The Spirit of God’s Laws : The Diffusion of Distilled Liquors in the East Mediterranean Through Hanafi Normative Texts

Abstract The consumption of distilled liquors is attested as early as the 13th century in Western Europe and the 14th century in East Asia. However, the diffusion of distilled liquors in the regions between Western Europe and East Asia remains poorly understood. I assess the historic diffusion of distilled liquors in one such region, the East Mediterranean, to better understand the diffusion across Eurasia. I draw upon sources largely ignored by scholars studying the history of distilled liquors: Hanafi normative texts. My analysis shows that distilled liquors were either rare or absent from the East Mediterranean prior to the 16th century and that the region may have experienced a diffusion of distilled liquors originating from Asia. These findings lead to two major inferences regarding the Eurasian diffusion of distilled liquors. First, it suggests that the spreads of distilled liquors in Western Europe and East Asia were two independent phenomena since any transfer between the two regions should have been visible in the East Mediterranean before the 16th century. Second, it shows that several geographies located between Western Europe and East Asia, including the East Mediterranean, may have experienced a diffusion of distilled liquors originating from East Asia.