GENOESE MERCHANTS AND THE EXPORT OF GRAIN FROM CYPRUS... NICHOLAS COUREAS GENOESE MERCHANTS AND THE EXPORT OF GRAIN FROM CYPRUS OF CILICIAN ARMENIA: 1300-1310

GENOESE MERCHANTS AND THE EXPORT OF GRAIN FROM CYPRUS... 1

NICHOLAS COUREAS

GENOESE MERCHANTS AND THE EXPORT OF GRAIN FROM CYPRUS OF CILICIAN ARMENIA: 1300-1310

During the period under discussion, im-mediately postdating the fall of Acre and Tyre to the Muslims in 1291, the kingdoms of both Lusignan Cyprus and Cilician Armenia were important centres in the international carrying trade between Western Europe and the Near East. Within the framework of this long-distance trade Famagusta, by now the principal port of Cyprus, and Laiazzo, the main port of the kingdom of Cilician Armenia, were major commercial entrepôts with resident as well as itinerant merchants from Venice, Genoa, Provence and Catalonia. As the same time however, there was a lively short–distance trade between the two kingdoms. According to the extant notarial deeds drawn up in Fama-gusta and concerning all trade between Cyprus and Cilician Armenia, around 30% of the sum total was invested in consignments of grain exported from Cyprus to Cilician Armenia, the largest portion for any particular type of com-modity.1 Sandra Origone has already examined the export of grain from Cyprus to Armenia in an article on the grain trade in Cyprus pub-lished in 1983.2 Since then, however, two fur-ther published volumes of the notarial deeds of

____________ 1 C. Otten-Froux, ‘Les relations économiques

entre Chypre et le royaume arménien de Cilicie d’après les actes notaries (1270-1320)’, L’Armenie et Byzance, histoire et culture, Byzantina Sorbonensia 12, Paris 1996, 165.

2 S. Origone, ‘Il commercio di grano a Cipro (1299-1301)’, Miscellanea di studi storici, II, Collana Storica di Fonti e Studi (henceforth CSFS) 38, Genoa 1983, 151-162.

the Genoese notary Lamberto di Sambuceto, who worked in Famagusta between the years 1296-1307, as well as the deeds of his succes-sor Giovanni de Rocha, who worked there from 1308 to 1310, have been published, in-creasing the total of published deeds concern-ing the export of grain from or via Cyprus to Cilician Armenia to nearly 50, including twelve not mentioned by Sandra Origone. Most of the parties involved in this trade were Genoese merchants, for the Genoese had ob-tained a series of commercial privileges in both kingdoms from the early thirteenth cen-tury onwards.3 Others included refugees from various towns of Latin Syria as well as mer-chants from other parts of Italy or Western Europe. In this article these deeds and the in-formation they contain will be analyzed and discussed, so that general conclusions on the importance and characteristics of this trade can be arrived at.

As regards the destination of the traders exporting grain from Cyprus to Cilician Arme-nia, most documents simply give Armenia as a general destination, but some nonetheless give a specific point of arrival. Laiazzo was the main commercial port of Cilician Armenia and the documents concerning grain exports from Cyprus to Armenia frequently specify Laiazzo as the destination of the merchants traveling there. Yet it was not the only destination given. Certain documents specify Tarsus, an inland city west of Laiazzo but not too far

____________ 3 Otten-Froux, ‘Les relations’, p. 161.

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from the coast, as a destination, while one document cites the minor port of Pals as a des-tination. According to this document, dated 23 February 1300, a certain Salvinus Bava from Sagona near Genoa undertook to sell 100 sal-mae of wheat for 11.500 Armenian daremi on behalf of two persons from Tripoli in former Latin Syria. He would receive 2.500 daremi from this sum, undertaking to transport the wheat to Pals on board a ship belonging to Brance de Castro and also undertaking to pay the freight charges for transporting the wheat on the ship’s arrival there.4 Tarsus is given as a destination in five documents. Two of them, dated 29 November and 2 December 1300, involve the oft-mentioned Genoese trader Od-done de Sexto. In November Oddone and Nicholas de Signano, acting for James de Sig-nano, lent in equal parts 954 white bezants to Conrad de Clavaro, another well known Ge-noese merchant, invested in wheat. Conrad undertook to sail to Paphos, load the wheat on board his ship there, journey to Tarsus without altering his itinerary and return to Famagusta, keeping one fourth of the profits. In December Oddone gave the Genoese Anthony son of Musso 100 white bezants invested in wheat pro duabus partibus, that is with each party contributing one half, to sail to Tarsus without altering his itinerary and to return to Cyprus cum gamella mea et tua, which must refer to a type of seagoing vessel that they owned jointly.5

The third notarial deed mentioning Tarsus as a specific destination, dated 7 February 1300, alludes to a joint venture between three parties from Genoa, Philip de Sancto Siro, Oberto de Monte Ianuansis and Faciolus de Clavaro, who had invested 1.600, 300 and 558 white bezants respectively, a total of 2.458

____________ 4 ‘Actes passés à Famagouste de 1299 à 1301

pare devant le notaire génois Lamberto di Sambuceto’, ed. C. Desimoni, Archives de l’Orient latin, II (1884), no. 69.

5 Notai Genovesi in Oltremare: Atti rogati a Cipro da Lamberto di Sambuceto (3 Luglio 1300 - 3 Agosto 1301), ed. V. Polonio, CSFS 31, Genoa 1982, nos. 134 and 139.

white bezants, in wheat and soap. Faciolus undertook to transport this cargo to Tarsus without changing his itinerary unless justifia-bly impeded and then to return to Cyprus, keeping one fourth of the profit of this society, as the association of merchants was styled.6 In the fourth notarial deed, dated 14 March 1302, a Genoese resident of Famagusta named George Cores acknowledged receipt from the above mentioned Oddone de Sexto of 591 white bezants invested in wheat, undertaking to journey to Tarsus without altering his itiner-ary and to repay the money with profits on his return, retaining one fourth of the profits.7 In the fifth and final deed referring to Tarsus, the Genoese Domenzius Osbergatus, son of Lan-franc de Romea, acknowledged the receipt of a loan of 605 white bezants invested in wheat, undertaking to journey to Laiazzo and sell it there but to invest the proceeds of the sale in purchasing goods as he thought fit within the area extending from Laiazzo westwards to Tarsus, keeping one fourth of the profits and returning the outstanding balance of the capital and profits following his return to Cyprus.8

No less than 21 of the notarial deeds re-cording grain exports from Cyprus to Armenia explicitly mention Laiazzo, the principal port of the Armenian kingdom, as the destination. In the first one of 2 February 1300 Francis Bestagnus, procurator for Matthew Bestagnus, acknowledged receipt of 6.914 Armenian daremi from Adalano Boccanigra, representing the proceeds from the sale of 400 modii of wheat from Famagusta that Matthew had sent to Adalano for sale in Laiazzo. A subsequent deed of 3 February 1300 states that Francis in partnership with Boniface Anioinus would pay Salvino Bave from Sagona 5.000 Armenian daremi for 100 salmae of wheat they had pur-

____________ 6 Desimoni, ‘Actes génois’, no. 48. The figure of

1.060 white bezants given for Philip’s investment is clearly a mistake for 1.600, otherwise the total sum would not be arrived at.

7 Notai Genovesi in Oltremare: Atti rogati a Cipro da Lamberto di Sambuceto (Gennaio – Agosto 1302), ed. R. Pavoni, CSFS 49, Genoa 1987, no. 120.

8 CSFS 49, no. 138.


chased from him. The wheat, loaded on board the ship of Brance de Castro, was bound for Laiazzo, with payment to take place in the next 13 days.9 A notarial deed of 4 February 1300 records that Facinus Arditus and George de Sagona had received 100 salmae of wheat from Leonus Salvaigo, promising to pay him or his representative on reaching Laiazzo the sum of 9.500 Armenian daremi, a valuable piece of information inasmuch as it informs us that the wheat cost 95 daremi, that is around 26 white bezants, per salma.10 Another deed of the same date simply records that Leonus ap-pointed a certain Adalonus Boccanigra as his representative. The third deed, also of 4 Febru-ary 1300, records that Albaxius Aurie had re-ceived a quantity of wheat from the abovemen-tioned Salvinus Bave of Sagona, promising to give him or his representative 10.530 Arme-nian daremi as payment eight days after reach-ing Laiazzo. Salvinus for his part informed Albaxius that although he had previously un-dertaken in accordance with a deed drawn up by the notary Gabriel de Predono to hand over 19.000 Armenian daremi in his name, this in-strument was now null and void. Although the amount of wheat Albaxius had received is not stated, if one divides the sum he received by 95, the price one salma of wheat in Armenian daremi stated in the first deed mentioning Lai-azzo, it materializes that Albaxius must have received around 111 salmae of wheat from Salvinus Bave.11

Albaxius Aurie was also the owner of a galley, as appears from the fourth notarial deed mentioning Laiazzo. According to this deed, dated 17 February 1300, the oft-mentioned

____________ 9 Desimoni, ‘Actes génois’, nos. 54 and 56. 10 Desimoni, ‘Actes génois’, no. 62. The salma as

a unit of weight varied. 100 Sicilian salmae = 825 Cypriot modii (= circa 205 Armenian modii) but the salma of Manfredonia = 760 Cypriot modii (= circa 190 Armenian modii. The salma of Barletta weighed slightly more than that of Manfredonia , the Cypriot modius = 25kg while the Armenian modius = 103.18 kg. See Origone, ‘Commercio del grano’, p. 154 note 8, p. 157 note 24 and p. 160 note 34.

