Presentation on the topic: Colonization of the Black Sea coast of the Caucasus by Italians

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Colonization of the Black Sea coast of the Caucasus by Italians As a result of the Crusades in the XI-XIII centuries. In Italy, merchant republics such as Genoa and Venice flourished economically. Having pushed aside the Arabs and Byzantines, Italian merchants took over the intermediary trade between Western Europe and the East. Soon they became such powerful trading powers that contemporaries rightfully called Genoa the “god of the seas,” and Venice, a port city on the Adriatic Sea, the “queen of the Adriatic.”

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In the 13th century. weakening Byzantium was forced to open its Bosporus and Dardanelles straits for the passage of Italian ships from the Mediterranean to the Black Sea. This opened the way for them to Crimea and the Black Sea coast of the Caucasus. Genoa and Venice competed for dominance in the Black Sea, which was expressed not only in intense trade competition, but also in armed clashes between them. The Genoese Republic turned out to be more successful, which, by agreement with the Crimean khans, founded its first trading colony, Cafu (present-day Feodosia), in Crimea. Having built a number of trading posts (settlements), the Genoese turned their attention to the Azov region and the Black Sea coast of the Caucasus. On the site of the Russian Tmutarakan and the Byzantine Tamatarkha (or, as it was called for short, Matarkha), the Genoese founded at the end of the 13th century. port city of Matrego. Matrega was a fortified city inhabited by representatives of various tribes and peoples. Not only was it a link between East and West, but it was also a center of trade with the surrounding mountain tribes.

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Buying wax, fish, furs and other goods from the highlanders, Italian merchants brought eastern and western goods to the Northwestern Caucasus. Large Genoese colonies on the territory of the Kuban were Mapa (Anapa), Kopa (Slavyansk-on-Kuban), Balzamikha (Yeysk), Mavrolako (Gelendzhik) and others. In total, up to 39 settlements were built, varying in size and importance, but performing mainly trade and economic tasks.

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The Roman Catholic Church, which sent its missionaries here, did not ignore the Genoese colonies. These preachers tried to convert the Adyghe population, who professed Greek Christianity, to Catholicism. A Catholic diocese was even created in Matrega, which led the process of conversion of the local population to Catholicism, but it failed to achieve great success.

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On the site of ancient Gorgippia (Anapa) on the steep shore of the Black Sea, the Genoese erected their fortress - the Mapu trading post. It was from here that the then famous Genoese road led to the upper reaches of the river. Kuban, where it was divided into two: one road went to Abkhazia, the other to the Caspian Sea. At that time, the road was well equipped, had transshipment facilities and, obviously, was well guarded. The latter was associated with close relations between the Adyghe nobility and the administration of the Genoese colonies. The Genoese were vitally interested in the safety of their merchant caravans that moved through the Caucasian territory. The Adyghe nobility saw great benefits in trade cooperation with the Genoese.

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The Adyghe elite was the main supplier of “living goods” - slaves, who were exported to the generally recognized centers of European trade: Genoa, Venice, Florence. Slaves were “obtained” as a result of endless inter-tribal wars, raids on neighboring peoples, and the capture of prisoners. Some ordinary people became slaves, unable to repay their debts. The greatest demand was for beautiful girls and physically developed boys 15-17 years old. Not only the Adyghe nobility and Genoese merchants, but also the administration of Italian settlements profited from the slave trade. For example, the consul of Copa received 6 silver coins called aspra for each slave sold. We have received information about trade transactions that took place during the sale of slaves. Thus, during the commission of one of them it was written: “A Circassian slave of 12 years was sold for 450.”

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The slave trade had a negative impact on the development of the Adyghe people, reducing the population at the expense of the youngest and most able-bodied people. The dominance of subsistence farming among the peoples of the Northwestern Caucasus determined the predominance of barter trade over money circulation. The unit of exchange was usually a certain measure of fabric from which a man's shirt could be sewn. Fabrics, salt, soap, carpets, jewelry, and sabers brought by the Genoese were in great demand among the peoples of the Northwestern Caucasus. But, taking advantage of their unconditional dominance in the markets of the Black Sea region, Genoese merchants set extremely inflated prices for goods, extracting huge profits from trade with the local population. Moreover, high prices, for example, for such an important product as salt, were also set due to its strictly rationed supply. If more salt was imported (and this could reduce its prices), then the excess was dumped into the sea. The trade of the Genoese themselves also took place under difficult conditions. Widespread maritime piracy caused great damage to Genoese merchants. Sea robbers not only robbed merchant ships, but also attacked coastal settlements and ports. Therefore, the Genoese were forced to hire guards to accompany merchant ships and strengthen their colony cities with stone walls and loopholes, and keep garrisons in them.

