206 chapter four
far more harmful to their interests was the Genoese effort to bring all
the trade of the Northern Black Sea coast through caffa, where it would be
taxed and levied as described above. however paradoxical it may seem at
first, Janibek’s declaration of war in 1343 created the necessary conditions
to realise this grand plan.
the Genoese colonists originally conceived the scheme in the preceding
century in order to forestall the development of a rival commercial centre
at Venetian tana, and this became more pressing once Özbek granted the
charter of 1332, renewed by his son ten years later and offering the Serenis-
sima’s merchants the required legal framework to tap into major eurasian
trade routes directly from their town at the mouth of the Don.255
Since they could neither influence nor reverse decisions taken by the
Jochid grandees, the Genoese subjected the Venetians instead to count-
less chicaneries, which were not enough to dislodge them or diminish the
threat from this strong competition.256 Seen from this perspective, the
expulsion of all Italians from tana and Soldaia in 1343 was a true bless-
ing for the Genoese merchants. they had never themselves been able to
mend the breach that Özbek had made in their monopolist system, but
Janibek closed it with one blow. certainly the Genoese as well had to suf-
fer being turned out of tana, where they traded side by side with their
rivals, yet seen in larger context, when Westerners were expelled from the
mouth of the Don, the Mongols defeated the Venetians and the Genoese
emerged victorious.
Self-evidently, a victory obtained when the wheel of fortune turns so
surprisingly must be consolidated. the Venetians, declared unwanted
guests wherever the Mongols controlled the Black Sea coast, found them-
selves forced to appeal to the caffans to take them in. the Genoese duly
offered shelter to their rivals in need, but took care to exact a price. the
khan’s actions in 1343 forced the Venetians to accept an unequal alli-
ance with their former enemy, accurately reflecting the new balance of
power between the two maritime powers in the region: Venice’s envoys
duly signed a treaty on 18th June 1344 committing them to uphold the
dar el guadagno a lor. Et vegniva ad haver Veniciani la chossa fata più cara (chinazzo/Laz-
zarini, p. 210; cf. papacostea, “tana,” pp. 203–204).
255 cf. papacostea, “tana,” pp. 202 ff., and chapter 3.4.1.
256 cf. especially heyd, Histoire, II, pp. 183–186, who assumes that any moves against
the Venetians by Mongol authorities were also due to Genoese intrigue, an opinion shared
by papacostea, “tana,” p. 206 note 10.