11 Desimoni, ‘Actes génois’, nos. 63-64.

Oddone de Sexto gave 1515 white bezants invested in barley to the Pisan Zelemelo the son of Colomel, who undertook to transport it to Laiazzo on board the ship belonging to Brance de Castro, also mentioned above, with-out changing his itinerary and retaining one quarter of the profit. Zelemelo was empowered to sell the barley and have the proceeds from its sale either brought back to Cyprus on board the galley belonging to Albaxius Aurie, or to bring them in person on his return. Alterna-tively, he could exchange the barley for what-ever goods he considered best, repaying both the capital and profit outstanding following his return to Cyprus.12 Another deed, dated 24 February 1300, records the export of both wheat and barley from Cyprus to Cilician Ar-menia, stating that Nicolas the son of Simon de Sagona, a Genoese resident of Famagusta, had received 1.000 white bezants invested in wheat and barley from Oddone de Sexto. He under-took to journey to Laiazzo without changing his itinerary and retaining one quarter of the profits from the sale of this grain. He was also empowered to send the money obtained back to Cyprus on the galley belonging to Albaxius, to return in person with this money on board the same galley or to return on board another vessel13. A notarial deed dated 25 June 1300 provides proof that Genoese grain merchants maintained warehouses in Laiazzo. It records how the Genoese Leonard de Riparolia ap-pointed his fellow citizen Giovanni de Clavaro as well as Raymond from Messina as his procurators for receiving on his behalf 217 salmae of wheat unloaded from Leonard’s galley and taken to two warehouses in Laiazzo that Leonard had placed into the custody of a certain David Ferro. The two procurators were empowered to sell the wheat, receive the pro-ceeds from its sale and to pay David Ferro on Leonard’s behalf the sum of 3.198 Armenian daremi. In addition, Leonard declared that the wheat and money derived from its sale be-longed not to him but to a certain Francis de

____________ 12 Desimoni, ‘Actes génois’, no. 67. 13 Desimoni, ‘Actes génois’, no. 70.


Rapallo, who was perhaps his creditor.14 Another notarial deed dated 6 November

1300 provides another mention of the export of both wheat and barley to Cilician Armenia. It states that Nicholas de Monleone acknowl-edged receipt of 2.300 new Armenian daremi from Giacomino Pinellus, a citizen of Genoa, by way of a loan. He undertook to repay him in Laiazzo within four days following the arri-val there of a ship belonging to the Lomellini, a prominent Genoese family, presently moored in the port of Famagusta. He also pledged as security for the debt the wheat and barley loaded on board this ship, although the quanti-ties and respective proportions are unfortu-nately not given. In another deed of the same date Castellus de Porta originating from Piacenza in Italy acknowledged receipt of 999 white bezants from Manuel de Sancto Siro and the fisherman Vernazolo, undertaking to give them in exchange 3.600 new Armenian daremi in Laiazzo, within six days following the arri-val there of the ship belonging to the Lomel-lini. This document is relevant to the preceding one and to the grain trade in general between Armenia and Cyprus in showing that the Ar-menian daremi were worth 3.6 to one white bezant.15

There are two notarial deeds concerning Laiazzo at the end of 1300. A notarial deed of 12 November 1300 records how the Genoese Silvestrino Lavorabem received from his fel-low-citizen Obertus de Monte 2.285 white bezants invested in wheat, undertaking to transport the wheat to Laiazzo, without any share of the profit and with the obligation to trade with it solely in Laiazzo. A subsequent deed dated 4 December 1300 records how Nicolinus de Signago acknowledged receipt from the Genoese Corrado de Sancto of 2.031

____________ 14 Desimoni, ‘Actes génois’, no. 155. 15 CSFS 31, nos. 100-101. In no. 101 the sum-

mary states mistakenly that 1.600 daremi (not 3.600) would be given for the 999 white bezants. For the exchange rate between white bezants and Armenian daremi see also Desimoni, ‘Actes génois’, nos. 12, 42, 172, 217; CSFS 31, no. 215.

white bezants, invested in wheat, barley and lentils, to be taken to Laiazzo and sold, with the power to purchase cotton, the major Arme-nian export, with the proceeds. Signano was to keep one fourth of the profits and to repay the outstanding capital and profit to Corrado on returning to Cyprus or wherever else Corrado might encounter him, a cryptic phrase imply-ing that they might meet in some Muslim port forbidden to western merchants under the terms of the papal embargo on direct trade with the Muslims promulgated immediately after the fall of Acre and Tyre in 1291 to the Mamluks. This act was, moreover, concluded in the house in Famagusta where Corradus was resident, indicating him to have been a resident of this port town.16

For the year 1301 there are three notarial deeds mentioning Laiazzo. The first, dated 29 January 1301, states that the Pisan Guy, a shopkeeper, hired his boat, a covered vessel with two masts called the San Giorgio, to the Genoese Giacomo Rocha di Voltri for the transportation of wheat from Famagusta to Laiazzo, the freight charges being 12 bezants for every 100 modii, the units used being the modii of Famagusta. Rocha was to sail to Lai-azzo and return within the next eight days, paying the freight charges in advance. Guy also lent Rocha 400 white bezants to be changed into Armenian daremi at the rate stated by two trustworthy and reliable mer-chants. Giacomo Rocha de Voltri was also a party to the second act, dated 10 February 1301, in which he acknowledged the receipt of 279 white bezants invested in wheat from Master Thomas, a physician resident in Fama-gusta, undertaking to sail to Laiazzo and sell or exchange it there as he saw best, repaying the capital and profits on his return and retaining one fourth of the profits. Rocha, moreover, nominated his fellow citizen Antonio Xaba as a guarantor.17 The third act dated 25 August 1301, unusual in that both parties originate from Barcelona, records how Raymond

____________ 16 CSFS 31, nos. 112 and 143. 17 CSFS 31, nos. 207 and 217.


Stephanus acknowledged before Peter Sansson that he had combined 433,5 modii of wheat with 79 modii of barley, together with wheat and barley belonging to Peter himself. Having transported this grain to Laiazzo and having retaken the part belonging to him in the meas-ures of Laiazzo, at a rate of 12 modii of Lai-azzo per every 100 Cypriot modii, Raymond undertook to compensate Peter in full if he had taken more than his due in the process of this exchange and to accept Peter’s word in the matter without summoning witnesses and tak-ing oaths.18

Three notarial acts of 1302 concerning the export of grain to Laiazzo likewise illustrate the participation of non-Genoese in this trade, which was mainly but by no means exclusively in Genoese hands. In an act of 6 April 1302 Joseph the son of Sacle Saboni and Theodore the son of Peter of Tortosa acknowledged be-fore Cosmo of Laodicea the receipt of 3.350 white bezants invested in silver and wheat. They undertook to sail to Laiazzo and to travel through the whole of Cilician Armenia and sell or exchange this consignment as they saw fit, keeping one fourth of the profits and repaying Cosmo the outstanding profit and capital on returning to Cyprus. At least two of the parties involved in this act, Theodore of Tortosa and Cosmo of Laodicea, were refugees from Latin Syria, while among the witnesses at least one, Peter Mossori, was likewise a refugee, al-though another, named James de Adame, was a Genoese resident of Famagusta. The second act, dated 18 April 1302, concerns two Pisans, Andreoto de Guizardo and Zano de Lanfre-duziis. Andreoto gave Zano 2.400 white bez-ants invested in 1.200 modii of wheat for transportation to Laiazzo in Cilician Armenia, with Zano undertaking to transport it there free of freight charges and without changing his itinerary. Furthermore, on selling the wheat he would repay the proceeds, other than what he

____________ 18 Notai Genovesi in Oltremare: Atti rogati a

Cipro da Lamberto di Sambuceto (6 Luglio – 27 Ottobre 1301), ed. R. Pavoni, CSFS 32, Genoa 1982, no. 56.

might invest, to Zano or his representative in Laiazzo. No share of the profits is mentioned for Zano in this notarial deed.19

The third act dated 29 April 1302 in-volves Genoese, Pisans and refugees from former Latin Syria. According to its terms, Segerius Porcellus of Pisa acknowledged re-ceipt of 3.000 white bezants invested in 1.700 Cypriot modii of wheat from the Genoese Philip de Sancto Siro, acting for himself, for Andreas Bozatus and for the brothers Dagna-nus and Cosmo, originally from Laodicea but now residents and burgesses of Famagusta. They had all invested equal shares in the wheat as partners and Segerius undertook to transport it on board the ship belonging to the Genoese Anselm Guidonis, called the St Anthony with-out altering his itinerary. The itinerary includ-ing the final destination of the voyage are not, interestingly enough, stated, but Segerius was to keep one fourth of the profits and to sell, buy, exchange and invest with the remainder of the proceeds as he saw fit, promising to re-pay the outstanding capital and profits to the other parties or to their representatives on his return to Laiazzo or Cyprus, a flexible ar-rangement indicating that whereas Laiazzo was a possible point of return, it was not the final destination of the outward journey.20

The notarial acts concerning Laiazzo from 1304 onwards likewise show the involvement of both Genoese and other Italian merchants in the export of grain from Cyprus to Armenia. An act of August 2 1304, drawn up in the Ge-noese loggia of Famagusta, stated that Ia-chetto, a spice seller from Genoa, had given 200 white bezants invested in wheat to his fel-low citizen Boniface de Rapallo, who under-took to transport it with his own wheat free of freight charges and without taking part of the profits to Laiazzo, to sell it there and to repay him or his mother the outstanding capital and profits in Laiazzo. From this act it is suggested that Iacheto or at least his mother resided in Laiazzo, which does not occasion surprise

____________ 19 CSFS 49, nos. 147 and 174 20 CSFS 49, no. 182.


given that a Genoese merchant community had established itself in Cilican Armenia, as it had in Cyprus, from the early part of the thirteenth century.21 Another act dated 19 November 1309 has a certain Simonino Cevola acknowl-edge before Francis of Cremona, acting for Gianotto de Ghisolfi, the receipt of goods transported from the Genoese colony at Pera opposite Constantinople to Famagusta on board the ship belonging to Maioranus of An-cona, an assortment of goods destined to be sold in Laiazzo. These included 206 modii and two hundredweight of wheat in the measures used in the Aegean area, a clear indication that the wheat originated from outside Cyprus, pos-sibly from the Black Sea region.22

