Trade routes were influential in the advancement of society and helped cultures combine to advance them into a new age.
Medieval trade routes were extremely important in the development of society; they allowed cultures to combine and extract the superlative advancements in technology general welfare, forming an exchange of the best parts of each culture. Three cities are particularly good examples of how trade routes were integral to the advancement of the world. These cities are: Cairo because of its' geographical position, Venice because of it's power and abundance of tradable goods and commodities, and Constantinople because of it's history.
Even though modern day Cairo is not a particularly wealthy city, medieval Cairo was influential to trade between eastern and western countries. It's geographical position was perfect to help connect trade routes between the east and the west.
Throughout ancient times, Egypt has been one of the most important trade routes for the world and so it was from that, just as the archaic cities which proceeded Fustat, this new city also prospered from all manner of goods which where transshipped to wealthy markets in Europe. They also developed their own markets in spices, textiles and perfumes which were legendary throughout the world.
Two of the most popular traded items in Cairo were spices and silk, both of which came from the east. The Roman name Arabia Felix, or Happy Arabia was the trading center located on the South east coast of Arabia. There merchants traded Egyptian linens, Syrian glass, Chinese silks and the spices of Indonesia and all over the east. This is where most traders took port before Cairo and rested or repaired there ships and rejuvenated their crew. It was the last big city or stronghold before Cairo, so the crew made sure to really live it up just in case this trip was their last.
Spices were essential in the middle ages. the were used for flavor, for medicines, and for magic. They were so valuable that people used spices as a medium of exchange. The search for spices and the wealth and power that came with them encouraged many men to venture on journeys of exploration. Cinnamon came from China and Burma and was used not only for flavor but for cosmetics, drugs, balms, oils, and perfume. Nutmeg came from the Banda Islands. Cloves came from only two island; Ternate and Tidore in the Moluccas (south of Indonesia) which were also know as the Spice Islands. Pepper was grown only in India, although there were some poor substitutes found other places. Pepper was used extensively in cooking but was also believed to be a tonic, a stimulant, even as insect repellent and an aphrodisiac.
The spice route during the time of the great Mongol Kahns, was completely overland across Asia. However by the 14th century, the route had become unsafe from raiders and grazing for the caravan's animals was unreliable. In 1368, the Ming Dynasty regained control of China and immediately emphasized nationalism and isolationism in an effort to prevent future invasion.
Without Cairo, Arab and East-Asian traders would have to trek all the way through the harsh desert to Damascus, a dangerous journey even without having to worry about the vicious thieves along the way.
Land travel in the Middle Ages was slow, uncomfortable, and usually dangerous. Today we can travel around 55 miles in one hour. In the Middle Ages, it would have taken a very fast horse over two days to travel the same distance. A few main roads in Europe had been paved by the Romans and remained paved with cobblestones during the Middle Ages. However, most roads were made of dirt that turned into a river of mud when it rained. The paved roads were full of pot holes where peasants had “borrowed” a stone from the road to patch up their homes.
Another travel option not involving Cairo was to forget the ships and send their precious eastern cargo of to the silk road. The Silk Road was one of the greatest trade routes of the world. It was a legendary caravan trail which brought the East to the West through a nest of pathways that began in China, snaked through Central Asia and ended in Rome. It transformed exotic luxury goods into household necessities for the avid consumers of the Roman Empire. In doing so it created the first mass market. This was bad for some of the traders, however, because they got a much smaller percentage of the profit than if they had used less middlemen. This is why so many merchants depended on Cairo and one of the reasons it became such an important city throughout the middle ages.
Venice was also an extremely influential city to all of medieval Europe, but unlike Cairo, this was not because of it's geographic position, but purely because of it's luck and it's power.
