Monday, October 24, yHistory - Fourth Exam ClassesSaltPrecious (expensive) commodity. seasoning, preservative, medicine, metallurgical pro-cessing (extraction and processing of metals), nutrient. Not part of the normal diet at thetime, sought to add salt to it - nutritional necessity. Get salt from salt lakes, sea water (not easy), brine reservoirs (underground salt mine). Salt was associated to good things - strength. In Rome, to be in love was to be “salted.” Pyrenees and Germany - marriage, salt. Egyptian priests help maintain their celibacy byabstaining from salt.China - government monopoly on the production of salt - greatest source of revenue. salt boiling - expensive because of the price of the fuel. most common method: sea wa-ter. other method: deep wells to extract underground brine, problem: natural gas (death). solution: use bamboo pipes to remove the gas and then use the gas as fuel for boiling down the brine. Illegal salt production was a problem. Monopoly kept the price high.West Africa - Sahara desert salt lakes.VIDEO ENDS - STUDY PPT.Medieval Europe (General History)Carolingian ruler Charlemagne - Empire encompasses most of Western Europe at its peak. Promoted Christianity vigorously. Charlemagne’s successors often were in con-flict with the Pope about who wielded the ultimate authority over religious matter. Con-stant struggle between Popes and secular rulers. The empire was divided between Charlemagne’s three sons (Treaty of Verdun.) One became Roman Emperor (West - Rome is being reconstituted, the idea of it persists.), other became king of France and the third ruled Saxony.Islam is on the rise, but Rome is still the center of Christianity. 1