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The Venetians, who sought to gain a foothold in the Azov-Black Sea basin, also remained irreconcilable rivals of the Genoese. At the mouth of the Don, like the Genoese, they founded their own trading post, the interests of which they often defended with arms in hand. At the turn of the XIV-XV centuries. The contradictions between the Italians and the mountain population intensified. Exorbitant taxes, fraudulent trade transactions, the imposition of Catholicism, the capture and sale of people - all this caused irritation. The Adyghe princes also showed dissatisfaction with the infringement of their property rights. So, in 1457, Prince Kadibeldi even took Matrega by storm. To strengthen its position in the Black Sea colonies, the Genoese administration resorted to the well-known technique of “divide and conquer”, pitted some princes against others, provoked them to rob their own fellow tribesmen, promising rich goods in exchange for livestock and slaves. Beneficial deals also served to strengthen Genoese influence in the colonies, including through marriage alliances between representatives of the colonial administration and the Adyghe nobility.

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But in the second half of the 15th century. The colonial rule of the Genoese Republic in the Black Sea and Azov regions was coming to an end. This was evidenced by the fact that the management of the colonial cities was transferred to a private bank. In 1453 Constantinople, the capital of Byzantium, fell under the blows of the Turks, and it was the turn of the Italian colonies in the Crimea and the North-West Caucasus. In the last quarter of the 15th century. The Turks managed to capture all the Italian colonies on the Black and Azov Seas. The two-century stay of the Genoese in Kuban ended. It played both a positive and (to an even greater extent) negative role in the life of local peoples. On the one hand, the Genoese introduced them to the advanced techniques of economic relations and production in Eastern and Western European countries and expanded their knowledge of the world. On the other hand, the unequal exchange of goods and products, tax oppression, the slave trade, and often simple robbery undermined the economy of the Circassians and restrained the growth of population and productive forces.

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From the charter for the Genoese colonies of 1449, the Consul in Kop had to ensure: “... so as not to bring salt to the mentioned place in more than the required quantity for use. Moreover, we decree and prescribe that all merchants and other persons who bring salt to Capario [ Kop], must bring all the salt that they have left after finishing the work, that is, after salting the fish, to Kafa or throw it into the sea, under a fine of 100 to 200 aspres for each barrel... Also, that every skipper of a ship or the ship is obliged to pay the consul always one asper per barrel per year from the cargo of the ship, and in addition, for being at anchor, 15 asper from each ship... Also, what the consul in Kop can receive for each slave taken out from there, six asper each..."

In the XI-XII centuries. in Italy there was a rise in crafts and trade. By the end of the 12th century. production workshops appeared in most cities. The strong economic recovery led to trade activity, especially in the Mediterranean basin. Trade between Italian cities and the East brought fabulous profits. At the same time, competition for eastern markets developed.

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The most stubborn struggle developed between the city-republics of Venice and Genoa. At first, Venice was successful, ousting Genoa on the Aegean Sea, but not for long. In 1261, according to the so-called Nymphaean Treaty, Genoa received strongholds on the Bosphorus, Asia Minor and Crimea for its assistance to Byzantium and ousted the Venetians for almost a century. In 1380, the Venetians defeated the Genoese fleet at Chioggia and re-established their hegemony in the Eastern Mediterranean and Pontus. We do not go into the vicissitudes of the rivalry between Venice and Genoa on the Black Sea, but we note that next to the main characters of this historical action - warriors and merchants - there were always representatives of the Catholic Church, who supported the successes of the sword with the cross and preaching.

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The Black Sea region was dominated by the Genoese from the very beginning. Already in 1169, an agreement was concluded between the Genoese and Byzantium, where one of the paragraphs reads: “Ships of Genoese merchants have the right to pass to all lands except Russia and Matrega, unless he (the emperor. - V.K.) is in power permission there" (Russia here - the coast of the Azov Sea, Matrega -). This is the beginning of the Italian penetration. Soon after 1204, Venetians appeared in the Black Sea ports, and Italian trade on Pontus grew. In 1234, the Dominican monk Ricardo landed at the mouth of the Kuban, on behalf of Pope Gregory IX, who made a trip to Volga Bulgaria. His observations about Sychia are interesting, i.e. Zichia and the city of Matrika, “where the prince and the people are Christians and have Greek books and sacred ones.” There is no doubt that we are talking about Orthodox Christians here. In 1238, Genoa and Venice concluded a truce and began real trade expansion in Crimea, and after the Treaty of Nymphaeum, which provided great benefits to the Genoese, the latter began to develop the territory: they acquired a quarter in Caffa. In 1268, Pope Clement IV appointed the first bishop to Caffa. In the 90s, the Italians already had strong positions in Kopario (Kope in the lower Kuban), Matrega (Taman), and Sevastopolis (Sukhum). According to N. Murzakevich, who referred to the Genoese author Girolamo Serra, Genoese merchants from Kiffa reached Dagestan in 1266 and began trading with the peoples living around the Caspian Sea, and also visited Tiflis.

