The Indonesian archipelago of the Moluccas or Maluku Islands , commonly referred to as the Spice Islands, lies on the equator north of Australia and west of New Guinea. Until the s, these rain-forested, luxuriant, volcanic islands were the only or best sources of such spices as cloves, nutmeg, and mace.
Arab traders introduced cloves to Europeans around the fourth century but sought to keep their sources secret. The Portuguese strengthened their stranglehold on the spice trade during the sixteenth century, when they found the central locus of the spices to be these islands. One of the native traditions was to plant a clove tree when a child was born, linking the child symbolically to the life of the tree.
As a result, cloves were worth more than their weight in gold. But, as one might expect, the Dutch tactic also instilled hatred and fomented rebellion among the islanders. Gradually, the spice was cultivated in other places of the world, like Brazil, the West Indies, and Zanzibar, reducing prices and making the commodity more available. However, the historical significance of these islands cannot be overstated. On that day of Sunday I went ashore to see how the cloves grow.
The tree is tall and as thick as a man. Its branches in the center spread out widely, but at the top they grow into a kind of peak. Spices were bought with Chinese silks, Indian cottons, Arabian coffee and African ivory. Spices had been available in Europe throughout the Middle Ages but the prices were very high because they had to be shipped expensively overland through the hands of many traders.
The Portuguese began buying spices directly from the Spice Islands as early as the s. Because it can easily be argued that the United States exists today because medieval Europeans liked spicy food. Supermarkets today stock all sorts of spices that can be used to season or add flavor to different foods. In medieval Europe, however,people relied on spices not only to flavor their food, but also as a way to preserve it.
Without refrigerators or other cold storage, medieval Europeans used spices to extend the time period during which meats and other foods could be stored and then safely eaten before turning rotten. In the Middle Ages, spices were hard to get. Pepper, cinnamon,ginger, cloves, and other seasonings were grown in faraway Asia.
Getting the spices to Europe took a lot of time and effort. Distances were great, and travel back and forth was dangerous.
As a result, spices were very expensive. Different spices come from different places. Many of the most desirable spices come from the islands of present-day Indonesia. Indonesia is an archipelago, or chain of islands.
This group, known as the Malay Archipelago, contains more than thirteen thousand islands. Some, like Sumatra and Java, are large. Others, like the Maluku Islands located south of the Philippines, are smaller.
Of all the spice-bearing islands, the Maluku Islands are probably the most famous. Indeed, for many years, Europeans referred to them as the Spice Islands. The islands of the Malay Archipelago are special. The ridge formed by those sections is noted for its volcanoes and earthquake activity. It is part of the Ring of Fire, an arc of volcanoes that surrounds the rim of the Pacific Ocean.
The Moluccas were known for their nutmeg , mace and cloves , which were only native to these islands. The spice trade in the Moluccas flourished long before European traders arrived. Chinese silks, Indian cottons, Arabian coffee and African ivory were all used to buy spices.
The Arabs largely controlled the spice trade during the Middle Ages. They bought spices from the Moluccas as well as ginger from China and cinnamon from India. Between and , the Arabs managed to keep the whereabouts of the Moluccas a secret, allowing them a monopoly over the spice trade.
On their route back from the Spice Islands, the Arabs sold the spices to merchants in Venice. This deal made Venice a wealthy city as they could then sell the spices to the rest of Europe at their own inflated prices. Out of the Europeans, the Portugese were first to arrive and set up several bases on the islands as early as This began a chaotic era of conflict that caused many losses of life. The Dutch, Spanish, Portugese and British were constantly bidding for control of the islands.
The first considerable dispute was between the Portuguese and the powerful sultanates of Ternate island and Tidore island. The Portuguese destroyed the capital of Ternate and built a fort in In , the people of Ternate threw out the Portugese and the sultan granted the Dutch a spice monopoly.
The Portuguese also built a fort in Tidore in
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