An incomplete notarial deed of December 1309 states that Lanzarotto de Curte acknowl-edged before Simon Cevola that two thirds of a consignment of 276 modii of wheat loaded on board the galley belonging to Bindus de Cap-sio and to the Pisan Berthogius pertained to Simon, despite the fact that it had been loaded onto the galley as though the total were Lan-zarotto’s. The remaining third belonged to Lanzarotto, but the deed stated that it the event of this wheat not going to Laiazzo the two thirds pertaining to Simon should be placed in the possession of Francis de Cremona, acting as the agent of Ianotus de Ghisolfi, both of whom have been mentioned above. Given that Francis had previously transported goods from Pera to Cyprus, including wheat, on behalf of Ianotus, it is possible that this wheat likewise originated from outside Cyprus.23 The remain-der of the notarial deeds recording the export of grain from Cyprus to Armenia simply state Cilician Armenia as the ultimate destination, without mentioning a specific port, although it is likely that in many if not most cases the des-

____________ 21 Notai Genovesi in Oltremare: Atti rogati da

Lamberto di Sambuceto (31 Marzo 1304 – 19 Lugio 1305, 4 Gennaio – 12 Luglio 1307) Giovanni de Ro-cha (3 Agosto 1308 – 14 Marzo 1310), ed. M. Balard, CSFS 43, Genoa 1984, no. 22 (di Sambuceto, pt.1).

22 CSFS 43, no. 28 (de Rocha). 23 CSFS 43, no. 29 (de Rocha).

tination would be Laiazzo, the Armenian king-dom’s chief port prior to its permanent capture by the Mamluks in 1327.

Turning to the other side of the coin, the point of departure of the vessels exporting Cypriot grain to Armenia, one observes that whereas most vessels departed from Fama-gusta, the principal port of the Lusignan king-dom of Cyprus in this period, Paphos and Li-massol are also mentioned, and it is worth ex-amining in what context. In a notarial act dated 19 October 1300 Corrato de Sancto Donato acknowledged the receipt of 1.000 white bez-ants from the Genoese Oddone de Sexto by way of a loan, with the possibility of investing a further 1.500 to 2.000 white bezants of his own money in the venture, whereby he would purchase grain to be exported to Cilician Ar-menia. He was to sail along the southern coast of Cyprus up to Paphos in order to purchase wheat and barley with the money he had re-ceived, and was in addition able to invest up to 5.000 white bezants of Oddone’s money as well as to give down-payments to secure the goods, receiving one quarter of the profits. He would then bring or have sent the wheat and barley purchased to Famagusta, and was em-powered to journey with it from Famagusta to Armenia but not to send it there without going in person. Were he not to journey to Armenia, then Oddone himself could have it sent there and sell it, doing whatever he considered best with the proceeds.24 Most notarial deeds in-volving the export of grain from Cyprus to Armenia in this period do not state the prove-nance of the grain, but this one indicates that the wheat and barley exported from Cyprus to Armenia was of local origin, originating from the area to the west of Paphos.

Another notarial deed involving the ex-port of wheat from Paphos to Tarsus, that of 29 November 1300 in which Oddone de Sexto was also a party, lending a sum along with Nicholas de Signano to Corrado de Clavaro, has been discussed above, but one should stress here that according to its terms Corrado

____________ 24 CSFS 31, no. 56.


had to load the corn on board his vessel in Paphos, sailing from there to Tarsus, another indication that the wheat was locally pro-duced.25 Nicosia, the capital of Lusignan Cy-prus, figures once in the export of grain from Cyprus to Armenia in a notarial deed dated 6 November 1300, in which Demetrius Hachie, a merchant resident in Nicosia but originally from Antioch, and whose name indicates that he was of Greek or Melkite Syrian origin, lent 2.000 white bezants invested in wheat and bar-ley to the Genoese Nicholas de Monleone. The latter undertook to dispatch it to Armenia, keeping one fourth of the profits, and to repay the outstanding capital and profit to Demetrius on his return.26 It is noteworthy that Nicholas de Monleone is mentioned in three further transactions, either concerning the export of grain to Cilician Armenia or the lending of money to be repaid there.27

The port of Limassol, the main Cypriot port in Byzantine times but eclipsed by Fama-gusta from the late thirteenth century onwards, also has a mention in a notarial deed of 22 No-vember 1300 concerning the export of grain from Cyprus to Armenia. The deed states that Giacomo de Signano, a Genoese burgess of Famagusta, offered guarantees to the Venetian Peter Gabrielis regarding a consignment of wheat and barley Giacomo was to load or have loaded on board Peter’s ship, presently moored in the port of Famagusta, in Limassol. The fact that the wheat and barley, consisting of up to one half of the galley’s capacity, had been loaded on board ship in Limassol suggests that it had been produced there or at least in the surrounding region. It was to be exported to Cilician Armenia, with Giacomo assuring Pe-ter that were the latter to suffer any financial damage on account of the galley departing without a licence from the government of Cy-prus he would recompense Peter or his ap-pointed representative in cash for all damages sustained. Although Venetians as well as Ge-

____________ 25 CSFS 31, no. 134. 26 CSFS 31, no. 96. 27 CSFS 31, nos. 46, 97 and 100.

noese were active in the commercial relations between Cyprus and Cilician Armenia in the late thirteenth and early fourteenth centuries this is the sole reference to a Venetian being involved in the export of grain to Cilician Ar-menia during the period under discussion.28

Other than Genoese, the greater part of merchants involved in the export of grain from Cyprus to Cilician Armenia were either from other cities in Italy or refugees from Latin Syria who had established themselves in Cy-prus. Among the Italians merchants from Pisa appear in eight deeds while among the refu-gees from Latin Syria those from the coastal city of Laodicea appear in four deeds, one of 1301 and three of 1302. In three instances the Pisans and the refugees from Laodicea co-operated in exporting grain to Cilician Arme-nia. On 5 May 1301 the Pisan merchant Cele Mele received 3.800 white bezants invested in wheat from Cosmas and Damian, two brothers from Laodicea whose names indicate a Greek or Syrian Melkite origin. He was to transport it to Armenia to trade in it there, without altering his itinerary and keeping one fourth of the profits, and would repay the outstanding capi-tal and profit on his return.29 On 15 January 1302 Cele Mele received 1.802 white bezants from the same brothers, 1.052 invested in soap and 750 invested in wheat, promising them that his brother Guy would transport it to Ar-menia and that within the next two months Guy or his agent would render an account of the capital and profits deriving from the pro-ceeds of this shipment. On 29 April 1302 Cosmas and Damian together with Andreas Bozatus and the Genoese Philip de Sancto Syro invested a further 3.000 white bezants in wheat bound for Armenia along with the Pisan ship owner Segerius Porcellus, a deed also discussed above. Three weeks earlier, on 6 April 1302, Cosmas had lent 3.350 white bez-ants invested in silver and wheat to Joseph the son of Sacle Saboni and to Theodore the son of Peter of Tortosa, likewise a refugee from Latin

____________ 28 CSFS 31, no. 127. 29 CSFS 31, no. 368.


Syria, for them to transport it to Laiazzo and trade with it throughout Armenia, as men-tioned above.30

The abovementioned Pisan Cele Mele ap-pears in two earlier deeds of 1300 already dis-cussed, one of 17 February in which he trans-ported barley to Laiazzo for the Genoese mer-chant Oddone de Sexto and another of 24 Feb-ruary in which Oddone appointed Nicola de Sagona, a Genoese resident of Famagusta, as his procurator for recovering a sum Cele Mele owed him.31 On 29 January 1301, as men-tioned above, the Pisan shopkeeper Guy hired his vessel, the San Giorgio, to a Genoese mer-chant for the transportation of wheat to Lai-azzo, while on 13 February 1301 a certain Gi-acomo de Rocha from Voltri acknowledged owing 31 white bezants to Guy for the hire of his vessel on this as on former occasions for the transportation of wheat to Armenia. He promised to pay him this sum within twelve days from when the San Giorgio had its cargo unloaded in Armenia.32 The abovementioned notarial deed of 18 April 1302 whereby the Pisan Andreotto de Guizardo undertook to transport wheat to Laiazzo for his fellow citi-zen Zano de Lanfreduciis provides a unique instance of a transaction on the export of grain in which both the investor and transporter were Pisans, for in most extant notarial deeds the Pisans appear only as transporters. Indeed, the last notarial deed mentioning a Pisan partici-pating in the export of grain from to Cilician Armenia, dated December 1309 and discussed above, mentions the Pisan Berthogius as the co-owner of a galley together with Bindus de Capsio.33

Other than Pisans and refugees from Laodicea, several other merchants from Italian towns and refugees from Latin Syria engaged in the grain trade. The sole recorded instance of a ship loaded with grain sailing to the Ar-

____________ 30 CSFS 49, nos. 18 and 182. 31 Desimoni, ‘Actes génois’, nos. 67 and 71. 32 CSFS 31, nos. 207 and 223. 33 CSFS 49, no. 174; CSFS 43, no. 29 (de Ro-

cha).