According to the same data, Kaffa was “in charge” of Crimea, Tamanya, Kopa, Kutaisi, Sevastopols and Tana. Another 19th century author. De la Primode wrote that the peoples of the Kuban and Caucasus went to the Genoese in Taman for trade, and the main item of trade was wax, which was in huge demand from churches and monasteries. It is not known on what basis the author argued that the Genoese developed silver mines in the Caucasus Mountains and traces of their work are still visible today. Along the Kuban, the Genoese from the mouth of the river rose 280 miles upstream and, in the midst of a “rich and fertile country,” founded a colony, which was ruled by a consul in 1427. According to M.N. Kamenev, back in the 60s of the 19th century. traces of the supposedly Genoese road were visible, starting from Anapa and going through the station. Tsarskaya to Kyafar, Bolshoy Zelenchuk, Marukha, Teberda and from there through the pass to Tsebelda and Terek.

On the lands, the largest Genoese colonies were Matrega and Copa (lo Copa, Copario) and the third was Mapa. Matrega was located on the site of the ancient Russian one (the current village of Taman). As before, it was a major port through which goods went to Turkey, Western Europe, as well as to the North Caucasus to the Adyghe tribes. Matrega was well fortified. The population consisted mainly of Circassians, whose lands were adjacent to Matrega, Italians and Greeks. The Genoese sailed their ships up the Kuban River and 280 Italian miles from its mouth, at the beginning of the 14th century, on the lands of the Circassians, in the area of the current city of Slavyansk-on-Kuban, they founded the colony of Lo-Kopu. According to the charter of the colony, the Genoese paid tribute to the Adyghe princes in the form of “gifts to rulers” with bokasin (fine linen fabric), certain pieces of which replaced money. Circassians, Italians, Greeks, and Armenians lived in Kop. The population was mainly engaged in fishing, searing (salting) fish and preparing caviar, which was the main export item. Caviar was exported in barrels weighing five kantars (61.5 kg). Along with fish and caviar, slaves were an important export item. These were mainly Circassians (Adygs), Tatars and Russians. The Circassians and Circassian women were most highly valued. In addition, bread, lamb skins, furs, wax, honey, and fruit were exported.

According to the charter of the Genoese colonies, the consul at Lo Copa collected a duty from each ship for cargo and anchorage. Persons involved in fish plating and caviar preparation were required to pay 10 asprs (a silver coin) as income to the consul, and a duty of 6 asprs was collected from each exported slave. The enrichment of the Genoese was also facilitated by barter trade with the Circassians, in which the Genoese bought leather and other raw materials at low prices, which gave unprecedented profits. The slave trade brought in particularly large profits. The following goods were imported to the Circassians through Kopa: salt, soap, fabrics (Italian cloth, thin linen fabric - bokasin, bukaran), carpets, saber blades with coats of arms, drawings and inscriptions. They were especially valued by the Adyghe nobility. Huge amounts of money were made by Genoese merchants who mercilessly exploited the local Adyghe population.

The position of the Genoese in Matrega was precarious - they were surrounded by Adyghe tribes, the ordinary population of which, as a rule, was hostile to them; political turmoil occurred in the colony itself due to the interference of the Genoese living in it in the internal affairs of other peoples and, finally, uprisings of local inhabitants against the rule of the Genoese. The Genoese settled in Matrega at the beginning of the 14th century, creating their own colony here. In 1419, Matrega went to the representative of the famous Genoese family Simon de Ghisolfi, thanks to the marriage of his son Vincenzo with the daughter and heiress of the Adyghe prince Berozokh. Thus, the Ghisolfi were in double dependence: on the one hand, and mainly, on the Kaf government, and on the other hand, on the Adyghe princes.

After Simon Ghisolfi, Matrega was ruled by Zaccaria Ghisolfi, apparently the son of the Adyghe princess, whom Vincenzo Ghisolfi married. Zaccaria, as he himself believed, was a tributary and vassal of the then neighboring Adyghe prince Kadibeldi. In 1457, the latter, being the overlord of Zaccaria Ghisolfi, rebelled against him and captured the castle. The construction of a fortress (castle) in Matrega was carried out shortly before with the financial assistance of Kafa. The document says that “taking advantage of this (the capture of the Kadibeldi castle), the people of that area rebelled against Kafa and took possession of the said castle together with the princes of Zikhia.” Thus, this document testifies to the uprising of the Adyghe people against the Genoese and their princes. The uprising was suppressed by soldiers sent from Kafa, which obliged Zaccaria Ghisolfi to maintain mercenary soldiers from the Kafa garrison in the fortress. Weapons were sent to Matrega. Kafa at this time stood at the head of all the Genoese colonies in the North-West Caucasus.

On the Black Sea coast, the Genoese colonies were Mala, on the site of present-day Anapa, Kaloslimen (Baktiar) in Tsemes Bay (Novorossiysk). Here the Genoese managed to establish a profitable exchange with local tribes (Black Sea Circassians). Other Genoese colonies were small trading posts and anchorages for coastal shipping.

