15th century
Florence and Timbuktu
Benedetto Dei was an agent of the Florentine Portinari firm who is said to have reached Timbuktu in 1469. His reported mission was to assess the possibility of exchanging Lombard cloth for Sudanese gold. The episode illustrates the growing interest of Italian commercial houses in establishing direct or semi-direct access to the wealth of the Western Sudan.
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The Story
Italian merchants increasingly sought new ways to obtain African gold as Portuguese shipping merchants gained influence over Atlantic access. In this setting, Florentine commercial firms explored the possibility of reaching the interior through overland or caravan routes. Such ventures aimed to connect European manufactured goods with Sudanese markets and gold-producing regions.
Benedetto Dei, an agent of the Portinari firm in Florence, is said to have reached Timbuktu in 1469. His reported objective was to explore the prospects of exchanging Lombard cloth for the gold of the Sudan. The proposed exchange joined a high-value European textile commodity to the bullion economy of the Western Sudan.
The account places Dei within a sequence of Italian attempts to investigate inland routes after Portuguese expansion changed the commercial balance. Like the journey of Antonius Malfante to Tuat, the reported visit to Timbuktu reveals the importance of information-gathering and commercial experimentation in the fifteenth-century gold trade.
15th century
Florence and Timbuktu
Benedetto Dei was an agent of the Florentine Portinari firm who is said to have reached Timbuktu in 1469. His reported mission was to assess the possibility of exchanging Lombard cloth for Sudanese gold. The episode illustrates the growing interest of Italian commercial houses in establishing direct or semi-direct access to the wealth of the Western Sudan.
Continue exploring
The Story
Italian merchants increasingly sought new ways to obtain African gold as Portuguese shipping merchants gained influence over Atlantic access. In this setting, Florentine commercial firms explored the possibility of reaching the interior through overland or caravan routes. Such ventures aimed to connect European manufactured goods with Sudanese markets and gold-producing regions.
Benedetto Dei, an agent of the Portinari firm in Florence, is said to have reached Timbuktu in 1469. His reported objective was to explore the prospects of exchanging Lombard cloth for the gold of the Sudan. The proposed exchange joined a high-value European textile commodity to the bullion economy of the Western Sudan.
The account places Dei within a sequence of Italian attempts to investigate inland routes after Portuguese expansion changed the commercial balance. Like the journey of Antonius Malfante to Tuat, the reported visit to Timbuktu reveals the importance of information-gathering and commercial experimentation in the fifteenth-century gold trade.