menian port of Pals, discussed above, con-cerned a consignment of 100 salmae of wheat entrusted to Salvinus Bava of Sagona by Stephen and William, two brothers from Trip-oli in Latin Syria, to be transported on board the ship belonging to Brance de Castro.34 The instance of Demetrius Hachie from Antioch, a resident of Nicosia who granted 2.000 white bezants invested wheat and barley to the Ge-noese Nicholas de Monleone has been dis-cussed.35 Castellus de Porta, a merchant from Piacenza, is mentioned in one notarial act of 6 November 1300 as having received 999 white bezants from Manuel de Sancto Syro and the fisherman Vernazolus which he undertook to exchange on their behalf for 3.600 Armenian daremi, a transaction also discussed previ-ously.36 Turning to the Italians involved in the export of grain to Cilician Armenia, other than Genoese and Pisans, two deeds of November and December 1309 already discussed mention Francis of Cremona acting as the agent of a certain Gianotto de Guisulfo.37 A notarial deed of 25 June 1300, likewise discussed above, mentions Raymond from Messina in Sicily as one of the procurators Leonard de Ripparolia appointed to recover a quantity of wheat he had unloaded in two warehouses of his in Lai-azzo while the Venetian ship owner Peter Gab-rielis has already been mentioned in an act of 22 November 1300 regarding a shipment of wheat and barley that the Genoese Giacomo de Signano planned to send to Cilician Armenia.38

Florentine merchants appear in three no-tarial deeds concerning the export of grain to Cilician Armenia, and in all cases large sums were involved. In one deed of 2 February 1300 Bernard Gino of Florence and Salvinus Bava of Sagona acknowledged receipt from Hugo-linus de Rivermar, acting on behalf of the sons and heirs of the late Salvetus Pezagni, of

____________ 34 Desimoni, ‘Actes génois’, no. 69. 35 CSFS 31, no. 96. 36 CSFS 31, no. 101. 37 CSFS 43, nos. 28-29 (de Rocha). 38 Desimoni, ‘Actes génois’, no. 155; CSFS 31,

no. 127.


15.600 new Armenian daremi from the goods of the deceased, a sum amounting to nearly 10.000 white Cypriot bezants. The late Salvetus owed them this money for 200 salmae of wheat that he had purchased from them while still living, and the fact that the debt was payable in Armenian currency indicates that Salvetus had bought the wheat in order to sell it in Armenia.39 In the second deed, dated 31 October 1300, Ianucius Bartholi and Lipus Bonacurssi, the representatives of the two ma-jor Florentine banking houses of Bardi and Peruzzi respectively, denounced before Nicho-las Zugno, the consul of the Venetians in Famagusta, the forcible unloading of 17.386 measures of wheat in Cretan units of meas-urement from the ship named St Mary of Naz-areth, which had taken place in the port of Candia, Crete, at the instigation of the local Venetian governor and his councilors. This ship, belonging to Lawrence de Gozo of Ra-gusa and loaded with wheat and oil belonging to the two banking houses, had been violently divested of the wheat without any offer of compensation being made to Ianucius or Lipus, or to anyone else. The quantity of wheat remaining on board ship amounted to 80 sal-mae according to the salma of Barletta, a town on the Adriatic coastline of Italy and located within the kingdom of Naples. Furthermore, every hundred of these salmae, as the council-ors of the Venetian consul of Famagusta had informed him, could be converted to 130 modii in Armenian measures, with each such modius fetching a price of 60 Armenian daremi, as Marino Sanudo, the purchaser of the wheat, had acknowledged. Hence the 80 salmae of wheat remaining on board ship amounted to 104 Armenian modii worth 6.240 daremi.40

This notarial deed is significant in show-ing that wheat from southern Italy as well as from the Black Sea region, as mentioned above, was exported to Cilician Armenia via Cyprus, although in this case much of the wheat had been violently removed from the

____________ 39 Desimoni, ‘Actes génois’, no. 40. 40 CSFS 31, no. 76.

vessel when it had stopped in Crete while on its way to Cyprus and to its ultimate destina-tion of Cilician Armenia. The third instance of wheat from southern Italy reaching Cyprus and possibly Armenia, once again with the partici-pation of Florentine merchants, is recorded in a notarial act of 22 April 1300. According to its terms, the Catalan ship owner Robert Gine-tus hired his ship, moored in the port of Fama-gusta, to Bochinus de Claro, a representative of the Florentine banking house of Bardi, and to the above-mentioned Florentine Ianucius Bartholi. Robert undertook to sail from Fama-gusta to the ports of Barletta and Manfredonia in the kingdom of Naples and to load on board ship 2.400 Apulian salmae of wheat, sailing back to Cyprus, either to Famagusta or to Li-massol, and then to await Bochino and Ianuciis with his ship in Limassol for the next six days following the ship’s arrival in Cyprus. On ar-riving in Limassol the two Florentines would inform Robert whether they wished him to unload the wheat there, or to sail with it to either Famagusta, Armenia, or to the ports of Acre, Tripoli or Tortosa in Syria. On doing so he would hand over the consignments to the Florentines or their representatives, and would be paid freight charges of ten gold ounces for every hundred salmae unloaded in Cyprus and eleven gold ounces for every hundred salmae unloaded in Syria or Armenia, a slightly greater distance.41

Clearly the involvement of Florentine banking houses in the export of large quanti-ties of wheat in this period to Armenia, Cyprus and Syria exhibits certain outstanding charac-teristics. The wheat sent to Cilician Armenia and other destinations within the eastern Medi-terranean originated from southern Italy and so reached Armenia via, not from Cyprus. Fur-thermore, to transport these quantities the rep-resentatives of the Florentine banking houses utilized the services of ship owners from throughout the Mediterranean area, not simply Italy, and so one sees Ragusan and Catalan ship owners, as in the instances mentioned

____________ 41 Desimoni, ‘Actes génois’, no. 109.


above, transporting large quantities of wheat from Italy to Cilician Armenia and other desti-nations in the eastern Mediterranean. In such cases, moreover, as opposed to the majority of cases in which the wheat crossed the short dis-tance separating Cyprus from Cilician Arme-nia, the wheat exported was being transported over long distances, and so only great quanti-ties of wheat that could be sold for large sums of money were worth the attention of the major Florentine banking houses. The involvement of the Catalan ship owner Robert Ginetus is also noteworthy. Although Catalans played a key role in the international carrying trade between Western Europe and the Near East the only other mention of their involvement in the grain trade between Cyprus and Cilician Armenia is in the notarial deed of 25 August 1301 dis-cussed above, in which Raymond Stephen of Barcelona transported a consignment of wheat and barley to Laiazzo belonging to him and his fellow citizen Peter Sansson, promising to compensate Peter if the latter lost anything when the grain was converted from Cypriot to Armenian modii.42

The overwhelming majority of ships car-rying wheat and barley from Cyprus to Cilician Armenia carried nothing else, but on occasion other goods were also carried. In two instances soap was also transported. On 7 Feb-ruary 1300 three Genoese, Philip de Sancto Siro, Obertus de Monte and Faciolus de Clavaro formed an association, as mentioned above, investing 2.458 white bezants in soap as well as wheat, with Faciolus undertaking to take this consignment to Laiazzo. In a later deed of 15 January 1302 also discussed above the Pisan merchant Cele Mele undertook to transport for the brothers Cosmas and Damian of Laodicea a consignment of 750 white bez-ants invested in wheat and 1.052 white bezants invested in soap, a total of 1.802 white bez-ants. This would be shipped to Cilician Arme-nia on board the ship belonging to his brother

____________ 42 CSFS 32, no. 56.

Guy.43 The ship of Lawrence de Gozo which transported a consignment of wheat from southern Italy belonging to the Florentine Bardi and Peruzzi banking houses for export to Armenia via Cyprus, much of which was forcibly removed in Candia, Crete, carried olive oil also, but whether this was for con-sumption or for the manufacture of soap is not stated.44 The Genoese exported soap manufac-tured in Cyprus using low grade olive oil to Turkey, and it was quite logical for the same product to be exported to Cilician Armenia.45 On December 4 1300 the Genoese Corrado de Sancto granted Nicolino de Signano 2.031 white bezants invested in lentils as well as wheat and barley to be transported to Cilician Armenia, as stated above, and the proceeds of their sale were to be invested in cotton.46 On 6 April 1306 Cosmo from Laodicea entrusted 3.350 bezants invested in wheat and silver to Joseph and Theodore from Tortosa, for them to trade with in Laiazzo and throughout Armenia with one fourth of the profit for them, as men-tioned above.47 Finally, the shipment from Pera which Francis of Cremona brought to Famagusta in his capacity as the agent of Gianotto di Ghisolfi, which arrived on board the ship belonging to Maioranus of Ancona and was delivered to Simonino Cevola with a view to sending it to Laiazzo, its final destina-tion, contained a variety of goods other than wheat. These were seven bales of silk, which Gianotto had stated to weigh 20 Genoese quin-tars, 50 non-tanned russet coloured hides weighing one hundredweight, 100 capes of black lamb’s wool and seven pieces of car-

____________ 43 Desimoni, ‘Actes génois’, no. 48; CSFS 49,

no. 18. 44 CSFS 31, no. 76. 45 D. Jacoby, ‘To emporio kai he oikonomia tes

Kyprou (1191-1489)’, in Historia tes Kyprou, IV, Mesaionikon Basileion, Henetokratia, ed. Th. Papa-dopoullos, Nicosia 1995, 409-410; K. Fleet, Euro-pean and Islamic Trade in the Early Ottoman State, The Merchants of Genoa and Turkey, Cambridge 1999, pp. 23-26.

