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From the 8th century until the 15th century, the Republic of Venice and neighboring maritime republics held the monopoly of European trade with the Middle East. The silk and spice trade, involving spices, incense, herbs, drugs and opium, made these Mediterranean city-states phenomenally rich. Spices were among the most expensive and demanded products of the Middle Ages, as they were used in medieval medicine,[19] religious rituals, cosmetics, perfumery, as well as food additives and preservatives.[20] They were all imported from Asia and Africa. Muslim traders—mainly descendants of Arab sailors from Yemen and Oman—dominated maritime routes throughout the Indian Ocean, tapping source regions in the Far East and shipping for trading emporiums in India, mainly Kozhikode, westward to Ormus in Persian Gulf and Jeddah in the Red Sea. From there, overland routes led to the Mediterranean coasts. Venetian merchants distributed then the goods through Europe until the rise of the Ottoman Empire, that eventually led to the fall of Constantinople in 1453, barring Europeans from important combined-land-sea routes.[21][22] Forced to reduce their activities in the Black Sea, and at war with Venice, the Genoese had turned to north African trade of wheat, olive oil (valued also as energy source) and a search for silver and gold. Europeans had a constant deficit in silver and gold,[23] as coin only went one way: out, spent on eastern trade that was now cut off. Several European mines were exhausted,[24] the lack of bullion leading to the development of a complex banking system to manage the risks in trade (the very first state bank, Banco di San Giorgio, was founded in 1407 at Genoa). Sailing also into the ports of Bruges (Flanders) and England, Genoese communities established then in Portugal,[25] who profited from their enterprise and financial expertise. European sailing had been primarily close to land cabotage, guided by portolan charts. These charts specified proven ocean routes guided by coastal landmarks: sailors departed from a known point, followed a compass heading, and tried to identify their location by its landmarks.[26] For the first oceanic exploration Western Europeans used the compass, progressive new advances in cartography and astronomy. Arab navigation tools like the astrolabe and quadrant were used for celestial navigation. |
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