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Genoese colonies in the North Caucasus. Genoese colonies in the northern Black Sea region

Genoese colonies in the Northern Black Sea region

fortified trading centers of Genoese merchants in the 13th-15th centuries. In 1266 the Genoese obtained from Mangu Khan, a protege of the Golden Horde in the Crimea, the transfer to them of Kafa (modern Feodosia), which later became the center of their colonies. In 1357 the Genoese captured Cembalo (Balaklava), in 1365 - Soldaya (Sudak). New colonies of the Genoese arose: Bosporo (on the site of modern Kerch), Tana (at the mouth of the Don). Greeks, Italians, Armenians, Tatars, Russians, and others lived in the colonies. By the end of the 14th century. they began to play a decisive role in the Black Sea trade. Genoese merchants conducted an extensive intermediary trade. They sold grain, salt, leather, furs, wax, honey, timber, fish, caviar from the Black Sea regions, cloth from Italy and Germany, oil and wine from Greece, spices, precious stones, musk from Asian countries, ivory - from Africa, and much more. A large place was occupied by the trade in captives redeemed from the Tatar khans and Turkish sultans. The trading operations of the Genoese merchants were also carried out in the Russian lands. Natives of the Genoese colonies - "fryagi" - lived in Moscow, where in the 14-15 centuries. there was a corporation of merchants - "surozhans", who specialized in trade with G. k. in S. P.

The Genoese colonies were well fortified, there were garrisons in the fortresses. The Genoese maintained allied relations with the Mongol-Tatar khans, who formally were the supreme rulers of the territories of the colonies, but provided them with complete self-government, retaining power only over the subjects of the khans. In 1380, the Genoese infantry participated on the side of Mamai in the Battle of Kulikovo. Nevertheless, G. k. in S. P. were repeatedly attacked and ruined by the Tat. khans (1299, 1308, 1344-1347, 1396-97, etc.). The trading activities of the Genoese merchants were combined with robbery and exploitation of the local population. Deep social stratification and acute national-religious contradictions developed within the colonies themselves. The largest colony was Kafa, which was a developed center of crafts. At the head of the management of Kafa was the rich merchants, who subjugated and enslaved the mass of the poor. In 1433 there was a major uprising of the local population against the Genoese in Cembalo. In 1454 in the Cafe happened great uprising the urban poor; further intensification of the class struggle led to new uprisings in Kafa in 1456, 1463, 1471, 1472, and 1475. The deepening of social and national-religious contradictions predetermined the decline of the civil society in the S. P. in the 15th century. After the fall of the Byzantine Empire (1453), the international position of the colonies worsened. In 1475, the settlements in S.P. were captured and destroyed by Turkey and its vassal, the Crimean Khanate.

The remains of fortress walls, towers and palaces in Cafe, Cembalo and Soldaia, built by slaves under the guidance of Italian architects, have been preserved. The fortress and the consular castle in Soldaia (14th century) are a remarkable example of Italian architecture; the remains of fresco paintings have survived there. In 1951-52, archaeological excavations were carried out in the Cafe, which provided valuable material for studying the history of the city, its crafts and trade.

Lit.: Zevakin E. S. and Penchko N. A., Essays on the history of the Genoese colonies in the Western Caucasus in the XIII and XV centuries, in the collection: Historical notes, vol. 3, [M.], 1938 (bibl.); their own, From the history of social relations in the Genoese colonies of the Northern Black Sea region in the 15th century, ibid., vol. 7, [M.], 1940; Sekirinsky S., Essays on the history of Surozh in the 11th-15th centuries, Simferopol, 1955.

A. M. Sakharov.


Great Soviet Encyclopedia. - M.: Soviet Encyclopedia. 1969-1978 .

See what "Genoese colonies in the Northern Black Sea region" are in other dictionaries:

    Fortified trading centers of Genoese merchants in the 13th-15th centuries. Center Kafa (modern Feodosia). Conducted intermediary trade with the countries of the West. and Vost. Europe, including in the Russian lands. In 1475 they were captured and defeated by Turkey ... Big Encyclopedic Dictionary

    Genoese fortress in Sudak (reconstruction). Genoese colonies in the Northern Black Sea region, fortified trading centers of Genoese merchants in the XIII-XV centuries ... Wikipedia

    Fortified bargaining. centers of Genoese merchants in the 13th-15th centuries. Expanding the scope of bargaining. operations after the Crusades and fighting against rival Venice, the Genoese, who sought with the support of Byzantium. empire to monopolize trade on the Black Sea... Soviet historical encyclopedia

    Fortified trading centers of Genoese merchants in the XIII-XV centuries. Center Kafa (modern Feodosia). Conducted intermediary trade with the countries of Western and of Eastern Europe, including in the Russian lands. In 1475 they were captured and defeated by Turkey. * * *… … encyclopedic Dictionary

And they planted their emperor. The Byzantines were pushed back to Asia Minor. The passage of Genoese ships to the Black Sea is hampered by excessive duties. In the year the Venetians are fixed in Soldaya (Sudak), which is owned jointly with the Polovtsians (Kipchaks). In the year there was a Seljuk raid on Sudak. In the year, the Mongol detachments of Subudai and Jebe take Sudak, and in the year Sudak is captured by the Tatar-Mongols (up to a year). In the year after Batu's campaign in Europe, the Golden Horde. In the year, Genoa and the Empire of Nicaea conclude the Treaty of Nymphaeum. For helping Michael Palaiologos in the fight against the Latin Empire, the Genoese received exclusive rights to trade in the Black Sea. Thus, from the 13th century, the Black Sea, which had previously been a protected basin of the Byzantine Empire, became available to Italian merchants. From the 1260s, their active trading activity began in the Crimea and other territories of the Golden Horde.

Based on this important trading post, Genoa pursued a policy aimed at achieving a trade monopoly in the Black Sea region. The Byzantine Emperor John Kantakouzenos described the purpose of this policy as follows:

they conceived a lot, they wanted to dominate the [Black] sea and not allow the Byzantines to sail on ships, as if the sea belonged only to them.

original text(Greek)

ένενόουν γαρ ουδέν μικρόν, αλλά θαλασσοκρατεΐν έβούλοντο και Ρωμαίους απείργειν πλεϊν, ώς σφισι προσηκούσης της θαλάσσης.

In 1289, the first consul was sent to Cafa from Genoa, and a year later a special charter was developed for the city and Cafa became a self-governing city commune. And already in 1293-1299, due to trade competition, there was a war between Venice and Genoa, the battles of which unfolded on the Black Sea. Under the agreement, both sides delimited spheres of influence in the Crimea. The Venetians were obliged by the treaty of 1299 not to enter the Black Sea for thirty years in a row. The Genoese became the sole owners of the sea communications of the Northern Black Sea region and the Crimean peninsula. Now the Black Sea was covered by a ring of Genoese stations, starting from Pera to the east along the Asia Minor coast, along the Caucasian coast, on the Taman Peninsula, at both mouths of the Don (the Sea of ​​\u200b\u200bAzov was considered as an extension of the Don flowing into the Black Sea) and along the western coastal strip - from the mouth Dnieper - through Kiliya again to the Bosphorus.

In 1343, the Genoese settled in Chembalo (now Balaklava), in Soldaya (modern Sudak), displacing the Venetians from there. New colonies of the Genoese arose: Vosporo (on the territory of modern Kerch), Tana (at the mouth of the Don), Ginestra (on the territory of modern Odessa). Their agencies were in the cities of Matrega (now Taman), Kopa (now Slavyansk-on-Kuban), etc.

At the other end of the Crimea, the port of Vosporo (Kerch) became an important stronghold for the Genoese, entrusted to the possession of the Genoese consuls from the hands of the Golden Horde khan along with the obligation to create a khan's customs in the city. Since then, on Italian maps, the city began to be called Vospro, Cerchio or Port of St. John. In June 1365, the Genoese captured Sugdeya (Soldaya, now Sudak), weakened by Tatar raids and internal strife, ousting the Venetians from there, and in 1380 they secured an agreement from Khan Tokhtamysh, in which he recognized all their territorial seizures in the Crimea. The “Great Commune of Genoa” secured Sudak with eighteen villages and the territory of the South Coast from Foros to Alushta inclusive, which they called the “captainship of Gothia”. The Genoese received legal authority over the entire territory of Gothia - seaside and mountainous. However, they could exercise actual power only over Maritime Gothia(Gothia Maritima), that is, over the southern coast of Crimea.

