RELIGST 2FF3 Lecture 3: The Mediterranean as a Trading System
14 Sep 2016
School
Department
Course
Professor
Document Summary
Spices: cinnamon, cardamon, cloves, pepper, ginger, tumeric, saffron, cumin, anise. Salt was important, especially to venice who drew salt from the sea and sold it. The spice trade was brokered by arab countries. After the early success of the crusades to take power over parts of the levant, europe be- gan to increase traffic in the eastern mediterranean. From the 14th century onward, western european powers were moving more forcefully into the spice trade trying to become brokers. Spain and portugal were trying to become central brokers. It was extremely expensive to transport goods, making the spice trade lucrative and at- tracting brokers who could make profit off of the transport fees. The galie was the preferred vessel for working in the mediterranean as they were light- weight which was beneficial for the unpredictable winds but deep enough to store and transport a large number of commodities.
