Here's a resource you can use to fill out the cargo of Guild caravans, in case you're the sort

who enjoys bizarre and

esoteric research. Even if not, it may give you some idea of the diversity of goods bought and sold by the Guild.
SPICES FROM A MEDIEVAL COMMERCIAL HANDBOOK
Some time between 1310 and 1340, the Italian merchant Francesco di Balduccio Pegolotti published a book called
The Practice of Commerce. He included a list of spices a term that became extremely flexible by the 14th
century, to include a wide variety of luxury or just foreign items. A subdivision, minute spices, was created for
commodities that were sold in small quantities at high prices.
This is an abridged and annotated version of Pegolottis list. (Modern scholars cannot identify every item, thanks to
Pegolottis creative spelling. Pegolotti also repeats himself a few times.) Note the concern for different grades and
sources of some commodities: A canny merchant would need to know all the types of alum, for instance, so as not
to over-pay for inferior grades.
The list retains Pegolottis alphabetical order (in Italian). Minute spices are marked with an asterisk.
Annotations are based on A. Evans translation and annotation of Pegolotti, further annotations from R. S. Lopez and
I. W. Raymonds Medieval Trade in the Mediterranean World: Illustrative Documents, Wikipedia, the OED and my
home dictionary.
Quicksilver
Corrosive sublimate [Mercuric chloride.Medieval Arab physicians used it to disinfect wounds; dangerous, because
the compound is highly toxic. Later uses, such as treating syphilis or preserving wood, were discontinued for the
same reason.]
*Hepatic aloes [Aloes gum, used medically as a purgative and tonic; not to be confused with Lignum Aloes (q.v.)
This is an opaque, liver-colored variety.]
*Socotra aloes [The island of Socotra produced the highest grade of aloes gum.]
*caballine [black] aloes [The poorest sort, possibly from Persia.]
*Citrine aloes [A middling quality, yellow mixed with red.]
Rock alum of Karahissar [Alum was used in dyeing to fix the pigment in the cloth. Since Medieval dyers had few
colorfast dyes, alum was very important to the cloth industry. This probably accounts for the wide range of sources
and grades.]
Choice alum of good alum works
Phocaea alum
Kutahieh alum and Ayassolk alum
Ulabad alum
Cyzican alum, Cord alum, Diaschilo alum: These three are the worst brands and the worst qualities [Pegolottis
words.]
Processed alum in scales
Castile alum
Sugar alum
Vulcano alum [One of the worst grades, often forbidden to dyers due to its poor quality.]
Alum from wine lees [IE, tartar, the alkaline residue of calcined wine lees.]
*Ammoniacum gum [An aromatic gum used as a stimulant, an expectorant and as a cement.]
*Asphalt
*Asafetida [A foul-smelling gum used medically as an antispasmodic. Also used in ceremonial magic to threaten
demons who refuse to appear.]
*Anise
*Fine ambergris [A waxy gray or brown substance that whales vomit, or that is found in their stomachs. Used in
perfumery. An Arab author also gives a recipe for mixing ambergris with musk and resins to make a harder, scented
substance used for beads. But, sometimes Pegolotti clearly means amber gem.]
Fine agaric [A fungus with medical uses.]
Armenium [A blue pigment.]
Beaten silver [IE, silver leaf.]
Ultramarine blue [A paint pigment made from lapis lazuli.]
German blue [A paint pigment made from azurite.]
Starch
Fresh oranges
Stavesacre [An herb whose seeds are violently emetic and cathartic.]
*Rose water [Mostly from Persia. In Pegolottis time, attar pure rose oil was beyond the skill of distillers.]
Alcohol
Belliric [myrobalans] [Myrobalans are an astringent, prune-like fruit, used medicinally and in tanning, dyeing and
ink-making.]
Cotton of Syria
Cotton of the Byzantine Empire
Cotton of Apulia
Cotton of Calabria

Sicilian cotton
Malta cotton
White cotton thread
Dyed cotton thread
*Balsam [Any of several aromatic resins, used medically or as a scent. Properly a rare gum supplied only from the
miraculous garden of Matarea in Egypt; the product was a monopoly of the Sultan, but the gardeners were allowed
to sell inferior grades derived from the fruit or branches, the Carpobalsamo and Silobalsamo (q.v.). All these names
were eventually transferred to the Balm of Gilead, which, from the beginning, had no doubt been used as adulterant
or substitute. -- Evans]
White lead, medium quality [Lead oxide, a pigment.]
