Abstract
Research objectives: To analyze both the circumstances of the armed conflict of Genoese Caffa with the troops of the Golden Horde ruler, Toqta Khan, in 1307–1308, which ended with the temporary expulsion of Italian merchants from the Jöchid territory, and their return to Caffa under Toqta’s nephew and successor, Özbeg Khan. Research materials: The information on the conflict between the Genoese and Toqta Khan is contained in an anonymous continuation of the chronicle of the Genoese Archbishop, Jacopo da Varagine, dating to the middle of the fourteenth century; in the chronicles of the Mamluk authors, Baybars al-Mansuri and al-Nuwayri; and in a local Greek source, namely the Sugdeian Synaxarion. In turn, sources that provide information about the circumstances and conditions of the return of the Genoese are much more diverse. Of course, the most important details are contained in the official documents of Genoa and Caffa. Valuable details are also contained in the missionary sources of the Franciscans preaching the gospel within the Golden Horde. For its part, the Franciscan information is useful to compare with that found in Rus’ian sources regarding the relations of Catholic and Orthodox prelates with the Khan of the Golden Horde. Research novelty: This study highlights that the use of Franciscan sources appears to be extremely useful to complement the analysis of the relationship of the Genoese entrepôt of Caffa with the local authorities. Research results: An analysis of the conflict between the Genoese and the local authorities, along with the conditions of their return negotiated with the new Khan of the Golden Horde, reveals the obvious fact that Caffa, having undoubtedly grown in the Golden Horde period due to the activities of the Genoese immigrants, had to recognize its submission to the Jöchid rulers from its very foundation. The Genoese administration likewise recognized this dependence during the restoration of Caffa in the first years of Özbeg Khan’s reign.
Highlights
Research materials: The information on the conflict between the Genoese and Toqta Khan is contained in an anonymous continuation of the chronicle of the Genoese Archbishop, Jacopo da Varagine, dating to the middle of the fourteenth century; in the chronicles of the Mamluk authors, Baybars al-Mansuri and al-Nuwayri; and in a local Greek source, namely the Sugdeian Synaxarion
Research novelty: This study highlights that the use of Franciscan sources appears to be extremely useful to complement the analysis of the relationship of the Genoese entrepôt of Caffa with the local authorities
Research results: An analysis of the conflict between the Genoese and the local authorities, along with the conditions of their return negotiated with the new Khan of the Golden Horde, reveals the obvious fact that Caffa, having undoubtedly grown in the Golden Horde period due to the activities of the Genoese immigrants, had to recognize its submission to the Jöchid rulers from its very foundation
Summary
According to an anonymous continuation of the chronicle of the Genoese Archbishop, Jacopo da Varagine, of the middle of the fourteenth century, on 4 October 1307 Toqta “ordered to capture all the Genoese in his entire empire”, and in November of that year he sent his son Il-Basar with troops to Crimea to besiege Caffa. “In the year of Lord 1307, on the feast of St Francis, Toqta, the Emperor of Tartars in the domain of Gazaria, because of the arrogance that the Genoese repeatedly expressed in his Empire, commanded to capture all the Genoese in his entire Empire and seize their property This was done so that the merchants who were in Sarai were arrested and robbed, but later, according to the instructions of the Emperor, some of them were taken to Solkhat, and several of them reached Caffa. The anonymous Genoese author of the report of this conflict could not find an explanation for these repressions or did not want to reveal their true reason, claiming that Toqta’s anger was caused by “the arrogance that the Genoese repeatedly expressed in his Empire”[3] He did not explain, how Toqta Khan managed to endure the similar behavior of Italian merchants all the previous sixteen years of his reign. They did this already under the new Khan, who allowed the Genoese to return to Caffa on the conditions that they tried to initially reject
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