The largest colony was Kaffa, which was a developed center of crafts. After the fall of Byzantium in Genoa, she ceded the Black Sea colonies to her bank of San Giorgio ( bank of St. George). International Position the colonies worsened: the military-political pressure of the Crimean Khanate intensified, relations with the Principality of Theodoro in Crimea escalated.

The Kafa administration under the consul consisted of a council of pharmacists (trustees) and a council of elders who oversaw the proper decision of the most important public problems. Also subordinate to the consul was a staff of 16 judges ( syndics), 2 finance managers ( Massarii), the military chief of the city, the commander of a mercenary army, the chief of police and the market bailiff. Despite the variety of tasks they perform final goal The activity of these officials was reduced to the fullest possible assistance to the trade affairs of the trading post. In the XIV-XV centuries, the Kafsky consul was the supreme ruler of the Black Sea possessions of Genoa. In the documents of that time he was called " head of Kaffa and the entire Black Sea"," Head of Gazaria ".

All the south coast colonies of Genoa were united into a single military-administrative entity - Captaincy of Gothia(Capitaneatus Gotie), also known as Governorate of Gothia, designed to ensure the safety of coastal navigation between Chembalo and the Bosporus. According to the Charter, " Statutum Cephe", the administrative department of the Genoese Gothia consisted of 4 consulates (Consulatus Gorzoni (Gurzuf), Consulatus Pertinice (Partenit), Consulatus Jalite (Yalta), Consulatus Lusce (Alushta)). The captain of Gothia carried out military and police functions in this territory in cooperation with the consuls and was subordinate to the consul of Kafa and his vicar (deputy). At the same time, his fiscal possibilities were limited to the collection of a fine not exceeding 40 aspros.

The Genoese authorities, alarmed by the capture of Kafa by the troops of Khan Tokhta in 1308 and the confrontation with Byzantium and Trebizond that broke out in 1313, created in November a special commission of eight "wise" (sapientes) to take into account the affairs of "Trebizond, Persia, Turkey and the entire Black Sea" who would be in charge of all the affairs of the Genoese in the Crimea and the Black Sea, - Gazaria's office(Officium Gazariae). Emerged after 1363 Office of Romagna(Officium Romaniae or Officii Provisionis Romanie - Office of the Guardianship of Romagna), gradually replaced the previously established Gazaria Officio. After the fall of Constantinople, on November 17, 1453, Genoa ceded direct control of the Black Sea colonies to its bank of St. George (then called officium comperarum or Casa di San Giorgio).

Panorama of the Genoese fortress in Sudak

Study of

From the Genoese period in the Crimea, the remains of fortress walls, towers and palaces in Kaffa and Chembalo, built under the guidance of Italian architects, a fortress and a consular castle in Soldaya have been preserved. In 1951, in Feodosia, on the territory of the Genoese fortress, archaeological excavations were carried out, which provided valuable material for studying the history of the city, its crafts and trade.

List of Genoese colonies in the Northern Black Sea region

  • Mouth of the Dniester
    • Samastro (Moncastro) - Wikiwand Samastro (Moncastro; Belgorod-Dnestrovsky)
  • Coast of the Gulf of Odessa
    • Ginestra - Ginestra (Odessa-Luzanovka)
  • Mouth of the Danube
  • Crimea :
  • Mouth of the Don
  • The territory of the present Krasnodar Territory
    • Matrega - Matrega (Tmutarakan) (now the village of Taman)
    • Kopa - Copa (Kopyl, now the city of Slavyansk-on-Kuban)
    • Mapa - Mapa (Anapa)
    • Bata - Bata (Novorossiysk)
    • Casto - Casto (Hosta)
    • Liyash - Layso (Adler)
    • Mavrolaco - Mavrolaco (Gelendzhik)
  • Abkhazia - Abcasia (Tsandripsh)
  • Kakari - Chacari (Gagra)
  • Santa Sophia - Santa Sophia (Alahadzi)
  • Pesonka - Pesonqa (Pitsunda)
  • Cavo di Buxo - Wikiwand Cavo di Buxo (Gudauta)
  • Nicopsia - Niocoxia (New Athos)
  • Sebastopolis (Sukhum)
  • Lo Vati (Batumi)

Chronology

Year Event
Byzantine Emperor Manuel Komnenos allowed the Genoese to sail through the Bosphorus and visit Black Sea coast
Fourth Crusade: The Crusaders storm Constantinople, where they imprison their emperor. The Byzantines were driven back to Asia Minor. The passage of Genoese ships to the Black Sea is hampered by excessive duties.
The Venetians are fixed in Soldaya (Sudak), which is owned jointly with the Polovtsians (Kipchaks)
Seljuk raid on Sudak
Mongolian detachments of Subudai and Jebe take Sudak
Sudak captured by the Tatar-Mongols (before the city)
After a trip to Europe, Batu founded the Tatar-Mongolian state in the steppes - the Golden Horde
Genoa and the Empire of Nicaea conclude the Treaty of Nymphaeum, under which the Genoese receive the exclusive right to sail in the Black Sea in exchange for helping the Byzantines in recapturing Constantinople.
Restoration of the Byzantine Empire: the recapture of Constantinople by the Empire of Nicaea (although the help of Genoa was not needed)
To counterbalance the Genoese, the Byzantine emperor also allows the Venetians into the Black Sea
The Genoese found their first and main colony in the Black Sea region - Kafu (on the site of ancient Feodosia)
Venetian Consul in Soldaia
Genoese colony at Moncastro (Samastro)
Sudak is captured by the Tatar temnik Nogai. Also ruined are Kyrk-Or, Khersones, Kafa, Cherkio
Founding of the Catholic Diocese of Kaffa
The Genoese settled in Vosporo (Cherkio)
Establishment of an Italian colony in Trebizond
Establishment of Catholic dioceses in Vosporo and Sarson (Chersonese)
Formation of the Venetian colony in Azaka (Tana). Later, a Genoese colony will immediately arise
(1343) Capture by the Genoese of Syumbolon (Cembalo)
Khan Dzhanibek destroys colonies in Tan
Khan Janibek besieges Kafa
Establishment of the Catholic Archbishopric in Matrega
Chembalo: the beginning of the construction of the fortress and the establishment of the Catholic diocese
Establishment of a Catholic diocese in Mapa
Campaign of the Lithuanian prince Olgerd to the Crimea
Sudak goes to the Genoese; the establishment of a Catholic diocese here
- According to a number of treaties, the southern coast of Crimea from Kafa and Soldaya to Alushta and Chembalo passes to the Genoese.
The Crimea and the Caucasus are devastated by the troops of Timur, especially the Christians suffered; Christianity in most regions of the North Caucasus was destroyed.
The Grand Duke of Lithuania Vitovt reached Kafa, took Kyrk-Or and destroyed Chersonese
Chersonese was finally destroyed by the temnik Edigey, after which it was no longer restored.
Restoration of the Theodoro (Mangup) fortress in the mountainous Crimea
As a result of marriage with a Circassian princess, a representative of the Genoese family Gizolfi becomes the ruler of Matrega
Khan Hadji-Girey achieves independence of the Crimean Khanate from the Golden Horde
Genoese consuls are mentioned in Kafe, Trebizond, Tana, Cembalo, Soldaia, Samastro, Koppe, Sevastopolis, Sinope.
The capture of Constantinople by the Turks - the collapse of the Byzantine Empire, after which Genoa sells the colonies to his bank San Giorgio
Turkish attack on Kafa repulsed
Turks capture Trebizond
Crimean Khanate becomes dependent on the Ottoman Empire
Turkish landing in the Crimea. Kafa surrenders, Sudak, Chembalo, Alushta (Alushta) are taken by storm.
Turks captured Matrega.
The Turkish army crosses the Danube and takes Chilia and Belgorod (Akkerman). The Ottoman Empire takes control of the entire Black Sea coast

