The 2001-2002 Sawyer Seminar at the University of Chicago
	From Medieval to Modern in the Islamic World
Sponsored by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation

Olivia Remie Constable

Chapter Five from book manuscript: Traveling Across Cultures: Commercial Space in the Mediterranean World from Late Antiquity to the Age of Discovery

Description of Book:

This project traces the evolution of an institution across time, space, and culture in the medieval Mediterranean world. The funduq (as it was called in Arabic) was ubiquitous in Mediterranean cities for centuries, though it took many forms, serving as a hostelry, commercial depot, warehouse, emporium, and point for taxation. The long-term survival of this institution, and its adoption and adaption over the centuries by different cultures, indicates its ongoing importance and utility.

My book examines this family of facilities, starting from their origin as the ancient Greek pandocheion and their development in the first centuries of the Common Era, when these facilities were shared and understood by pagans, Jews, and Christians in the eastern Roman Empire.With the arrival of Islam, in the seventh century, the pandocheion merged into the Islamic sphere as the funduq, a characteristic facility in Muslim cities from Syria to Spain, that served the lodging, commercial, and fiscal needs of merchants, pilgrims, and rulers. While the funduq preserved important aspects of its Greek predecessor, it also evolved to fill new charitable and mercantile roles in Muslim society.

Western European merchants encountered the funduq when they began to do business in Muslim markets in the eleventh and twelfth centuries. The arrival of foreign Christian traders led to the development of specialized local facilities, modeled on the funduq, to accommodate, regulate, and segregate their business. These new fondacos in Muslim cities were critical elements in enabling the cross-cultural exchange that fueled the medieval Commercial Revolution in Europe, and their presence explains why Christians were able to operate in an Islamic context, while Muslims rarely visited Christian ports.

At the same time as Christian commercial growth in the Mediterranean world, starting in the eleventh century, Christian political and military expansion in Spain, Sicily, and the Crusader States, brought Islamic cities and their urban institutions (including the funduq) under new Christian administrations. Christian rulers, like their Muslim counterparts, immediately perceived the utility of these facilities and preserved elements of their fiscal and regulatory function. Meanwhile, in regions still under Muslim rule, the funduq continued to exist, although changes in trade routes and state oversight of commerce, especially under the Mamluk administration in Egypt, also led to the development of other facilities for commerce and lodging.

Through the dual channels of Christian commerce and conquest, the fondaco was introduced into Europe, and these facilities began to appear in Barcelona, Venice, and other cities during the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. Strikingly, the fondaco never took root in northern Europe, but only in regions close to the Mediterranean.