158 chapter four
which di Sambuceto notarised, these furnish a comprehensive picture of
how caffa’s commerce entered a whole new phase.61
the phenomenon is easily explained when seen in the broader Black
Sea-Mediterranean context: it was one effect of the second wave of
Genoese expansion into the Black Sea, after trading conditions in cilician
armenia worsened drastically once the kingdom had become a Mamluk
vassal in 1285.62
the setback in the eastern Mediterranean fed Genoese interest in trade
with the Golden horde and in opening a Black Sea route to the Ilkhan-
ate, with this latter goal becoming increasingly evident after the war to
liberate armenia was lost in 1290. the two processes were closely related,
not just in their actual development and effects, but in perception and
aspiration.
thus Benedetto Zaccaria, mentioned above as trading with caffa in 1286,
was also the admiral who was to attack egypt two years later.63 Because of
this close relationship, the caffans were not slow to help fellow Genoese
threatened by the Mamluk Sultan on the Syrian coast at tripoli.64
It was a frequent complaint at the time that the Genoese were driven
only by the desire for gain, and they paid no heed to political tensions
except, of course, where these affected their material interests. one
example of this attitude was their consistent approach to Black Sea trade,
as though the bitter commercial rivalry between the Golden horde and
the Ilkhanate were not played out in Black Sea waters as well. the same
merchants and sailors could offer their services equally to these two rival
powers. Vivaldo Lavaggio, commanding a galley armed and furnished by
the Ilkhan arghun, captured pirates and returned their booty to the arme-
nians from whom it had been stolen, which earned him a commendation
in caffa in april 1290.65 a month later, pietro di Braina set off from the
same town, bound for the Mongol ruler’s horde at tabriz.66
as such details illustrate, Genoese policy was to deal in as even-handed
a manner as possible with the two rival chinggisid states, and they did not
61 Balard, Romanie, II, p. 852, remarks that the volume of trade increased with the num-
ber of contacts.
62 See chapter 3.2, 3.4.2.
63 See above, pp. 80 ff.
64 Nevertheless, their aid came too late: 1291 (cf. Spuler, Horde, p. 394 note 37, Schmid,
Beziehungen, pp. 138, 139 note 638, papacostea, “Gênes,” p. 223).
65 Brătianu, Actes, pp. 271–272.
66 Ibid., pp. 286–287; although the exact message which he carried is not known, it
must have been a political mission, given the destination and recipient.