White lead, with the braiding [Possibly refers to a design stamped into the molded cakes of white lead to indicate its
brand or quality.]
*Borax, stone and paste [Mineral used as a flux in metalworking, and in an antiseptic solution.]
Biono da maestri [Elsewhere as Buono da maestri, Good for masters. It might refer to master painters or
architects, but nobody knows what this means. Mke up your own commodity that is Good for masters.]
*Barberry [A very sour berry used to add tartness to food, or as a source of pectin for jam. Also rich in vitamin C. A
yellow dye can be extracted from the roots, bark and leaves.]
Balaustine [Dried pomegranate flowers, used as an astringent to stop wounds from bleeding.]
Wax of Montenegro
Wax of Ragusa
Bulgarian wax
Wax of Spain
Wax of Poland
Wax of Riga
Cronco wax that is, as it is extracted from honey without being refined [This is exactly how Pegolotti describes it.]
White wax
Red wax
Green wax
*Cinnamon of the sporta [Sporta was a container used in Egypt for pepper and other spices. -- XX]
*Cinnamon of the gabbia [Gabbia is Italian for cage, apparently some other container. Some grades or sources of
cinnamon seem to have been described by the containers in which they were shipped.]
*Cultivated cardamoms
Cassia [Pods of the pudding-pipe tree, used as a laxative. Confusingly, Cassia bark is a substitute for cinnamon
but has nothing to do with the other cassia.]
Cumin of Apulia
Cumin of Cerrinchan
Cumin of Spain
Cinnabar [Red mercuric sulphide, a red pigment.]
*Wild cardamoms
*Camphor [An aromatic and disinfectant gum. There were two forms: a rare and valuable gum found in lumps in the
stems of a Sumatran tree, and the common distillate of the camphor laurel of China and Japan.]
*Castor [An odorous beaver secretion, used medicinally and in perfume, rather like musk.]
*Carpobalsam [See Balsam, above.]
Paper from the Marche
Royal paper [Possibly a special size of sheets. Evans]
Paper of Damascus
Waste paper [Literally, paper for tearing. Maybe paper for wrapping other items, maybe paper to be turned back
into pulp. Evans]
Florentine glue
Bolognese glue
Fish glue
*Caraway
Sweet flag [A flowering plant.]
*Costus [A medicinal herb.]
Sinoper [A red earth pigment used in painting, probably some form of ocher, found at Sinope in Asia Minor.]
*Colocynth [A vine whose melon-like fruit is used medically as a powerful cathartic.]
Glue of leather
Citrons
Cantharides [Spanish fly. Preparation a dried beetle, used medically.]
Cassia bark. [An aromatic bark, very much like cinnamon.]
Copperas [Crystallized ferrous sulfate, AKA green vitriol. Used in ink and as a mordant in dyeing.]
Capers
*Cultivated cubebs [Dried, unripe berry of a Javanese shrub in the pepper family. The pungent, spicy berry is
crushed and smoked as a catarrh remedy.]
*Wild cubebs
Red corals
White corals
Black corals
Elephant tusks

Dates
Tragacath of the Byzantine empire [A gum used in the arts and in pharmacy, notably in a tonic drink.]
Tragacanth of Turkey
Emblic [myrobalans] [See note for Belliric, but these fruits came from a different kind of tree than other
myrobalans.]
Euphorbium [Acrid, brown or dull yellow gum extracted from a cactus-like Moroccan plant. Drastically purgative
and emetic. Wikipedia]
Bougie bark [Probably a bark used in tanning, such as sumac.]
*Clove stalks
Pistachioes
Domestic fennels
Fennels of Tunis
*Lac in grains [Seed-lac.]
*Cinnamon flowers
Fenugreek
Native [India] ginger
Quilon ginger
Wrinkled [black] ginger
Peeled ginger
Malabar ginger
Gallnuts of the Byzantine Empire [Used in tanning and making ink.]
Gallnuts of Turkey of the Old Man [IE, the territory of the Hashishim.]
