The majority of historical literature on the spice trade in late–medieval Europe examines the pivotal role spices had in stimulating Western Europeans to explore and establish colonial enterprises. Paul Freedman proposes to focus on the demand side, on "why spices were so popular in the first place, why they were sufficiently sought after for traders to bring them to Europe from what seemed the farthest corners of the world." This paper will argue that Paul Freedman follows the advice given by Storey and Jones provided in Writing History. His arguments for the scarcity and value of spices are the prices, demand, and the means by which they were harvested. He provides details on how the spice trade worked in the Middle Ages, how lack of knowledge of and control over their sources whetted Europeans' desire to eliminate middlemen, and how voices raised against conspicuous consumption of spices had little effect on their use. Having established how and why Europeans were so eager to pay high prices for an enormous variety of spices, Freedman then retells the story of how government-backed expeditions set out to find and gain control of sources through exploration and conquest. Freedman also writes about the decline in demand for spices in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries and their disappearance from world trade as commodities that countries would go to war in order to control.
While previewing his main arguments in the introductory, Freedman quickly dispenses with conventional knowledge that spices were popular in the Middle Ages because they helped preserve meat and cover up spoilage. He notes that salting, pickling, smoking, or air-curing were much more effective means of preservation. More importantly, the price of spices...
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...al cookbooks might profitably have been compared to the moderation usually counseled in regimens of health, a genre of medieval text that was more common than cookbooks.
Finally, Freedman often refers to contemporary phenomena as analogs to the points he is making. These are sometimes humorous but they also serve to make serious points. Such examples effectively bring the dynamic at the basis of the relationship between the attractiveness of spices and their rarity in pre-modern Europe home to the reader. On balance, Freedman has written a masterful synthesis of research from many different branches of economic, social, political, and textual history. Occasionally, some of the detail from particular texts makes for slow going, but the reader is ultimately rewarded with additional insights and with an overall perspective that makes it worthwhile to continue reading.
Some of the items included porcelain and silk, which is more of a want than a need. Charles D’Avenant also mentions that along with receiving luxury good, Europeans were only sending silver and gold back to Asia, which would become buried and never returned. The global flow of silver’s influence on trade between European nations can be seen in D’Avenant’s account of the English being “supplanted in the spice- trade by the Dutch”, in his reference to importing from the East Indies commodities that can then be sold elsewhere across Europe, in his disappointment that gold and silver gets buried permanently in Asia. To the people of Europe, Asian silks and dyed cloth is pleasing to everyone and useful to wear at home. That meant that it should not be recommended to quit the trade between Europe and China because it benefited both countries. In his essay, Xu Dunqiu Ming wrote about how before, buyers would give vegetables and animals in order to purchase a product from a merchant (Doc. 4). But, silver allowed trading and bartering to be simpler because instead of having to trade item for other goods and services, a person can just give a certain amount of silver coins. The historical context of this essay
Have you ever wondered what people ate in the Elizabethan Era? The Elizabethan Era had foods that are in common with foods that we ate today, but there are a few different types of foods that they ate then that we don't eat now. This paper will tell readers the things that the Elizabethan Era ate, and their different eating times.
Food means different things to people in different countries of the world; pasta is common in Italy, hamburgers are a favorite in the US and tacos are a typical dish in Mexico. Human existence solely depends on this source of energy. A person’s fundamental need for food makes it a very important item, placing the people who control the food in a very high esteem. Consistency is also important in the delicate balance of life. Erich Maria Remarque, author of All Quiet in the Western Front, and Elie Wiesel, author of Night, both use food in their novels to convey this idea. Many of their thoughts and “meanings” concerning food paralleled one another. Food, one of the quintessential elements of life, plays a significant role in wartime experiences around the world and even in different time periods.
The period 1550 to 1660 was a period of extreme dislocation and major change, within which saw periods boom and bust in various regions across Europe. This was followed by a much quieter period in the later 17th century that most economic historians would call recessionary. Along with the religious consequences of the Reformation and Counter Reformation came deep and lasting political changes. Northern Europe’s new religious and political freedoms came at a great cost, with decades of rebellions, wars and bloody
In the course of approximately four hundred years, Western European colonists and prominent historical figures were particularly known for exploiting and devastating distant cultures and civilizations around the world. This included groups ranging from the Aboriginals and the Aztecs in the remote “New World”, to groups in East Asia such as the Chinese and the Mughals. However, historians today debate whether or not these prevailing and prospering Western European nations were as successful at influencing the cultures of nearer empires such as the Ottoman Empire. It is questionable as to whether or not the Ottoman Empire should be compared to other cultures devastated through their interactions with the West, largely due to the Ottomans’ vast success in the sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries and eventual internal problems. However, the Ottoman Empire’s inability to remain as successful as its adjacent Western neighbours indicates that they too, were a victim of Western dominance. As the Ottomans began its descent, much of the West continued its prevalence. Therefore, it is fair to say that the Ottoman Empire’s considerable interaction with the West led to the demise and alteration of its culture. The Western powers’ economic supremacy, exploitation of the Ottomans’ internal failures and influence on its religious state each significantly contributed.
