3.1.6. COMMERCIAL PEOPLES' EMPHASIZED SUBORDINATION

KINGS FAVOR OUTSIDERS BECAUSE THEY ARE VULNERABLE, SO EASY TO CONTROL 

In Africa rulers who are animist or Christian impose Muslim merchants, whose appearance, religion and customs separate them from the population.

• In turn-of-the-18th-century Ashanti (Ghana) the animist ruler welcomes Muslim traders but confiscates the gold of locals. 

• The king of Christian Shoa (Ethiopia) lets Muslims trade in goods that he monopolizes, asks few taxes and favors them in disputes at about the same time,

-- Confiscates gold: Kwame Arhin, Aspects of the Ashanti northern trade in the 19th century,

 "Africa," XL 4, 363-373.

  Favors to Muslims: Mordechai, Ethiopia, The Era of the Princes, 1968, p. 173. 

Outsiders (that is, merchants) have no provisions, guides or contact with the population until the kings approves them:

 Dutch Ambassadors at the Court of Garcia II, King of Kongo, 1668 / zoom

The Dutch ambassadors' subservience comes from being associated with traders, the only foreigners.  

• In Bornu ruler (Northern Nigeria) a British mission is completely isolated before it sees the king, but then "our hut was filled with so many visitors that we could take no rest and the heat was unbearable."

--  Narrative of Travels and Discoveries in Northern and Central Africa in 1821, 1822, 1823 by Hugh Clapperton, Denham Dixon, W. Oudney, 1824, p. 67.

• In Darfur, the merchant W.G. Browne finds his letters of recommendation useless until he has seen the Sultan, "for until then no one knew how to treat me." 

--  Travels in Africa, Egypt and Syria from the year 1792 to 1798 

by W.G. Browne, 2nd ed., 1806, p. 212.

• In Bundu (Senegal) the explorer Raffenel leaves the capital without the king's permission and cannot even obtain water.

-- Anne Raffenel, Voyage dans l'Afrique occidentale exécuté en

1843 et 1844, 1846, I, p. 55.

-- More references : Aubin 447, n. 45.

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In early medieval Europe only Jews can enter commercial professions, and only Christians own land. The fleur de lis show the French king giving them, not Christians, the right to trade.

No date or origin / zoom

The red and white circles indicate Jews.

   Marco Polo arriving at the Court of Kublai Khan by Jehan de Grise  / zoom

Flanders toward 1340.

• Jews pay tribute and are useful scapegoats. 

Zoom

Rabbis offer treasure to Alexander the Great: Greece, 14th century 

      Zoom

Jews were hated as usurers, but the belief they had "killed Christ" was due to the Church and led to their being burned alive in many places that the Black Death hit. Crusaders on their way to Jerusalem did the same.

• When the expanding economy brings the rise of local entrepreneurs, Jews are definitively banned.

Zoom 

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As the French economy expands Christians replace Jews. The Church and stronger monarchy contain them: At the Saint-Denis fair, the abbot dominates the traders and his benediction is an act of authority, and Louis XIV's arcs loom over two major trade routes (in 1674).

                                                                                                                                                          Zoom

Both arc photos / Claude Abron

The larger arch (at porte Saint Denis, 10th district) honors monarchy by hovering over the route that leads to the royal graves. Its sculptures honor the king himself. 

The inscription over the smaller arch (at porte Saint-Martin) states that the merchants of Paris have financed both monuments, "in homage to the great king."

Those merchants say "We are here!,"

implying change to come.

End of this section.

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Next section,

3.2.

 Ritualized warfare, a way to cancel wealth