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. This book tells the story of thousands of ordinary people caught up in conflict and dispersed across the Mediterranean against their will. It is the first study to examine the social, cultural and political ramifications of this late medieval trade in Greeks. The book's wide geographical horizons and its accessible style ensure that it will appeal to anyone interested in the medieval Mediterranean or the history of slavery. Its use of previously unpublished or little-known textual sources and its extensive synthesis of Byzantine, Latin European and Islamic sources and scholarship ensure that it will offer new perspectives and revelations for the specialist.
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
Alasdair C. Grant is Research Associate in the Emmy Noether project “Social Contexts of Rebellion in the Early Islamic Period” (SCORE) at the University of Hamburg. He is author of Greek Captives and Mediterranean Slavery, 1260–1460 (Edinburgh University Press, 2024).
Reviews for Greek Captives and Mediterranean Slavery, 1260–1460
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.--Hannah Barker, Arizona State University 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. --S. Bowman, emeritus, University of Cincinnati ""CHOICE""
