After the “Orange Revolution” of 2004, uses of the past in Ukrainian politics became evident. Instead of discussion of the current situation and perspectives of Ukraine’s further development the elites with the use of... more abstractAfter the “Orange Revolution” of 2004, uses of the past in Ukrainian politics became evident. Instead of discussion of the current situation and perspectives of Ukraine’s further development the elites with the use of mass-media provoke the permanent discussion of the past. In Ukraine, the mobilization of electorate with the abuses of the past is especially effective because it overlaps with the regional differences. Different historical legacies, myth-memories, and cultural symbols of different regions are abused by the politicians to produce in public policies the axis of confrontation between the “West” and “East” of Ukraine. The mechanisms of the “war of monuments and commemorations” were launched in 2007-2008. The “historical marches” to the “hostile region” were initiated in 2011.

Eastern European Studies, History and Memory, Eastern European history, Post-Soviet Politics, Post-Soviet Studies, and 6 more

Journal Name: Interstitio. East European Review of Historical and Cultural Anthropology, special issue “Politics and Practices of Memory in Eastern Europe” 4, nr. 1-2 (7-8) (2012): 41-62.

Publication Date: 2012

This article investigates the reasons why the imaginary narrative of the Armenian-Tatar comradeship-in-arms in the service of the Galician princes was constructed and introduced into the seventeenth-century historical... more abstractThis article investigates the reasons why the imaginary narrative of the Armenian-Tatar comradeship-in-arms in the service of the Galician princes was constructed and introduced into the seventeenth-century historical writing. It also examines how in the aftermath of the litigation of 1578 the city magistrate and the Armenians of Lviv started referring to the distant past as a source of the additional arguments. At the core of the social conflict between the wealthy Armenian merchants and the Catholic patricians was the aspiration of both groups for ennoblement and reluctance of the patricians to lose their dominant position in the city. The paper delineates four main groups of sources authors of which investigated the issue of the origins of Armenian settlement in Rus’, and in Lviv in particular. The article reveals the dependence of various explanatory models on the authors’ engagement into the conflict, as well as the dynamics of the narrative changes in the course of several decades. It also uncovers the impact of the dramatic events of 1648-1660 on the narrative of founding Lviv in the writing of J.-B.Zimorowicz. The case study of how the imaginary ancestors of the Armenians of Lviv were discredited in Zimorowicz’s “Leopolis triplex” reveals that his work was designed as a tool to control and regulate social relations in the city.

Cultural History, Early Modern History, Urban History, Eastern European history, Cultural Memory, and 3 more

Journal Name: Український історичний журнал. 2015. №6. С.156-178.

Publication Date: 2015

Author highlighted three stages of Armenian migration in the northern part of the Black Sea region – in 1250s-1290s, in the first half of fourteenth century, and in 1360s-1390s. There, Armenian merchants used the trad... more abstractAuthor highlighted three stages of Armenian migration in the northern part of the Black Sea region – in 1250s-1290s, in the first half of fourteenth century, and in 1360s-1390s. There, Armenian merchants used the trade and transportation infrastructure created by Italians, including, first of all, the network of shipments by sea. In turn, Armenians supplied their Italian partners with the merchandise they transported from the remote inland territories of modern Ukraine, Russia, Romania and Moldavia.

Medieval History, Medieval Studies, Armenian History, Diaspora Studies, History of the Mediterranean, and 16 more

More Info: Georg Christ, Franz Julius Morche, Roberto Zaugg, Wolfgang Kaiser, Stefan Burkhardt et Alexander D. Beihammer (eds.), Union in Separation. Diasporic Groups and Identities in the Eastern Mediterranean (1100-1800). Roma: Viella, 2015. P.349-361.

Publication Date: 2015

Publication Name: Union in Separation. Diasporic Groups and Identities in the Eastern Mediterranean (1100-1800)

This article examines the use of the Soviet Great Patriotic War myth by Russian journalists in the news coverage of events in the Donbass in spring 2014. It begins by setting out the key aims pursued by Russian policy... more abstractThis article examines the use of the Soviet Great Patriotic War myth by Russian journalists in the news coverage of events in the Donbass in spring 2014. It begins by setting out the key aims pursued by Russian policy and propaganda in the course of the 2013-14 crisis in Ukraine. Next, it explores the ways in which the cultural memory of the Great Patriotic War has been instrumentalized in the Russian media portrayal of Ukraine, with a particular focus on its use in the construction of enemy images and on the specificities of the reception of these images in the Donbass region. Finally, it traces the genealogy of such imagery back further, to the Party of Regions’ deliberate creation of the image of the “fascist/banderite” threat in the Donbass for the purposes of electoral mobilization and manipulation over the past decade.

Eastern European Studies, Russian Studies, Peace and Conflict Studies, Propaganda, History and Memory, and 16 more

Journal Name: Journal of Soviet and Post-Soviet Politics and Society 1, No. 1 (2015): 109-140

Publication Date: 2015

This paper is intended to be a “cultural history of trade” rather than the “economic history of Diaspora” in a strict sense. In this paper, the focus will be on Armenian trading Diaspora’s role as a trans-cultural age... more abstractThis paper is intended to be a “cultural history of trade” rather than the “economic history of Diaspora” in a strict sense. In this paper, the focus will be on Armenian trading Diaspora’s role as a trans-cultural agent. I shall try to avoid an artificial isolation of Diaspora from the processes and phenomena taking their place in the host society – an approach used by many previous scholars in the field. For these reasons, this paper will contextualize the history of Armenian Diaspora in simultaneous processes in Moldavian principality as well as on the European scale. I shall study dynamics of mutual influences between Diaspora and the host society. Since Armenian merchants in Moldavian principality constituted part of a larger Armenian merchant network, a special attention will be paid to the study of connections and cooperation between Armenian merchants – subjects of Moldavian princes, Polish kings and Ottoman sultans. Pre-modern Armenian trading Diaspora as well as many other diasporic groups can be adequately understood only if their emergence is viewed in a “longue durée” perspective. That is why this paper tries to embrace such a lengthy period – from the mid-thirteenth to the end of the seventeenth century. The focus on a single diasporic group makes generalization difficult and prevents scholars from understanding the historical diversity of such trans-national experiences. For these reasons, this paper will focus on Armenian trading Diaspora in Moldavia in comparison with Greek and Jewish ones.