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Links

Literature

  • Gavrilenko O. A.// Bulletin of Kharkiv National University named after. V.N. Karazin. - No. 945. - Series "Law". - 2011. - S. 49-53.
  • Gavrilenko O. A.// Scientific notes of the Tauride National University. IN AND. Vernadsky. Ser. "Legal Sciences". - T. 24 (63). - 2011. - No. 2 .. - S. 17-22.
  • Zevakin E. S., Penchko N. A. Essays on the history of the Genoese colonies in the Western Caucasus in the 11th and 15th centuries // IZ. - T. 3. - M., 1938.
  • Sekirinsky S. Essays on the history of Surozh in the 9th-15th centuries. - Simferopol, 1955.
  • Solomin A.V. Christian Antiquities of Lesser Abkhazia. - M., 2006.
  • Syroechkovsky V. E. Surozhan guests. - M-L., 1935

Notes

  1. Volkov M.- Notes. T. 4, Department. 4-5. Odessa. 1860
  3. // Encyclopedic Dictionary of Brockhaus and Efron: in 86 volumes (82 volumes and 4 additional). - St. Petersburg. , 1890-1907.
  4. From the history medieval Crimea: the highest officials of the Genoese Kafa before the court and slander [Text]: [About the consuls - the highest officials of the Genoese colony in the Black Sea] / S.P. Karpov // Domestic History. - 2001. - N1. pp. 184-187
  5. Egorov V.L.- Historical geography of the Golden Horde in the XIII-XIV centuries. - M .: "Science", 1985. Chapter three. Cities of the Golden Horde and some questions economic geography states:, section "Crimea".
  6. G. Pistarino, Pagine sul medioevo a Genova e in Liguria. - ed. Tolozzi, 1983
  7. Skrzhinskaya E. Ch.. - VV, I, 1947. p. 228
  8. A. R. Andreev. History of the Crimea. - M ., "Monolith-Eurolints-Tradition", series "History and Country", 2002. page 45
  9. Martin Broniewski. - Notes of the Odessa Society of History and Antiquities. Volume VI. 1867. - p.344
  10. Fadeeva T. M., Shaposhnikov A. K. Principality of Theodoro and its princes. - Simferopol: Business-Inform, 2005. p. 124
  11. Kulakovsky Yu. A. "[The Past of Taurida: A Brief Historical Sketch]" (Kyiv, ; 2nd ed., ext. - Kyiv, . Chapter XV)
  12. Katyushin E. A. Theodosius. Kaffa. Kefe: A Historical Sketch. - Feodosia: Publishing house. house "Koktebel", 1998.
  14. Tipakov V.A.- Culture of the peoples of the Black Sea region. 1999. N6. pp. 218-224
  15. Bocharov S. G. Fortifications of Kaffa (end of the 13th - second half of the 15th centuries) - St. Petersburg. , 1998. pp. 82-166
  16. Trebizond Empire and Western European states in the XIII-XV centuries. / S. P. Karpov. - M .: Publishing House of Moscow State University, 1981. - 232 p. - 1770 copies., Chapter III. Empire of Trebizond and Genoa
  17. Karpov S.P.- Byzantine timeline. Volume 62 (87).2003. pp. 176-177
  19. Tipakov V. A. The communities of Gothia and the captaincy of Gothia in the charter of Kaffa 1449 / / Culture of the peoples of the Black Sea region, 1999, N6, pp. 218-224

An excerpt characterizing the Italian colonies in the Northern Black Sea region

- Then the governor personally give a letter about the record.
Later, latches were needed for the doors of the new building, certainly of such a style that the prince himself invented. Then a binding box had to be ordered for laying the will.
Giving orders to Alpatych lasted more than two hours. The prince did not let him go. He sat down, thought, and, closing his eyes, dozed off. Alpatych stirred.
- Well, go, go; If you need anything, I'll send it.
Alpatych left. The prince again went up to the bureau, looked into it, touched his papers with his hand, locked them again, and sat down at the table to write a letter to the governor.
It was already late when he got up, sealing the letter. He wanted to sleep, but he knew that he would not sleep and that the worst thoughts came to him in bed. He called Tikhon and went with him through the rooms to tell him where to make the bed for that night. He walked, trying on every corner.
Everywhere he felt bad, but the worst of all was the familiar sofa in the office. This sofa was terrible to him, probably because of the heavy thoughts that he changed his mind while lying on it. It was not good anywhere, but all the same, the corner in the sofa room behind the piano was best of all: he had never slept here before.
Tikhon brought a bed with the waiter and began to set.
- Not like that, not like that! the prince shouted, and he himself moved a quarter away from the corner, and then again closer.
“Well, I’ve finally redone everything, now I’ll rest,” the prince thought, and left Tikhon to undress himself.
Wincing annoyedly at the effort that had to be made to take off his caftan and trousers, the prince undressed, sank heavily onto the bed, and seemed to be lost in thought, looking contemptuously at his yellow, withered legs. He did not think, but he hesitated before the work ahead of him to raise these legs and move on the bed. “Oh, how hard! Oh, if only as soon as possible, these works would end quickly, and you would let me go! he thought. He made this effort for the twentieth time, pursing his lips, and lay down. But as soon as he lay down, all of a sudden the whole bed moved evenly back and forth under him, as if breathing heavily and pushing. It happened to him almost every night. He opened his eyes that had been closed.
"No rest, damned ones!" he grumbled with anger at someone. “Yes, yes, there was something else important, something very important, I saved myself for the night in bed. Gate valves? No, he talked about it. No, something like that was in the living room. Princess Mary was lying about something. Dessal something - this fool - said. Something in my pocket, I don't remember.
- Silence! What did they talk about at dinner?
- About the prince, Mikhail ...
- Shut up, shut up. The prince slammed his hand on the table. - Yes! I know, a letter from Prince Andrei. Princess Mary was reading. Desal said something about Vitebsk. Now I will read.
He ordered the letter to be taken out of his pocket and a table with lemonade and a vitushka, a wax candle, to be moved to the bed, and, putting on his glasses, he began to read. It was only then, in the stillness of the night, in the faint light from under the green cap, that he, having read the letter, for the first time for a moment understood its meaning.
“The French are in Vitebsk, after four crossings they can be at Smolensk; maybe they're already there."
- Silence! Tikhon jumped up. - No, no, no, no! he shouted.
He hid the letter under the candlestick and closed his eyes. And he imagined the Danube, a bright afternoon, reeds, a Russian camp, and he enters, he, a young general, without a single wrinkle on his face, cheerful, cheerful, ruddy, into the painted tent of Potemkin, and a burning feeling of envy for his beloved, just as strong, as then, worries him. And he recalls all those words that were said then at the first meeting with Potemkin. And he imagines with yellowness in her fat face a short, fat woman - Mother Empress, her smiles, words, when she received him for the first time, kindly, and he recalls her own face in the hearse and the collision with Zubov, which was then with her coffin for the right to approach her hand.
“Ah, rather, quickly return to that time, and so that everything now ends quickly, quickly, so that they leave me alone!”

