THEY CONTROL COMMERCE AND DISTRIBUTE ITS GAINS
In 13th-century Afghanistan, Marco Polo negociates rubies with a king:
The Voyage of Marco Polo by V. Chklovski, n.d.
Wealth, an aspect of royalty
- The Ashanti suzerain (Ghana) uses weights that are one-third heavier than others and declares that only kings or men of high rank deal with commerce, "as I do."
-- Weights, Mission from Cape Coast Castle to Ashantee by T.E. Bowdich, 1819, London, p. 298; -- "As I do," Journal of a Residence in Ashantee by Joseph Dupuis, 1824, London, p. 167.
- A group of about a hundred wives of the king of Oyo (in southern Nigeria) who trade in salt and natron. Their wares are wrapped in a special cloth that liberates them from tolls and allows them free shelter
- In Darfur, "The king is the country's main merchant: not only does he confide a great quantity of his own wares to all of the caravans that go to Egypt, but he also uses his slaves and dependents to sell Egyptian goods in the bordering countries."
-- W.G. Browne, Travels in Africa, Egypt and Syria in the years 1792 to 1798,
2nd. ed., 1806, p. 346.
Going from west to east: In...
- Futa Jallon (Senegal) the almamy organizes caravans to the coast; all independent merchants must join, and cede part of their profits to him. In the 1840's he introduces weaving, done by his wives.
- Salaga (Ghana), toward 1890, most members of the royal family are traders.
- Burkina Faso: The Mossi king monopolizes transactions with Salaga.
- Benin: The king sells slaves, ivory, palm nuts and pepper, with agents for other wares. Other merchants must wait until he has finished his trade before they engage in their own.
- Bornu (Northern Nigeria) the king's herdsmen sell milk to caravans and the ruler al-Kanemi assembles 500-800 slaves under the direction of four eunuchs to spin cotton.
- Waday and Sennar (Darfur) the kings are the main merchants.
-- For the full references and others: Aubin, pp. 445-446.
In 16th-and 17th-century France...
- Monarchs create their own enterprises, which are State monopolies; Catherine de Medici initiates silk production; Louis XIV establishes luxury production and controls major enterprises:
Louis XIV visiting the Gobelins tapestry manufactory, tapestry after a painting by Charles le Brun, 1673 / zoom
Louis's Minister Jean-Louis Colbert had united the different workshops.
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- References to royal control slip into narratives:
- Individuals' search for gain is under the king's authority. It is indirect through the guilds or direct, as when Louis XIV gives his favorite, Madame de Montespan, three pirate ships to raid the Levant.
-- L'Allée du Roi (The King's Way): by Françoise Chandeneggor, 1981, p. 294.
- Nicolas Fouquet makes his Brittany fortress a center of Atlantic commerce without informing Louis XIV, hastening his fall.
-- Le Procès de Fouquet (Fouquet's Trial) by Simone Bertière, 2013, p. 103.
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Story of Gédéon : Giving of the booty taken from the Madianite (C) Musée du Louvre, Dist. RMN-Grand Palais / Philippe Fuzeau / zoom
Distribution — or its absence — can indicate stability or change:
- Calling an Anglo-Saxon chief "ring-giver" means that he is behaving as expected. His society is probably cohesive.
- The formula "The Pharaoh gave this" sudden appearance in Egyptian tombs may show that he seizes and distributes wealth, suggesting the need to control a growing economy.
- France's Henri IV establishes a much more powerful kingship and amasses treasure at the same time (toward 1600).
- "The queen is too kind..." is nobles' formula of thanks when Henri's widow, Marie de Médicis, shores up her regency by distributing that treasure. Later she gives royal income to a favori, a sign of growing power.
"Greedy" kings do not redistribute.
Mention of them usually means that
their power expands.
their power expands.
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