Editing Mail (section)

=== Other systems ===
[[File:Poczta Główna (Main post office) (9159136558).jpg|thumbnail|An example of a main post office building in [[Kraków]], [[Poland]]]]
[[File:Post-cycle-Cologne-508.jpg|thumb|Delivery by bicycle in [[Germany]]]]
Another important postal service was created in the [[Islam]]ic world by the ''[[caliph]]'' Mu'awiyya; the service was called ''[[Barid (caliphate)|barid]]'', for the name of the towers built to protect the roads by which couriers travelled.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia | article = Post, or Barid | first = Adam | last = Silverstein | encyclopedia = Medieval Islamic Civilization, An Encyclopedia, Volume 2: L–Z, Index | editor-first = Josef W. | editor-last = Meri | publisher = Routledge | location = Leiden and New York | year = 2006 | isbn = 0-415-96692-2 | pages = 631–632 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=LaV-IGZ8VKIC&pg=PA631 }}</ref>

By 3000 BC, Egypt was using [[homing pigeon]]s for [[pigeon post]], taking advantage of a singular quality of this bird, which when taken far from its nest is able to find its way home due to a particularly developed sense of orientation. Messages were then tied around the legs of the pigeon, which was freed and could reach its original nest. By the 19th century, homing pigeons were used extensively for military communications.<ref>Carter W. Clarke, "Signal Corps Pigeons". ''The Military Engineer'' 25.140 (1933): 133–138 [https://www.jstor.org/stable/44563742 Online] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200229005845/https://www.jstor.org/stable/44563742 |date=2020-02-29 }}.</ref>

[[Charlemagne]] extended to the whole territory of his empire the system used by [[Franks]] in northern [[Gaul]] and connected this service with that of [[missus dominicus|''missi dominici'']].<ref>François L. Ganshof, "The impact of Charlemagne on the institutions of the Frankish realm". ''Speculum'' 40.1 (1965): 47–62 {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20200727132801/http://spraguehs.com/staff/curry_michael/02%20World%20Humanities/DRAG/DBQs/CharlemagneDBQ.pdf Online .]}}</ref>{{Failed verification|date=November 2023}}

In the mid-11th century, flax traders known as the [[Cairo Geniza]] Merchants from [[Fustat]], Egypt wrote about using a postal service known as the ''kutubi.'' The ''kutubi'' system managed routes between the cities of Jerusalem, Ramla, Tyre, Ascalon, Damascus, Aleppo, and Fustat with year-round, regular mail delivery.<ref>Goldberg, Jessica, "Trade and Institutions in the Medieval Mediterranean : The Geniza Merchants and Their Business World". ''Cambridge University Press'', (2012): 189–193.</ref>

Many religious orders had a private mail service. Notably, the [[Cistercians]] had one which connected more than 6,000 [[abbey]]s, [[monastery|monasteries]], and churches. The best organization, however, was created by the [[Knights Templar]].<ref>Marco Mostert, "New approaches to medieval communication?" in ''New approaches to medieval communication'' (1999) pp. 15–37.</ref>{{Failed verification|date=November 2023}}

In 1716, Correos y Telégrafos was established in Spain as public mail service, available to all citizens. Delivery postmen were first employed in 1756 and post boxes were installed firstly in 1762.<ref>Alvaro Escribano, Patricia González, and Julio Lasheras. "Evolution and Analysis of the Market Structure of Postal Services in Spain" in ''Competitive Transformation of the Postal and Delivery Sector'' (Springer, 2003) pp. 287–309.</ref>