Lysyye Gory, the estate of Prince Nikolai Andreevich Bolkonsky, was sixty versts from Smolensk, behind it, and three versts from the Moscow road.
On the same evening, as the prince gave orders to Alpatych, Dessal, having demanded a meeting with Princess Mary, told her that since the prince was not completely healthy and was not taking any measures for his safety, and according to the letter of Prince Andrei, it was clear that his stay in the Bald Mountains unsafe, he respectfully advises her to write a letter with Alpatych to the head of the province in Smolensk with a request to notify her of the state of affairs and the degree of danger to which the Bald Mountains are exposed. Desalle wrote a letter for Princess Marya to the governor, which she signed, and this letter was given to Alpatych with an order to submit it to the governor and, in case of danger, return as soon as possible.
Having received all the orders, Alpatych, escorted by his family, in a white downy hat (a princely gift), with a stick, just like the prince, went out to sit in a leather wagon laid by a trio of well-fed savras.
The bell was tied up, and the bells were stuffed with pieces of paper. The prince did not allow anyone to ride in the Bald Mountains with a bell. But Alpatych loved bells and bells on a long journey. The courtiers of Alpatych, the zemstvo, the clerk, the cook - black, white, two old women, a Cossack boy, coachmen and various courtyards saw him off.
The daughter laid chintz down pillows behind her back and under it. The old woman's sister-in-law slipped the bundle secretly. One of the coachmen put him under the arm.
- Well, well, women's fees! Grandmas, women! - puffing, Alpatych spoke in a patter exactly as the prince said, and sat down in the kibitochka. Having given the last orders on the work of the zemstvo, and in this no longer imitating the prince, Alpatych took off his hat from his bald head and crossed himself three times.
- You, if anything ... you will return, Yakov Alpatych; for the sake of Christ, have pity on us, ”his wife shouted to him, hinting at rumors of war and the enemy.
“Women, women, women’s fees,” Alpatych said to himself and drove off, looking around the fields, where with yellowed rye, where with thick, still green oats, where there are still black ones that were just starting to double. Alpatych rode, admiring the rare harvest of spring crops this year, looking at the strips of rye peli, on which in some places they began to sting, and made his economic considerations about sowing and harvesting and whether some princely order had not been forgotten.
Having fed twice on the road, by the evening of August 4, Alpatych arrived in the city.
On the way, Alpatych met and overtook the carts and troops. Approaching Smolensk, he heard distant shots, but these sounds did not strike him. He was most struck by the fact that, approaching Smolensk, he saw a beautiful field of oats, which some soldiers were obviously mowing for food and along which they camped; this circumstance struck Alpatych, but he soon forgot it, thinking about his own business.
All the interests of Alpatych's life for more than thirty years were limited by one will of the prince, and he never left this circle. Everything that did not concern the execution of the orders of the prince, not only did not interest him, but did not exist for Alpatych.
Alpatych, having arrived in Smolensk on the evening of August 4, stopped beyond the Dnieper, in the Gachen suburb, at the inn, at the janitor Ferapontov, with whom he had been in the habit of stopping for thirty years. Ferapontov twelve years ago, with light hand Alpatych, having bought a grove from the prince, began to trade and now had a house, an inn and a flour shop in the province. Ferapontov was a fat, black, red man of forty, with thick lips, a thick bump on his nose, the same bumps above his black, frowning eyebrows, and a thick belly.
Ferapontov, in a waistcoat and a cotton shirt, was standing by a shop overlooking the street. Seeing Alpatych, he approached him.
- Welcome, Yakov Alpatych. The people are out of the city, and you are in the city, - said the owner.
- What is it, from the city? Alpatych said.
- And I say - the people are stupid. Everyone is afraid of the French.
- Woman's talk, woman's talk! Alpatych said.
- So I judge, Yakov Alpatych. I say there is an order that they won't let him in, which means it's true. Yes, and the peasants ask for three rubles from the cart - there is no cross on them!
Yakov Alpatych listened inattentively. He demanded a samovar and hay for the horses, and after drinking tea he went to bed.
All night long the troops moved in the street past the inn. The next day, Alpatych put on a camisole, which he wore only in the city, and went on business. The morning was sunny, and from eight o'clock it was already hot. Expensive day for harvesting bread, as Alpatych thought. Shots were heard outside the city from early morning.
From eight o'clock cannon fire joined the rifle shots. There were a lot of people on the streets, hurrying somewhere, a lot of soldiers, but just as always, cabs drove, merchants stood at the shops and there was a service in the churches. Alpatych went to the shops, to government offices, to the post office and to the governor. In government offices, in shops, at the post office, everyone was talking about the army, about the enemy, who had already attacked the city; everyone asked each other what to do, and everyone tried to calm each other down.
At the governor's house Alpatych found a large number of people, Cossacks and a road carriage that belonged to the governor. On the porch, Yakov Alpatych met two gentlemen of the nobility, of whom he knew one. A nobleman he knew, a former police officer, spoke with ardor.
“This is no joke,” he said. - Well, who is one. One head and poor - so one, otherwise there are thirteen people in the family, and all the property ... They brought everyone to disappear, what kind of bosses are they after that? .. Eh, I would hang the robbers ...
“Yes, it will,” said another.
“What do I care, let him hear!” Well, we are not dogs, - said the former police officer and, looking around, he saw Alpatych.
- Ah, Yakov Alpatych, why are you?
“By order of his excellency, to the governor,” Alpatych answered, proudly raising his head and putting his hand in his bosom, which he always did when he mentioned the prince ... “They were pleased to order to inquire about the state of affairs,” he said.
- Yes, and find out, - the landowner shouted, - they brought that no cart, nothing! .. Here she is, do you hear? he said, pointing to the direction from which the shots were heard.
- They brought that everyone to die ... robbers! he said again, and stepped off the porch.
Alpatych shook his head and went up the stairs. In the waiting room were merchants, women, officials, silently exchanging glances among themselves. The door to the office opened, everyone got up and moved forward. An official ran out of the door, talked something to the merchant, called behind him a fat official with a cross around his neck, and disappeared again through the door, apparently avoiding all the looks and questions addressed to him. Alpatych moved forward and at the next exit of the official, laying his hand on his buttoned frock coat, turned to the official, giving him two letters.
“To Mr. Baron Ash from the general chief prince Bolkonsky,” he announced so solemnly and significantly that the official turned to him and took his letter. A few minutes later the governor received Alpatych and hurriedly said to him:
- Report to the prince and princess that I didn’t know anything: I acted according to higher orders - that’s ...
He gave the paper to Alpatych.
“And yet, since the prince is unwell, my advice is for them to go to Moscow. I'm on my own now. Report ... - But the governor did not finish: a dusty and sweaty officer ran in the door and began to say something in French. Horror appeared on the Governor's face.
“Go,” he said, nodding his head to Alpatych, and began to ask the officer something. Greedy, frightened, helpless looks turned to Alpatych when he left the governor's office. Involuntarily listening now to the close and ever-increasing shots, Alpatych hurried to the inn. The paper given by Governor Alpatych was as follows:
“I assure you that the city of Smolensk does not yet face the slightest danger, and it is unbelievable that it would be threatened by it. I am on one side, and Prince Bagration on the other side, we are going to unite in front of Smolensk, which will take place on the 22nd, and both armies with combined forces will defend their compatriots in the province entrusted to you, until their efforts remove the enemies of the fatherland from them or until they are exterminated in their brave ranks to the last warrior. You see from this that you have the perfect right to reassure the inhabitants of Smolensk, for whoever defends with two such brave troops can be sure of their victory. (Order of Barclay de Tolly to the civil governor of Smolensk, Baron Ash, 1812.)
People moved restlessly through the streets.
Carts loaded on horseback with household utensils, chairs, cabinets kept leaving the gates of the houses and driving through the streets. In the neighboring house of Ferapontov, wagons stood and, saying goodbye, the women howled and sentenced. The mongrel dog, barking, twirled in front of the pawned horses.
Alpatych, with a more hasty step than he usually walked, entered the yard and went straight under the shed to his horses and wagon. The coachman was asleep; he woke him up, ordered him to lay the bed, and went into the passage. In the master's room one could hear a child's cry, the woman's shattering sobs, and Ferapontov's angry, hoarse cry. The cook, like a frightened chicken, fluttered in the passage as soon as Alpatych entered.
- Killed him to death - he beat the mistress! .. So he beat, so dragged! ..
- For what? Alpatych asked.
- I asked to go. It's a woman's business! Take me away, he says, do not destroy me with small children; the people, they say, all left, what, they say, are we? How to start beating. So beat, so dragged!
Alpatych, as it were, nodded approvingly at these words and, not wanting to know anything else, went to the opposite door - the master's room, in which his purchases remained.
“You are a villain, a destroyer,” a thin, pale woman with a child in her arms and a handkerchief torn from her head shouted at that moment, bursting out of the door and running down the stairs to the courtyard. Ferapontov went out after her and, seeing Alpatych, straightened his waistcoat and hair, yawned and went into the room after Alpatych.
- Do you want to go? - he asked.
Without answering the question and not looking back at the owner, sorting through his purchases, Alpatych asked how long the owner followed the wait.
- Let's count! Well, did the governor have one? Ferapontov asked. - What was the decision?
Alpatych replied that the governor did not say anything decisively to him.
- Shall we go away on our business? Ferapontov said. - Give me seven rubles for a cart to Dorogobuzh. And I say: there is no cross on them! - he said.
- Selivanov, he pleased on Thursday, sold flour to the army at nine rubles per bag. So, are you going to drink tea? he added. While the horses were being laid, Alpatych and Ferapontov drank tea and talked about the price of bread, about the harvest and the favorable weather for harvesting.
“However, it began to calm down,” Ferapontov said, having drunk three cups of tea and getting up, “ours must have taken it.” They said they won't let me. So, strength ... And a mixture, they said, Matvey Ivanovich Platov drove them into the Marina River, drowned eighteen thousand, or something, in one day.
Alpatych collected his purchases, handed them over to the coachman who entered, and paid off with the owner. At the gate sounded the sound of wheels, hooves and bells of a wagon leaving.
It was already well past noon; half of the street was in shade, the other was brightly lit by the sun. Alpatych looked out the window and went to the door. Suddenly, a strange sound of distant whistling and impact was heard, and after that there was a merging rumble of cannon fire, from which the windows trembled.
Alpatych went out into the street; two people ran down the street to the bridge. Whistles, cannonballs and the bursting of grenades falling in the city were heard from different directions. But these sounds were almost inaudible and did not pay the attention of the inhabitants in comparison with the sounds of firing heard outside the city. It was a bombardment, which at the fifth hour Napoleon ordered to open the city, from one hundred and thirty guns. At first, the people did not understand the significance of this bombardment.
The sounds of falling grenades and cannonballs aroused at first only curiosity. Ferapontov's wife, who had not stopped howling under the barn before, fell silent and, with the child in her arms, went out to the gate, silently looking at the people and listening to the sounds.
The cook and the shopkeeper came out to the gate. All with cheerful curiosity tried to see the shells flying over their heads. Several people came out from around the corner, talking animatedly.
- That's power! one said. - And the roof and ceiling were so smashed to pieces.
“It blew up the earth like a pig,” said another. - That's so important, that's so cheered up! he said laughing. - Thank you, jumped back, otherwise she would have smeared you.
The people turned to these people. They paused and told how, near by, their cores had got into the house. Meanwhile, other shells, sometimes with a quick, gloomy whistle - cannonballs, then with a pleasant whistle - grenades, did not stop flying over the heads of the people; but not a single shell fell close, everything endured. Alpatych got into the wagon. The owner was at the gate.
- What did not see! he shouted at the cook, who, with her sleeves rolled up, in a red skirt, swaying with her bare elbows, went to the corner to listen to what was being said.
“What a miracle,” she said, but, hearing the voice of the owner, she returned, tugging at her tucked-up skirt.
Again, but very close this time, something whistled like a bird flying from top to bottom, a fire flashed in the middle of the street, something shot and covered the street with smoke.
"Villain, why are you doing this?" shouted the host, running up to the cook.
At the same instant, women wailed plaintively from different directions, a child began to cry in fright, and people silently crowded around the cook with pale faces. From this crowd, the groans and sentences of the cook were heard most audibly:
- Oh, oh, my darlings! My doves are white! Don't let die! My doves are white! ..
Five minutes later there was no one left on the street. The cook, with her thigh shattered by a grenade fragment, was carried into the kitchen. Alpatych, his coachman, Ferapontov's wife with children, the janitor were sitting in the basement, listening. The rumble of guns, the whistle of shells, and the pitiful groan of the cook, which prevailed over all sounds, did not stop for a moment. The hostess now rocked and persuaded the child, then in a pitiful whisper asked everyone who entered the basement where her master was, who remained on the street. The shopkeeper, who entered the basement, told her that the owner had gone with the people to the cathedral, where they were raising the miraculous Smolensk icon.
By dusk, the cannonade began to subside. Alpatych came out of the basement and stopped at the door. Before a clear evening, the sky was all covered with smoke. And through this smoke a young, high-standing sickle of the moon shone strangely. After the former terrible rumble of guns had fallen silent over the city, silence seemed to be interrupted only by the rustle of steps, groans, distant screams and the crackle of fires, as it were spread throughout the city. The groans of the cook are now quiet. From both sides, black clouds of smoke from fires rose and dispersed. On the street, not in rows, but like ants from a ruined tussock, in different uniforms and in different directions, soldiers passed and ran through. In the eyes of Alpatych, several of them ran into Ferapontov's yard. Alpatych went to the gate. Some regiment, crowding and hurrying, blocked the street, going back.
“The city is being surrendered, leave, leave,” the officer who noticed his figure said to him and immediately turned to the soldiers with a cry:
- I'll let you run around the yards! he shouted.
Alpatych returned to the hut and, calling the coachman, ordered him to leave. Following Alpatych and the coachman, all Ferapontov's household went out. Seeing the smoke and even the lights of the fires, which were now visible in the beginning twilight, the women, who had been silent until then, suddenly began to wail, looking at the fires. As if echoing them, similar cries were heard at the other ends of the street. Alpatych with a coachman, with trembling hands, straightened the tangled reins and horses' lines under a canopy.
When Alpatych was leaving the gate, he saw ten soldiers in the open shop of Ferapontov pouring sacks and knapsacks with wheat flour and sunflowers with a loud voice. At the same time, returning from the street to the shop, Ferapontov entered. Seeing the soldiers, he wanted to shout something, but suddenly stopped and, clutching his hair, burst out laughing with sobbing laughter.
- Get it all, guys! Don't get the devils! he shouted, grabbing the sacks himself and throwing them out into the street. Some soldiers, frightened, ran out, some continued to pour. Seeing Alpatych, Ferapontov turned to him.
- Decided! Russia! he shouted. - Alpatych! decided! I'll burn it myself. I made up my mind ... - Ferapontov ran into the yard.
Soldiers were constantly walking along the street, filling it all up, so that Alpatych could not pass and had to wait. The hostess Ferapontova was also sitting on the cart with the children, waiting to be able to leave.
It was already quite night. There were stars in the sky and a young moon shone from time to time, shrouded in smoke. On the descent to the Dnieper, the carts of Alpatych and the hostess, slowly moving in the ranks of soldiers and other crews, had to stop. Not far from the crossroads where the carts stopped, in an alley, a house and shops were on fire. The fire has already burned out. The flame either died away and was lost in black smoke, then it suddenly flashed brightly, strangely clearly illuminating the faces of the crowded people standing at the crossroads. In front of the fire, black figures of people flashed by, and from behind the incessant crackle of the fire, voices and screams were heard. Alpatych, who got down from the wagon, seeing that they would not let his wagon through soon, turned to the alley to look at the fire. The soldiers darted incessantly back and forth past the fire, and Alpatych saw how two soldiers and with them a man in a frieze overcoat dragged burning logs from the fire across the street to the neighboring yard; others carried armfuls of hay.
Alpatych approached big crowd people standing in front of a high barn burning with full fire. The walls were all on fire, the back collapsed, the boarded roof collapsed, the beams were on fire. Obviously, the crowd was waiting for the moment when the roof would collapse. Alpatych expected the same.
- Alpatych! Suddenly a familiar voice called out to the old man.
“Father, your excellency,” answered Alpatych, instantly recognizing the voice of his young prince.
Prince Andrei, in a raincoat, riding a black horse, stood behind the crowd and looked at Alpatych.
– How are you here? - he asked.
- Your ... your Excellency, - Alpatych said and sobbed ... - Yours, yours ... or have we already disappeared? Father…
– How are you here? repeated Prince Andrew.
The flame flared brightly at that moment and illuminated Alpatych's pale and exhausted face of his young master. Alpatych told how he was sent and how he could have left by force.
“Well, Your Excellency, or are we lost?” he asked again.
Prince Andrei, without answering, took out notebook and, raising his knee, he began to write with a pencil on a torn sheet. He wrote to his sister:
“Smolensk is being surrendered,” he wrote, “the Bald Mountains will be occupied by the enemy in a week. Leave now for Moscow. Answer me as soon as you leave, sending a courier to Usvyazh.
Having written and handed over the sheet to Alpatych, he verbally told him how to arrange the departure of the prince, princess and son with the teacher and how and where to answer him immediately. He had not yet had time to complete these orders, when the chief of staff on horseback, accompanied by his retinue, galloped up to him.
- Are you a colonel? shouted the chief of staff, with a German accent, in a voice familiar to Prince Andrei. - Houses are lit in your presence, and you are standing? What does this mean? You will answer, - shouted Berg, who was now assistant chief of staff of the left flank of the infantry troops of the first army, - the place is very pleasant and in sight, as Berg said.
Prince Andrei looked at him and, without answering, continued, turning to Alpatych:
“So tell me that I’m waiting for an answer by the tenth, and if I don’t get the news on the tenth that everyone has left, I myself will have to drop everything and go to the Bald Mountains.
“I, prince, only say so,” said Berg, recognizing Prince Andrei, “that I must obey orders, because I always fulfill them exactly ... Please excuse me,” Berg justified himself in some way.
Something crackled in the fire. The fire subsided for a moment; black puffs of smoke poured from under the roof. Something else crackled terribly in the fire, and something huge collapsed.
– Urruru! - Echoing the collapsed ceiling of the barn, from which there was a smell of cakes from burnt bread, the crowd roared. The flame flared up and illuminated the animatedly joyful and exhausted faces of the people standing around the fire.
A man in a frieze overcoat, raising his hand, shouted:
- Important! go fight! Guys, it's important!
“This is the master himself,” voices said.
“So, so,” said Prince Andrei, turning to Alpatych, “tell everything as I told you.” And, without answering a word to Berg, who fell silent beside him, he touched the horse and rode into the alley.

