The Levant Company had a monopoly on Ottoman trade — and the monopoly killed it

The Levant Company, chartered in 1581, had a monopoly on English trade with the Ottoman Empire. The company controlled the export of English cloth and the import of silk, spices, and currants from the eastern Mediterranean. For 200 years, the monopoly made the company's members wealthy and gave England a foothold in Ottoman trade.

But the monopoly also made the company complacent. The Levant Company's members were merchants, not innovators: they traded the same goods, on the same routes, with the same methods, for two centuries. When the Industrial Revolution transformed English manufacturing in the 18th century, the Levant Company did not adapt. The company's trade was based on cloth, and the new factories produced cloth faster and cheaper than the company's members could.

In 1825, the British Parliament revoked the Levant Company's charter as part of the free trade reforms. The company was dissolved. The trade with the Ottoman Empire continued, but it was carried on by independent merchants who were not bound by the company's rules. The Levant Company's monopoly had protected its members from competition for 200 years — and had also protected them from the need to innovate.