The maritime trade in the medieval Black Sea

Summary

ABSTRACT. The Black Sea and the Crimean Peninsula were commercial intersections, as shown by the existence of three main maritime routes, described in travel accounts. Several types of ships were used for coastal navigation or inter-regional traffic. The author demonstrates the importance of the Cherson port, a transit center between Pontic regions, and analyzes the results of archeological surveys carried out in numerous towns along the Crimean coast.

RÉSUMÉ. La mer Noire et la péninsule de Crimée ont été des carrefours commerciaux, dont témoigne l'existence de trois routes maritimes principales, attestées par les récits de voyage. Plusieurs types de navires étaient utilisés, soit pour le cabotage, soit pour des trafics interrégionaux. L'auteur montre l'importance du port de Cherson, centre de transit entre les régions pontiques et analyse le résultat des fouilles effectuées dans nombre de localités de la côte criméenne.

The Black Sea Basin is the crossroads for many nations and the economic interests of various medieval states. Byzantine expansion and domination in the Black Sea began in the 4^th century. Its undisputed rule ends in the 12^th century, when merchants from the Italian Republics achieved naval supremacy in the region.

The Taurica region (an ancient name for the Crimean Peninsula), among others, played an important role in these relationships due to its geopolitical situation. The reconstruction of economic processes on the Taurica coast in the 4^th–11^th centuries is representative of the general picture of the Black Sea region during that period. Research concerning seafaring and maritime trade deserves special attention, as their primary significance in the economic development of the majority of the aforementioned societies is clear. The research models and concepts of the commercial seafaring of the past, relying for the most part on written sources, have worked themselves out. New archaeological data can help to break the present deadlock of theoretical speculations. Recently obtained archaeological sources are bringing the historical investigation to a new, groundbreaking level.

In the middle ages mariners often sailed along ancient trade routes known from antiquity, the functioning of which depended upon the hydrological and climatological conditions of the sea.