[Sca-cooks] Precious stones to ward off evils

[Terry Decker]

> Spaniards had Moorish, Muslim, Jewish and Italian contacts but not
> direct contacts with the orient.
>
> Suey

Henry III of Castile sent Ruy Gonzales de Clavijo as an ambassador to the 
court of Timur (Tamerlane) in 1403.  While at the court in Samarkand, he 
encountered travelers from Cathay.  Clavijo returned to Spain in 1406.

While Spain may not have had many direct contacts with the Orient before the 
16th Century, absolute non-contact is not the case.

Bear