Romanian History, Early Modern Europe, Armenian History, Early modern Ottoman History, Black Sea region, and 8 more

This article investigates the invention of prestigious ancestors and the construction of collective genealogy for Lviv’s/Lemberg’s urban patriciate in J.B. Zimorowicz’s Leopolis triplex. The article examines how Zimor... more abstractThis article investigates the invention of prestigious ancestors and the construction of collective genealogy for Lviv’s/Lemberg’s urban patriciate in J.B. Zimorowicz’s Leopolis triplex. The article examines how Zimorowicz portrays his contemporary patriciate as having the virtues necessary to govern the city as well as for ennoblement by way of using quotations from Tacitus’ Germania. It also contributes to a better understanding of how the nobility’s model – Sarmatism – influenced the urban patriciate’s views of its prestigious past. The case study of a single quotation from Tacitus’ Annales demonstrates early modern perceptions about virtues considered innate for a given ethnos and inherited by its members through many generations. The article exploits the interconnectedness of the social and ethnic in forming an image of an urban community, in particular when presenting social conflict as ethnic strife (between the Catholic patriciate and Armenian merchants). It analyses how Zimorowicz tried to legitimate accelerations or delays in the social mobility of different groups of the city’s population in his opus. The split produced by the political and military crisis of 1648-1660 helped to actualize the concepts of ‘constancy’, ‘ambiguity’, and ‘militancy’ in public discourse. This actualization, in turn, influenced the narrative concept of Leopolis triplex, which reflects its author’s attempt to overcome the break and to restore continuity. This attempt includes, in particular, re-establishing social stratification in the city, which had been undermined during the military-political crisis of the ‘Deluge’/Potop. Thus, the article contributes to research into the seventeenth-century urban elites’ worldview, including their understanding of how the past was reshaped for present purposes.

Cultural History, Early Modern History, German History, Social Identity, Seventeenth Century, and 14 more

Publication Date: 2014

Publication Name: Latinitas in the Polish Crown and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Its Impact on the Development of Identities. Florence: Florence University Press, 2014. Pp.47-67.

Ethnic and Confessional Identities in the Making of Urban “Nations” in Lemberg in the Second Half of Fourteenth and First Half of Fifteenth Centuries (Case of “Armenian Nation”)

Medieval History, Urban History, National Identity, Ukraine (History), Old Rus', and 5 more

Publication Date: 2012

Publication Name: Альманах по истории средних веков и раннего нового времени. Вып.3-4. С.22-41

New Content of Old Charters: “Invitation” of Armenians to Rus’ by the Princes “Daniel, son of Fedor” and “Fedor, son of Dmitry” (Textual Analysis of the Litigation Cases of 1578 and 1654 in Lemberg)

Intellectual History, Cultural History, Eastern European Studies, Early Modern History, Armenian History, and 3 more

Publication Date: 2013

Publication Name: Спеціальні історичні дисципліни: питання теорії та методики. К., 2013. №22-23. С.517-540.

The main purpose of this paper is to put the charter – for a long time seen as simply forgery – into a wider context of historical culture of the epoch. It also aims to investigate motive, means, and opportunity, as u... more abstractThe main purpose of this paper is to put the charter – for a long time seen as simply forgery – into a wider context of historical culture of the epoch. It also aims to investigate motive, means, and opportunity, as used by the social actors – the forgers. The examination of the forgeries not only uncovers the historical imagination of their producers but also helps our better understanding of the historical culture of the epoch and its social circulation in a given society. The study of “prince Fedor’s charter of 1062” examines how urban elites accepted the noblemen’s political and historical culture and used it for their own purposes. The author of the paper examines how the social aspirations and dominant cultural framework in the host society influenced the wealthy Armenian Diaspora to promote some possible options of the usable past and to abandon other ones. Finally, it shows how the elements of all these options were combined into a new narrative in the nineteenth century, in accordance with the historical culture of Romantic nationalism.

Cultural History, Eastern European Studies, Historical Sociology, Armenian Studies, Early Modern History, and 17 more

Publication Date: 2014

Publication Name: Kyiv-Mohyla Humanities Journal

Medieval History, History of the Mongol Empire, History of Crusades, Armenian History, Crusades and the Latin East, and 1 more

Publication Date: 2014

Publication Name: Medieval Encounters 20, no.1

This research aims to answer the following questions: 1. How the oriental goods were reinterpreted in accordance with the tastes of the consumers in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth? 2. How consumption of the orient... more abstractThis research aims to answer the following questions: 1. How the oriental goods were reinterpreted in accordance with the tastes of the consumers in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth? 2. How consumption of the oriental luxury merchandise influenced the making of Polish Sarmatian political identity? 3. How the oriental luxury was perceived by different social groups in Poland-Lithuania before and after political crisis of the 1650s? In particular, how certain goods penetrated the public discourse in Poland-Lithuania, and how they became metaphoric? 4. Thus, the main purpose of this project is to study how the oriental luxury influenced the social, political and cultural dynamics in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.

Early Modern History, Cultural Transfer Studies, History of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, and History of Consumption

Location: Institute of Oriental Studies, University of Halle-Wittenberg (Halle-Saale, Germany)

Event Date: Nov 26, 2015

The emergence of Armenian merchant network in the East-Central Europe in 13th-15th centuries. Conspicuous consumption of the oriental goods and perception of Armenian merchants in the early modern Polish culture.

Romanian History, Early modern Ottoman History, Ukraine (History), Central and East European Studies, History of Consumption, and 2 more

Location: Institute of Oriental Studies, University of Halle-Wittenberg (Halle-Saale, Germany)

Event Date: Nov 12, 2015

This lecture aims to answer the following questions: 1. When and why Armenian colonies were founded in East-Central Europe? 2. How Armenian merchants dealt with central and local authorities in host and transit countr... more abstractThis lecture aims to answer the following questions: 1. When and why Armenian colonies were founded in East-Central Europe? 2. How Armenian merchants dealt with central and local authorities in host and transit countries? 3. How merchants used the existing infrastructure – carvanserais/hans, roads, bridges, markets, etc.?

