The Old World Order: Trade Before the Empires on which the Sun Never Set

Abstract

The global colonial expansion of the likes of Spain, Portugal, Holland, and Britain after the fifteenth century was a completely new phenomenon for the world. Unlike previous experiences of colonizations—such as that of Phoenicians—migrations, or occupations, this episode of colonizations covered the entire globe and made some nations much more powerful and richer, while leaving others dominated and poor for extended periods of time. This chapter reviews what the Mediterranean ‘Old World Order’ looked like before the process leading to the British colonial empire.