Greek Captives and Mediterranean Slavery, 1260–1460
- Transcends the borders of Byzantium and of Byzantine Studies to trace the diaspora of Greek captives across the Mediterranean
- Founded upon a data set of around 2400 captives and slaves attested in Latin and vernacular archival documents
- Focuses on ordinary people, challenging the traditional bias of Byzantine Studies towards the culture and institutions of Constantinopolitan elites
- Places captives in social, cultural, demographic and political context
- Employs previously unpublished or little-known sources, notably Greek letters written by clergy to help captives raise money
- Written in accessible English with a simple and clearly labelled structure
Captivity and enslavement were characteristic experiences of Greek Christians in the late medieval Mediterranean. During this time, Muslim Turks and Christian western Europeans conquered and traded at the expense of the shrinking Byzantine Empire. By bringing together literary and documentary sources spanning a geographical canvas from the Aegean to Egypt and from Cyprus to Catalonia, this book tells that story in full for the first time. It traces this crisis of captivity from its origins in thirteenth-century Asia Minor to its explosion into a Mediterranean-wide phenomenon, interrogating different types of unfreedom and forced movement and evaluating their significance for Greeks’ religious and diplomatic relationships with their neighbours, both Christian and Muslim.
MapsPrefaceAcknowledgements
Introduction: A Crisis of Captivity
Previous Scholarship Aims, Evidence and Approaches Ethnic Categories Religious Categories Categories of UnfreedomChapter Outline
Part I: Historical Contexts
Chapter 1: Political Changes in Asia Minor
The Late Medieval Romania The Collapse of Byzantine Asia Minor Evidence of Crisis (1): Cyprus Evidence of Crisis (2): Crete Catalans in the Romania Conclusions
Chapter 2: Slave Trading in the Mediterranean and Black Sea
The Slave Trade Greek Captives in Context Genoa and the Trade in Greek Captives Byzantine Relations with the Mamlūk Sultanate Greek Captives, Cyprus and the Mamlūk Sultanate Conclusion
Part II: Social Dynamics
Chapter 3: Captives, Slaves and Refugees
Captives or Slaves? Experiences of Captivity Experiences of Slavery Captives or Refugees? Trends in Forced Mobility Conclusions
Chapter 4: Methods of Redemption
Ransom as Religious Duty Captives’ Letters of Clerical Advocacy (Aichmalotika) The Distribution of Testimonials Further Evidence for Itinerant Alms-Seeking The Individual as Ransomer Prisoner Exchanges Military Orders Conclusion
Part III: Cross-Cultural Relations
Chapter 5: Christian Masters, Christian Slaves?
Religion and Slavery Ethnicity and Slavery Subjecthood and Captivity Conclusion
Chapter 6: Turkish Conquests, Conquered Greeks
Greek Clergy and Captives under Islamic Rule Greek Captives and Slaves in Islamic Asia Minor Raiding and Depopulation Conquest and Deportation Conclusions
Conclusion: A Mediterranean Phenomenon
Bibliography
Index
Centring Greek perspectives while drawing on an impressive range of sources, this fascinating book adds an essential dimension to our understanding of slavery and captivity in the late Middle Ages. Grant highlights the Aegean as a sphere of Greek-Turkish-Latin relations distinct from, though linked to, the rest of the Mediterranean.
This study chronicles the compelling tragedy of the last two centuries of Greek independence and the vicissitudes of the enslaved Orthodox population. [...] Grant (Univ. of Hamburg, Germany) scoured numerous notarial records and official documents in various languages for information on the purchase and sale of Greek slaves and their families along with efforts by the Greek authorities and the Church to redeem the captives. He recounts individual stories of those who purchased their own freedom and those who were granted special leave from slave owners, and how they wandered through war-torn Greek and Italian towns and villages, in some cases for years. Once the Ottomans conquered Constantinople and other Greek entities, all Greeks became Ottoman subjects, subject to the devshirme tax, which put their sons in the Ottoman army and their daughters in the harems. A well-written contribution on the tragic fate of war captives.
Summing Up: Recommended.
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