Eastern European history, Economic and Social History of the Ottoman Empire, Central and East European Studies, History of Trade, and South-Eastern European History

Location: Institute of Oriental Studies, University of Halle-Wittenberg (Halle-Saale, Germany)

Event Date: Nov 10, 2015

Alexander Osipian identifies two key results of the Ukrainian revolution: Ukrainians have acquired their own unique subjectivity as a nation and have produced their own vision of the future. This became possible when ... more abstractAlexander Osipian identifies two key results of the Ukrainian revolution: Ukrainians have acquired their own unique subjectivity as a nation and have produced their own vision of the future. This became possible when the almost proverbial liminality and marginality of Ukraine and its inhabitants were reconsidered as a new norm, rather than as a sign of parochialism. The new hybrid understanding of Ukrainness is based on social and civic components, rather than on ethnic, linguistic, or cultural foundations. This creative and truly revolutionary reconstruction of the Ukrainian nation has been produced from below, through practical steps by hundreds of thousands of people and public debates. Political elites, busy with the redistribution of Soviet-era economic resources, have had no positive role in this process.

Eastern European Studies, Eastern European history, National Identity, Politics of Ukraine, Ethnicity and National Identity, and 1 more

The recent political crisis in Ukraine in late November 2013 – February 2014 attracted the attention of the world community and became known as the Euromaidan. After the ousted president Yanukovych fled to Russia in l... more abstractThe recent political crisis in Ukraine in late November 2013 – February 2014 attracted the attention of the world community and became known as the Euromaidan. After the ousted president Yanukovych fled to Russia in late February 2014, Russia immediately intervened into Ukraine by annexing the Crimea and fueling separatism and unrest in South-Eastern Ukraine which was renamed in official Russian propaganda as “New Russia”. These claims to “return” the Crimea and “New Russia” to Russia along with financial, media and military support of the pro-Russian secessionists led to the anti-Ukrainian insurgency in the Donbass in spring-summer 2014. Donbass is still terra incognita for many Ukrainians and the broader international community. The main aim of this lecture is to show how regional identity emerged and developed in the Donbass during last 150 years, and why identity of the residents of the region is still different from identity of Ukrainians in Central and Western regions. It addresses such crucially important characteristics as roots, culture, the concept of the Donbass character and the role of mass media in shaping public opinion. This regional diversity could be explained as result of different models of identity building, based on different socio-economic structure and its perception, different perception of imperial and Soviet past, and different myths of “golden age”. This lecture considers these stereotypes, the history of their development, and their influence on the electoral campaigns in 2004 and later. The lecture examines how the misperception of the Orange Revolution of 2004 in South-Eastern Ukraine influenced the events of 2014 in the Donbass. The main aim of this lecture is to answer three major questions: 1. What reasons caused political crises of 2004 and 2013-2014 and could cause such crises in the future? 2. Why residents of South-Eastern Ukraine – recently identified by Russian president as Novorossiya (“New Russia”) – are dramatically divided in their perception of current crisis, new government, and Russia’s intervention in Ukrainian politics? 3. Why secessionist insurgency happens in Donbass? Who are the insurgents? Why they receive support from many locals there? Who are the figures behind the scene? Special attention will be given to national, supranational and regional identities in contemporary Ukraine and their uses in politics by local elites and official Russia’s propaganda.

Eastern European Studies, Russian Foreign Policy, National Identity, Regionalism, Post-Soviet Studies, and 4 more

Location: Centre for Area Studies at the Faculty of Social Sciences and Philosophy of the University of Leipzig

Event Date: Jun 26, 2014

The lengthy title of the paper reflects main periods in the history of the region – as “New Russia” and "Southern Russia" in the Russian Empire in the 1760s-1850s and in the 1860s-1917, respectively, and as "South-Eas... more abstractThe lengthy title of the paper reflects main periods in the history of the region – as “New Russia” and "Southern Russia" in the Russian Empire in the 1760s-1850s and in the 1860s-1917, respectively, and as "South-Eastern Ukraine" in the USSR and in independent Ukraine. The main goal of this paper is to show how regional and supranational identities emerged and developed in this region during last two centuries, and why identity of the residents of the region is still different from identity of Ukrainians in Central and Western regions. This regional diversity could be explained as the result of different models of identity building, based on different socio-economic structure and its perception, different myths of the “golden age”, and different perception of relations between elites and ordinary people.

Eastern European Studies, National Identity, Russian History, and Ukraine (History)