46 CSFS 31, no. 143. 47 CSFS 49, no. 147.


pets.48 The variety of vessels used for the trans-

port of grain to Armenia, either exclusively or in conjunction with other commodities, merits discussion. The large transport ship known as the naves, ideal for the transport of bulky low value items such as grain, are mentioned most often, with eleven specific allusions to them. Next most frequently mentioned are the gal-leys, with four mentions, while the ligna, like the galleys smaller than the naves, are specifi-cally mentioned three times. In addition, there are isolated allusions to two other types of ship, the tarida and the gamella. Two notarial deeds of January 1300 and another four of February 1300 mention the navis named Santa Maria, belonging to Brance or Baronus de Cas-tro as being used to transport grain from Cy-prus to Cilician Armenia.49 A deed of April 1300 mentions the Saint Salvador, the navis of the Catalan Robert Ginetus, described as hav-ing three sails, forty sailors, eleven hawsers of which eight were new, five servants, as well as masts, rudders, timber, water, bread and other necessaries. A notarial deed of October 1300 mentions the St Mary of Nazareth, the navis of Lawrence de Gozo from Ragusa, as being forcibly unloaded in Candia, Crete, while trav-elling with wheat and oil for Cilician Armenia, and two deeds of November 1300 mention the navis of the prominent Genoese family of Lo-mellini, although its name is not given.50 Fi-nally, a notarial deed of November 1309 men-tions the unnamed navis of Maioranus from Ancona, which had transported wheat, silks, hides, rugs and woollen capes from Pera to Cyprus, with Laiazzo as its final destination.51 With the exception of the navis belonging to the Catalan Robert Ginetus, which set sail in springtime, all the other naves journeyed from Cyprus to Cilician Armenia in late autumn or

____________ 48 CSFS 43, no. 28 (de Rocha). 49 Desimoni, ‘Actes génois’, nos. 37-38, 56, and

67-69. 50 Desimoni, ‘Actes génois’, no. 109; CSFS 31,

nos. 76 and 100-101. 51 CSFS 43, no. 28 (de Rocha).

winter, the six journeys performed by Brance de Castro all taking place in January and Feb-ruary. Given that the seas were stormier and so more perilous in late autumn and winter it was to be expected that the naves, large heavy transports better able to cope with rough weather, would make the journey between Cy-prus and Cilician Armenia, notwithstanding its short duration, in these months.

Another kind of ship mentioned in trans-porting grain from Cyprus to Cilician Armenia was the galley, alluded to in four notarial deeds. On 17 February 1300 the Pisan Cele Mele undertook to export wheat to Cilicia on behalf of the Genoese Oddone de Sexto on board the navis belonging to Brance de Castro but to send back the money received from sell-ing it on board the galley belonging to Albax-ius Aurie, either by itself or with him returning on the galley as well. On 24 February 1300 Nicolas de Sagona, the son of Simon and a resident of Famagusta, received 1.000 bezants’ worth of wheat for export to Cilicia, once again from the Genoese Oddone de Sexto.52 He was empowered to return the money received from selling this wheat on board the galley belonging to Albaxius Aurie, or to bring it with him on board the same galley or on some other suitable vessel, the word used being lig-num indicating a vessel smaller than a navis. The document, however, does not state that the wheat was to be transported to Cilicia on board this galley, for whereas the smaller galleys and ligna were perfectly suitable for the transport of persons, money and small high value article bulky low value commodities like grain were transported better on board the large transport ships called naves. Nonetheless, on occasion galleys were also used for transporting grain, as is attested in the notarial deed of 22 No-vember 1300, in which Giacomo de Signano, a Genoese burgess of Famagusta, promised the Venetian Peter Gabrielis that he would com-pensate him for any financial losses sustained if this galley, with its cargo of wheat and bar-ley, set sail for Cilician Armenia without the

____________ 52 Desimoni, ‘Actes génois’, nos. 67 and 70.


permission of the Cypriot authorities. The deed of December 1309 regarding the transport of wheat belonging to Lanzarotto de Curte and Simon Cevola to Cilicia Armenia, already dis-cussed above, likewise stated that it would be taken there on board the galley belonging to Bindus de Capsio and the Pisan Berthogius.53

The lignum, a smaller vessel than the navis, is mentioned three times in the notarial deeds recording grain exports from Cyprus to Cilician Armenia. On 29 January 1301 the Pisan shopkeeper Guy hired his lignum, a two-masted covered sailing ship named the San Giorgio, to the Genoese Rocha di Voltri for transporting grain from Famagusta to Laiazzo with freight charges set at 12 white bezants for every 100 modii, as well as advancing him a loan of 400 white bezants. Two weeks later, on 13 February 1301, Giacomo di Rocha prom-ised to repay the same Guy a debt of 31 white bezants within twelve days from when this same ship had unloaded its cargo of wheat in Laiazzo. Clearly Guy’s ship, despite being smaller than a navis, transported grain from Cyprus to Cilician Armenia on a regular basis. Furthermore, on 29 April 1302 a trading asso-ciation of one Pisan, two brothers from Laodicea in Syria, and two Genoese, already discussed above, agreed to transport 1.700 Cypriot modii of wheat worth 3.000 white bez-ants from Famagusta to Laiazzo on board the lignum belonging to the Genoese Anselm Gui-donis.54 Despite being smaller, the lignum like the navis was used for transporting grain from Cyprus to Cilician Armenia, and in two out of the three instances mentioned the transporta-tion took place in winter, indicating that this inclement season was not an impediment in the use of these ships.

As regards ships, there is also an isolated reference to the tarida, a transport ship with sails but also oars if there was insufficient wind, which possibly originated from the Red Sea area but came to be used by Christians as

____________ 53 CSFS 31, no. 127; CSFS 43, no. 29 (de Ro-

cha). 54 CSFS 31, nos. 207 and 223; CSFS 49, no. 182.

well as Muslims.55 On 26 October 1301 Gia-como de Signano undertook to transport 1.000 white bezants’ worth of wheat belonging to Giovanni Lanfranc to Armenia on board the tarida of a certain Facino Arditus, a Genoese resident of Famagusta who had regular busi-ness dealings involving Cilician Armenia, as appears from other notarial deeds mentioning him.56 Most intriguing is the reference to a gamella found in a notarial deed of 2 Decem-ber 1300, in which the Genoese Anthony son of Mussus acknowledged the receipt from Od-done de Sexto of 100 white bezants, of which each party had half, invested in wheat which Anthony was to journey with to Tarsus, sell there and then return to Cyprus ‘cum gamella mea et tua’, which must refer to some type of seagoing vessel.57 Clearly, despite the expected and most oft-mentioned instances of naves, the largest transport vessels and those most suit-able for carrying bulky low-value goods such as grain, in the Genoese notarial deeds of the period 1296-1310, the allusion to a variety of other vessels serving the same purpose shows that practice was by no means uniform as re-gards the type of ship used to carry grain from Cyprus to Cilician Armenia.

The season these ships sailed in was like-wise variable, but an examination of the notar-ial deeds concerning the export of grain from Cyprus to Cilician Armenia and the time of year they made the outward journey indicates clearly that whereas spring and summer were the preferred seasons for voyages by sea throughout the Mediterranean area, the major-ity of voyages made by these particular vessels took place in the seasons of late autumn and winter. Of the total of forty five extant notarial deeds recording exports of grain on voyages from Cyprus to Cilician Armenia no less than

____________ 55 J.H. Pryor, Geography, Technology and War,

Studies in the Maritime History of the Mediterra-nean 649-1571, Cambridge 1988, 19922, pp. 28 and 32.

56 CSFS 32, no. 236. 57 CSFS 31, no. 139.


19 record voyages taking place in winter.58 Besides the winter journeys ten of these deeds record voyages taking place in autumn,59 an-other ten record voyages taking place in spring60 and a mere six record voyages taking place in summer.61 The proportions regarding sailing seasons are similar to those Sandra Origone has given in her study of the Cypriot grain trade.62 How is this seasonably unusual proportion to be explained? One explanation is the short distance involved, which minimized the perils of stormy seas, thereby encouraging voyages in winter, as well as in spring and autumn. Another factor is the relative fre-quency of the heavy transports called naves in journeys made in late autumn and winter, from November to February, for eight out of the ten naves mentioned journeyed in this period. Their size and bulk provided an additional insurance against stormy weather, although one must stress that as mentioned above the smaller galleys and ligna journeying with grain from Cyprus to Armenia likewise made most of their journeys in winter or late autumn. A third important factor to consider was the rela-tive inactivity of pirates in the winter season. Pirates in the Mediterranean tended to prey on shipping during spring and autumn, the peak seasons for sailing when most merchant ships made their long distance journeys from one end of the Mediterranean to the other.63 The winter season was therefore safer for vessels able to cover the short distance from Cyprus to

____________ 58 Desimoni, ‘Actes génois’, nos. 35, 37-38, 40,

48, 62, 64, 67, 69, 70-71; CSFS 31, nos. 139, 143, 207, 217, 222-223; CSFS 43, no. 29 (de Rocha); CSFS 49, no. 18.

59 CSFS 31, nos. 56, 96, 100-101, 112, 127, 134; CSFS 32, nos. 229 and 236; CSFS 43, no. 28 (de Rocha).

60 Desimoni, ‘Actes génois’, nos. 106-107; CSFS 31, nos. 138, 265, 368 and 378; CSFS 49, nos. 120, 147, 174 and 182.

61 Desimoni, ‘Actes génois’, 155 and 206; CSFS 32, nos. 28 and 56; CSFS 43, no. 22 (di Sambuceto, pt.1); CSFS 49, no. 205.

62 Origone, ‘Commercio di grano’, p. 159. 63 Pryor, Geography, pp. 99 and 156.

Cilician Armenia. In addition, the bulky and relatively low value cargos of grain they were transporting would hardly have provided tempting prey for pirates.

Despite the relatively low risks involved in transporting grain from Cyprus to Cilician Armenia the proportion of profits for mer-chants transporting the goods was small. Ac-cording to the terms of the frequently drawn up in commendam contracts, giving a portion of the profits to the borrower and carrier of the sum advanced in cash or kind, merchants transporting such grain invariably received one fourth of the profits. This is attested in eight-een notarial deeds regarding the export of grain from Cyprus to Cilician Armenia.64 By around 1300 this was the standard share for this type of contract, but similar in commen-dam contracts found in the notarial deeds drawn up by Leonardo Marcello, a notary working in Candia, Crete, during the 1270s and 1280s, give carriers one third or even one half of the profits. Following the fall of all the Latin strongholds and cities in Syria and Pales-tine by 1291, the eastern Mediterranean was considered more risky.65 Nevertheless, every rule has its exceptions. In a notarial deed of 15 February 1301 a certain Iachetto from Acre acknowledged receipt of 280 white bezants’ worth of soap from Falacce de Belheme, to be exported from Cyprus to Cilician Armenia and with profits to be split equally between the borrower and creditor.66 No such exceptions arise, however, in those contracts involving the export of grain, either by itself or in conjunc-tion with other commodities.

