44 | The Genoese of Pera in the Fifteenth Century
the Draperio family lived in Pera, and the family gave its name to one of the con-
trades (streets) of the district.
Pera was a district on the northern shore of the Golden Horn, located op-
posite Constantinople. The Genoese presence in Pera started with the Byzan-
tine reconquest of Constantinople in 1261. In return for Genoese support against
the Venetians, Byzantine emperor Michael VIII made concessions to them
with the Treaty of Nymphaeon and gave Pera to the Genoese community. In 1304,
the Byzantine emperor allowed the Genoese to build walls around their district.
Moreover, they were granted the right to have their own podestà (governor) and
a council (magnifica comunità di Pera), composed of twenty-four members, re-
sponsible for the order and organization of the colony. The statutes of Genoa,
which included legal regulations concerning the civil, commercial, and adminis-
trative organization of the community, also began to be applied and observed.
In this way, from the fourteenth century onward, the Genoese community estab-
lished a semiautonomous rule in Pera.
The Genoese of Pera received extensive trading privileges from later Palai-
ologan emperors as well and strengthened their economic position vis-à-vis
the local population during the late fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. This situ-
ation also allowed them to exert particular economic and political influence in
the realm of Byzantine affairs in this period, which is best exemplified through
the experiences of the Draperio and Spinola families. The members of these
families were not only active traders and bankers but also significant actors
in the administration of their colony and in relations with the Byzantine and
Ottoman states.
The name of Luchino Draperio, the head of his family, first appears in one
of the treaties signed with the Byzantines in November 1382. This treaty was the
culmination of decades of struggle and civil war between Emperor John V and
his son Andronikos IV, who allied with the Ottomans and the Genoese and at-
tempted to depose his father. In retaliation John V disinherited Andronikos. An-
dronikos continued his struggle, and the Genoese of Pera, already offended by
Emperor John V’s cession of the island of Tenedos to the Venetians (significantly
threatening Genoese trade interests), became strong supporters of Andronikos.
After years of inconclusive struggle against Andronikos and his Genoese allies
in Pera, Emperor John V finally recognized Andronikos’s rights and those of his
grandson John VII for succession to the throne. The resulting treaty was ne-
gotiated and guaranteed by the Genoese. The Genoese podestà and members of
the council of Pera, including Luchino Draperio, were present in the convention
and acted as mediators in the dynastic conflict within the Byzantine royal fam-
ily. Moreover, with this treaty, John V, Andronikos IV, and the Genoese of Pera
agreed to support each other against all enemies except the Ottomans, which of-
ficially confirmed their subordinate position to the Ottoman sultan.