Cover; Title; Copyright; Contents; List of Figures; List of Tables; List of Abbreviations; Acknowledgments; Introduction; 1 Overview of Historiography and Sources; 2 To the Origins of the Genoese Black Sea Colonization: The Genoese Gazaria in Its Genesis and Shaping, Thirteenth to Fourteenth Centuries; 3 Understanding Colonial Space: Topography and Spatial Layout of the Cities and Hinterland of the Genoese Gazaria; 4 Governing the Overseas Colonies: Evolution and Transformation of the Administrative System
5 The World of Entangled Identities: The Dynamics of the Population of Caffa in Its Ethnic and Religious Categories6 Prestige, Stratification, and Social Groups in the Society of Caffa; 7 Caffa as a Centre of Trade: Dynamics of Economic Activity, Traffic, and Communications; 8 Politics and International Relationships in the Black Sea Area in 1400-1475: Transformation and Fall of Caffa; Conclusion; Appendix; Index
Summary
"This book focuses on the network of the Genoese colonies in the Black Sea area and their diverse multi-ethnic societies. It raises the problems of continuity of the colonial patterns, reveals the importance of the formation of the late medieval / early modern colonialism, the urban demography, and the functioning of the polytechnic entangled society of Caffa in its interaction with the outer world. It offers a novel interpretation of the functioning of this late medieval colonial polytechnic society and rejects the widely accepted narrative portraying the whole history of Caffa of the fifteenth century as a period of constant decline and depopulation."--Provided by publisher