Genoese colonies existed in the North-West Caucasus until the end of the 15th century. After the capture of Constantinople by the Turks (1453), Turkish military penetration into the Caucasus began. The Genoese colonies, with which the Adyghe tribes maintained fairly close trade relations, were destroyed, and Turkish fortresses arose in their place.

To some extent, this information about the advance of the Genoese from the Crimea and Kopa into the interior is confirmed by indirect data of a legendary folklore nature and even archeology. Thus, the French consul in Crimea Xaverio Glavani in 1724 in Circassia saw crosses on graves with Latin inscriptions, and in Karachay at the beginning of the 19th century. there was the Getmishbash cemetery, where many graves and tombstones were preserved, considered by the Karachais as Catholic or “Frankish”. F. Dubois de Montperey reports a legend recorded from General Engelhardt - the Franks or Genoese lived in all the valleys of the North Caucasus, “the dwellings of the Franks filled mainly the Kislovodsk valley, spreading even beyond the Kuban River.” With reference to P. S. Pallas, Dubois de Montpere points out that Rome Mountain near Kislovodsk served as a refuge for the Franks. The latter is quite possible. Let us also pay attention to the fact that the popular name for Italians in the Caucasus as “Franks” comes from the Byzantine name for French mercenaries. Consequently, the term “Franks” denoting Europeans was borrowed by the Caucasians from the Byzantine Greeks.

Archaeological traces of the presence of the Genoese in the North Caucasus until the 15th century. varied, but not equally reliable. Among the latter, we include a Latin inscription on a crypt with a conical pyramidal roof, an entrance and a window in the upper reaches of the Majra River, which flows into the Kuban. The inscription read: “Fausta Fortuna” (“Fausta’s fortune”) and “I... CANTI” (name? - V.K.). But the reality of this inscription was later not confirmed by anyone. Another, also unverified, but really existing monument is a stone statue of a Catholic monk in a characteristic long robe and a shaved head with a tonsure. The right hand blesses. The monument was recorded two kilometers from the village of Pregradnaya in the eastern Trans-Kuban region, completely in accordance with the Genoese road about which M. N. Kamenev wrote. Perhaps, some imported items from the Belorechensky burial mounds of the 14th-15th centuries are directly related to the functioning of the mentioned road and the movement of goods along it: a silver gilded dish of Venetian work, Venetian glassware, a woman’s robe made of Italian lilac axamite velvet, etc. We are talking about the Kremukh property on the river, already mentioned in the first chapter. Belaya, headed by the ruler of Biberdi. There is no doubt about the trade exchange between the Adyghe Kremukh and the Italian colonies of the Black Sea region. To the same group of archaeological realities of the 14th century. Western European - Catholic circle can be attributed to bronze cross-vests with the image of the Crucifixion from the finds of M. N. Lozhkin at the Ilyichevsky settlement in the upper reaches of the river. Urup and Khumara in Kuban. Venetian glass, highly valued on the international market, ended up in burial grounds in the 14th-15th centuries. Western Ossetia - Digoria (for example, in Makhchesk), and this indicates the penetration of Italian goods to North Ossetia.

It is very likely that not all Italian imports of the 14th-15th centuries. We can now correctly identify and attribute from North Caucasian archaeological materials: for this it is necessary to know the original material culture, which is impossible in our conditions. This work remains for the future, like the work on Italian written sources relating to the Caucasus in Italian repositories.

The pre-war article by E. S. Zevakin and N. A. Penchko “Essays on the history of the Genoese colonies in the Western Caucasus in the 13th-14th centuries” remains a significant work on the problem that interests us, although on a number of subjects it is outdated and does not correspond to the current state of the sources . Zevakin and Penchko provide some facts that clearly document the expansion of Venice and Genoa in the North Caucasus. Thus, the authors established that in the territory between Tana (Azov) and Sevastopolis (Sukhum) there were 39 Italian colonies, settlements and sites, of which the most important were Tana, Sevastopolis, Kopa and Matrega, through which slaves, grain, wax and other goods. The very interesting information of De la Primode is confirmed that the Genoese walked up the Kuban and mined silver ore in the Caucasus mountains. There is a silver-lead deposit in the upper reaches of the Kuban; its development in Karachay was carried out until the 20th century. Therefore, the data about the mining operations of the Genoese in this area sounds reliable. I do not rule out that thanks to the presence of the Genoese, the Sentinsky Temple received its name, the etymology of which may go back to the Latin “Santa” - “holy”, “holy”. Since the Sentinsky temple is dedicated to the Mother of God and the Genoese probably knew this, in their mouths the temple and the peak itself with the temple could receive the popular name “Santa Maria”.

At the same time, I do not insist on the proposed version, because there is a Karachay version of the etymology of “Senta”. The decisive word here should belong to linguists.

