2017. Vol. 5, no. 3. Lorenzo Pubblici

2017. Vol. 5, no. 3, pp. 566-576

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.22378/2313-6197.2017-5-3.566-576

   SOME REMARKS ON THE SLAVE TRADE IN THE HEART
OF THE GOLDEN HORDE (14TH CENTURY)
IN THE WAKE OF C. VERLINDEN’S RESEARCH

Lorenzo Pubblici
Santa Reparata International School of Art
Florence, Italy
lpubblici@santareparata.org

Objective: For decades the slave trade was very lucrative for the Italian merchants who travelled to the East. The formation of the Mongol Empire, and the economic and demographic growth occurred in Europe, have contributed to the increase of both, the demand of slaves and the supply human merchandise. Trade increased with the simultaneous increase in the number of journeys of western merchants to the East.
The creation of a structured trading system on the Black Sea coast has allowed Genoa and Venice to strengthen their trade relations with the dominant centers of power in loco: the Golden Horde of the Mongols and the Mamluks of Egypt.
Materials: This article is a preliminary critical mapping of a larger project I’m working on, and which aims to explore the relationship between Italian commercial immigration and the slave trade in the Venetian settlement of Tana, situated in the mouth of the Don, and representing the easternmost outpost of all Latin Trading System in the East in the 13th and 14th centuries. Based on a solid historiographical tradition and the Venetian documentary sources, I’m trying to restore the perception of a slave in the unique context of the Golden Horde, where the western urban mercantile and the eastern nomadic factors came into contact.
Results and novelty of the research: While many of the conclusions of this research are still to be confirmed, a primary investigation has shown that slaves were not only the primary and most profitable resource for Italian merchants, but also the most direct and effective means to penetrate and understand an ethnic and culturally stranger context.

Keywords: Black Sea, Slavery, Venice, Genoa, Medieval Mediterranean

For citation: Pubblici L. Some Remarks on the Slave Trade in the Heart of the Golden Horde (14th century) in the Wake of C. Verlinden’s Research. Zolotoordynskoe obozrenie =Golden Horde Review. 2017. Vol. 5, no. 3, pp. 566–576. DOI: 10.22378/2313-6197.2017-5-3.566-576

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About the author: Lorenzo Pubblici – Full Professor of History and Anthropology at Santa Reparata International School of Art (Florence), Department of Humanities and Liberal Arts, and Professor of Eastern European History at Università degli Studi di Firenze (Piazza dell’Indipendenza, 4, 501294 Firenze, Italia); Email: lpubblici@santareparata.org

Received June 20, 2017   Accepted for publication August 31, 2017
Published online September 30, 2017