What does appear, however, especially in the documents from 1302 onwards, are in-stances in which the carrier agrees to transport the creditor’s goods free of charge. The first

____________ 64 Desimoni, ‘Actes génois’, nos. 48, 67 and 106-

107; CSFS 31, nos. 56, 96, 134, 143, 217, 222, 368 and 378; CSFS 32, nos. 229 and 236; CSFS 49, nos. 120, 138, 147 and 182.

65 E. Ashtor, Levant Trade in the Later Middle Ages, Princeton 1983, p. 43.

66 CSFS 31, no. 228.


instance of this is a notarial deed dated 12 No-vember 1300. According to its terms, the Ge-noese Silvestrino Lavorabem acknowledged receipt from his fellow citizen Oberto de Monte of 2.285 white bezants’ worth of wheat, undertaking to dispatch it to Laiazzo without obtaining any share of the profit.67 In a deed dated 15 January 1302 the Pisan Cele Mele likewise undertook to have transported on board the ship belonging to his brother Guy 1802 bezants’ worth of wheat and soap be-longing to Cosmas and Damian, the brothers from Laodicea, without requesting a share of the profits or even freight charges. Likewise on 13 April 1302 the Pisan Andreoto de Gui-zardo undertook to transport to Laiazzo ‘gratis et amore’, namely without freight charges or obtaining a share of the profits, 1.200 Cypriot modii of wheat worth 2.400 white bezants for his fellow Pisan Zano de Lanfreduciis.68 Fur-thermore, on 2 August 1305 the Genoese Boni-face de Rapallo promised to transport for his fellow citizen Iachetto, a spice seller, 200 white bezants invested in wheat to Laiazzo ‘gratis et amore’, although in this case Boni-face likewise had wheat of his own destined for Cilician Armenia.69 Perhaps the dispatch of such consignments free of charge and with no share of the profits given to the carrier was a way of repaying outstanding debts by provid-ing services.

While most of the extant notarial deeds relating to the export of grain from or via Cy-prus to Cilician Armenia record in commen-dam loans with the carrier obtaining one fourth of the profits, other types of deed also appear, namely associations, deeds involving banking houses and the appointment of procurators. In a deed of 31 January 1300 Manuel Salvaigus in association with Leo Salvaigus bought 100 salmae of wheat from Salvino Bave, to be shipped to Cilician Armenia, sold there, and with both undertaking to give Salvino or his agent 9.500 new Armenian daremi from the

____________ 67 CSFS 31, no. 112. 68 CSFS 49, nos. 18 and 174. 69 CSFS 43, no. 22 (di Sambuceto, pt.1).

proceeds of the sale. In another deed of 31 January 1300 the same Manuel Salvaigus, now in association with Adalanus Boccanigra, ac-knowledged owing the sum of 2.700 new Ar-menian daremi to Salvino Bave, due to him as part payment of 50 salmae of wheat bound for Armenia, with payment of the sum to be made there.70 On 3 February 1300 the partners Boni-face Anioinus and Franceschinus Bestagnus received 100 salmae of wheat from Salvino Bave of Sagona, loaded on board the ship be-longing to Brance de Castro, and acknowl-edged that they owed him 5.000 Armenian daremi for it, a clear indication that the wheat was bound for Armenia. They promised to pay him or his agent in Layacio within the next 13 days. In a notarial deed of 4 February 1300 Facinus Arditus and George Sagona in partner-ship purchased 100 salmae of wheat from the above mentioned Leo Salvaigus, jointly prom-ising to give him, either directly or via inter-mediaries, 9.500 new Armenian daremi in Lai-azzo within the month of February. In another act of 23 February 1300 Salvinus Bave under-took to transport to the port of Pals in Cilician Armenia and sell 100 salmae of wheat for Stephen and William of Tripoli, who may have been partners although the deed does not men-tion them as being ‘in solidum’. In this deed, the wheat was to be sold for 11.500 Armenian daremi, 2.000 more than the same quantity mentioned in the deed dated 4 February, but no explanation for this is given.71

On occasion investors formed an associa-tion, with one of them or an outside party un-dertaking to transport the grain from Cyprus to Armenia. On 7 February 1300 three Genoese, Philip de Sancto Siro, Obertus de Monte and Faciolus de Clavaro formed an association or society among themselves, although the sums each had invested in a consignment of wheat and soap destined for Cilician Armenia were not equal, with Philip investing 1.600 white bezants, Obertus 300 white bezants, 100 for himself and 200 on behalf of Peter Azator,

____________ 70 Desimoni, ‘Actes génois’, nos. 37-38. 71 Desimoni, ‘Actes génois’, nos. 56, 62 and 69.


likewise Genoese, and Faciolus 558 white bez-ants. Faciolus undertook to transport the con-signment to Tarsus, with one quarter of the profits for himself, a portion similar to the standard in commendam contracts but involv-ing an association as opposed to a single credi-tor.72 In a deed of 20 April 1300 similar to the preceding one the above mentioned Philip de Sancto Siro and Obertus de Monte appear as associates with Bartholomew de Altenato in advancing sums of 600, 600 and 400 white bezants respectively, a total of 1.600 in all invested in wheat, to Nicholas Cavazutus, a Genoese resident of Famagusta, who under-took to transport and sell it in Armenia, keep-ing one fourth of the profits.73 Finally, in a deed dated 29 April 1302, two Genoese, Philip de Sancto Syro and Andreas Bozatus, along with Cosmas and Damian, two brothers from Laodicea, invested 3.000 white bezants in equal parts in 1.700 Cypriot modii of wheat, which the Pisan Segerius Porcellus undertook to transport on board the ship of the Genoese Anselm Guidonis, the Sant’ Antonio. The four partners had already paid the freight charges and Segerius would receive one fourth of the profits, repaying the partners on his return to either Laiazzo or Cyprus.74

An interesting form of partnership took place on 19 October 1300 between two Ge-noese, Corrado de Sancto Donato and Oddone de Sexto, with Corrado acknowledging receipt from Oddone of 1.000 white bezants in com-mendam with one fourth of the profits. He also had, however, the possibility of borrowing a further 5.000 from him and the obligation to invest 1.500 to 2.000 white bezants of his own money in the whole venture, which consisted of purchasing wheat and barley from the Paphos area and then travelling with it from Famagusta to Armenia. Furthermore, the deed stipulated that Corrado’s share of the profits, other than for the 1.000 bezants mentioned above, would be in proportion to the sums he

____________ 72 Desimoni, ‘Actes génois’, no. 48. 73 Desimoni, ‘Actes génois’, no. 106. 74 CSFS 49, no. 182.

invested ‘in dicta societate, sive racione’ word-ing that indicates a partnership rather than a standard in commendam contract.75 Another interesting wording is found in a contract whereby Anthony son of the Genoese Musso acknowledged receipt from Oddone de Sexto of 100 white bezants invested in wheat ‘pro duabus partibus’, undertaking to ship this con-signment to Tarsus.76 Such references, from one to five parts, occur in other notarial acts of the period, and Catherine Otten-Froux has ar-gued that each part in such cases refers to a sum of 50 bezants. If, as is possible, this is the incipient stage of a kind of joint stock com-pany, then this in turn explains why there is no reference to an apportionment of profits in this as in other similar deeds, given that the profit sharing would be clear to all those participat-ing in such enterprises and would not fluctuate in these kinds of contract.77

A more formal reference to an association is found in a notarial deed dated 2 August 1301, in which Manuel de Sancto Thoma ap-pointed Ianuinus de Iso his procurator for ex-amining the accounts of an association he had formed with Stephen the draper and Giovanni de Porta according to the terms of the public instrument drawn up by the hand of the public notary Peter Stornellus on 7 May 1301. Ianu-inus was to secure for Manuel his share of the wheat in possession of his partner Giovanni as well as anything else he was due to receive from him or another party, now or in future, in Laiazzo, the principal port of Cilician Arme-nia.78 There are several references to procura-tors in the notarial deeds concerning exports of grain from Cyprus to Armenia. A deed of 2 February 1300 records Francis Bestagnus as being the procurator of Matthew Bestagnus, clearly a relative, as well as the substitute procurator of Percival de Castro, also Mat-thew’s procurator. This moreover, had been recorded in a public instrument of 2 February

____________ 75 CSFS 31, no. 56. 76 CSFS 31, no. 139. 77 Otten-Froux, ‘Relations’, p. 165. 78 CSFS 32, no. 28.


1300 written by the hand of Lamberto di Sam-buceto. As Matthew’s procurator Francis re-ceived 6.914 Armenian daremi from Adalono Boccanigra who had sold some wheat Matthew had dispatched to him from Famagusta. On 24 February 1300 Oddone de Sexto nominated Nicolas de Sagona as his procurator for obtain-ing 100 salmae of wheat he had purchased from Thomas Coffinus at the rate of 70 Arme-nian daremi per Armenian modius. He was to recover the wheat from the Pisan Cele Mele, in whose possession it manifestly was, paying him on receipt of the wheat within 15 days of receipt.79