Time: 11 AM to 1 PM

Location: Advokatenweg 36, Halle-Saale, Deutschland

Event Date: Jan 29, 2014

Organization: Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology

Demographic history of Armenian Diaspora in Moldavian principality was not subject of research due to the absence of statistical data. My point is that in this case the Catholic missionaries’ reports for Moldavia coul... more abstractDemographic history of Armenian Diaspora in Moldavian principality was not subject of research due to the absence of statistical data. My point is that in this case the Catholic missionaries’ reports for Moldavia could be used to calculate the average number of Armenians living in the principality in the seventeenth century. On the other hand, the numbers given in these reports should not to be taken at face value. I elaborated a methodology of critical analysis designed to evaluate the validity of the numbers given in the reports. My calculations are based on the Catholic missionaries’ reports on Moldavia compiled by Petro Deodato Baksic, Apostolic vicar of Sofia (1641), Bartolomeo Basetti (1643), Marco Bandini, Archbishop of Marcianapolis (1646-1648), Antonio Pignatelli, papal nuncio in Poland (1662), Francesco Martelli, papal nuncio in Poland (1678), compared with the early account of Armenian traveler Simeon Lekhatsi from Polish city of Zamość (1608). These reports were sent by missionaries and nuncios to the Congregatio de Propaganda Fide in Rome, where I had the opportunity to consult the original sources thanks to the scholarship from the New Europe College (Bucharest). After the long period of political turbulence and instability that Moldavian principality experienced in the second half of the sixteenth century, there was a period of stability and economic growth during the rule of the princes of Movilă’s family (1595-1634), and of prince Vasile Lupu (1634-1653). The growth of economic and political influence of Armenian merchants is reflected in the growth of their building activity in Moldavia in the first half of the 17th century. The numbers are based on the calculation of churches, chapels, and bell-towers, their rebuilding and renovation, reflected by the plaques with inscription installed into the wall. There are at least 6 memorial plaques installed by clergymen and laic renovators and donors into the wall of Armenian churches, chapels and bell-towers in Suceava between 1609 and 1631. The Jesuit Missionary Johannes Kunig in his report to the General of Jesuits, Claudio Aquaviva, written in Roman on 30 September 1588, when describing religious diversity in Moldavia, put Armenians on the second place after Orthodox Romanians, but before the Catholics: “In this province of Moldavia people have different rites and religions. In the first place are the Rumanians, who have lot of churches and monasteries, patriarchs, metropolitans and bishops and priests. Armenians are the next, who have different churches from that of the Rumanian ones. In third place are the Hungarians and Saxons coming from Transylvania. There are also gypsies”. My point is that Armenians could not outnumber Roman Catholics in the principality. When putting Armenians on the second place after the dominant Orthodox population, Kunig wanted to emphasize a better position of Armenian community in the principality – well-established church hierarchy, regularity of church services and so on, in comparison with the declining Catholic community, which he situated further – just before the gypsies. The exact number of Armenians living in Moldavian principality could not be calculated even for the seventeenth century, because there are no sources with statistic data, such as tax censuses, where Armenians are mentioned. Thanks to the religious tolerance of these princes, the Catholic Church was sending missionaries to Moldavia in order to restore Catholic community in the principality, which came into decline in the second half of the sixteenth century. In many instances, they also mentioned Armenian parishes in the Moldavian cities and towns, but not in a systematic way. The most comprehensive list of Armenian communities in Moldavia was composed in 1669 by Louis-Maria Pidou – Teatin missionary to Armenians of Lemberg. Pidou never visited Moldavia. It is likely that he collected his data from Armenian-Catholic missionary Iohannes Keiremowicz sent there, or from Moldavian Armenians visiting Lemberg for the commerce. Pidou mentioned Armenian parish churches in Suceava (3), Iaşi (2), Siret, Botoşani, Hotin (Hocim), Roman (Urman), Vaslui and Galaţi. Marco Bandini in his report (1646-1648) also mentioned Armenian church in Bârlad. Other missionaries sometimes gave a very rough estimates of Armenians living in a given city or town. My point is that the missionaries never counted Armenians by head, but instead calculated their numbers in the following way: they equated every stone-wall church to 100 households (families) and every wooden church to 20 households. The largest Armenian community existed in Suceava, Moldavian capital until 1564 and residence of Armenian bishop in the principality. In the seventeenth century there were 3 Armenian churches and 2 monasteries there. Minorite Observant monk Bartolomeo Basetti in his report (April 12, 1643) gave such figures for the population of Suceava: “Catholic houses are 12, [with] 50 souls, 26 [of them practicing]. Schismatics [Orthodox Moldavians] have 700 houses, which count over 3,000 souls and they have 16 churches. The Armenians have five churches, one for the bishop – because the Armenians have their own bishop in the town”. This data corresponds with the early account of Armenian traveler Simeon Lekhatsi from Polish city Zamość, who spent three months and two weeks in Suceava in 1608. He stated that, “There are 300 or 400 Armenian houses in the city. There are three stone-walled churches and two wonderful and superb monasteries outside the city – one near the city, and another one two miles away from the city”. Thus, the approximate number of Armenians living in Suceava in the 1600s-1660s could be estimated at around 1,500 to 2,000. For Iaşi (Iash-bazar) community, Lekhatsi offers the following description: “There are 200 houses of Armenians – newcomers and locals. There is a wonderful stone-walled church, wise priests and magnificent rich men”. Being Armenian clergyman (dpir), Lekhatsi deliberately omitted the existence of Armenian-Catholic church in Iaşi. Marco Bandini, Archbishop of Marcianapolis and Catholic missionary to Moldavia in 1646-1648, described population of Vaslui (Vaslo): “Vaslui had over 300 Hungarian Catholic houses, a church, a priest and a school. The church is in ruins now, 4 houses are here with 16 Catholic souls, Rumanians have 300 houses and the Armenians have 100 houses”. A different figure for Vaslui was given by Simeon Lekhatsi in 1608: “There is a wooden church, a priest and twenty Armenian families”. The difference could be explained by the suggestion that between 1608 and 1648, the wooden church in Vaslui was replaced with a stone-walled one, which reflects an increase in prosperity and population growth of Armenian community. Nevertheless, both figures – 20 and 100 houses – are rough approximations. Pavel of Haleb, who was in Vaslui on 22 January 1653, mentioned Armenian church in his itinerary: “In this town is a number of churches, besides the one we have mentioned; and there are Armenians, who have a church of their own”. This Armenian church was probably stone-walled and thus worthy of his attention. Even in the case when missionaries visited the same place with the interval of only a year or two, there is an evident difference in the number of “souls” or parishioners, since different missionaries equated the same number of households to the different number of “souls”. For instance, Petru Bogdan (Petro Deodato) Baksic, Apostolic vicar of Sofia, in his description of Roman (1641) noted: “Armenians have 80 houses with 450 souls. They have a walled church and a priest from their nation, Armenian”. According to B.Basetti (1643) in Roman: “Armenian houses are 80. 360 souls, with a church”. The only exception could be Armenian-Catholic community in Iaşi since it was united with the Roman Church, and, probably, the exact number of its parishioners was presented in the report of Bartolomeo Basetti (1643): “There is an Armenian church [in Iaşi] too, the priest is under the auspice of the Roman Church. The Catholic Armenians’ houses are 60, the souls are 222”. Antonio Pignatelli, papal nuncio in Poland (1660-1668), in his report to the Congregatio de Propaganda Fide on November 23, 1662 gave the following numbers: 3,000 Armenians in Poland with 15 churches and all of them are united with the Roman Church, and 7,000 Armenians in Moldavia with 10 churches. My own calculations, based on missionaries’ reports for Moldavia, and much more correct figures of real estate taxation censuses for Poland, bring quite different results – about 3,000-4,000 Armenians in Moldavia and about 6,000-7,000 Armenians in Poland. My calculations for Poland correspond to the note made by Francesco Martelli, papal nuncio in Poland (1675-1681), in his report of 3 August 1678. Martelli indicates that because of the Polish-Turkish war (1672-1676) – which affected regions of Podolia and Rus’/Ruthenia, where the majority of Polish Armenians lived before the war – their number declined tenfold, to 600 souls. Thus, my point is that the approximate number of Armenians living in Moldavia in the 1640s-1660s could not exceed 3,000-4,000.

