Interesting Stuff Thread

Today, alum, as a chemical, is barely good enough to rub on your armpits as deodorant. During the 1400s, it became so crucial to the economy that the Papacy formed cartels to protect its monopoly on the trade.

In 1462, miners at a Papal-controlled mine near Rome found large deposits of alum. Suddenly, no one had to make the choice between fighting new crusades and keeping the economy going. There was enough alum for everyone, and the Pope himself was selling it. As soon as the trade was established, cloth makers discovered that their troubles weren’t over. The Pope needed money as much as anyone else, and the 15th century Popes had not only control over alum, but a religious reason to condemn anyone who wasn’t buying what they were selling.

Heard of the Medici family? They gained part of their wealth because, for a time, they were granted a monopoly on Italian-produced alum. Everyone involved in the trade had reason to keep the price high, so soon the Papacy formed cartels of miners, refiners, bankers, and traders who cooperated so that no one really had a choice about what price they wanted to pay for alum. If they wanted a choice, and thought about trading for Turkish alum, they could enjoy their excommunication.

Eventually, Pope Julius II pushed the price too high. Entire economies broke down because no one could afford to pay the Pope’s price for alum. Something had to change, and soon it did. Kings, emperors, and bankers quietly came up with a scheme to import, “launder,” and sell foreign alum. At least one historian makes a case that this illegal chemical trade is partially responsible for England’s rise as a nation. King Henry VII allowed foreign ships to come in, carrying Turkish alum. This gave it an air of plausible deniability, and exported the alum to cloth-dying countries. King Henry VII took a fat cut of the profits and filled the royal treasury sufficiently to build up the nation.

What a difference a crystal makes.