578 PIPERACE^. 



of pepper} After the conquest of Csesarea in Palestine, A.D. 1101, by 

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

 for his part of the booty.- 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 pepper-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 with, is in the Statutes of Ethelred, A.D. 978-1016,* where it is 

 enacted that the Easterlings coming with their ships to Billingsgate 

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

 London, a small tribute of cloth, five pairs of gloves, ten pounds of 

 pepper^ and two barrels of vinegar. 



The merchants who trafficked in spices were called Piperarii, — in 

 English Pepperers, in French Poivriers or Pehriers. 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. 1263 and 1399, it averaged Is. per lb., equivalent to about 

 8.S. 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 the 

 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, Historia (Li-pa. 1784) lib. v. c. ment in a commercial paper, 27 Feb. 1874, 



41. that the stock of pepper in the public 



* Belgrano, Vita privata dei Genovesi warehouses of London the previous week 

 1875. 152. wasG035 tons! 



^Rogers, Agriculture and Prices in Eng- "Herbert, Hist, of the twelve great Live 



land, i. (1866) 626. The term peppercorn Companies of London, Lond. 1834. 303, 310.! 

 rent, which has survived to our times, now ' Reinaud, Nouvcau Journal asiatique, 



only signifies a nominal payment. 1829, Juillet, 22-51. 



* Ancient Lavjs and Institutes of England, ^j^ogers, op. cit. i. 641. 



published by the Record Commission, i. ^ Leber, Appi-4ciation de la fortune privie 



(1840) 301. au moyen-dge, M. 2, Paris, 1847. 95. 305. 



''A striking contrast to the announce- 