The troops continued to retreat from Smolensk. The enemy was following them. On August 10, the regiment commanded by Prince Andrei passed along the high road, past the avenue leading to the Bald Mountains. The heat and drought lasted for more than three weeks. Curly clouds moved across the sky every day, occasionally obscuring the sun; but towards evening it cleared again, and the sun set in a brownish-red mist. Only heavy dew at night refreshed the earth. The bread remaining on the root burned and spilled out. The swamps have dried up. The cattle roared from hunger, not finding food in the meadows burned by the sun. Only at night and in the forests the dew still held, it was cool. But along the road, along the high road along which the troops marched, even at night, even through the forests, there was no such coolness. The dew was not noticeable on the sandy dust of the road, which was pushed up more than a quarter of an arshin. As soon as it dawned, the movement began. Convoys, artillery silently walked along the hub, and the infantry ankle-deep in soft, stuffy, hot dust that had not cooled down during the night. One part of this sandy dust was kneaded by feet and wheels, the other rose and stood like a cloud over the army, sticking to the eyes, hair, ears, nostrils and, most importantly, the lungs of people and animals moving along this road. The higher the sun rose, the higher the cloud of dust rose, and through this thin, hot dust it was possible to look at the sun, not covered by clouds, with a simple eye. The sun was a big crimson ball. There was no wind, and people were suffocating in this still atmosphere. People walked with handkerchiefs around their noses and mouths. Coming to the village, everything rushed to the wells. They fought for water and drank it to the dirt.