Armenian Studies and Early Modern History

Location: National Library of Romania, Bucharest

Event Date: Oct 30, 2013

In Moldavian principality, Armenian communities founded their own churches and established their autonomous courts in accordance with the princely privileges. Nevertheless, because of religious differences, the Armeni... more abstractIn Moldavian principality, Armenian communities founded their own churches and established their autonomous courts in accordance with the princely privileges. Nevertheless, because of religious differences, the Armenians could not be integrated into Moldavian society as deeply as the Orthodox Greek and Aromanian merchants did. Armenian communities in Moldavia fulfilled transitive functions for more prosperous communities of Lemberg (Lviv), Kamianiec-Podilski, Caffa and Constantinople. Since Moldavian principality was dependent from neighbour powers (Ottomans, Habsburgs and Poland), Armenian merchants were deeply involved in the politics of the principality. As history of Moldavian principality demonstrates, the majority of the princes obtained power with the evident assistance of powerful Polish aristocrats and wealthy merchants – Greeks, Jews, and Armenians. In 16th-17th century every new prince had to visit a sultan in Istanbul, in order to get confirmation from him, which was actually bought with huge sums of money. The princes needed loans and became more and more dependent from wealthy merchants – Greeks, Jews, and Armenians – residents of Constantinople and Lemberg. Thus, Armenians living in Moldavia and maintaining constant economic, religious and matrimonial relations with Armenians in Polish kingdom, were seen by the rulers of Moldavia as agents of Poland and as potential supporters of a new pretender for the throne. Political crisis of 1546-1563 replaced the autocratic model of state introduced by Petru Rareş and his predecessors with a new one, when almost every new prince was de facto appointed in Lemberg and then confirmed in Istanbul. Istanbul and Lemberg became the main scenes of Moldavian politics where the princes were made, and where many of them were executed. The most prominent Greek merchants in Istanbul became capigi-agas or entrusted at the Porte with the matters of the princes of Moldavia and Wallachia.” (For kapi kethüdasi or kapi kâhyasi, stewards of the Princes of Moldavia and Wallachia, representing the interests of their masters at the imperial divan). Some richest Armenian merchants established close personal ties with the rulers. The fulfillment of the functions of a creditor, political promoter, mediator, or secret envoy by a merchant could provide him with certain privileges and promote his business, but this close connection with the powerful policy-makers also could lead to many troubles and even to the persecution of the whole community.

Early Modern History and Early Modern economic and social history

Time: 11 AM to 1 PM

Event Date: May 15, 2013

Organization: New Europe College, Str. Plantelor 21, Bucharest

Публікація збірника статей із такою назвою ста-ла результатом конференції, яка відбулася 22–23 травня 2009 р. в Дубровнику (Хорватія). У центрі уваги дослідників перебував правовий статус «дер-жав-данників» – Молдавії... more abstractПублікація збірника статей із такою назвою ста-ла результатом конференції, яка відбулася 22–23 травня 2009 р. в Дубровнику (Хорватія). У центрі уваги дослідників перебував правовий статус «дер-жав-данників» – Молдавії, Валахії, Трансильванії, Республіки Раґуза, козацької України та Кримського ханства, їхні відносин з Османською імперією. Організатори конференції намагалися не тільки застосувати порівняльний підхід до вивчення «держав-данників» («tributary state»), але також підкрес-лили необхідність ревізії історіографічної традиції. Як заявлено у вступі, у фо-кусі національних історіографій – історія окремих держав як «закритих утво-рень» («closed units»), що призводить до викривленої інтерпретації явищ та процесів, котрі мали місце в ранній новий час. Традиційне для національних історіографій бачення свого випадку як унікального часто призводить до не-правильного розуміння ставлення імперського центру та відповідей із пери-ферії («Ottoman attitudes and local responses»). Відповідно, збірка мала сприя-ти ревізії підходів, а саме вийти за межі національної історіографії, показати типологічну близькість у відносинах Порти з «державами-данниками» та по-яснити причини відмінностей. Укладачі вписують його в контекст переосмис-лення історії Османської імперії як складного утворення й розуміння внутріш-ньої логіки імперського будівництва. Зміна перспективи з «османського іга» на «Pax Ottomanica» та більша увага до взаємовідносин імперської й місцевої перспектив сприяє кращому розумінню багатьох нюансів історії цього реґіону. Збірка складається з чотирьох розділів

Ottoman History, Early Modern History, Romanian History, Balkan History, Eastern European history, and 10 more

Diplomatic History, Ottoman History, Early Modern History, Romanian History, Ottoman Empire, and 11 more

Journal Name: Ab Imperio. The Studies for New Imperial History and Nationalism in the Post-Soviet Space. 3 2015

Publication Date: 2015

Romanticism, History and Memory, Nationalism, East European studies, German Romanticism, and 10 more

Publication Date: 2013

Russian Studies, Russian Literature, Romanticism, Early Modern History, Nineteenth Century Studies, and 11 more

Publication Date: 2013

Ukrainian Studies, Nationalism, East European studies, Eastern European history, National Identity, and 6 more

Publication Date: 2011

Eastern European Studies, Soviet History, Ukrainian Studies, Eastern European history, History of the USSR, and 7 more

Publication Date: 2005

Eastern European history, Ukraine (History), Lithuanian History, History of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, Belarusian History, and 1 more

This research aims to answer the following questions: How the carpets produced in Persia and Ottoman Empire were culturally redefined and put to use in Poland? For instance, how the carpets were used for social advan... more abstractThis research aims to answer the following questions: How the carpets produced in Persia and Ottoman Empire were culturally redefined and put to use in Poland? For instance, how the carpets were used for social advance? How the oriental carpets and rugs were perceived by different social groups in Poland-Lithuania – namely by Armenian Merchants, Polish Nobility and Catholic Intellectuals? In particular, how the oriental carpets and rugs penetrated the public discourse in Poland-Lithuania, and how they became metaphoric?