Cloves
Heavy [minor] galangal [Or galingale. An aromatic root, used as a spice.]
Light [major] galangal
Gum Arabic
Galbanum [An aromatic but foul-tasting brown gum resembling asafetida, used medicinally and in the arts.]
Squinanth [A sweet-smelling grass used medicinally, in theriac (q.v.) and mithridate.]
Storax [Aromatic gum used as incense.]
Spikenard [A fragrant ointment of the ancients; an East Indian aromatic herb from which the ointment is believed
to have been made.]
Celtic nard [Some other fragrant ointment, possibly made from lavendar or a related plant.]
Baghdad indigo [A dark blue dye, known since antiquity. Denim blue.]
Indigo of the Gulf [IE, Adriatic Sea]
Indigo of Cyprus
Frankincense [Powerfully aromatic resin from a desert tree in Yemen. There was no incense more valued for temples
in the ancient world, and it is still prized for this purpose. Pliny said that winged asps guarded the incense trees.]
Tin of Venice
Tin of Provence
Tin sheet
Sumac [The leaves and shoots of this tree are used in tanning.]
Skink [A small Egyptian lizard, thought to be aphrodisiac. I am not making this up.]
Scammony [A cathartic resin.]
Tabasheer [A siliceous substance found in the nodes of bamboo. It resembles the ashes of burnt ivory.]
Burnt ivory [I have no idea what this was used for.]
Laudanum [Tincture of opium.]
Lignum aloes [The soft, fine-grained and aromatic wood of a Southeast Asian tree, valued since antiquity. Herodotus
said it sold for more than its weight in gold. Jewels were set in it. Burned for incense. And, of course, extremely
costly furniture. No connection to aloes gum.]
Litharge [Lead monoxide.]
Lynx stone [A pyramid-shaped form of flint, or the similar conical fossil called a belemnite.]
Shellac
Raw lac
Grains of Paradise [AKA alligator pepper or Guinea pepper, a spidy seed from West Africa.]
Manna [The exudate from certain shrubs, often the result of puncture by insects. The modern drug is chiefly the
product of the flowering ash of Italy and Sicily; before the 15th century, however, most manna was of Oriental
origin, from a variety of shrubs. Evans]
Melilot [A yellow flower used in plasters and poultices.]
Mastic, first [quality] [A resin used in varnishes and as an astringent.]
Mastic, second [quality]
Mastic, third [quality]
Mummy [A mixture of asphalt, myrrh and other resins, taken from mummies, believed to be powerfully medicinal.]
Mandrake [The famous herb with the fat, branching root that can look something like a crude human figure. Toxic,
but can be used medicinally.]
Raw honey
Musk with its sac [Waxy secretion of the musk deer, used in perfumery. Preferred when still in its sac, such as the
musk from Tibet. However, Arab traders knew ways to adulterate musk when it was still in its sac.]
Musk without sacs
Myrobalan preserves

Mace [Nutmeg husk, used as a cheaper substitute for the nut itself.]
Myrrh [Aromatic resin from Arabia and Somalia. Used in mortuary rites since Ancient Egypt. The gold, frankincense
and myrrh brought to the infant Jesus symbolized kingship, divinity and death.]
Chebulic myrobalans [Myrobalans of Kabul, but Kabul was the distribution center rather than the source.]
Citron myrobalans
Almonds
Minium [Red lead oxide, a pigment. Often confused with cinnabar or dragons blood.]
Nutmegs
Nenuphar [The white water lily or yellow pond lily. Roots and seeds both used in medicine.]
Fennel seed
Coconut
Nux vomica [A toxic seed used to induce vomiting.]
Red orpiment [Arsenic trisulphide, a mineral pigment.]
Yellow orpiment
Theban opium [Opium from upper Egypt was considered the highest quality.]
Trani opium
Thin gold sheet
Laurel oil
Linseed oil
Olive oil
Fine ochre
Hartshorn bone
Round [black] pepper
Long pepper
Powdered sugar of Cyprus
Powdered sugar of Alexandria
Powdered sugar of Cairo
Powdered sugar of Kerak
Powdered sugar of Syria
Sugar lumps
Colophony [Rosin, extracted by distilling crude purpentine.]