Plan
Introduction
1 List of Genoese colonies in the Northern Black Sea region
2 Timeline

Bibliography

Introduction

Genoese colonies in the Northern Black Sea region were fortified trade centers of Genoese merchants in the 13th-15th centuries.

Expanding the scope of trade operations after the Crusades and fighting against Venice, which competed with them, the Genoese, who, with the support of Byzantium (the Treaty of Nymphaeum of 1261), sought to monopolize trade in the Black Sea, in 1266 obtained from Mangu Khan, a protege of the Golden Horde in the Crimea, transferring them to the possession of Kaffa (modern Feodosia), which later became the center of their colonies. In 1357, the Genoese acquired Chembalo (now Balaklava), in 1365 - Soldaya (modern Sudak), ousting the Venetians from there. New colonies of the Genoese arose: Vosporo (on the territory of modern Kerch), Tana (at the mouth of the Don), Ginestra (on the territory of modern Odessa). Their agencies were in the cities of Matrega (now Taman), Kopa (now Slavyansk-on-Kuban), etc.

Italian colonies in the Northern Black Sea region c.1390

Greeks, Armenians, Italians, Jews, Tatars, Russians, Circassians and other peoples lived in the colonies. By the end of the 14th century, they had mastered the Black Sea trade. Through their strongholds in the Black Sea region, the Genoese merchants conducted an extensive intermediary trade. They sold grain, salt, leather, furs, wax, honey, timber, fish, caviar from the Black Sea regions, cloth from Italy and Germany, oil and wine from Greece, spices, precious stones, musk from Asian countries, ivory - from Africa and many other goods.

A large place was occupied by the trade in captives (Russians, Circassians, Alans), bought from the Tatar khans and Turkish sultans. Slaves of Slavic origin are noted in the XIV century in the notarial deeds of some Italian and southern French cities (Roussillon). About the slaves Scythians mentions the famous poet Petrarch in his letter to the Archbishop of Genoa Guido Setta.

The trading operations of the Genoese merchants were also carried out in the Russian lands. Natives of the Genoese colonies (Russian name - flasks) - lived in Moscow, where in the XIV-XV centuries there was a corporation of merchants - surozhan who specialized in trade with the Genoese colonies. The Genoese colonies were well fortified, there were garrisons in the fortresses (the remains of fortifications were preserved in Balaklava, Sudak, Feodosia). The Genoese maintained allied relations with the Golden Horde khans, who formally were the supreme rulers of the territories of the colonies, but provided them with complete self-government, retaining power only over the subjects of the khans. In 1380, the Genoese infantry participated on the side of Mamai in the Battle of Kulikovo. However, the colonies were repeatedly attacked and devastated by the khans (1299, 1308, 1344-1347, 1396-1397).

The largest colony was Kaffa, which was a developed center of crafts. After the fall of Byzantium in 1453, Genoa ceded the Black Sea colonies to its bank of San Giorgio ( bank of St. George). The international position of the colonies worsened: the military-political pressure of the Crimean Khanate intensified, relations with the Principality of Theodoro in Crimea escalated. In 1475, the Genoese colonies were conquered by Ottoman troops under the command of Pasha Gedik Ahmed and incorporated into the Ottoman state. Longer than others on the Taman Peninsula were Jewish merchants from the Gizolfi family.

From the Genoese period in the Crimea, the remains of fortress walls, towers and palaces in Kaffa and Chembalo, a fortress and a consular castle in Soldaya built under the guidance of Italian architects have been preserved. In 1951, in Feodosia, on the territory of the Genoese fortress, archaeological excavations were carried out, which provided valuable material for studying the history of the city, its crafts and trade.

1. List of Genoese colonies in the Northern Black Sea region

The territory of present-day Ukraine:

· In Crimea

Caffa - Caffa (Feodosia)

Cembalo - Cembalo (Balaklava)

Soldaia (Sudak)

Vosporo - Vosporo (Kerch)

Gruzui (Gurzuf)

Sarsona (Tauric Chersonese)

Mouth of the Dniester

Samastro (Moncastro) - Samastro (Moncastro; Belgorod-Dnestrovsky)

Coast of the Gulf of Odessa

Ginestra - Ginestra (Odessa-Luzanovka)

Mouth of the Danube

Licostomo - Licostomo (Kiliya)

The territory of present-day Russia:

Mouth of the Don

Tana - Tana (Azov)

The territory of the present Krasnodar Territory

Matrega - Matrega (Tmutarakan) (now the village of Taman)

Copa - Copa (Kopyl, now the city of Slavyansk-on-Kuban)

Mapa - Mapa (Anapa)

Bata - Bata (Novorossiysk)

Casto - Casto (Hosta)

Liyash - Layso (Adler)

The territory of present-day Abkhazia:

Abkhazia - Abcasia (Tsandripsh)

Kakari - Chacari (Gagra)

· Santa Sophia - Santa Sophia (Alahadzy)

Pesonka - Pesonqa (Pitsunda)

Cavo di Buxo - Cavo di Buxo (Gudauta)

Nicopsia - Niocoxia (New Athos)

Sebastopolis (Sukhum)

The territory of present-day Georgia:

Lo Vati (Batumi)

2. Chronology

Samir Khotko. Genoese in Circassia (1266–1475)

Bibliography:

1. Josaphat Barbaro. Journey to Tana. Section 46

2. HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHY OF THE GOLDEN HORDE in the XIII-XIV centuries.

By the end XIII century, the Genoese firmly settled in Kaffa.

The earliest known evidence of the existence of a Genoese colony in Kaffa - notarial deeds 1289–1290 gg.

The Genoese became the sole owners of the sea communications of the Northern Black Sea region and the Crimean peninsula.

Now the Black Sea was covered by a ring of Genoese stations, starting from Pera to the east along the Asia Minor coast, along the Caucasian coast, on the Taman Peninsula, at both mouths of the Don (the Sea of ​​\u200b\u200bAzov was considered as an extension of the Don flowing into the Black Sea) and along the western coastal strip - from the mouth Dnieper - through Kiliya again to the Bosphorus.