On 25 June 1300 Leonard de Ripparolia likewise appointed two procurators, Giovanni de Clavaro and Raymond of Messina, to re-cover 117 salmae of wheat unloaded in Lai-azzo from his ship and delivered to two ware-houses there he had placed in the care of David Ferro. The procurators were to sell this wheat and pay David 3.198 Armenian daremi from the proceeds of the sale, but the remainder of the sum would be given to a certain Francis de Rapallo, as Leonard declared in his presence. On 29 November 1300 Nicholas de Signano acted as the procurator of Giacomo de Sig-nano, clearly a relative, when the latter and Oddone de Sexto advanced 954 white bezants invested in wheat in equal shares to Corrado de Clavaro, who undertook to ship it from Paphos to Tarsus, keeping one fourth of the profits.80 On 7 March 1301 Francesco de Mangano, a citizen of Genoa, appointed the Genoese Gas-pare de Sauro as his procurator for the recov-ery and sale of a consignment of wheat and barley already in Armenia and which belonged to him, which the procurator was empowered to sell on his behalf, to invest the proceeds of the sale and to return these to Francesco, with Francesco’s present and future goods being placed as a surety. In addition, when on 19 November 1309 Simonino Cevola acknowl-edged the receipt from Francis of Cremona of

____________ 79 Desimoni, ‘Actes génois’, nos. 54 and 71. 80 Desimoni, ‘Actes génois’, no. 155; CSFS 31,

no. 134.

the wheat and other commodities arriving in Famagusta from Pera and destined for Laiazzo, Francis was acting, as the deed states, as the procurator of Ianotus de Ghisolfi as was out-lined in the public instrument written on 4 Oc-tober 1309 by the hand of the notary Bertoni Bonvicini.81

Those participating in the short-distance grain trade between Cyprus and Armenia were not simply merchants, but originated from a variety of professional backgrounds. Some were major traders, such as the Genoese Od-done de Sexto who sold large quantities of grain for export to Armenia via other carriers. He is mentioned in eight notarial acts concern-ing the export of grain to Armenia, which re-cord him sending the grain there through the agency of the Pisan Cele Mele, Nicholas of Savona, Corrado de Sancto Donato, Corrado de Clavaro, Anthony the son of Musso, Domenico di Valle from Rapallo and Giorgio Corres.82 The monetary value of the grain transactions he was involved in, excluding one in which he acted as a procurator but including one with a monetary value of 9.100 Armenian daremi, amounted to over 7.500 white bez-ants.83 Another important seller of grain was Salvinus Bave of Savona, who is mentioned in seven notarial deeds of 1300 as having sold wheat worth a total of 74.980 Armenian daremi.84 Other major players included the above mentioned ship owner Brancus de Cas-tro, who in 1300 is attested as having jour-neyed six times to Cilician Armenia with grain shipments, as well as the Genoese merchants Philip de Sancto Siro, a burgess of Famagusta, and Oberto di Monte, each mentioned as ex-porters of grain via carriers in five and four

____________ 81 CSFS 31, no. 265; CSFS 43, no. 28 (de Ro-

cha). 82 Desimoni, ‘Actes génois’, nos. 67 and 70-71;

CSFS 31, nos. 56, 134, 139 and 378; CSFS 49, no. 120.

83 CSFS 31, no. 378 is not included, while De-simoni, ‘Actes génois’, no. 71 records a sum in Armenian daremi.

84 Desimoni, ‘Actes génois’, nos. 35, 37-38, 40, 56, 64 and 69.


deeds respectively, the value of their respec-tive grain exports amounting to 5.662 and 4.085 white bezants.85 Among the noble Ge-noese families mentioned in notarial deeds involving the export of grain to Cilician Ar-menia were the De Porta, the Bestagno, the Salvago, the Buccanigra, the Signano and the Ghisolfi.86 Non-noble Genoese included mem-bers of the Lavorabem and the de Rocha fami-lies, while Antonio Saba is specifically men-tioned in two deeds as a citizen of Genoa.87

The participants in the grain trade be-tween Cyprus and Cilician Armenia included persons resident in Famagusta who on occa-sion were also burgesses of the city as opposed to merchants in transit. Such persons, Genoese and others, included Nicolas de Sagona, who was a debtor and proctor of Oddone de Sexto, as appears from two deeds of 24 February 1300. The Genoese Nicolas Cavazutus, who according to two deeds of 20 April 1300 un-dertook to transport consignments of wheat to Cilician Armenia for Philip de Sancto Syro and other Genoese merchants, likewise resided in Famagusta.88 The above mentioned Oddone de Sexto, a major dealer in grain, was also resident in Famagusta, and a notarial deed of 3 February 1300 signed in his house mentions it as being ‘ante domum Templi’.89 Another Ge-noese resident of Famagusta, who was also a burgess of the city, was Giacomo de Signano, who on 22 November 1300 guaranteed to re-imburse the Venetian ship owner Peter Gab-rielis if he suffered financial losses for sailing to Armenia without permission from the Cyp-riot authorities. Other residents and burgesses

____________ 85 For Brancus de Castro see Desimoni, ‘Actes

génois’, nos. 37-38, 56 and 67-69, for Philip de Sancto Siro see Desimoni, ‘Actes génois’, nos. 48, 106-107; CSFS 31, no. 378 and CSFS 49 no. 182. For Oberto di Monte see Desimoni, ‘Actes génois’, nos. 48, 106-107 and 206; CSFS 31, no. 112.

86 Desimoni, ‘Actes génois’, nos. 35, 37-38, 54 and 56; CSFS 31, nos. 134 and 143; CSFS 32, no. 28.

87 CSFS 31, nos. 112, 207, 217 and 222-223. 88 Desimoni, ‘Actes génois’, nos. 70-71 and 106-

107. 89 Desimoni, ‘Actes génois’, no. 55.

of Famagusta involved in the export of grain to Cilician Armenia were the Genoese Giorgio Cores, who on 14 March 1302 agreed to ship a consignment of wheat to Tarsus for Oddone de Sexto, and the brothers Cosmas and Damian of Laodicea, already discussed above.90

Also taking part in the export of grain from Cyprus to Cilician Armenia were various persons other than merchants who engaged this type of commerce, generally as transporters, by way of having a profitable sideline. Among them can be mentioned the Genoese Nicolinus, a dealer in cheeses who received on 9 August 1300 a consignment of corn worth 500 white bezants from Oberto di Monte, undertaking to take it to Armenia with a share of one fourth of the profits. Another such individual was the Pisan shopkeeper Guy, who had his own cov-ered sailing ship with two masts, the San Gior-gio, which he hired out to the Genoese Gia-como de Rocha on 29 January 1301 so that the latter could transport grain from Famagusta to Laiazzo, the freight charge being 12 white bezants per 100 modii of Famagusta. He ap-pears subsequently in two more deeds, both dated 13 February 1301. The first deed is an acknowledgement on the part of Giacomo de Rocha that he owed Guy 31 white bezants rep-resenting freight charges for consignments of wheat Guy had transported for him on previ-ous occasions, and Giacomo undertook to re-pay him within twelve days from when Guy’s ship, the San Giorgio, had been unloaded in Cilician Armenia. The second deed records him as having borrowed 350 white bezants from Giacomo de Zanterio of Messina for a commercial venture to Armenia, with an enti-tlement to one quarter of the profits. These three deeds mentioning Guy indicate that he made commercial journeys between Cyprus and Cilician Armenia on a regular basis.91

Proffessionals and artisans also advanced sums of money invested in wheat or barley to

____________ 90 CSFS 31, no. 127; CSFS 49, nos. 120, 147 and

182. 91 Desimoni, ‘Actes génois’, no. 206; CSFS 31,

nos. 207 and 223-224.


others undertaking to transport the grain itself. One such instance was the physician Master Thomas, a resident of Famagusta, who on 10 February 1301 advanced 279 white bezants invested in wheat to the Genoese Giacomo de Rocha. The latter undertook to transport it to Laiazzo, keeping one fourth of the profits from the proceeds of its sale, and a citizen of Genoa named Antonio Saba acted as Giacomo’s guar-antor.92 Such persons, for whom commerce was not their main occupation, also partici-pated in the trading associations formed with a view to investing sums in the grain trade be-tween Cyprus and Armenia. The society formed according to a public instrument dated 7 May 1301 and regarding the accounts and liabilities of which Manuel de Sancto Thoma, a founding member, appointed Genovino de Iso as his procurator, so as to examine what the others owed him, included among its other two members a certain Stephen the draper. An interesting case of an artisan investing in the export of grain to Armenia was Domenzius, a tanner dealing in medicines, who on 1 June 1302 advanced 300 white bezants invested in wheat to the Genoese Nicolas Cavazutus, who undertook to ship it to Cilician Armenia and sell it, keeping for himself one fourth of the profits. Another investor in the grain trade of the time, but not a merchant, was the Genoese spice seller Iachetto, who on 2 August 1305 advanced 200 white bezants invested in wheat to his fellow citizen Boniface de Rappalo, who undertook to transport the wheat free of charge to Laiazzo and there to reimburse either him or his mother, who appears to have been resident in Cilician Armenia.93

Can any patterns be discerned as regards the sums invested in the export of grain from Cyprus to Cilician Armenia? Of the 28 notarial deeds giving specific sums in white Cyprus bezants two record transactions worth under

____________ 92 CSFS 31, no. 217. 93 CSFS 32, no. 28; CSFS 43, no. 22 (di Sam-

buceto, pt.1); CSFS 49, no. 205.