Pitch for ships [The hard, opaque, black residue from distilling pine tar.]
Pearls [In addition to their use in jewelry, seed pearls were crushed for use in medicine.]
Fresh pellitory roots [An Algerian plant used as a toothache remedy.]
Pine nuts
White pepper
Poppies [If its different from opium, this may mean the petals of the European red poppy, used as a dye.]
Sugar lozenges [A mixture of sugar with oil of sweet almonds, derived exclusively from Persia. Evans. But maybe
just barley-sugar.]
Pine resin
Fine realgar [Red arsenic monosulfide, a pigment often confused with minium and dragons blood.]
Spanish realgar [Orange-red arsenic monosulphide, used as a pigment.]
Rice from Syria
Rice of Spain
Fine rhubarb
Venetian copper with one bull [Metals were frequently marked with bulls or seals to indicate the quality. -- Evans]
Venetian copper with two bulls
Granulated copper
Old copper
Hard copper in large plates
Licorice
Compact madder of Romagna [A red pigment and dye.]
Ground madder of Romagna
Madder of Alexandria
Madder of the Byzantine Empire
Madder of Cyprus
Rhapontic [A different kind of rhubarb.]
Silkworms eggs
Sagapenum [Yet another medicinal gum or resin.]
Sarcocolla [Yet another medicinal gum or resin.]
Fresh senna [Herb used as a laxative and stool softener.]
Nitre salt [Natron.]
Sal gem [Rock salt.]
Sal Ammoniac [Ammonium chloride.]
Soda ash [Sodium carbonate obtained by burning certain plants.]
White sandalwood [An aromatic wood, sometimes burned as incense. White had the weakest scent, and so was the
cheapest grade.]
Yellow sandalwood
Red sandalwood [True red sandalwood is now the most expensive, but Pegolotti seems to have meant something

different and cheaper, now called Red Sanders Wood, with no odor but used for its color.]
Hard soap
Soft soap
Dragons blood [Resin from any of several trees used as a dark red pigment, esp. in paint or varnish, sometimes
confused with minium or realgar.]
Mustard
Yellow sulphur
Black sulphur
Santonica [AKA wormseed, an herb used as a vermifuge; more powerful than wormwood.]
Silobalsam [See Balsam, above.]
Sermountain [AKA mountain laserwort, an herb whose seeds produced an oil and whose roots were used to treat
toothache.]
Ordinary vine shoots
Wild brazilwood [A dye wood. It doesnt come from Brazil, which Europeans had not yet discovered in Pegolottis
time.]
Cultivated brazilwood
Quilon brazilwood
Vitriol of Cyprus
Granular sandarac [A resin from Morocco, used to make varnish. Confusingly, realgar was also sometimes called
sandarac.]
Refined sandarac
Fine verdigris
Turpentine
Turbith [AKA turpeth or Indian jalap. Root of a plant in the morning glory family with mild laxative or purgative
properties.]
Tamarind [A sour fruit used in jam, cooling drinks and as a laxative.]
Fine theriac [An electuary much valued as an antidote to poison; it was sometimes compounded of 64 drugs mixed
with honey, and often included opium. -- Evans]
Fine Trefola [Another electuary.]
Turquoises of Tyre
Sealed earth [Terra sigilata was a reddish or white bole formed into pellets imprinted with designs, the subject of
many fables; it was useful for its astringent properties The chief source was Lemnos. -- Evans]
Tutty of Alexandria [Zinc oxide, either mined or scraped from the flues of brass-smelting furnaces. Used as a polish,
or in astringent lotions and ointments.]
Raisins
Dried grapes of the Byzantine Empire
Verditer [A green pigment, either a copper compound or a mixture of bluish clay with yellow ocher.]
Vermicelli
Quince wine
Dried grapes of Armenia
Pomegranate wine
Fine zedoary [An aromatic root from the East Indies; used medicinally in the same ways as ginger.]
Basket sugar [The name in Pegolotti seems to refer to a type of Arabic palm-leaf basket. Another example of a
commodity described by its container.]
Refined sugar
Sugar of Cairo
Muscat sugar, that is in large loaves
Damascus sugar
Tuscan saffron
Rock candy sugar
Rose sugar
Violet sugar
India gingerbread [Could mean some form of candied ginger.]