In the Charter of the Genoese colonies on the Black Sea, adopted in 1316 g., states: “The Genoese or those who are considered or called Genoese, or use or are accustomed to use the benefits of the Genoese, should not buy, sell, acquire, alienate, transfer to anyone, either personally or through a third the person of any goods in Soldai under penalty of the above penalty...

No Genoese shall dare to unload or order to be unloaded or allow to be unloaded from ships over which they are in command or with which they are present, on any part of the coast from Soldaia to Kaffa, any goods or goods, under penalty of 100 gold perpers (Byzantine gold coin) from each (violator) for each time”.

AT 1340 In the 1990s, the Kafa Genoese took away the important port of Yamboli “without resistance from the proud, careless and disagreeing among themselves” Greek princes. The main role assigned to the new fortress was to limit trade and political activity princes Theodoro in the western part of the peninsula.

AT 1357 the Genoese acquired (now).

The last point in the rivalry between the two cities was put by the Genoese.

In June 1365 year they suddenly attacked Soldaya (modern), took it by storm and captured 18 villages in the district.

Weakened by Tatar raids and internal strife. The remnants of the Venetians leave Soldaia.

In the second half XIV centuries, the Genoese established themselves on the Crimean coast from (Balaklava) to Kaffa, and then on the shores of the Kerch Strait.

New colonies of the Genoese arose: Vosporo (on the territory of modern Kerch), Tana (at the mouth of the Don), Ginestra (on the territory of modern Odessa).

Their agencies were in the cities of Matrega (now Taman), Kopa (now Slavyansk-on-Kuban), etc.

Its ruler Alexei, who was related to the Byzantine imperial dynasties of the Komnenos and Palaiologos, considered himself the legitimate heir to all the former possessions on the peninsula, which was reflected in his adoption of the Greek title "aufent of the city of Theodoro and Pomerania".

Theodoro’s relations with the Golden Horde rulers of the Crimean Yurt (whom the Genoese called imperator scytharum) were peaceful, while the principality waged frequent wars with the Genoese, especially after the construction of the Avlita trading port by the Theodorites, which seriously competed with Cafe and dealt a blow to the economy of the Genoese colonies in .

In the middle XV century, the situation in the Genoese colonies deteriorated sharply.

Taking advantage of the internecine struggle for the Khan's throne, the Genoese helped Khan Mengli-Giray capture his brothers.

Thus, an important means of pressure on Mengli Giray was obtained.

16 February 1473 Council of the Bank of St. George ordered the commandants of Soldaya to pay a cash deposit, at least for 1000 florins exceeding the usual deposit, “... and so on until Mr. Nur-Davlet and other offspring of Tatar noble blood are in the indicated fortress.”

The Genoese tried to find allies outside, in particular in Poland, but to no avail.

AT last years the existence of the Genoese colonies in them, the class and interethnic struggle intensified. Abuses and violence on the part of the Genoese officials increased many times over.

Letters from the consul and other officials of Kaffa to the protectors of the bank of St. George are filled with denunciations and mutual accusations in bribery.

The struggle between the Catholics and the Orthodox population of the colonies assumed a very tense character. The Catholic Church tried to enforce the Union of Florence ( 1439 g.), according to which Orthodox Church lost its independence and was placed under the authority of the pope.

Pope Sixtus IV ordered the appointment of a certain Nicholas as bishop "over the Greeks of Kaffa and Soldaia."

Consuls report frequent unrest among the population of the colonies.

Especially large was the uprising in Kaffa in 1454 under the slogan “Long live the people, death to the noble!”

Popular performances in Kaffa continued in 1456 , 1463 , 1471 , 1472 and 1475 gg.

AT 1475 the year the Genoese possessions in, as well as the principality of Theodoro, were conquered by the Ottoman troops under the command of Gedik Ahmed Pasha.

After the conquest, a sanjak was formed from the lands of the South Bank, later reformed into the vilayet of Kefe.

The lands of the Sultan's domain, where the Christian population lived, were outside the jurisdiction of the Crimean khans.

Thus, the "Great Sea" of the Genoese is almost 300 years has become inland sea» Ottoman Empire .






































Genoese colonies in the Crimea (XIII-XV centuries)


The appearance of Italian merchants in the Black Sea is associated with the beginning of the 13th century. The economic progress of medieval Europe (XI-XIII centuries) and a sharp increase against this background international trade led to sea colonial power two Italian republics - Genoa and Venice. Having assisted the crusaders in landing them on the shores of the Levant, both received exclusive privileges for trading in this vast and commercially developed region and defeating the commercial rival of the Italian merchant class - Byzantium.

Until the middle of the 13th century, the main trade routes between East and West ran through the port cities of Syria, Palestine and Egypt. The destruction of Baghdad by the Mongols, the transition to the Muslims of Tripoli and Acre, the papal ban on trade with Egypt led to the loss of these communications for Europe and, as a result, to the elevation of the role of the Black Sea ports in all international trade.

By the middle of the XllI century, the Mongol empire, formed as a result of the conquests of Genghis Khan and his descendants, extended from the Pacific coast to the steppes of the Northern Black Sea region. There was a situation when trade caravans from China and Central Asia reached the Black Sea ports without leaving the borders of one state. This led to a revival of commercial activity, contributed to the emergence of new and the revival of old caravan routes. The Italians played a prominent role in the organization new system trade links between East and West.

The geography of the Genoese and Venetian colonies is indicative. In the XIII-XV centuries. on the coast of the Crimea, Kuban and Abkhazia, there were already 39 Genoese trading settlements alone. Among the northern Black Sea cities, Venice focused mainly on Tana (the city of Azov), located at the mouth of the Don. It was Tana that was the final destination of the famous caravan route: Beijing - Hotan - Kashgar - Bukhara - Urgench - Sarai, which received the name of the Great Silk Road.

The desire of both maritime republics to establish a trade monopoly in the Black Sea region is turning into an acute competition and direct armed clashes between them. By the middle of the XIV century, the predominance of Genoa becomes clear. The colonial policy of Venice was almost entirely determined by the state, and its trade was largely based on transactions with expensive oriental goods, the supply of which was completely dependent on the vicissitudes of the political situation in the region, the state of trade routes along their entire length, including not only sea ​​road but also caravan routes. In contrast, Genoa relied on more on the activities of individuals, on merchant companies and associations.

At the same time, Genoa had at least a dozen and a half scattered trading posts in the Black Sea region, through which not only eastern goods passed, but also the flow of local products intended for regional trade. For a number of reasons, the Kaffa colony took the leading place among them. When it was created, the Genoese merchants could not but take into account the experience of the neighboring Soldaya (Sudak) - a trading center widely known in Western Europe, Russia and Asia. At the end of the 13th century, its new rise was facilitated, in particular, by the fact that it was much closer than Kherson to Sea of ​​Azov and the Kerch Strait, through which ships loaded in Tanya passed.

According to some reports, the Genoese first visited the waters of the Feodosiya Gulf at the end of the 12th century. Then there already existed some kind of settlement, which was in the hands of the Tatars. Having bought the land of Kaffa from them, the Italian merchants undertook, in exchange for the right to unhindered trade, to pay to Prince Oran-Timur a duty for the import and export of goods: raw silk of three varieties, leather, fur, spices, dyes, gold, expensive fabrics. These objects came to Taurica in different ways. Most of the oriental goods were delivered from Khorezm. Expensive furs: squirrels, ermines - could come from Russia. The other part of them, such as undressed animal skins, leather, horsehair, honey, wax - were local products. Obviously, fishing and the fish trade were just as profitable. The Azov region was famous for them, from where, according to Rubruk, merchants of Constantinople exported dried fish "in unlimited quantities", caviar and sturgeon fish were highly valued. Operations with "cheap" goods often turned out to be no less profitable than trade in expensive oriental products. Animal products occupied a significant place in the volume of "cheap" goods. They went not only to meet local needs, but were also exported to Europe. Leather, which was widely used at that time for the manufacture of sailing equipment and ship rigging, was in particular demand. In addition, Kafa supplied to the foreign market in small, however, quantities of cheese, corned beef, lard. Sometimes large consignments of grain passed through it.

