A Quest for God and Spices

 Lately, I’ve been reviewing books that were either historical fiction or nonfiction regarding the age of exploration. A Quest for God and Spices falls into the historical fiction category about ancient Italy and the developing spice trade that led to great riches in Europe. At the time, Catholicism was the dominant religion in Europe and the spice trade was initially entirely controlled by the Muslim world, so there was bound to be a clash of civilizations as the demand for spices in Europe had to be addressed. In addition to the clashes between Catholics and Muslims, there was also the schism in Christianity between the Roman Catholic church in Rome and the Greek Orthodox church in Constantinople. The churches were also involved in nearly every business deal that was made, expecting to get a cut of any profits. Finally, there was the struggle between different traders in each port from Genoa to Rome to Venice to Constantinople, and of course there were struggles among family members in each trading company. The story was further complicated by the Crusades. The Muslims had captured Jerusalem which the Christians thought was an abomination, so despite the failed attempts of Richard the Lionhearted to cast the Muslims out, more funds were being solicited to fund the next Crusade.

 In large part, Dean Cycon told this story from a business perspective as the forces of those various entities competed with one another. His protagonist was Nicolo DiCarlo, the younger brother in a family of Genoese traders. Nicolo was always the over-protected little brother compared to Antonio who had already been sent out into the world by their very successful father. Nicolo had enough of being so sheltered and he was looking for a way to make a name for himself in the business world. Interestingly, the European markets were being held down by their awkward mathematics, and the Arabic world had a drastic advantage because of their math, which was something Nicolo very rapidly mastered. It was while Antonio was away on business that his father saw a chance for Nicolo to get some of his own international experience. Nicolo was sent to accompany his uncle, a scholarly monk, on a secret mission to Constantinople which was the largest trading center in the world. In addition to doing some trading, the uncle Brother Mauro and Nicolo were to learn what they could about Presbyter John, who legend has it was a great Christian king whose empire was somewhere to the east of the land controlled by the Muslims. They wanted to solicit his help to conquer Jersalem. The problem was no one knew where Presbyter John lived or even if he was a real person.

 

The adventure took Nicolo to Rome and Venice, and then finally to Constantinople. One of the endearing features of this book was Nicolo’s excitement about all the news sights he was experiencing, as well as his efforts to work on trade deals with the church and other traders along the way. He really wanted to find the source of the spices so the Muslim middlemen could be cut out of the profitable trade. It seemed to me that the interactions with the various people that Nicolo encountered were reasonably presented. Those were brutal times, and mistakes in such deals could easily end in death.

 

If the time frame of the middle ages is of interest to you, then this book deserves your attention. Cycon provided details of life in those times that are often overlooked in the history books I’ve read. I must say I really don’t like the title, but I’m also not sure how to fix that while capturing the scope of the story that was presented.