32 events with tag "spice"
2000 BC
ID: 5732
Cinnamon from Ceylon used in Egyptian embalming - spices worth more than gold, 3000-mile trade route already established
ID: 5732
1213 BC
ID: 5733
Black peppercorns found in nostrils of Ramses II's mummy - pepper from India reaches Egypt, evidence of ancient spice routes
ID: 5733
950 BC
ID: 5734
Queen of Sheba brings spices to Solomon - controls frankincense and myrrh trade from Yemen, establishes trade relations
ID: 5734
408
ID: 5735
Alaric the Goth demands 3,000 pounds of pepper as part of Rome's ransom - pepper literally worth a city's freedom
ID: 5735
650
ID: 5736
Arabs establish spice trade monopoly - control Indian Ocean routes, keep sources secret from Europeans for 800 years
ID: 5736
1000
ID: 5737
Banda Islands only source of nutmeg in world - tiny islands control global nutmeg supply, worth more than gold
ID: 5737
1082
ID: 5738
Venice gains Byzantine spice monopoly - controls European pepper distribution, one pound costs month's wages for laborer
ID: 5738
1100
ID: 5759
Karimi merchants dominate Cairo spice trade - mysterious guild controls Red Sea-Mediterranean transshipment, immense wealth
ID: 5759
1150
ID: 5760
Venetian funduq established in Cairo - permanent trading post and warehouse, Venice gets privileged access to spices
ID: 5760
1170
ID: 5761
Saladin courts Venetian traders - despite Crusades, allows Venice to trade in Alexandria and Cairo for naval support
ID: 5761
1200
ID: 5739
Pepper accepted as dowry and rent payment in Europe - 'peppercorn rent' enters legal vocabulary, spices function as currency
ID: 5739
1250
ID: 5762
Mamluk-Venetian monopoly formalized - Mamluks control Red Sea arrival, Venice gets exclusive European distribution rights
ID: 5762
1280
ID: 5740
Marco Polo reports Java's pepper abundance - describes ships loading 6,000 baskets of pepper, Europeans dream of direct access
ID: 5740
1300
ID: 5763
Mamluk spice convoys run like clockwork - armed 'Mecca fleets' bring spices from Jeddah to Cairo, then overland to Alexandria
ID: 5763
1400
ID: 5741
Venetian spice markup reaches 4000% - nutmeg bought for 1 ducat in Alexandria sold for 40+ ducats in Europe
ID: 5741
1400
ID: 5742
Cloves grow only on five tiny Moluccan islands - Ternate and Tidore control world's clove supply, sultans become fabulously wealthy
ID: 5742
1400
ID: 5764
Spice taxes provide third of Mamluk revenue - Sultan's monopoly charges duties at Jeddah, Suez, Cairo, and Alexandria
ID: 5764
1420
ID: 5765
Venice pays 10,000 ducats annually to Mamluk Sultan - ensures exclusive access, other Europeans blocked from spice trade
ID: 5765
1450
ID: 5766
Cairo-Alexandria spice caravan takes 10 days - heavily guarded camel trains carry fortunes in pepper, cinnamon, cloves
ID: 5766
1453
ID: 5743
Ottomans capture Constantinople - spice prices triple in Europe, desperate search for alternative routes begins
ID: 5743
1493
ID: 5693
Columbus encounters chili peppers - mistakes them for black pepper (hence 'pepper'), brings to Spain
ID: 5693
1494
ID: 5745
Spain and Portugal divide world for spice trade - Treaty of Tordesillas splits globe, all for control of spice routes
ID: 5745
1498
ID: 5744
Vasco da Gama reaches Kerala spice markets - breaks Arab-Venetian monopoly, pepper prices drop 90% in Lisbon
ID: 5744
1511
ID: 5746
Portugal captures Malacca - controls strategic strait, dominates Asian spice trade for century
ID: 5746
1517
ID: 5767
Ottomans conquer Egypt - take over Mamluk spice monopoly, but Portuguese Cape route already destroying traditional trade
ID: 5767
1522
ID: 5747
Magellan expedition's cloves pay for entire voyage - 26 tons of cloves from one surviving ship covers all costs plus profit
ID: 5747
1580
ID: 5770
Aleppo-Basra overland route revives - avoiding Portuguese naval power, caravans bring spices through Syria to Mediterranean
ID: 5770
1600
ID: 5771
Cairo spice trade collapses - from 490 tons of pepper annually in 1500 to under 20 tons, Cape route destroys ancient system
ID: 5771
1621
ID: 5749
Dutch commit genocide in Banda Islands - kill or enslave 14,000 of 15,000 inhabitants to control nutmeg monopoly
ID: 5749
1667
ID: 5748
Dutch trade Manhattan for nutmeg island Run - keeping tiny Banda island worth more than New Amsterdam to Dutch
ID: 5748
1770
ID: 5750
Pierre Poivre smuggles clove seedlings from Moluccas - French break Dutch monopoly, plants cloves in Mauritius
ID: 5750
1800
ID: 5751
Connecticut called 'Nutmeg State' for wooden nutmeg fraud - peddlers allegedly carved fake nutmegs from wood, sold to unsuspecting buyers
ID: 5751