The Crusaders were not indifferent to the culinary delights made from sugar, and set about introducing this astonishing new product to their respective homelands.
They were not above doing business, either, so they became growers, especially on the islands recaptured from the Arabs. Venice became the hub of the sugar trade, with Bruges and Antwerp the major distribution centres for northern Europe. The first European sugar refinery was built in Venice in the fifteenth century.