E. S. Zevakin and N. A. Penchko testify to an ancient trade route that went along the valleys of the Kuban and Teberda to the Klukhorsky pass and further to Sevastopols; “The road through Rion to Imereti and Georgia, which was often visited by Genoese merchants, ended here.” It is clear that this route was important for relations with the north of the Caucasus, and it is no coincidence that already around 1330 there was a bishop in Sevastopolis, and from 1354 - a Genoese consul. As for Georgia, its rapprochement with the Catholic sovereigns and the Church of the West began in connection with the fight against. In the XIII-XIV centuries. part of the Georgian and Armenian population converted to Catholicism, and Pope Gregory IX in January 1240 sent eight missionaries with a letter to the Georgian Queen Rusudan and her son David V. As we see, Catholic expansion was carried out on a broad front, covering the entire Caucasus. In the south of the Caucasus Range, the Genoese also organized mining operations. There is information that in Abkhazia, in the gorge of the river. Gumista was a Genoese colony engaged in the development of lead-silver ore, and the number of mines reached 15. Not only was the introduction of trade into the depths of the Caucasus, but also the development of natural resources. All this meant the simultaneous settlement of Italians throughout the Caucasus.

How far the advancement of very active and dynamic Europeans to the east of the Caucasus went is attested by Fanucci, to whom E. S. Zevakin and N. A. Penchko refer: “On Fanucci’s instructions, the Genoese built and settled the settlement of Kubachi in Dagestan.” We agree that this may seem like a fantasy - an Italian settlement in the wilds of the Dagestan mountains! This is true, if only because Kubachi has been known since the 9th century. Arab chroniclers called Zirikhgeran, i.e. “chain guards”, metal craftsmen, and this was long before the appearance of the Italians in the Caucasus. Fanucci's statement should be considered an exaggeration; the Genoese did not build Kubachi, but they could visit it more than once - the products of the famous Kubachi metal craftsmen, especially gunsmiths, should have attracted the attention of European merchants. This becomes more likely against the background of other evidence of the presence of Italians in Dagestan.

It is important that the fact of the advance of the Genoese, and with them the Catholic missionaries, to the Caspian Sea and northern Dagestan (to Derbent) is beyond doubt. Josaphat Barbaro reliably tells about the state of the Christian religion in this region of the Caucasus, which at that time was called Kaitaki: “the brothers of St. Francis (Franciscan monks - V.K.) and a certain priest of ours, a Latinist, went there. The peoples who live in these places are called Kaytaki, as stated above, they speak a language unlike others, many of them are Christians, some of whom believe in Greek, some in Armenian, and others in Catholicism.”

The cited source is the only one indicating that Orthodoxy has reached the borders of Dagestan (“some believe in Greek”), because, as we see, there are no archaeological monuments of Orthodoxy here yet.

The last evidence of the arrival of the Dominican Catholic missionary Vincenzo in Dagestan dates back to 1486. After this, Christianity in Dagestan quickly lost its position to Islam. Dagestan is finally becoming a Muslim country.

Researchers have already tried to find answers to these questions. M.K. Starokadomskaya believed that the Italians did not go further than Solkhat in Crimea to the east in search of goods (and one of the main ones were slaves). The Genoese preferred to trade those goods that were delivered to Caffa or Solkhat by merchants of other nationalities. Apparently, Italian merchants personally participated in distant trade expeditions to eastern countries. What mattered was that at the beginning of the 14th century. a Genoese consulate functioned in Tabriz (Iran), and in the 20s of the 14th century. There was already a Genoese settlement in Zaiton. It should also be noted here that in the connections between the Genoese cities of Crimea and the countries of the East, “the most significant role was played by Caucasian merchants.” Consequently, the movement was mutual, and the Genoese were constantly moving through the Ciscaucasia to the east.

Very important information on the issue that interests us is contained in the appeal of Pope John XXII to Khan Uzbek in 1330. The Pope recommends to the khan the Bishop of Semiskat, Thomas Mankazol, who made many proselytes among the Alans of the Caucasus, Hungarians and Malkhaites. Semiskata was identified with Shemakha, which seems doubtful, at least unproven. Even more doubtful is the conclusion that the mysterious Semiskata is Samarkand. Based on this localization of Semiskata, a map of the missionary actions of Thomas Mancazola was compiled; the Alans on it did not fall into Mancazola’s zone of action, although they were located between the Lower Volga and the Don.

Stavropol archaeologist T. M. Minaeva testified that among the ruins of the city, metal crosses and stone tombstones with images of crosses were found, but they remained unpublished. Therefore, Christian antiquities of the XIV-XV centuries. from Majar remain anonymous, although the fact of the presence of Christians in this large city is beyond doubt.

