From today until the 10th of February on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 6.30pm to 8pm, Casa Asia presents the online course History of Oriental Spices: the trade that marked the future of Humanity, given by Professor Román Hereter, Doctor in History, Master in Classical Archaeology, graduate in History and Archaeology and graduate in Information Sciences. Price: 58.5 euros. 24 hours before the event, those registered will receive the necessary information to gain access. Registration is open at this link.
The importation of pepper, cinnamon, cloves and other spices from India, Ceylon and the Moluccas, which were highly valued in Europe, determined important historical events from antiquity to the era of globalisation. This course will review the definition of spices and the origins of this trade, their introduction in the Mediterranean area, the presence of pepper in the gastronomy of the Roman Empire, the difficulties of supply in medieval times and their recovery as “elements of prestige” in the noble tables, the consumption of spices in both Byzantium and Al Andalus, the influence in the so-called “Age of Discoveries” and the first Round the World Tour, the main products of the first multinationals in history and the acclimatisation of spices in other tropical territories, at which point they ceased to have the strategic value they had had until then.
