Mediterranean Encounters, Economic, Religious, Political, 1100-1550

Book excerpt: Abulafia, in this collection of previously published essays (in English, Spanish, and Italian), focuses on the ways in which political developments and economic ones influence one another. The essays consider trade between Christians and Muslims in the 12th century, particularly between Spain and North Africa, in the Crusader States, the city of Ancona, Italy, and in the trade of the industrial arts. Subsequent sections consider the Italians' and Iberians' contribution to trade in the 13th through 15th centuries; the Kingdoms of Sicily and Naples, with an essay on the place in these kingdoms of Jews and Muslims; and the political convulsions that followed the War of the Sicilian Vespers.