Prof. Dr. Lorenzo Pubblici, SRISA Florence
Keynote lecture, 20 November, 10:30-12:00
Experiencing Alterity: Italian Merchants and Local Population in 14th Century Venetian Azov Sea. Changes and Continuity |
Prof. Dr. István Zimonyi, DSc. professor, University of Szeged
Keynote lecture, 20 November, 17:30-19:00
The Role of Volga Bulgaria in the History of Eastern Europe |
After the tragic experience of the Fourth Crusade (1204), Western merchants began to frequent regularly the Black Sea basin. In particular, Genoa and Venice installed in that region many commercial settlements, emporia, which over time became an indispensable reference point for travelers from Western Europe to the East. The commercial history of the two Italian cities soon intersected with the rapid formation process of the Mongol Empire which, starting from the 1220s, extended from China to Eastern Europe. The constitution of a homogeneous and vast political entity facilitated communications and partly promoted them, guaranteeing Western merchants a more “safe” space within which to move and cover distances previously unimaginable. In the emporia founded on the Black Sea–and in this context–the Western urban mercantile class came into contact with the local element and with other migrants from substantially unknown geographical area. This Keynote communication examines the relationships between Western–Venetian and Genoese citizens in particular–both with the other foreigners and with the local population living in Tana on the Azov Sea. Tana was the easternmost settlement of the entire Latin trading system and is studied here from the mid-fourteenth century until the nineties, a period politically and economically problematic and characterized by international tensions, economic crisis but also extraordinary opportunities for commercial expansion and profit. |
Volga Bulgaria was one of the dominant powers of Eastern Europe in 10th-13th centuries whose early history is connected to Kuvrat’s empire. The Turkic-speaking tribes of the Volga Bulgar confederacy migrated from the steppe belt to the Volga-Kama region in several waves between the 8th-10th centuries and mixed with the Finno-Ugric-speaking inhabitants. The Volga Bulgars embraced Islam officially in 922, and it became the sole Muslim state in Eastern Europe. Its stability and very existence were due to its role in trade mediation between the Islamic world and Eastern Europe dominating the trade of north-western section of the Silk Roads. |