The listed goods came mainly to the cities of the Southern Black Sea region. This trend has already been observed in initial period Genoese colonization. So, judging by the records of the notary Lomberto di Sambuceto, Caffa sent there in March-August 1290 on private Genoese ships 1095.6 tons of grain, 3991.2 tons of salt and from 90 to 300 tons of sturgeon, that is, at least 5280 tons of food cargo . In exchange for them, canvas, carpets, silk and woolen fabrics, wine and fruits were delivered in the opposite direction.

Instead of spices precious stones, silk, calico, chintz, velvet, indigo, sandalwood, pearls, medicinal products from Western Europe iron in bars, some non-ferrous metals, as well as copper products, linen cloth, glass, paints, soap and sugar, which was considered a medicine, came to Kaffa.

According to V. Rubruk, who visited the Crimea in 1253, one of the significant items of this export was salt. Rubruk reports that "they go for it from all over Russia" and "the sea also comes for this salt many ships, all of which pay duty on their cargo." Genoa established a monopoly on its development, controlling this direction of trade as the most important throughout the history of the Kaffa colony.

Slave trade played a significant role in the economy of Kaffa. Kaffa remained the market where, according to Tafur, "more male and female slaves were sold than anywhere else in the world." By the way, he himself bought a girl here "for a measure of wine." In Kaffa, there was even a special College of St. Antonia, created solely to collect duties for trading in live goods.

In organizing regional trade, Genoese merchants were guided by the traditions already established in the Northern Black Sea region and, above all, by the experience of Greek merchants. Taurica maintained close ties with Kievan Rus, Byzantium and other countries of the Black Sea basin long before the arrival of the Italians here.

Since 1316, Kaffa has become the main stronghold of the Genoese in the Black Sea region. Its bureaucracy was headed by a consul, who was appointed annually from Genoa for a period of one year, he was at the same time the highest person of all the Black Sea possessions of the Genoese. When the consul consisted of councils of pharmacists and elders, whose duties included monitoring trade, construction and other important matters. Next came: two financial managers (massaria), a staff of judges (sindics), the military commander of the city, a commander of a mercenary army, a police chief and a market bailiff. The composition of the committees in charge of various spheres of life in Kaffa was formed through elections, and in each of the city government bodies Genoese (citizens of Genoa) and citizens of Kaffa (non-Genoese who permanently lived in the city) should have been equally represented. The administrative structure of Soldaya was somewhat simpler, but, in general, resembled that of Kaffa. Some aspects of the formation of the system of governance of the Genoese colonies look like democratic ones. But at the same time, it should be borne in mind that officials themselves almost exclusively participated in the election of officials.

The Genoese never made up a significant part of the inhabitants of the Crimean colonies. In the colonies, people lived together who spoke different languages, adhered to different customs and traditions, and professed a wide variety of religions. It cannot be said that the life of the ethnically diverse population of the colony has always been conflict-free, but the very fact of the joint residence of such dissimilar people in a relatively small area is noteworthy. In Chembalo and the Captaincy of Gothia, the local Greek population prevailed. In the cities of South-Eastern Taurica (Kafa, Soldaya) during the period of the Genoese colonization, in addition to the Greeks, quite a lot of Armenians lived, and there were also people from various countries of Eastern and Western Europe, the Near and Middle East. The Tatars settled in Kaffa. In the sources of the XIV-XV centuries. Russian merchants who traded in colonial cities and Genoese are repeatedly mentioned.

In an effort to establish a monopoly in the Black Sea trade, Kaffa strictly regulated the rules for the activities of its own entrepreneurs in other shopping centers. The charter of Kaffa in 1316 did not allow the Genoese to carry goods to Soldaya and stay in this trading post for more than three days. Under the threat of a heavy fine, they were forbidden to acquire any real estate in Tana and spend the winter in it. The procedure for conducting commercial transactions even with Solkhat was regulated. Kaffa merchants could buy goods in his market, but in no case deliver them there. Thus, Kaffa appropriated an exclusive "warehouse right", which allowed her to enrich herself at the expense of various duties from trade and intermediary operations and transshipment of goods. This purposeful and consistently implemented policy gradually made Kaffa the largest Genoese terminal not only in the Crimea, but throughout the Black Sea.

The Genoese colony was actively developing. This is evidenced by notarial deeds drawn up in Kaffa in 1289-1290. However, its existence was interrupted in 1308 by the troops of the Golden Horde Khan Tokhta. The Genoese managed to escape by sea, but the city and the pier were burned to the ground. Only after the new Khan Uzbek (1312-1342) reigned in the Golden Horde did the Genoese reappear on the shores of the Feodosia Gulf. In 1313, an embassy from Genoa was sent to the Horde, agreeing with the khan on the conditions for the return of the Genoese to the ruins of Kaffa, and in 1316 the resurgent city received a new charter.

The Genoese firmly took possession of Soldaya, a rather large settlement and its district, completely subordinating their population to their power. Then Sugdeya (the early medieval name of Soldaya) was part of the Byzantine possessions in Taurica. In the XI century. the city was captured by the Kipchaks (Polovtsy), who owned it until the beginning of the 13th century. By this time, strong trade relations between Sugdeya and Russia and Asia Minor had been established (in Russia the city was known as Surozh). By the beginning of the XV century. A new political situation is emerging in Taurica. At this time, the Golden Horde finally weakens and begins to fall apart. The Genoese ceased to consider themselves vassals of the Tatars. But their new opponents are the growing principality of Theodoro, who claimed coastal Gothia and Chembalo, as well as the descendant of Genghis Khan, Khadzhi-Girey, who sought to create a Tatar state independent of the Golden Horde in the Crimea.

The Genoese colonies were forced to pay an annual tribute of 3,000 Venetian ducats to the Crimean Khanate, which was headed by Hadji Giray, who swore to expel the Genoese from their possessions on the peninsula. Soon the colonies had another mortal enemy. In 1453. The Ottoman Turks took control of Constantinople. The Byzantine Empire finally ceased to exist, and sea ​​route, connecting the Genoese colonies in the Black Sea with the mother country, was taken under control by the Turks. The Republic of Genoa faced real threat loss of all their Black Sea possessions. In addition, she did not have the means to strengthen their defenses. All this forced the authorities of Genoa to hurry to sell the colonies to the Bank of St. George. It's mighty financial institution by that time, it already had the right to mint coins, collect most taxes in the possessions of Genoa, control Genoese customs, and have a monopoly on the operation of salt mines. Having received the right to manage the Black Sea colonies for 5500 livres (14310 lire), - extremely low price, the bank only completed with this act the process of gradual absorption of this part of the Genoese possessions.

The very next year, the colonies felt for the first time the reality of the Turkish threat. In June 1454, the Turks robbed several settlements Crimean and Caucasian coasts and obtained from Kaffa a promise to pay them an annual tribute, the Turkish squadron left the possessions of the Genoese alone. However, it became clear that the days of Genoese rule on the Black Sea coast were numbered. Moreover, the Bank of St. George was more concerned with recouping the amount spent on the purchase of the colonies than with replenishing food supplies and weapons in the fortresses.

The Genoese authorities were well aware that peace with the Turks was temporary and sought to use it to prepare for the inevitable struggle with the Ottoman Empire. They managed to establish allied relations with their neighbors - the Crimean Khanate and the Principality of Theodoro. In 1466 the first Crimean khan Hadji Giray, the sworn enemy of the Genoese, died. After his death, for more than two years there was a struggle for the khan's throne, which, in the end, was taken over by younger son Hadji Giray - Mengli. The Genoese did a lot for his coming to power.

In 1471, the Genoese entered into an alliance with the ruler Theodoro. But no diplomatic victories could save the colonies from destruction.

In 1471 the coast Crimea was subjected to another Turkish raid. But the mortal blow to the colonies was delivered only after the Turks concluded a truce with Venice in 1474.

After the defeat of Kaffa, Soldaya, the largest Genoese colonies to the Ottoman Turks, the territory occupied by the Genoese colonies in the Crimea began to be controlled directly by the officials of the Ottoman Empire, as well as the possessions of the Principality of Theodoro, defeated by Turkish troops in the same 1475. Crimean Khanate retained its independence, although it was forced to recognize vassal dependence on Turkey. One after another, the rest of the fortifications of the Genoese in the Crimea fell.