Raw materials and art – 27. Spices and the Moluccas

2023-05-30 06:00:43

Switzerland is a hub for commodity trading. Did you know that this activity represents 4% of Swiss GDP, and even 22% of tax revenue for the canton of Geneva. This week, focus on the spice trade. We will examine the etymology of the term spice. Then, we will discuss the origin of the spice trade, the value of spices in Antiquity. We will discover in detail the spice route. This gives us the opportunity to admire the map of the Moluccas Islands by Petrus Plancius.

Spices have played an important role in history since their discovery. In the ancient and medieval world, they were among the most valuable products, which alone justified the opening of new trade routes.

etymology

The term “spice” comes from the Latin specie (same etymology as “species”), which in Lower Latin meant “food, spice, drug”. It appears for the first time in French in the middle of the 12th century, in the Pilgrimage of Charlemagne, meaning “aromatic substance”.

The origin of the spice trade

Archaeologists have discovered that they were already used in ancient civilizations. The Chinese were already using cinnamon in 3000 BC. J.-C.

During antiquity, spices were for embalming. Slaves and peasants ate garlic and onions, and the herbs were used daily. Many types of spices were found in Tutankhamun’s tomb.

The Bible also repeatedly mentions spices as valuable commodities. Moses anointed the Ark of the Covenant with cinnamon and cassia. King Solomon received valuable spices as gifts from the Queen of Sheba, in addition to jewelry and gold.

The Phoenicians, a people of merchants and navigators, acted as commercial distributors of spices in the Mediterranean until Tyr, their capital, was conquered by Alexander the Great.

The Greeks followed different routes for the transport of goods from the East, and the oldest was certainly that which, from the Indian coast of Malabar, went up the Persian Gulf, crossed the valleys of the Tigris and the Euphrates to in Babylon and Antioch.

The value of spices in antiquity

Before the opening of the spice route, spices had enormous commercial value. The reason for these high prices, in addition to customs duties and the cost of intermediaries, lay in their use not only for food, but also for pharmacological purposes. Among the most important spices are cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg and pepper. Pepper, for example, was used as currency in the Middle Ages. In the third century AD, Alaric, king of the Goths, demanded tribute in gold, silver and a ton of pepper after attacking Rome.

The usefulness of the new commercial channel

Upstream, it is a question of creating a trade route which excludes all the Turkish, Venetian, Arab and Persian intermediaries whose presence, in addition to the duties imposed by the Ottoman Empire, is at the origin of the increase in the price of spices.

The spice route consists of bypassing Africa through Arab countries. All those who previously played a dominant role in international trade lose their monopoly, which leads to lower prices for raw materials and an increase in supply and demand. Suddenly, even the old roads like the Silk Road and the Incense Road became obsolete and less important.

The spice route

The first part of the voyage extended from Lisbon to the Cape of Good Hope, then went up the coastal part of East Africa to the western coast of India, passing through the Arabian Sea. The second part started from bypassing India and Ceylon, from the Bay of Bengal, passed between Indonesia and Malaysia, then between Sumatra and Jawa, to land in the so-called spice islands or Moluccas (Ternate, Ambon and Tidore ).

New routes to India and the struggle for control of the Moluccas

The European powers disputed by all means the monopoly of the trade of spices and many navigators took to the sea on several occasions to discover new routes towards the East.

In 1418, the Portuguese Henry the Navigator sent expeditions to discover new routes.

Vasco da Gama, in 1498, after a 10-month voyage, discovered the sea route to India via the Cape of Good Hope, and returned from Calcutta not only with a rich cargo of spices and jewels, but also with l important news that the Indian government intended to open trade with Portugal, which in 1506 established the Crown’s monopoly on the spice trade.

After long clashes with the Arabs, who controlled trade in the Indian Ocean, the Portuguese settled in 1510 in Ceylon and Goa.

They exploit the cinnamon forests there and enslave the people who work there, imposing their control on a very profitable trade and pushing as far as the Moluccas, then called the “Spice Islands”. They grow cloves, nutmeg and pepper there.

At the same time, the Spaniards, who had great territorial ambitions, financed in 1492 the expedition of Christopher Columbus who, sailing west, discovered the New World, but not the spices he was looking for.

In 1512, the Portuguese Antonio D’Abreu reached the Banda archipelago and Francisco Serao founded a spice trading establishment there.

The possession of the Moluccas was long disputed between Spain and Portugal, until in 1529, Charles V, by the Treaty of Saragossa, renounced all his rights in favor of the King of Portugal, in exchange for monetary compensation.

The Portuguese aimed at the acquisition of territories, the control of trade and the spread of Catholicism. This made them unpopular with the local, mostly Muslim populations, who welcomed the Dutch conquest with relief.