This does not mean that human trafficking was the only foundation of medieval Italian prosperity. Smith acknowledges that much of the evidence is indirect and that the precise scale of the trade remains difficult to establish.
Nevertheless, his research suggests that the buying and selling of enslaved people may have played an important role in the commercial development of western Italian ports during the centuries before the Crusades.
How Human Trafficking Fuelled Medieval Trade https://www.medievalists.net/2026/10/how-human-trafficking-fuelled-medieval-trade/
Medievalists.netHow Human Trafficking Fuelled Medieval Trade - Medievalists.netA thousand years ago, merchants from medieval Italy were bringing expensive silks, spices and other luxury goods home from the wealthy cities of…