In the time of Europe many difficulties came across. The trade to the new word became a trade boom in the 15th century. There was import demand on the companies and the rising export supply became too much for the natives to handle. In the rise of exports the supplies had to be shipped from Asia to the Americans. In the American land, where the majority of Europeans desired to sail to, the new sailors that came were not accepted as Americans, though none were truly considered Americans until later in the time of America. “The sea trade had multiplied by leaps and bounds” (Hale, John R.513). The route of trade was soon taken by Spain and some of the ships were entering to the new world. There was a demand for food in Europe at the time of Columbus and the main sea route for trade was between the North Sea and the Mediterranean. As the trade increased, Europe began to receive products including, pepper, this gave Europe the better of a chance to sail to the new world. The trade in Europe made Europeans richer in the sense of knowledge and began to bring Europeans to a different level of communication with the other lands.
First, a person’s diet in the Medieval Times depended on the class of an individual. If one were part of a richer class, there was a wide range of foods available. According to Gerald Harvey, “Geese, turkey, fish, and chickens were usually available to the rich and his family.” Fish would eithe...
During the 17th and 18th centuries, mercantilism was the emerging economic policy through which the slave trade developed in Europe. In the Netherlands many historical events gave rise to a desire for domination of international trade. They were serious tradesman and were heavily involved in the profitable business of slavery. The Dutch, intelligent and self-ruling tradesmen took no time in displaying their dominance over rival countries, Portugal, England and Spain, in the Atlantic and Indian Ocean. They established their international superiority in trade and impacted today’s society.
Knight, Judson. Middle Ages. Ed. Judy Galens. J-Z ed. Vol. 2. Detroit: UXL, 2001. Print.
The Europeans needed to acquire profitable and cheap labor somehow. They knew that workers in foreign lands would be perfect. Not only were cheap laborers needed, but also profitable and cheap land. Goods such as tea, oranges, coffee, bananas, and chocolate were at high demand. The easiest way to acquire all of their desi...
Spencer, Colin. The Heretic's Feast: A History of Vegetarianism. Hanover, NH: U of New England, 1996. Print.
As previously mentioned, food was traditionally considered as a mere means of subsistence, especially in the 17th and 18th centuries. The early history of food involved its use to define shared identities and reflected religious and group customs. Furthermore, food was filled with psychological, cultural, religious, and emotional significance. During this period, a unique court tradition of cuisine and sophisticated table manners emerged to distinguish the social elite from the ordinary people. However, during the 19th century, the history of food slightly changed as it became a defining symbol of national identity. This period was characterized by the association of several dishes to particular countries and cultures (Mintz, par 1). For instance, American hamburger and tomato-based Italian spaghetti are cultural foods that were in...
The first few chapters are devoted to the culinary side of the spices, particularly regarding the specific seasonings: pepper, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, nutmeg, and most importantly saffron. Spices were a common good used within households, being used in large amounts not just within food but even drinks; as Freedman put it, “thirteenth to fifteenth centuries, spices appear in 75 percent of the recipes.” . The types of spices used varied with each region; the English preferring cubeb while the French opted for long pepper. The cuisines of both regions in accordance to the wealthier classes both “represented the triumph of virtuosity over simplicity”. The primary sources researched by Freedman were immense, mainly from originating from cookbooks of that era efficiently providing a better understanding of the prominence of spices within dishes and the differing styles.
...important impact in Diana's life. However, for Diana the relationship with food is different from that of her father's. For Bud, food is a way to relate to the way he used to live, “… he cooks and croons in Arabic to the frying liver and onions songs about missing the one you love.” For her family, food was always a reason to make them feel better, and to relief life pressures. For Diana, it is a way to find herself. Moreover, for Diana, and despite all of the challenges that she encountered, food and cooking are used as a tool in which she expressed herself. A tool to share her good times, and bad times. She used food as comfort, a peace offering, and a way to find herself. Therefore, her simple and enjoyable to read stories came to be a wonderful mix between her life story, and food recipes. Especially for those who consider food to be more than something to eat.
However, due to the effects of globalization, modern African cuisine and cooking draws upon an assortment of ethnic traditions merged with the seasonings and tastes of outside countries (AIG, 2011). In general, European explorers and traders introduced several important food staples to t...