Early Modern History, Material Culture Studies, Economic history/Trade history/Oriental trade, Consumption and Material Culture, Cross-Cultural Communication, and 1 more

Location: New Europe College, Bucharest

Event Date: Jun 12, 2015

Organization: Harvard University, Department of History of Art & Architecture

The insurgency in the Eastern Ukraine became one of the turning points in the geopolitics after the end of Cold War. The Eastern Ukraine mostly called by the locals as the Donbas – Donets Coal Basin – has until now re... more abstractThe insurgency in the Eastern Ukraine became one of the turning points in the geopolitics after the end of Cold War. The Eastern Ukraine mostly called by the locals as the Donbas – Donets Coal Basin – has until now received only slight and fragmentary scholarly attention. This paper is dedicated to the analysis of how the participants of the current conflict – defined by some scholars as insurgency – perceive it in the conceptual framework of the geopolitical strife between Russia and the West. My point is that the perception of the conflict as part of the global confrontation between Russia and the West was spread among the locals mostly in course of the insurgency from outside that is by Russian mass media – and later by separatists’ ones –and by Russian agents of influence. Why and how it was so quickly and easily adopted by many locals? And why it happened in the Donbas, not in other parts of Ukraine? After twenty years of participant observation I discovered that at the core of local Donbas identity there is a myth of the industrialization – actually several waves of industrialization in 1860s, 1930s, and 1950s – as the golden age of this highly industrialized and densely urbanized region. Because of economic decline after collapse of the USSR in 1991 and gradual deindustrialization, the “lost golden age” provoked a series of local fears later used by the pro-Russian separatists in their propaganda. On the other hand, it was mutual process, since the Russian agents of the Kremlin, who openly headed the insurgency in the Donbas, accepted local myths and fears, and successfully used them in their anti-Western propaganda. It helped the locals to “digest” or to “domesticate” the imported geopolitical narratives. These oversimplified geopolitical myths became substitutes of political programme – the rebels lack until now, a kind of religious believes, which in turn helped to legitimize the insurgency itself and many atrocities committed by the rebels in their own eyes and in the eyes of their partisans. Thus, this paper examines the following questions: How the local myths and fears were introduced in the framework of the “Novorossiya”’s and Russia’s struggle against the West as the “universal evil”? Who are these agents of Russian influence in Eastern Ukraine? What channels are used to import there Russian narrative of geopolitical rivalry with the West? What strategies were used by the insurgents and their associates to “uncover” and “frustrate” the “agents of the West” in the areas under separatists’ control? How the insurgents define their victims? How this “witch hunt” is represented by the propaganda?

Eastern European Studies, Politics of Ukraine, and Popular Geopolitics

Location: School of Slavonic and East European Studies (SSEES), University College London

Event Date: Feb 19, 2015

Early Modern History, Scottish History, Jewish History, Early Modern Europe, Diaspora, and 9 more

Location: LABEXMED – Aix-Marseille Université – Maison méditerranéenne des Sciences de l’Homme

Event Date: Oct 3, 2014

The early modern Ottoman Empire was at the cross-roads of the trade between Europe and Middle East, and South Asia. The caravans were the most suitable model of trade organization for the merchants involved in the lon... more abstractThe early modern Ottoman Empire was at the cross-roads of the trade between Europe and Middle East, and South Asia. The caravans were the most suitable model of trade organization for the merchants involved in the long-distance trade, and often going through ill-inhabited lands, controlled by tribal leaders and gangs. At the core of the caravan trade were Armenian merchants who established their communities in Venice, Polish kingdom, Moldavian principality, Ottoman Empire, Persia, and India. Each caravan was led by caravanbashi elected by the merchants traveling in a given caravan. Caravanbashi was responsible to manage safe and comfortable travel. He also executed functions of the judge. Caravanbashi also represented caravan during the negotiations with local authorities and gangs. As a rule, caravanbashi was chosen at the beginning of the travel. Sometimes, under certain circumstances, caravanbashi was changed in the course of travel. The custom to choose caravanbashi was in accordance with practices of self-government in Armenian communities in Polish kingdom and Moldavian principality in fourteenth-eighteenth centuries. There, Armenians adopted a model of self-government introduced into urban life in the thirteenth century by the German settlers and generally known as “German Law” (jus teutonicum). The main goal of this paper is to study the transformation of the voting practices of the “German Law” in Armenian caravans. Every caravan consisted of several dozens to several hundreds people – merchants and servants, Armenians, Muslims, and Western Christians. This paper will also investigate motivations behind the choice made in favor of a caravanbashi of different ethnic and religious background under different circumstances. The main sources of this paper are the records of Armenian law courts in Lemberg and Kamianiec-Podilski, and travelogues of European travelers, among which the most informative are those by young Dutch humanist Georg van der Does (1597), English merchant Robert Bargrave (1652), and by French jeweler Jean-Baptist Tavernier (1630-1676). In accordance with the capitulations of 1577 and 1598, the Ottoman sultans granted Armenian merchant – the subjects of Polish king – privileges for free/safe passage. Caravanbashi was obligated to use these “Turkish privileges” to defend his companions during the travel and to return them when this trip is finished. The Porte officially authorized caravanbashi (karban başis) to solve criminal and civil cases among the Polish subjects participating in their caravans. The model probably used at elections of caravanbashi could be reconstructed as such. The eldest and wealthiest merchants, some of them also with experience of holding caravanbashi office – nominated – actually asked – a certain experienced person, well-known to other merchants – members of a given caravan. Then, if there were no critical voices, a general approval was expressed by shouts. There is no doubt that western merchants (Franks), who joined a caravan, never voted, along with grooms, commercial servants, and factors. Western merchants and travellers never mentioned their possible experience of taking part in elections of a caravanbashi, simultaneously, giving a good deal of their attention to his functions in their travelogues. My point is that this model of voting was typical for traditional societies and used with an intention to avoid competition that could possibly lead to a conflict and split, and to express unanimity.