Let us return to the localization of the city or station of Mihaja, located in the Boniface IX bull. The options for the location of this point were noted above, and the last of them is the village. Mekegi in Dagestan. However, it is possible to propose another option: Mikhakha was located in the Kumie region, somewhat south of Madzhar. On the map of the Caucasus by Georg Traitel in 1774, “verwustete Stadt Chacha” is placed in this place - the devastated city of Chacha, which phonetically and chronologically most corresponds to the desired city of Michacha. Archaeologically this point has not yet been identified or explored. But the proposed option allows us to connect the well-known Roman Curia Mihaha with the process of introducing the Alans to Catholic Christianity in the 14th century. missionaries of Thomas Mancasola. Thanks to this, probably, the repeated (after the Byzantine-Orthodox) conversion of the Alans to Christianity in 1404, the Archbishop of Sultania in Iran, the Dominican John de Galonifontibus, among the Christian peoples of the “Great Tartary” calls Alans and Yasses, i.e. Asov-Ossetians.

We have at our disposal some archaeological data that allows us to see this problem from a different angle and to match the general historical background of the events of the second half of the 13th – early 15th centuries drawn above. with concrete realities. In what will be stated below, not everything is an indisputable truth. But the reconstructions and interpretations we propose seem quite acceptable and worthy of attention, albeit ambiguous.

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In the XIII-XV centuries, Italian trading posts founded by Genoa, Venice and Pisa appeared in the Black Sea and Azov regions. After the Crusaders captured Constantinople in 1204, Italian merchants settled in Byzantium, and from Constantinople they penetrated into Crimea and the coast of the Sea of Azov. One of the first trading posts - Porto Pisano (near modern Taganrog) was founded by Pisa in the first half of the 13th century. The process of intensive trade colonization of the Black Sea region began in the 60s of the 13th century, after in 1261 Genoa concluded the Treaty of Nymphaeum with the Byzantine Emperor Michael VIII Palaiologos, according to which it received the right to sail and duty-free trade in the Black Sea. In 1265, the Venetians also received this right. The process of colonization of the Black Sea and Azov regions was accompanied by intense competition both between Genoa and Venice, and between the trading posts they founded.

The Venetians and Genoese also concluded agreements with the khans of the Golden Horde, according to which part of the territory in the Crimea and on the Azov coast was allocated to them for the creation of trade colonies (with recognition of the supreme power of the khan). In the 60s of the 13th century, Genoa settled in Caffa (modern Feodosia), which became the largest port and trading center in the Black Sea region. The Venetians created trading posts in Soldaya (now the city of Sudak in Crimea, around 1287) and Trebizond (in the 80s of the 13th century). In total, there were about 40 Italian trading posts in the Crimea, Azov region and the Caucasus.

These colonies were governed by bailo consuls, elected in the metropolis for 1-2 years. Together with the consuls, the trading posts were governed by elected city councils consisting of merchant nobiles (citizens of the metropolis) and citizens of the trading posts. The citizens of the trading posts were mainly Italians (who made up a minority of the townspeople), although the composition of the urban population was extremely varied: Greeks, Armenians, Russians, Jews, Tatars, etc. Non-Italians had certain legal rights, freedom of religion, and could perform military and civil service (except for occupation elected positions), participate in joint trading companies. But the Genoese and Venetian colonies, like their metropolises, were constantly at odds with each other, although in the same colony (for example, Trebizond or Tana) there could be trading posts of two trading republics. Periodically, the colonies were also subjected to devastation by the Tatars, but they were destroyed only after the Turkish conquest. In 1453, after the fall of Constantinople, the trading posts were cut off from the metropolis and were gradually conquered by the Ottomans.

According to the treaty of 1332, concluded by Ambassador A. Zeno and Khan Uzbek, Venice received a plot of land on the left bank of the Don, near the city of Azak. The most remote Venetian trading post, Tana, was founded here. It was managed, like other trading posts, by the Venetian consul. Almost simultaneously with the Venetians, the Genoese created their own trading post in Tana. Factories paid Uzbek Khan a three percent duty on goods passing through them. Living conditions in Tana were not easy; the Genoese and Venetians were often at odds with each other. In addition, the inhabitants of the trading posts experienced a constant threat from nomads, who were both trading partners and enemies.

The competitive struggle between Venice and Genoa for Tana ended in the victory of Genoa. Under Khan Janibek in 1343, Tana was captured by the Tatars, and the Venetians were expelled for five years (the reason for this expulsion was the murder of a Tatar in Tana). Following the expulsion from Tana, Venice was defeated in the war with Genoa and in 1355 access to Tana was denied for another 3 years. In 1381, Venice was again defeated by Genoa, after which it lost access to Tana for another 2 years. Thus, the Genoese began to dominate in Tana.

Wheat, fish and caviar, furs, wax, spices and sandalwood (in transit from the East), leather, and honey were exported from Tana to Italy. Tana imported fabrics, copper and tin. One of the main sources of income was the slave trade. Representing a continuation of Azak, Tana was also surrounded by stone walls and turned into a fortress. Many interesting monuments remain from Italian Tana. Among them is a white marble tombstone on the grave of the envoy and consul of the Venetian Republic, Giacomo Cornaro, who died in Tana in 1362.

