Note 12 — The Ottoman Turks and the Routes of Oriental Trade

According to J. E. Thorold Rogers, History of Agriculture and Prices in England, iii, 518-43; iv. 680-91, Oxford, 1882, the average price of pepper in England by decades from 1259 to 1580 was as follows, in shillings per dozen pounds, pence being neglected: for the thirteenth century, beginning with the seventh decade, 11, 12, 10, 16; for the fourteenth century, 12, 11, 15, 15, 19, 25, 17, 18, 11, 12; for the fifteenth century, 12, 32, 16, 13, 9, 13, 14, 14, 17, 17; for the sixteenth century, 16, 16, 23, 23, 20, 32, 44, 34. The Vicomte G. d’Avenel, Histoire économique de la Propriété, des Salaires, des Denrées, et de tous less Prix en général, 1200-1800, 5 vols., Paris, 1894-1912, iv. 482-6, 502-6, 598, gives the following prices for pepper in France by periods of twenty-five years from 1300 to 1600, in francs per kilogram; for the fourteenth century, 5.50, 12, 8, 19; for the fifteenth century, 5, 3, 4.70, 4; for the sixteenth century, 5, 8, 7.50, 12. Both series give only approximate results, since they rest upon a comparatively small number of data more or less accidentally preserved. The variations depend not only upon circumstances in the Levant, but also upon conditions in the lands of production and the lands of consumption and along the entire intervening route. It will be seen that the average for the first two decades of the sixteenth century was a little below that for the previous two centuries. Lowest of all were the prices in the second quarter of the fifteenth century. It may be possible to discern here the influence of Jacques Cœur, in establishing a well-organized direct trade between the Levant and France.