Ottoman History, Early Modern Europe, Early modern Ottoman History, Ukraine (History), Economic and Social History of the Ottoman Empire, and 3 more

Location: Dubrovnik, Croatia

Event Date: Apr 25, 2014

This paper aims to investigate how historical imagination functioned in the post-Reformation era. It will consider the trials between the two communities – Catholic and Armenian – when the city’s past was actively use... more abstractThis paper aims to investigate how historical imagination functioned in the post-Reformation era. It will consider the trials between the two communities – Catholic and Armenian – when the city’s past was actively used by both rival sides. It intends to reconstruct resources open for actors and strategies they used to get new meanings from them. The second half of the sixteenth century witnessed an enormous rise of interest to the history of Poland reflected in the publication of numerous historical writings. This paper will analyze how the inventive fabrication of the usable past resulted from the creative reading of the published historical narratives. Thus, the main goal of this research is to demonstrate how the distant past was constructed for the present needs and later transformed into the cultural memory of both communities. The main questions I establish in this research are as follows: How did two pressure groups – Catholic and Armenian communities of Lemberg – interact with each other during the trials? What historical arguments did they use in order to persuade royal authorities? How were grand-narrative versions of the past perceived, reinterpreted, transformed, and used from the townspeople’s perspective? How were the Polish nobility’s patterns of historical culture – so-called Sarmatian myth – accepted by the city patricians? Another group of questions addresses the issue of the burghers’ sense of the past. What was seen as possible in the past and what was seen as impossible? What could be accepted and what could not? How did the burghers’ sense of temporality correlate with such working research concepts as the past-of-personal-experience, the old-people’s-past, the past-in-books and some other concepts. In what way did they perceive these categories and concepts?

Cultural History, Early Modern History, Early Modern Europe, Memory Studies, Social and Collective Memory, and 2 more

Location: Leiden University, The Netherlands

"Demographic history of Armenian Diaspora in Moldavian principality was not subject of research due to the absence of statistical data. My point is that in this case the Catholic missionaries’ reports for Moldavia cou... more abstract"Demographic history of Armenian Diaspora in Moldavian principality was not subject of research due to the absence of statistical data. My point is that in this case the Catholic missionaries’ reports for Moldavia could be used to calculate the average number of Armenians living in the principality in the seventeenth century. On the other hand, the numbers given in these reports should not to be taken at face value. I elaborated a methodology of critical analysis designed to evaluate the validity of the numbers given in the reports. My calculations are based on the Catholic missionaries’ reports on Moldavia compiled by Petro Deodato Baksic, Apostolic vicar of Sofia (1641), Bartolomeo Basetti (1643), Marco Bandini, Archbishop of Marcianapolis (1646-1648), Antonio Pignatelli, papal nuncio in Poland (1662), Francesco Martelli, papal nuncio in Poland (1678), compared with the early account of Armenian traveler Simeon Lekhatsi from Polish city of Zamość (1608). These reports were sent by missionaries and nuncios to the Congregatio de Propaganda Fide in Rome, where I had the opportunity to consult the original sources thanks to the scholarship from the New Europe College (Bucharest). After the long period of political turbulence and instability that Moldavian principality experienced in the second half of the sixteenth century, there was a period of stability and economic growth during the rule of the princes of Movilă’s family (1595-1634), and of prince Vasile Lupu (1634-1653). The growth of economic and political influence of Armenian merchants is reflected in the growth of their building activity in Moldavia in the first half of the 17th century. The numbers are based on the calculation of churches, chapels, and bell-towers, their rebuilding and renovation, reflected by the plaques with inscription installed into the wall. There are at least 6 memorial plaques installed by clergymen and laic renovators and donors into the wall of Armenian churches, chapels and bell-towers in Suceava between 1609 and 1631. The Jesuit Missionary Johannes Kunig in his report to the General of Jesuits, Claudio Aquaviva, written in Roman on 30 September 1588, when describing religious diversity in Moldavia, put Armenians on the second place after Orthodox Romanians, but before the Catholics: “In this province of Moldavia people have different rites and religions. In the first place are the Rumanians, who have lot of churches and monasteries, patriarchs, metropolitans and bishops and priests. Armenians are the next, who have different churches from that of the Rumanian ones. In third place are the Hungarians and Saxons coming from Transylvania. There are also gypsies”. My point is that Armenians could not outnumber Roman Catholics in the principality. When putting Armenians on the second place after the dominant Orthodox population, Kunig wanted to emphasize a better position of Armenian community in the principality – well-established church hierarchy, regularity of church services and so on, in comparison with the declining Catholic community, which he situated further – just before the gypsies. The exact number of Armenians living in Moldavian principality could not be calculated even for the seventeenth century, because there are no sources with statistic data, such as tax censuses, where Armenians are mentioned. Thanks to the religious tolerance of these princes, the Catholic Church was sending missionaries to Moldavia in order to restore Catholic community in the principality, which came into decline in the second half of the sixteenth century. In many instances, they also mentioned Armenian parishes in the Moldavian cities and towns, but not in a systematic way. The most comprehensive list of Armenian communities in Moldavia was composed in 1669 by Louis-Maria Pidou – Teatin missionary to Armenians of Lemberg. Pidou never visited Moldavia. It is likely that he collected his data from Armenian-Catholic missionary Iohannes Keiremowicz sent there, or from Moldavian Armenians visiting Lemberg for the commerce. Pidou mentioned Armenian parish churches in Suceava (3), Iaşi (2), Siret, Botoşani, Hotin (Hocim), Roman (Urman), Vaslui and Galaţi. Marco Bandini in his report (1646-1648) also mentioned Armenian church in Bârlad. Other missionaries sometimes gave a very rough estimates of Armenians living in a given city or town. My point is that the missionaries never counted Armenians by head, but instead calculated their numbers in the following way: they equated every stone-wall church to 100 households (families) and every wooden church to 20 households. The largest Armenian community existed in Suceava, Moldavian capital until 1564 and residence of Armenian bishop in the principality. In the seventeenth century there were 3 Armenian churches and 2 monasteries there. Minorite Observant monk Bartolomeo Basetti in his report (April 12, 1643) gave such figures for the population of Suceava: “Catholic houses are 12, [with] 50 souls, 26 [of them practicing]. Schismatics [Orthodox Moldavians] have 700 houses, which count over 3,000 souls and they have 16 churches. The Armenians have five churches, one for the bishop – because the Armenians have their own bishop in the town”. This data corresponds with the early account of Armenian traveler Simeon Lekhatsi from Polish city Zamość, who spent three months and two weeks in Suceava in 1608. He stated that, “There are 300 or 400 Armenian houses in the city. There are three stone-walled churches and two wonderful and superb monasteries outside the city – one near the city, and another one two miles away from the city”. Thus, the approximate number of Armenians living in Suceava in the 1600s-1660s could be estimated at around 1,500 to 2,000. For Iaşi (Iash-bazar) community, Lekhatsi offers the following description: “There are 200 houses of Armenians – newcomers and locals. There is a wonderful stone-walled church, wise priests and magnificent rich men”. Being Armenian clergyman (dpir), Lekhatsi deliberately omitted the existence of Armenian-Catholic church in Iaşi. Marco Bandini, Archbishop of Marcianapolis and Catholic missionary to Moldavia in 1646-1648, described population of Vaslui (Vaslo): “Vaslui had over 300 Hungarian Catholic houses, a church, a priest and a school. The church is in ruins now, 4 houses are here with 16 Catholic souls, Rumanians have 300 houses and the Armenians have 100 houses”. A different figure for Vaslui was given by Simeon Lekhatsi in 1608: “There is a wooden church, a priest and twenty Armenian families”. The difference could be explained by the suggestion that between 1608 and 1648, the wooden church in Vaslui was replaced with a stone-walled one, which reflects an increase in prosperity and population growth of Armenian community. Nevertheless, both figures – 20 and 100 houses – are rough approximations. Pavel of Haleb, who was in Vaslui on 22 January 1653, mentioned Armenian church in his itinerary: “In this town is a number of churches, besides the one we have mentioned; and there are Armenians, who have a church of their own”. This Armenian church was probably stone-walled and thus worthy of his attention. Even in the case when missionaries visited the same place with the interval of only a year or two, there is an evident difference in the number of “souls” or parishioners, since different missionaries equated the same number of households to the different number of “souls”. For instance, Petru Bogdan (Petro Deodato) Baksic, Apostolic vicar of Sofia, in his description of Roman (1641) noted: “Armenians have 80 houses with 450 souls. They have a walled church and a priest from their nation, Armenian”. According to B.Basetti (1643) in Roman: “Armenian houses are 80. 360 souls, with a church”. The only exception could be Armenian-Catholic community in Iaşi since it was united with the Roman Church, and, probably, the exact number of its parishioners was presented in the report of Bartolomeo Basetti (1643): “There is an Armenian church [in Iaşi] too, the priest is under the auspice of the Roman Church. The Catholic Armenians’ houses are 60, the souls are 222”. Antonio Pignatelli, papal nuncio in Poland (1660-1668), in his report to the Congregatio de Propaganda Fide on November 23, 1662 gave the following numbers: 3,000 Armenians in Poland with 15 churches and all of them are united with the Roman Church, and 7,000 Armenians in Moldavia with 10 churches. My own calculations, based on missionaries’ reports for Moldavia, and much more correct figures of real estate taxation censuses for Poland, bring quite different results – about 3,000-4,000 Armenians in Moldavia and about 6,000-7,000 Armenians in Poland. My calculations for Poland correspond to the note made by Francesco Martelli, papal nuncio in Poland (1675-1681), in his report of 3 August 1678. Martelli indicates that because of the Polish-Turkish war (1672-1676) – which affected regions of Podolia and Rus’/Ruthenia, where the majority of Polish Armenians lived before the war – their number declined tenfold, to 600 souls. Thus, my point is that the approximate number of Armenians living in Moldavia in the 1640s-1660s could not exceed 3,000-4,000."