Like Azak, Tana suffered during Timur’s campaign against the Horde in 1395. Around 1400 it was rebuilt again. Tana was attacked by the Tatars several more times: in 1410, 1418 and 1442. During the last period of Tana's existence, the Genoese and Venetians were forced to show solidarity and mutual assistance in the face of an external threat. However, it was not external danger that led to the gradual decline of Tana, but the cessation of transit trade with the countries of the East, as a result of Timur’s defeat of Khorezm, one of the main partners in the East. By the time Tana was captured by the Ottomans in 1475, it had already fallen into disrepair.

The Italians also penetrated into the Caucasus. The most important Genoese colonies were Matrenga, Kopa (on the right bank of the Kuban), Mapa (Anapa), Pesche (at the mouth of the Kuban) and others. Venice had only two significant trading posts here - in Tana and Trebizond.

The largest Italian colony in the Caucasus was Matrenga (formerly Tmutarakan on the Taman Peninsula). Until the beginning of the 15th century, Matrenga was under the rule of a Circassian prince. In 1419, after the marriage of the Genoese Ghisolfi with the daughter of the Circassian prince Bika-Khanum, Matrenga became the possession of the Ghisolfi family. The number of Italians - residents of Matrenga - was insignificant; The Greek and Adyghe population mainly predominated. Matrenga was a trading outpost in the North Caucasus. The basis for trade with Genoa was the export of fish and caviar, furs, leather, bread, wax and honey. One of the most important export items were slaves who were captured during military raids. Slaves were supplied to the Genoese by Tatars, Circassians, Alans and other peoples of the Caucasus. Often the Genoese themselves organized expeditions for slaves. The Italians imported a variety of fabrics, carpets, raw cotton, Venetian glass, soap, saber blades, spices and other goods to the North Caucasus.

From Matrenga and other colonies, the Italians moved further into the mountains of the Northwestern Caucasus. This is evidenced by the ruins of castles, towers and churches in the mountains, and stone tombstone crosses. This is also where the missionary activity of the Catholic Church originated. After the formation of the Crimean Khanate in 1433, the Genoese colonies were forced to pay tribute to it. The end of Matrenga and other colonies was put in the 70s of the 15th century by the Ottomans, who captured Caffa and Tana.

Colonization of the Black Sea coast of the Caucasus by Italians As a result of the Crusades in the 11th-13th centuries. V
Italy flourished economically such
merchant republics like Genoa and Venice.
Having pushed back the Arabs and Byzantines, the Italians
merchants took over the intermediary
trade between Western Europe and
East. Soon they became so powerful
trading powers that contemporaries
Genoa was rightly called the “god of the seas”, and
Venice is a port city on the Adriatic Sea, the “queen of the Adriatic”.

Cathedral of San Marco. Venice. 11th century

Genoa in the XIII-XIV centuries

In the 13th century. weakening Byzantium was forced to open its
the Bosphorus and Dardanelles straits for the passage of Italian ships
from the Mediterranean Sea to the Black Sea. This opened the way for them to Crimea and
Black Sea coast of the Caucasus. Genoa and Venice
competed for dominance in the Black Sea, which was not expressed
only in intense trade competition, but also in armed
clashes between them. Turned out to be luckier
The Genoese Republic, which, by agreement with the Crimean
Hanami founded her first trading colony, Kafu, in Crimea
(present-day Feodosia). Having built a number of trading posts
(settlements), the Genoese turned their attention to the Azov region and
Black Sea coast of the Caucasus. In place of the Russian
Tmutarakan and Byzantine Tamatarkha (or, as it is abbreviated
called Matarchi) the Genoese founded at the end of the 13th century. port city of Matregu. Matrega was a fortified city inhabited
representatives of various tribes and peoples. She not only
was a link between East and West, but also
was a center of trade with the surrounding mountain tribes.

Bosphorus

The Dardanelles Strait connects the Sea of Marmara and the Aegean Sea.

Buying wax, fish, furs and other goods from the mountaineers,
Italian merchants brought to the North-West
Caucasus eastern and western goods. Large
Genoese colonies on the territory of Kuban were
Mapa (Anapa), Kopa (Slavyansk-on-Kuban),
Balsamikha (Yeysk), Mavrolako (Gelendzhik) and
other. In total, up to 39 settlements were built,
different in size and significance, but fulfilling
mainly trade and economic tasks.

Mapa (Anapa-modern view)

Kopa (Slavyansk-on-Kuban - modern view)

Kopa (Slavyansk-on-Kuban modern view)

Balsamikha (Eysk-modern look)

Mavrolako (Gelendzhik - modern view)

Did not ignore the Genoese colonies and
the Roman Catholic Church, which sent here
their missionaries. These preachers tried
convert the Adyghe population, who professed
Greek Christianity, into Catholicism. IN
Matrega even created a Catholic
diocese that led the transition process
to Catholicism of the local population, but large
she failed to achieve success.

