Re: Slavery in the european 15th century?

[Gerry Embleton]

Dear Haakan

Slavery (that is real slavery, where the slaves were purchased) seems  
to have been far more common in medieval Europe than later generations  
would like. During the late 19th century an enormous archive of  
documents belonging to a 14th century Florentine merchant were  
discovered and various books, I believe, have been published on it.  
Look for (in English) "The Merchant of Prato" the Datini archives. Why  
aren't I being more precise? Because I can't find my **!!x? copy ! It's  
here somewhere...

Anyway - type it in and something will come up. Datini describes the  
role of slavery - just how common slaves were - and, in the case of  
Florence, that most came from the Balkans...

It appears that there has been hardly a nation on earth that hasn't  
kept others in slavery, as many do today.

Gerry


On Sunday, May 9, 2004, at 11:43  PM, Hakan Hugosson wrote:

> Dear all,
>
> I'm reading a book on Venetian history (A History of Venice, by John  
> Julius Norwich), and in it is mentioned that rumour had it that a  
> Venetian doge (Pietro Mocenigo), who died in February 1476, did so  
> because of the attentions of the 10 turkish slave girls he kept as  
> concubines.
>
> So my question is to what extent were slaves kept in the european 15th  
> century? I guess the regional differences are enormous, and one needs  
> some definition of slavery (working for no pay against one's will?),  
> but I have very little insight into the history of slavery so any and  
> all information is, as usual, welcome. Prisoners of war used as  
> slaves, etc.?
>
> As far as I know slavery was forbidden in for example Sweden 1335, but  
> for other countries I don't know, slavery was generally abolished by  
> European countries in the 19th century as far as I know . Differences  
> between christian and non-christians held as slaves? Slaves are for  
> example archetypically used for galley rowing, but my book also  
> mentions that from the begining (in Venice - it later changed, but  
> when?) rowing the galleys was done by highly paid and trained soldiers  
> - who also joined in the fighting. I also remember an article on  
> slavery attempting to total the slave trade over time and here a great  
> number of slaves had european destinations.
>
> Just a small aside that someone might help clear up for me,
>
> Yours,
>    /haakan
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Gerry Embleton - Time Machine AG
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