Средневековый Понт

Summary

The Black Sea area in the middle ages was one of the principle zones of contact between different civilizations. The Byzantine world encountered the people of the steppe, populations in the process of adopting the Islamic faith; Italian merchants made efforts to establish trading stations at cue points of international commerce, dealing with Greeks, Armenians, Turks, Jews or Russians. The events of the 13th–15th centuries form the chronological center of the book, while its geographic centers will be two: North-Eastern Anatolia and the Northern shores of the Sea of Azov. Their main capitals, Trebizond — Tana (Azov) plus Caflfa (Theodosia in the Crimea) — Constantinople, formed a triangle of maritime trade routes and the principle directions of political aspiration in the area.

There are three meanings of the word "Pontos": 1) the Black Sea as a whole, Pontos Euxeinos; 2) the provinces bordering on the Black Sea; 3) the coast of Northern Anatolia between Sinope and the River Çoruh with Trebizond as its capital.We are, for the most part, using this term in its second and third senses.

The medieval Pontic state came into existence as the Empire of Trebiziond, or of the Grand Komenoi, its only ruling dynasty (1204–1461). Various problems of its history and pre-histoiy are considered in the book: the main lines of the ancient and Byzantine past of the Pontos, the attempts to create a semi — independent state under the Gabrades in the late 11th and 12th centuries (Chapter 1), the foundation of the Empire (Ch. 2), its relationship with Nicaea and Byzantium after 1204 (Ch. 3), with the principalities of Old Rus (Ch. 4). A special section (Ch. 5) is dedicated to the culture of the Empire of Trebizond, its art, literature, science, everyday life.

Italian colonization produced a considerable impact on the political, social and economic development of Black Sea towns. Both positive and negative aspects of the Genoese and Venetian activity in Trebizond and elsewhere are studied in Chapter 6. Privileges granted to Italians by local rulers (Ch. 8) are of particular interest when evaluating the real importance of the "Latins" on the Pontos. An analysis was undertaken in regards to the various taxes paid by Italians in different ports of the Black Sea and it aids in estimating the general volumes of commodity circulation (Ch. 7). It is clear now that the "golden period" for Italian trade was the first half of the 14th century. The deep economic crisis of the 1340s–50s, surveyed in Chapter 11, profoundly affected international commerce, cut main routes from Trebizond and Tana to the Orient (Chs. 11 and 14). After this, trade declined for some time and from the 1360s onwards underwent a gradual restructuring with the replacement of staple goods — silk, cotton, spices brought from Central Asia, China and India — with local wares, alum, copper, timber, fish, caviar, wine, salt, and increasingly — slaves. The crisis resulted in diminished main trade tax income, paid by Italians in Trebizond (unlike in Byzantium, where Venetians and Genoese were exempt from taxation). As a result of decreasing commerce and increasing attempts of emperors to augment taxation, tensions grew between the Empire of Trebizond and Venice (as well as Genoa). The greatest conflict that between the Republic of Saint Marc and the Grand Komnenoi in 1374–1376, is studied through the rich documentation in the State Archives of Venice, as well as Greek chronicles (Ch.9).

Archival sources from Venice, Genoa, St. Petersburg, etc., explored in the book provide a new picture not only of Italian trade and colonization, but also of the history of Pontic Hellenism and intercultural contacts in the area. A large set of documents from the State Archives of Genoa (Archivio Segreto, Diversorum, Filze) was for the first time examined in its integrity in Chapter 12. Petitions collected therein reveal the main claims of Italian merchants and officials within the Black Sea settlements and their relationships with the surrounding, multi — ethnic world. Of course, the documentation of Italian trading stations in the area was completely lost in situ due to Ottoman conquest and destruction, and may be traced mainly through documents in the archives of Genoa and Venice. Still it is possible to "reconstruct" notarial archives of Pontic towns and to discover new names of notaries working there. An example of such methodology is given in Chapter 10, dealing with the activities of a Genoese notaiy in Trebizond Guirardo di San Donato (1288–1290).

The study of the Empire of Trebizond has revealed its deep ties with Northern Black Sea areas. From the time of the Pontic King Mithridates VI (121–63 B.C.), the North and the South of the Black Sea were either integrated into larger empires (the Hellenistic, Roman, Byzantine, Ottoman), or well connected economically (Ch. 1). The city of Tana, Azak in the estuary of the Don and its periphery were of great importance for Trebizond as a supply source for grain, salt and fish. From Trebizond, wine and olive oil were largely exported to Tana. Azak, a great nomadic "city" with unclear frontiers, neighbored Venetian and Genoese trading stations created in the late 13th and early 14th centuries as well as Jewish and Russian settlements.

Nearly ail local ethnic groups were to be found there. Pontic Hellenism, supported by the Empire of Trebizond, and the commercial activities of Italians produced mostly characteristic features of the syncretic culture created in this Tatar-dominated province. Chapter 13 considers a debated question of the time and circumstances surrounding the creation of Italian Tana. New documents and different approaches were combined to reveal the various phases of the foundation and functioning of the trading stations within the territory of the Golden Horde (Chs. 13 and 17). Axes of commerce running through Tana, their directions and importance are studied in Chapter 14. The civil status and ethnic composition of Tana's population may be statistically verified through the large dossier of a Venetian notary and chancellor in Tana, Benedetto Bianco (1359–1363) (Ch. 15). A newly discovered feature is the existence in Tana of an Orthodox parish with Greek and Slavonic worshippers (Ch. 16). Gradually, the metropolitans of Trebizond became the main religious authority in Tana, replacing the bishops of Alania.

Thus, Pontic Hellenism and Italian colonization form the general framework of this book, consisting partly of previously published and revised articles, partly of new entries. Numerous distinguished scholars from many countries, among whom are J. Fallmerayer, G. Finlay, W. Heyd, F. I. Uspenskij, W. Miller, A.A. Vasiliev, E. Skrzhinskaya, N. Iorga, G. Bratianu, O. Lampsides, A. Bryer, M. Balard, G. Pistarino — and so many others — contributed to a better knowledge of medieval Pontos. This work is a modest continuation of their efforts, under new aspects and with a wider treatment of Italian archival sources.

I am grateful to Edwin Mellen Press Ltd. and to Professor G.M. Bongard-Levin for their proposal to have this book published. I am also indebted to the Open Society for a grant supporting this research (RSS, No.: 297/1999)

S. Karpov