The business of human trafficking
Slaves and money between Western Italy and the House of Islam before the crusades ( c .900– c .1100)
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 11869770 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Romney David Smith (independent scholar, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2019 |
| Volume | 45 |
| Issue | 5 |
| Pages | 523-552 |
| Publication date | 2019-09-26 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Journal of Medieval History (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0304-4181 • E-ISSN: 1873-1279 |
| Publisher | Taylor & Francis (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/03044181.2019.1669210 |
| OpenAlex | W2975734375 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 2 |
Before the First Crusade, the maritime cities of Italy imported precious objects from Islamic regions. The question of what they exported in return has long occupied historians. Due to the large economic disparity between Latin Italy and the wealthier House of Islam, human trafficking offered a strong profit opportunity to merchants from Amalfi, Pisa and other ports. This was because the price of a slave in Egypt or North Africa, at around 20 gold dinars, represented a large sum in the silver currency zones of Latin Europe, especially compared to low prices in Italy. Even moderate numbers of trafficked humans may therefore have provided the capital for further maritime economic expansion. Moreover, slaves offered a commodity with low infrastructure and transportation requirements, unlike bulk agricultural products, as well as unique advantages in market access, which suggests that slave trading preceded investment in other branches of commerce
Archaeology · Commerce · Commodity · Currency · Economic history · Economics · Economy · Geography · Investment (military · Islam · Latin Americans · Market economy · Monetary economics · Political science · Politics · Profit (economics · Archaeology and Historical Studies · Global Maritime and Colonial Histories · Law · Medieval History and Crusades
| Unique citing works | 2 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,33 |
| Citation span | 2020 - 2022 (3) |
| Citation velocity | historical |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 2 |