New sources on trade and dealings between Christians and Muslims in the Mediterranean region (ca.1440–1500)

Abstract

Since the time of the Crusades the church had placed an embargo on the delivery, to Muslims, of material vital for war (especially metal and wood, but also foodstuffs) under the threat of excommunication. Whoever was in breach of this embargo – and Christian merchants in the Mediterranean region could hardly avoid this – had to apply directly to the pope for absolution. The petitions were processed and registered by the Penitenzieria Apostolica. This source – of great value because the merchants were required to describe the course of events and thus a welcome addition to the research of Heyd, Goitein and Ashtor – was strictly inaccessible to research for a long time. Here, such supplications of the years 1440–1500 are evaluated both regarding the trade of Italian and Spanish merchants with the Maghreb, as well as regarding local trade with the Emirate of Granada in its final decades.