Mercan|43of the city, the Genoese of Pera apparently allied with both sides. Doukas in his
chronicle gives a vivid account of this:
They [the Genoese] circulated fearlessly in the Turkish camp, providing the ty-
rant [Mehmed II] abundantly with whatever supplies he requested—oil for the
cannon and whatever else the Turks wanted. Then they would return furtively
to the Romans during the night and fight at their side all day long. The fol-
lowing night others would take their places in the City and they would spend
time at their homes and in the camp in order to escape detection by the Turks.This dual attitude during the conquest brought severe criticism to the Geno-
ese community of Pera. However, since the establishment of the colony in the
thirteenth century, the leading families of the community had collaborated
with other powers to retain strategic trading posts and sources of revenue. Al-
though they participated in leagues organized by Christian powers against the
Ottomans, they also developed commercial and diplomatic relations with the
Ottomans, sometimes even conflicting with the home administration in Genoa.
Thus, arguably the very presence and survival of the community was based on
its connections and networking with different groups, which gave it a dynamic
character and complex nature. This chapter analyzes this distinctive aspect of
the Genoese of Pera in the context of two long-established families of the com-
munity, the Draperio and Spinola. Focusing on the position of these two families
vis-à-vis the Byzantines and the Ottomans in the fifteenth century, this study
highlights the networks the members of these families established with different
authorities and provides an insight into the continuities and changes they experi-
enced just after the Ottoman conquest of Constantinople. Thereby, it explores the
strategies these families followed to make their way in the new order.
Spinola and Draperio Families of Pera
Thanks to the rich collection of notarial documents recorded by Genoese nota-
ries, we can trace the Spinola and Draperio families back to the thirteenth cen-
tury. The Spinola family, along with the Doria, Grimaldi, and Lomellini families,
was among the earliest noble families of medieval Genoa. Each of these noble
families constituted an albergo, which was a single entity comprising members of
branches of the same family, distant relatives, and people bearing the same sur-
name who swore to act together. Thus, most of the noble families in the Genoese
colony of Pera, such as the Spinola, were branches of noble families in Genoa. The
Draperio family was an exception, as it was a “colonial family” that had raised its
social status without having solid ties in Genoa or the larger region of Liguria.
The Draperios had come to Constantinople as merchants but soon became one
of the leading families there. At the end of the fourteenth century eight men of