Re: Bohemia ... in 1309
Posted: 14 Sep 2015, 20:59
I recently noticed a few maps of medieval trade routes. First, here is one of the Silk Road, which is how playing cards probably arrived in Europe from points east (from http://www.orexca.com/silkroad.php).
Note in particular the routes that go to or through the Black Sea. The northern ones go through the areas from which the Mamluks of Egypt were recruited: Georgia, Circacia (just above Georgia), the Eurasian steppe, etc (see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mamluk and the links there). The Mamluks might well have been the ones to bring playing cards to the Mediterranean.
At the same time, these routes are those used for trade to north-central Europe. Here is another map (from http://www.slideshare.net/henrjt/creati ... ddle-ages2):
You can see that the route that passes through the Caucasus and across the Black Sea continues on to Vienna, Prague, etc. There were also other routes not shown, as you can see by searching in Google Images for "medieval Europe trade routes". These maps merely show in picture form the obvious: that trade from the East took many routes, including northern ones. And besides these, there were the armies of the Golden Horde and other invaders.
Especially during the Black Death, trade with the Mediterranean would likely have been much diminished (due to loss of people and increased danger of infection) and so safer and almost as lucrative ones further north probably would have been preferred. Also, although I am not sure how the plague spread, I would think that overland trade would have carried it less well than ships--fewer rats, fewer germ-carrying bodies arriving in population centers.
Note in particular the routes that go to or through the Black Sea. The northern ones go through the areas from which the Mamluks of Egypt were recruited: Georgia, Circacia (just above Georgia), the Eurasian steppe, etc (see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mamluk and the links there). The Mamluks might well have been the ones to bring playing cards to the Mediterranean.
At the same time, these routes are those used for trade to north-central Europe. Here is another map (from http://www.slideshare.net/henrjt/creati ... ddle-ages2):
You can see that the route that passes through the Caucasus and across the Black Sea continues on to Vienna, Prague, etc. There were also other routes not shown, as you can see by searching in Google Images for "medieval Europe trade routes". These maps merely show in picture form the obvious: that trade from the East took many routes, including northern ones. And besides these, there were the armies of the Golden Horde and other invaders.
Especially during the Black Death, trade with the Mediterranean would likely have been much diminished (due to loss of people and increased danger of infection) and so safer and almost as lucrative ones further north probably would have been preferred. Also, although I am not sure how the plague spread, I would think that overland trade would have carried it less well than ships--fewer rats, fewer germ-carrying bodies arriving in population centers.