What was the place of spices, a symbol of social status, in the Mamluk spice trade?
"The use of spices was really only to reflect the social status of the aristocracy".
Bags of spices were loaded on cargo ships, sailing from the Indian Peninsula through the Indian Ocean, the Red Sea, the Mediterranean Sea, countless ports stop-and-go, and finally placed on spice store shelves.
The long route has created the expensive price of spices and increased the mystery of spices.
The higher the grade of a household, the more spices are used and the greater the variety.
During this period, spices had become a luxury item that provided privileges, pleasures, and palate richness to the wealthy.
In the eyes of the rich and aristocratic, there must be a difference from the poor.
The rich, as a "special" group, have to eat "special" food.
At the banquet, the more pepper the host offers to the guests, the more it highlights the identity of the host and the respect that the host has for the guests.
"In 1537, a nobleman named Manuel Cirne burned cinnamon wood at a banquet to show his status."
As in Roman times, the charm of spices is not whether they can bring people sensory enjoyment, but that they can meet the needs of users to show their identity and show off their identity, like other luxury goods.
As the famous German sociologist Max Weber said, luxury goods are "a means of social self-expression."
In upper-class homes, elaborate trays made of gold or silver are often used to hold spices such as pepper.
Of course, spices can be passed as gifts in interactions between nobles, between countries as diplomatic gifts, and as heirlooms to bequeath to descendants.
During the reign of Bonifacius VIII 1294-1303, he often received spices from monarchs everywhere.
Spices were given a social hierarchy, and the use of spices became an honor.
For the general public, imitating the use of spices by the upper class has also become a trend.
In the middle and late 14th century, pepper gradually fell from the altar of spice, and the price of pepper was gradually accepted by the middle class, and the value of spices can be slightly known according to wages.
In England in 1400, a skilled worker could only buy 0.5 pounds of pepper (about 0.23 kilograms) a day's wages, while more than 200 years ago, "an Antwerp mason paid only about 105 grams of pepper or 4.5 kilograms of corned beef a day".
When the price of pepper can be accepted by the majority, it means that pepper has lost its status as a "luxury", and the upper class of society no longer favors it.
Other spices, which continue to maintain high prices, are still regarded as symbols of social status by the upper echelons of society.
"In England in 1439, 1 pound (about 0.45 kg) of cinnamon required a mature worker's wages for three days, while a pound of cloves cost the worker four and a half days' wages, and a pound of crocuse required a month's wages for the worker."
Therefore, while spices can remain a social symbol, they will continue to have a broad consumer market.
The "currency" function of spices.
Spices can even serve as general equivalents in everyday life in Western Europe.
"At the beginning of the 14th century, the salaries of crew members and stevedores were settled in the form of spices.
In addition to this, merchants needed to repay loans with pepper, a situation that continued until the 16th century. ”
Even in the 20th century, Britain still imposed a symbolic tax on pepper, which shows that pepper in the Middle Ages had a profound impact on the lives of Western Europeans.
Before falling to the "altar", pepper is comparable to gold, and pepper is even called "black gold" and "pepper currency".
Having a certain amount of pepper is enough to highlight one's wealth.
In addition to pepper, other spices such as cloves, nutmeg, crocuse, etc. are worth a lot.
Bibliography:
[1] Nabhan,Gary Paul.Cumin,camels,and caravans:a spice odyssey,London:University of California Press,2014.
[2] Petry,Carl F.The Cambridge History of Egypt,Cambridge:Cambridge University Press,2008.
[3] Pilcher,Jeffrey M.Food in World History,New York:Routledge,2006.
