The codfish has had a very important role in history; it has been, most importantly, a connecting factor for many areas surrounding the Atlantic. The intricate trade system set up around cod enabled development, wealth, power, revolution, prosperity, and most of all strong relationships between the countries that were all, in their own way, indebted to the codfish. Codfish added its part to the complex makeup of the global infrastructure and provides us with a clear example of the importance of trade to us and to our society.
Codfish was an important article of trade in Medieval Europe. Very valuable to the Mediterranean, the Basques and the Vikings both traded cod. The Basques", Vikings" and other nations" searches for better fishing areas, as well as a route to China, were what caused the Europeans to stumble on the New World. The sailors would not have been able to sail as long as they did without the ability to catch cod or eat the salted cod on deck. .
"During the Middle Ages, when Europeans ate great quantities of whale meat, the Basques traveled to distant unknown waters and brought back whale. They were able to do this because they had found huge schools of cod and salted their catch, giving them a nutritious food supply that would not spoil on long voyages (19).".
The brave souls who first decided to inhabit Iceland, followed by Greenland, and eventually Newfoundland, were brought there because of cod and able to stay there because of its plenitude. Without the reliability of cod it may have taken the Europeans a lot longer to work up the courage to explore that far.
The New England region, especially, had reason to be thankful for cod. The codfish helped build and support a strong economy in the New World. The puritan settlers would have starved had they not finally acknowledged the abundance of seafood there to feed them. The New World seemed like just savage land to many Europeans at first, but the ample opportunities available in cod fishing allowed development.