250 bezants,94 three record transactions worth between 250 and 500 bezants,95 four record transactions worth between 500 and 1.000 bezants,96 no less than 14 record transactions worth between 1.000 and 2.500 bezants97 and four record transactions worth between 2.500 and 4.000 white bezants.98 From this it is clear that over half the transactions recorded in-volved sums of between 1.000 and 2.500 white bezants. Turning to a further 13 notarial deeds recording transactions in Armenian daremi, one observes that four deeds record transac-tions worth between 2.000 and 5.000 daremi,99 five record transactions worth between 5.000 and 10.000 daremi,100 three record transactions worth between 10.000 and 20.000 daremi101 and one records a transactions worth over 20.000 Armenian daremi.102 Given that one white bezant was worth roughly 3.6 Armenian daremi one can convert these 13 transactions into white bezants and add them to the preced-ing 27 transactions. One examining the 41 transactions together, one sees that two record transactions worth under 250 bezants, three record transactions worth between 250 and 500 bezants, eight record transactions worth be-tween 500 and 1.000 bezants, 17 record trans-actions worth between 1.000 and 2.500 bezants and eleven record transactions worth between 2.500 and 4.000 white bezants. No less than 28

____________ 94 CSFS 31, no. 39; CSFS 43, no. 22 (di Sam-

buceto, pt.1). 95 Desimoni, ‘Actes génois’, no. 107; CSFS 31,

no. 217; CSFS 49, no. 205. 96 Desimoni, ‘Actes génois’, no. 206; CSFS 31,

no. 134; CSFS 49, nos. 120 and 138. 97 Desimoni, ‘Actes génois’, nos. 67, 70 and 106;

CSFS 31, nos. 56, 96, 101, 112, 143, 222 and 378; CSFS 32, nos. 229 and 236; CSFS 49, nos. 18 and 174.

98 CSFS 31, nos. 207 and 368; CSFS 49, nos. 147 and 182.

99 Desimoni, ‘Actes génois’, nos. 38, 48 and 155; CSFS 31, no. 100.

100 Desimoni, ‘Actes génois’, nos. 37, 54, 56, 62 and 71.

101 Desimoni, ‘Actes génois’, nos. 40, 64 and 69. 102 Desimoni, ‘Actes génois’, no. 35.


transactions, nearly three fourths of the total, involve sums of one thousand bezants or more, while eleven transactions, well over one fourth of the total, involve sums of between 2.500 and 5.583 white bezants.

In the light of the above figures, taken from extant notarial deeds drawn up in Cyprus in the years 1300-1309, one can surmise that grain shipments from or via Cyprus to Cilician Armenia between the years 1300 -1309 for the most part involved large quantities of grain worth 1.000 white bezants or more. Clearly there was a considerable demand for grain in the Cilician kingdom of Armenia during the first decade of the fourteenth century, and one must ask what caused it. During this period the kingdom of Armenia was in a near continuous state of war with the powerful Mamluk sultan-ate which controlled Egypt, Palestine and Syria. Armenian forces supported the Mongol invasions of Syria in late 1299 and early 1300, and the Muslim historian Al-Makrizi states that King Hetum II of Armenia with his troops pillaged the suburb of al-Salihiyya outside Damascus in revenge for the ravaging of his lands.103 Another Muslim writer, Al-Ayni, likewise states that the Armenians destroyed Al-Salihiyya because:

The lord of Sis hated the Muslims in his heart for what they had done in his territory which had been taken from him, and for the destruction which had been laid waste, and for his men which they had killed, and for the raids which were recurring against his territory from the side of the Muslims.104

Mamluks raids against Cilician Armenia on a regular basis continued in the fourteenth century. They raided Cilician Armenia in the summer of 1302, burning crops, attacking Sis, the Armenian capital, and looting from the

____________ 103 A.D. Stewart, The Armenian Kingdom and the

Mamluks: War and Diplomacy during the reigns of Het‘um II (1289-1307), Leiden 2001, pp. 136-141.

104 Stewart, Armenian Kingdom, p. 142.

fugitives making for the citadel. In the summer of 1304 a new Mamluk army invaded Cilician Armenia, burning crops, plundering and taking captives. Another devastating raid took place in 1305/1306, although this time the Armeni-ans, assisted by Mongols and Franks, defeated the marauding forces.105 But this momentary reverse did not make up for the permanent loss in 1298 of the Armenian fortresses of the Amanus mountain range in south east Cilicia to the Mamluks, making the fertile Cilician plain permanently vulnerable to devastating Mamluk raids.106 Such raids and the resultant destruction of crops explain the demand for grain from Cyprus during the period. A second reason, complementary to the first, may have been a major drought affecting the whole of the eastern Mediterranean in the 1290s, includ-ing Egypt, Syria and Cyprus.107 This explains the large quantities of grain imported from southern Italy and the Crimea, for as stated above the grain exported from Cyprus to Cilician Armenia was not invariably produced on the island, but on occasion reached Cilician Armenia via Cyprus. Cyprus was once again afflicted by drought and forced to import grain from abroad during the first decade of the fourteenth century.108 In the light of the above the grain trade involving Cyprus and Cilician Armenia can be seen within a wider as well as a local context.

____________ 105 S. der Nersessian, ‘The Kingdom of Cilician

Armenia’, in A History of the Crusades, ed. K.M. Setton, 6 vols. Philadelphia/Madison 1955-1989, II, 657-658; Stewart, Armenian Kingdom, pp. 153-168.

106 Nersessian, ‘Cilician Armenia’, p. 657; Stew-art, Armenian Kingdom, pp. 159-163 and 170-171.

107 J. Richard, ‘L’ordonnance de Décembre 1296 sur le prix du pain à Chypre’, in idem., Orient et Occident au Moyen Age: contacts et relations (XIIe-XVe s.), Aldershot 1976, 19974, XX, p. 45.

108 ‘Chronique d’Amadi’, in Chroniques d’Amadi et de Strambaldi, ed. R. de Mas Latrie, 2 vols. Paris 1891-1893, I, 292-293; Florio Bustron, ‘Chronique de l’île de Chypre’, ed. R. de Mas Latrie in Collection des documents inédits sur l’histoire de France: Mélanges historiques, V, Paris 1886, 172-173.


BIBLIOGRAPHY

Primary sources and Chronicles

‘Actes passées à Famagouste de 1299 à 1301 devant le notaire Génois Lamberto di Sambuceto’, ed. C. Desimoni, Archives de l΄Orient latin, II (1884); Revue de l’Orient latin, I (1893),

Notai genovesi in Oltremare: Atti rogati a Cipro da Lamberto di Sambuceto (11Ottobre 1296-23 Giugno 1299), ed. M. Balard, Collana Storica di Fonti e Studi (henceforth CSFS) 39, Genoa, 1982.

Notai genovesi in Oltremare: Atti rogati a Cipro da Lamberto di Sambuceto (3 Iuglio 1300-3 Agosto 1301), ed. V. Polonio, CSFS 31, Genoa, 1982.

Notai genovesi in Oltremare: Atti rogati a Cipro da Lamberto di Sambuceto (6 Iuglio-27 Ottobre 1301), ed. R. Pavoni, CSFS 32, Genoa, 1982.

Notai genovesi in Oltremare: Atti rogati a Cipro da Lamberto di Sambuceto (31 Marzo 1304-19 Iuglio 1305, 4 Gennaio-12 Iuglio 1307), Giovanni de Rocha (3 Agosto 1308-14 Marzo 1310), ed. M. Balard, CSFS 43 (Genoa, 1984),

Notai genovesi in Oltremare: Atti rogati a Cipro da Lamberto di Sambuceto (Gennaio – Agosto 1302), ed. R. Pavoni, CSFS 49, Genoa 1987, no. 120.

‘Chronique d’Amadi’, in Chroniques d’Amadi et de Strambaldi, ed. R. de Mas Latrie, 2 vols. Paris 1891-1893, I.

Florio Bustron, ‘Chronique de l’île de Chypre’, ed. R. de Mas Latrie in Collection des documents inédits sur l’histoire de France: Mélanges historiques, V, Paris 1886.

Secondary Works E. Ashtor, Levant Trade in the Middle Ages

(Princeton, 1983), K. Fleet, European and Islamic Trade in the

Early Ottoman State, The Merchants of Genoa and Turkey, Cambridge 1999.

D. Jacoby, ‘To emporio kai he oikonomia tes Kyprou (1191-1489)’, in Historia tes Kyprou, IV, Mesaionikon Basileion, Hene-tokratia, ed. Th. Papadopoullos, Nicosia 1995.

C. Otten-Froux, ‘Les relations économiques entre Chypre et le royaume arménien de Cilicie d’après les actes notaries (1270-1320)’, L’Armenie et Byzance, histoire et culture, Byzantina Sorbonensia 12, Paris 1996.

S. Origone, ‘Il commercio di grano a Cipro (1299-1301)’, Miscellanea di studi storici, II, CSFS 38, Genoa 1983.

J.H. Pryor, Geography, Technology and War, Studies in the Maritime History of the Mediterranean 649-1571, Cambridge 1988, 19922.

J. Richard, ‘L’ordonnance de Décembre 1296 sur le prix du pain à Chypre’, in idem., Orient et Occident au Moyen Age: contacts et relations (XIIe-XVe s.), Aldershot 1976, 19974, XX.

S. der Nersessian, ‘The Kingdom of Cilician Armenia’, in A History of the Crusades, ed. K.M. Setton, 6 vols. Philadelphia/Madison 1955-1989, II.

A.D. Stuart, The Armenian Kingdom and the Mamluks: War and Diplomacy during the Reign of Het‘um II (1289-1307), Leiden, 2001.

BIOGRAPHY

Nicholas Coureas is a historian of Lusig-nan Cyprus and a full-time member of staff at the Cyprus Research Centre. He has written numerous articles covering all aspects of the history of Lusignan Cyprus as well as bringing out various books, including The Latin Church in Cyprus, 1195-1312, Ashgate 1997, The As-sizes of the Lusignan Kingdom of Cyprus, Nicosia 2002 and George Boustronios, Chronicle of Cyprus, 1456-1489. He is now writing The Latin Church in Cyprus, 1313-


1378.

Documents

GENOESE MERCHANTS AND THE EXPORT OF GRAIN FROM CYPRUS... NICHOLAS COUREAS GENOESE MERCHANTS AND THE EXPORT OF GRAIN FROM CYPRUS OF CILICIAN ARMENIA: 1300-1310