578 PIPERACEtE. 



o^j)epper} After the conquest of Caesarea in Palestine, a.d. 1101, by 

 the Genoese, each of thera received two pounds of pepper and 48 soldi 

 for his part of the bootj.^ Facts of this nature, of which a great 

 number might be enumerated, sufficiently illustrate the part played 

 by this spice in mediaeval times. 



The general prevalence during the middle ages of 'pe'p'per-rents, 

 which consisted in an obligation imposed upon a tenant to supply his 

 lord with a certain quantity of pepper, generally a pound, at stated 

 times, shows how acceptable was this favourite condiment, and how 

 great the desire of the wealthier classes to secure a supply of it when 

 the market was not always certain.^ 



The earliest reference to a trade in pepper in England that we have 

 met wdth, is in the Statutes of Ethelred, A.D. 978-1 OIG,* where it is 

 enacted that the Easterlings coming with their ships to Billingsgate 

 should pay at Christmas and Easter for the privilege of trading witli 

 London, a small tribute of cloth, five paii^s of gloves, ten ijounds of 

 peiyper^ and two barrels of vinegar. 



The merchants who trafficked in spices were called Piper arii,— in 

 English Pepperers, in French Poivriers or Pchriers. As a fraternity or 

 guild, they are mentioned as existing in London in the Reign of Henry 

 IL (A.D. 1154!-1189). They were subsequently incorporated as the 

 Grocers' Company, and had the oversight and control of the trade in 

 spices, drugs, dye-stuffs, and even metals.*^ 



The price of pepper during the middle ages was always exorbitantly 

 high, for the 



rulers of Egypt extorted a large revenue from all those 

 who were engaged in the trade in it and other spices.^ Thus in England 

 between a.d. 12G3 and 1399, it averaged Is. per lb., equivalent to about 

 8s. of our present money. It was however about 2s. per lb. (= 16S|) 



between 1350 and 1360.^ In 1370 we find pepper in France valued 7 

 sous 6 deniers per lb. (= fr. 21. c. 30) ;— in 1542 at a price equal to fr. 

 11 per lb.® 



The high cost of this important condiment contributed to incite 

 the Portuguese to seek for a sea-passage to India. It was some 

 time after the discovery of this passage (A.D. 1498) that the price 

 of pepper first experienced a considerable fall; while about the 

 same period the cultivation of the plant was extended to the 

 western islands of the Malay Archipelago. The trade in pepper 

 continued to be a monopoly of the Crown of Portugal as late as tlie 

 18th century. 



The Venetians used every effort to retain the valued traffic in their 

 own hands, but in vain ; and it was a fact of general interest when on 

 the 21st of January 1522 a Portuguese ship brought for the first time 



^ Zosimus, Ilistoria (Lips. 1784) lib. v. c. ment in a commercial paper,.27 Jeb. 1874. 



TK^ Tr. tliat the stock of pepper m t.*^^, /...gek 



Belgrano, Vita prlvata del Genovesi warehonscs of Londou tlie previous ^^ 



1875. 152. 



was G035 tons ! 



3T>^, J . , was oujo tons : , ^„f Th-erv 



Za«J f nsrlf ro?''"-^/":^ ^''-'"^ '" ^"^- ^Herbert, Hist, o/the i^^^^J. 



r « wi, , ifi?^ ^'~^- ■ ^^ *""" reppercorn Companies of London, Loud. 183-1. ^"^ 

 rent ^hioh has survived to our times, now ' Reinaud, Nouvcau Journal asiam 



*Anrllff^f ^ """"'f f payment. 1829, J uillet, 22-51. 

 publw I !t"'^^^"''''"''-'^/^''.'/^«'"^. 8 Rogers, op. cit. i. 641. ,„,,,;,„•«* 



fisiifsoi ^ ^""'"^ Commission, i! o Leber, Appreciation de lafa>iune pn^^ 



s A stnijnr, .-.--. . .. «« moi/en-dje, ed. 2, Pans, lb I- 



A striking contrast to the 



announce- 



