Greece from his travels in India. At this time the spices were brought overland through central Asia and Eastern Europe. The Partians who lived along the route imposed levies on everyone who passed through their land. this further increased the price of the goods. At one point the Greeks did try to bypass the overland route and tried, unsuccessfully to find a sea route to India. The Romans also traded for spices with India. Unfortunately , they had little in the way of goods to trade and were forced to send large sums of gold and silver to India every year. The Roman name Arabia Felix, or Happy Arabia was the trading center located on the South east coast of Arabia. There merchants traded Egyptian linens, Syrian glass, Chinese silks and the spices of Indonesia.

The Arabs of the seventh through ninth centuries created flourishing trade centers.Their governments did not take much interest in trade except for the taxes they collected from the merchants. These merchants establish route to the Indies- the generally sailed in opposite directions. Columbus, through some miscalculations, thought that the shortest route to the Indies was by sailing west. The Portugese were fairly sure that he was wrong and would not support his voyage. The Spanish monarchs, however, sanctioned and paid for his voyages. In the charter for Columbus voyage, he was to receive ten percent of the profits from any pearls, precious stones, gold, silver, or spices (Porter) that he found. That spices are listed with gold and silver shows the great importance placed on them. Columubus, unsuccessful in locating the Indies or the source of spices, was responsible for the introduction of some intersting new world products like cocoa and vanilla. His voyages also led to the the discovery of other important food products like corn and potatoes which enhanced the European diet.

After Columbus' voyages some Spanish explorers continued to try to find the westward route to the Indies. In 1513, Balboa crossed the Isthmus of Panama and saw the Pacific. He must have realized that the Indies lay across another great expanse of water. Magellan believed that he could sail around the tip of South America and reach the east. Leaving spain in 1519, he was successful and reached the Phillipines in 1521. Although he was killed in a local skirmish, one of his ships the Victoria took on a cargo of cloves and other spices, sailed around Africa and returned to Spain in 1522. When sold, the cargo of cloves that was brought to Spain paid for the entire voyage.

Two subsequent attempts to make the same voyage were unsuccessful and after 1527 all trips to the far east set out from Mexico.
CONCLUSION

Spices were essential in the middle ages. the were used for flavor, for medicines, and for magic. They were so valuable that people used spices as a medium of exchange. The search for spices and the wealth and power that came with them encouraged many men to venture on journeys of exploration. Among the great explorers, Columbus, Magellan, and DaGama were all in search of a new route to the valuable commodities of the East.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Boulnois, Luce. THE SILK ROAD E.P. Dutton, and Company. New York, 1966. pp 56-57.

Hale, John and the Editors of Time-Life Books. AGE OF EXPLORATION Time Inc. New York, 1966. pp 12,18,19, 32-38, 95-99, 102-104, 169-170.

Parry, J.H. THE AGE OF RECONNAISSANCE The World Publishing Company. Cleveland OH, 1963.

Porter, Charlotte. The Scientific Cosmos of Columbus: an Overview Proteus. Vol.9, No 1, Fall 1992.

Shaffer, Lynda N. The Hemispheric routes of the Columbian Voyages OAH Magazine of History. Vol5, No. 4, Spring 1991, pp24-26.