I trattati commerciali tra Venezia e l’impero di Trebisonda, 1319-1396
Part of : Θησαυρίσματα ; Vol.41-42, 2011, pages 41-87
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41-87
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Abstract:
During the fourteenth century, the Venetians were active in Trebizond essentially during the following phases: from 1319 to 1348, from 1364 to 1376, from 1381 to 1385 and from 1396 onwards. In order to be able to trade in the empire of Trebizond but also beyond, and to participate in the iidand trade with Persia and elsewhere, it was of great importance for the Venetians to have a stable representation in the city of Trebizond, an independent territory and a fondaco, fiscal advantages but also guaranties of liberty of movement and security. That is the reason for which the Venetian authorities considered these agreements as necessary. Every commercial treaty was the result of negotiations, sometimes harsh, between a Venetian embassy and the emperor of Trebizond, followed by a crysobull handed to the ambassador by the emperor in charge. From 1319 to 1396, five commercial treaties were established and as many chrysobulls were granted from three trapezunt in emperors:
one by Alexius II in 1319, three by Alexius III in 1364, in 1367 and in 1376 and the last by Manuel HI in 1396. None of the chrysobulls preserved today is an original, and only one is written in Greek, which is the only one that is not conserved in the State Archives of Venice. The other four are translated into Latin and Venetian. This study proposes a new edition of these texts accompanied by the history of the embassies charged for the negotiations and the conditions which led the Venetian authorities to ask for a new agreement. After a study of the treaties between Venice and Trebizond we can distinguish them in two categories: in the first we can include the first three treaties, and as far as the taxation concerns, they have slight variations with no substantial differences at the end; in the second we collocate the last two, that is to say, after the Venetian-trapezuntin conflict. In these, the taxation is equal but is half of the preceding ones. So we can observe a substant
ial reduction of the taxes with the exception of the customs ’ fees which remained unchanged during all the period concerned. Treaty after treaty, the Venetians tried to improve their position also in the case of their territory’s location in Trebizond, which had been changed twice until its third and final position at the Holy Cross cape. There, they established an administration for their commercial base.
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Περιέχει φωτογραφίες, πίνακες, παράρτημα και σημειώσεις
