Out of the East : spices and the medieval imagination
Paul Freedman (Author), Nancy Ovedovitz (Designer)
The demand for spices in medieval Europe was huge, and inspired geographical and commercial exploration as traders pursued pepper, cinnamon, ambergris etc. Ultimately, the spice quest led to imperial missions that would change the world forever. This book not only looks at the trade, but at the uses to which spices were put. The demand for spices in medieval Europe was extravagant and was reflected in the pursuit of fashion, the formation of taste, and the growth of luxury trade. It inspired geographical and commercial exploration, as traders pursued such common spices as pepper and cinnamon and rarer aromatic products, including ambergris and musk. Ultimately, the spice quest led to imperial missions that were to change world history. This engaging book explores the demand for spices: why were they so popular, and why so expensive? Paul Freedman surveys the history, geography, economics, and culinary tastes of the Middle Ages to uncover the surprisingly varied ways that spices were put to use--in elaborate medieval cuisine, in the treatment of disease, for the promotion of well-being, and to perfume important ceremonies of the Church. Spices became symbols of beauty, affluence, taste, and grace, Freedman shows, and their expense and fragrance drove the engines of commerce and conquest at the dawn of the modern era
eBook, English, 2008
Yale University Press, New Haven [Connecticut], 2008
History
1 online resource (285 pages) : illustrations, maps
9780300211313, 9781306715300, 9780300111996, 9780300151350, 0300211317, 130671530X, 0300111991, 0300151357
882258596
Spices and medieval cuisine
Medicine : spices as drugs
The odors of paradise
Trade and prices
Scarcity, abundance, and profit
"That damned pepper" : spices and moral danger
Searching for the realms of spices
Finding the realms of spices : Portugal and Spain