The silk and spice trade, involving spices, incense, herbs, drugs and opium, made these Mediterranean city-states extremely wealthy. Spices were among the most expensive and in-demand products of the Middle Ages, used in medicine as well as in the kitchen.

2021年6月9日 · From 1500 onwards, first Portugal, and then other European powers, attempted to control the spice trade, the ports which marketed spices, and eventually the territories which grew them.

Spice trade, the cultivation, preparation, transport, and merchandising of spices and herbs, an enterprise of ancient origins and great cultural and economic significance. Seasonings such as cinnamon, ginger, cassia, and turmeric were important items of commerce from the earliest evolution of trade.

Compared with its turbulent beginnings, the nature of the spice trade is almost unrecognisable today. Spices are now accessible and ubiquitous, found everywhere from supermarket aisles, corner...

2008年5月12日 · Spices didn't just make merchants rich across the globe — it established vast empires, revealed entire continents to Europeans and tipped the balance of world power. If the modern age has a...

The most fundamentally important spice is salt—a mineral. Yet, trade in spices of plant origin from tropical South and Southeast Asia—pepper, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, and mace—stimulated European "scientific thought during the Renaissance and the explorations and the empire building that followed" (Küster 2000, p. 437).

2022年2月14日 · The history of the spice trade goes back many years. For millennia, only a very select handful of goods were transported great distances across the world in trade – among the most widespread were the spices cinnamon, pepper, clove, nutmeg and mace.

2025年1月15日 · As demand for spices grew, trade routes emerged, connecting distant regions and cultures. The development of these routes facilitated the exchange of not only spices but also ideas, technologies, and cultural practices.

2023年8月24日 · These fragments of bark, seed, and fruit have served as a catalyst for much of the exploration, intercontinental conflict and trade of the last few millennia. Let’s unearth the history and influence of the spice trade from ancient times to the modern world.

For millennia, the intricate network of spice routes represented far more than mere trade pathways. These extraordinary maritime and terrestrial corridors became vibrant channels of cultural exchange, technological transfer, and economic transformation that fundamentally reshaped human civilization.