Spices Trade

The spice trade was the dominant driver of European exploration from the 15th to 17th centuries. Spices (pepper, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, mace) were enormously valuable in medieval Europe — worth more than gold by weight — used to flavor and preserve food, produce medicines, and create perfumes. Arab and Venetian merchants controlled the overland routes; Portugal and Spain funded sea routes to bypass them. Vasco da Gama's sea route to India (1498), Columbus's accidental discovery of America (seeking a western route to Asia), and the circumnavigation of the globe by Magellan's expedition (1522) were all driven by the spice trade. The Dutch East India Company (VOC) — which dominated the spice trade — was the world's first multinational corporation and at its peak was the most valuable company in history (worth $7.9 trillion in today's money).