On the site of ancient Gorgippia (Anapa) on a steep
on the shores of the Black Sea, the Genoese erected their
fortress - trading post Mapu. It came from her
the then famous Genoese road to the upper reaches of the river.
Kuban, there it was divided into two: one road went to
Abkhazia, the other - to the Caspian Sea. Road along
at that time was well equipped, had
transshipment bases and, obviously, not bad
was guarded. The latter was due to close
relations between the Adyghe nobility and the administration
Genoese colonies. The Genoese were bloodshed
interested in the safety of their merchants
caravans that moved along the Caucasian
territories. The Adyghe nobility saw in the trading
Cooperation with the Genoese has great benefits.

The Adyghe elite was the main supplier of "live
goods" - slaves who were exported to generally recognized
centers of European trade: Genoa, Venice,
Florence. Slaves were "obtained" as a result of endless
intertribal wars, raids on neighboring peoples, capture
prisoners. Some ordinary people turned into slaves,
unable to repay debts. Most in demand
used by beautiful girls and physically developed
boys 15-17 years old. Profits were made from the slave trade
not only the Adyghe nobility and Genoese merchants, but also
administration of Italian settlements. For example, consul
Cops received 6 silver for each slave sold
coins called aspra. We have received information
about trade transactions formalized during the sale of slaves.
So, when committing one of them, it was written: “Sold
Circassian slave 12 years for 450".

Venice

The slave trade had a negative impact on the development of the Adyghe
nationalities, reducing the population at the expense of the youngest and
able-bodied people.
The dominance of subsistence farming among the peoples of the North-West Caucasus
led to the predominance of barter trade over money circulation.
The unit of exchange was usually a certain measure of cloth from which
it was possible to sew a men's shirt. Fabrics, salt, and salt brought by the Genoese were in great demand among the peoples of the Northwestern Caucasus.
soap, carpets, jewelry, sabers. But, using my unconditional
dominance in the markets of the Black Sea region, Genoese merchants established
extremely inflated prices for goods, making huge profits from
trade with the local population. Moreover, high prices, for example, for
such an important product as salt was established due to its strict
rationed delivery. If more salt was imported (and this could
reduce prices), then the excess was dumped into the sea. In difficult
conditions, the trade of the Genoese themselves also took place. Great damage to the Genoese merchants
caused by widespread maritime piracy. Sea robbers
only robbed merchant ships, but also attacked coastal settlements and
ports. Therefore, the Genoese were forced to hire guards for
escort merchant ships and strengthen their colony cities
stone walls and loopholes, to keep garrisons in them.

The Genoese remained irreconcilable rivals
Venetians who sought to gain a foothold in the Azov-Black Sea basin. At the mouth of the Don, like the Genoese, they
founded their own trading post, whose interests were often
defended with arms in hand.
At the turn of the XIV-XV centuries. contradictions between the Italians and
mountain population. Exorbitant taxes, fraud in
trade deals, imposition of Catholicism, capture and sale
people - all this caused irritation. Discontent
Adyghe people also showed infringement of their property rights
princes. So, in 1457, Prince Kadibeldi even took by storm
Matregu. To strengthen its position in the Black Sea
colonies, the Genoese administration resorted to the well-known
method of “divide and conquer”, set some princes against
others, provoked them to rob their own fellow tribesmen,
promising rich goods in exchange for livestock and slaves. Strengthening
Genoese influence in the colonies also served as profitable deals, in
including through marriage unions of representatives
colonial administration and Adyghe nobility.

Mouth of the Don

But in the second half of the 15th century. colonial rule
The Genoese Republic in the Black Sea and Azov regions was moving towards
sunset This was evidenced by the fact that the management
colonial cities was transferred to a private bank. In 1453
Constantinople, the capital of Byzantium, fell under the blows of the Turks,
the turn was for the Italian colonies in the Crimea and the Northwestern Caucasus. In the last quarter of the 15th century. the Turks succeeded
capture all Italian colonies in the Black and Azov regions
seas. Two centuries of stay of the Genoese in Kuban
ended. It played both positive and (still
to a greater extent) a negative role in the life of local
peoples On the one hand, the Genoese introduced them to
advanced techniques of economic relations and
produced in Eastern and Western European countries,
expanded the circle of knowledge about the world. On the other side,
unequal exchange of goods and products, tax oppression,
the slave trade, and often simple robbery, undermined the economy
Circassians, restrained the growth of population and productive forces.

From the regulations for the Genoese colonies of 1449
The consul in Kop had to ensure: "... so that in the mentioned
place not to bring more salt than required for
consumption. Moreover, we decree and prescribe that
all merchants and other persons who bring salt to Capario
[Cop], owe all the salt they have left over
completion of work, i.e., after salting the fish, bring it to Kafa or
throw into the sea, under a fine of 100 to 200 asper for
every barrel...
Also, that every skipper of a ship or vessel is obliged
always pay the consul one per year from the ship's cargo
aspru from a barrel, and in addition for being at anchor, 15
asprov from each vessel...
Also, what the consul in Kop can receive for each
a slave taken out from there, six asprs..."