In 1498, the Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama made the first sea voyage from Europe to India, via the southernmost tip of Africa. Those who controlled the spices could divert the flow of wealth around the world.īut the secret of the origins of spices such as cinnamon could only be kept for so long. This demand gave rise to some of the first truly international trade routes and shaped the structure of the world economy in a way that can still be felt today.
It might seem odd that something as seemingly inconsequential as a spice – a food flavouring or something to burn to add aroma to the air – would need such jealous guarding with elaborate tall tales.īut the world’s demand for spices grew throughout the Roman era and into the medieval period, defining economies from India to Europe. For many years, the ancient Greeks and Romans were fooled. The story was most likely invented to ward off curious competitors from attempting to seek out the source of the spice.
Then quick-witted traders could gather up the fallen cinnamon and take it to market.Īs enticing as the tale is, the fabled cinnamologus never existed. The precarious cinnamon nests would collapse when the bird returned weighted with its catch. The birds would fly down from their nests, snatch up the meat, and fly back. One way to get the cinnamon was to bait the cinnamologus with large chunks of meat. This large bird made its nest from delicate cinnamon sticks, the traders said. Nearly 2,500 years ago, Arab traders told stories of the ferocious cinnamon bird, or cinnamologus.
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