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The narcotic opium is obtained from the latex produced by the seed pods of the opium poppy ( Papaver somniferum). The original native range of the opium poppy was probably the Alpine region, from which it spread into the eastern Mediterranean. The first archaeological evidence of its use dates from the Neolithic period ( c. 3100 BCE), and the first written records are Sumerian. Spread through shamanic cults, opium entered Minoan culture from around 2000 BCE, thus making its way into Greece. To begin with, opium was chiefly used for medical and cul…

1. European perspectivesAt the turn of the 17th century, the European trade with Asia was placed on a new footing (China trade, India trade, Japan trade). The monopoly previously held by the Portuguese crown was dissolved by privileged capital companies from Western Europe, and these subsequently proved a more efficient form of organization [3]; [14]. Their mercantile orientation in combination with state protection (national monopoly status) and rights of overseas sovereignty (the overseas companies operated their own armies and navies on behalf …

1. Introduction 1.1. Structural features and problems of researchThe specialization of ethnic and religious minorities in particular branches of trade, within which they attained a strong and sometimes dominant position amounting to a “trade diaspora” or a “middlemen minority,” is a phenomenon observable since the Middle Ages. Jewish merchants, for instance, already had an important position in trade on the European continent and in the Mediterranean by the High Middle Ages, and the Jewish trade diaspor…

1. Introduction 1.1. Concept The global exchange of knowledge is a diffuse concept that first and foremost depends on what is meant by knowledge. Exchange relations can affect very different spheres, from scientific knowledge of high specialization to the practical everyday knowledge of a broad population. Global exchange of knowledge thus includes several complexes of exchange and transfer, including technology transfer and industrial espionage, which cannot always be clearly distinguish…

1. Introduction 1.1. Definition“A world economy,” wrote Fernand Braudel, “always has an urban pole, a city at the logistical hub of its trade. Information, goods, capital, credit, people, orders, and commercial correspondence flow into it and out from it. Great merchants, often rich to excess, call the shots there” (“Une économie-monde possède toujours un pôle urbain, une ville au centre de la logistique de ses affaires; les informations, les marchandises, les capitaux, les crédits, les ho…