[Sca-cooks] Silk Road timeframe, take 2

[Terry Decker]

In the 15th Century, a series of tribal wars along the route cut off much of 
the silk trade with the Genoese factories on the Black Sea, forcing the 
Genoese to look for a sea route to the Orient.  With declining trade income 
and the loss of overseas possessions to the Turks and the Spanish, they tied 
their fortunes to those of the Iberian navigators.

At the same time, the spice trade was a monopoly largely controlled by the 
Venetians and the Alexandrians.  When the Portuguese opened the route around 
Africa, spice prices in Europe dropped by 1/3.  Shipping time dropped from 
several years to one year (about 3 months actual travel, 9 waiting for the 
right conditions).  The economic shift of a fast route to India left Venice 
a declining power.

The trip west to get to the East was an attempt by the Spanish to gain 
advantage on the Portuguese, who controlled the sea route down the coast of 
Africa.  The Portuguese got the spices of India.  The Spanish got the gold 
of the New World.

It is worth noting that the trade between Manila and Panama with the 
resulting transshipment to Spain may have been a safer and more lucrative 
trade route than the Portuguese navigation of Africa to India.

Bear

> That sounds more like what I was thinking.  I have no ready resources on 
> the
> asilk road travel as it isn't myarea of interest, but thinking in terms of
> seaons passing may be a just a bit too small . . . There must've been a
> reason that the trip west to find a short route to India was so important.
> Cost and monopolies existed for lots of reasons, and I suspect military 
> was
> only part of issue; it's a smackin' long way to the Pacific overland from
> Europe.
>
> niccolo
>
>
> In Gary Jenning's "The Journeyer", it takes the Polo expedition 3 years
> to get from Venice to the Khan's capital.
> Christianna