Eastern European Studies, Early Modern History, Armenian History, Black Sea Studies, and South-Eastern European History

Location: Bucharest, Romania

More Info: International Conference on Romanian-Armenian Cultural Heritage. Bucharest, Romania

Event Date: Oct 30, 2013

This paper is a part of my large-scale research project concerned with the long-distance and cross-cultural trade of Armenian Diasporas in the late medieval and early modern East-Central Europe, Ottoman Empire, and Pe... more abstractThis paper is a part of my large-scale research project concerned with the long-distance and cross-cultural trade of Armenian Diasporas in the late medieval and early modern East-Central Europe, Ottoman Empire, and Persia in 1250-1700. Among the main issues of my research agenda I would like to emphasize the follows: How did merchants belonging to different religious groups conduct trade with one another during the Late Medieval and Early Modern period? How did different societies – Christian as well as non-Christian – accommodate “infidels” in the interest of promoting profitable commercial activity? Now I focus my research on the Armenian trading Diasporas in the Crimea, Moldavian Principality and Polish Kingdom and their trade and commerce in the Eastern Europe and the Black Sea region. The main attention is given to the relations between Armenian merchants and local authorities – princes, emirs, consuls, city magistrates, judges, etc., namely to the merchants’ strategies of integration into the new cultural milieu.

Medieval Studies, East European studies, Eastern European history, Armenian History, and Trade

Location: Geisteswissenschaftliche Zentrum Geschichte und Kultur Ostmitteleuropas at Leipzig University, Germany

More Info: International Conference Armenier in Wirtschaft, Kultur und Politik des östlichen Europa (1000-1900)

Event Date: Nov 25, 2011

After the fall of medieval Armenian state, Armenian merchants established a global network for the long-distance commerce in the late medieval and early modern Europe, Asia, and Northern Africa. Their Diasporas in the... more abstractAfter the fall of medieval Armenian state, Armenian merchants established a global network for the long-distance commerce in the late medieval and early modern Europe, Asia, and Northern Africa. Their Diasporas in the Eastern Mediterranean and Black Sea are considerably less studied than the Armenian merchant community of New Julfa near Isfahan in the seventeenth century Persia. I focus my research on the Armenian trading Diasporas in the Archipelago, Constantinople/Pera, Crimea, Moldavian Principality and Polish Kingdom in a long-term perspective – 1289-1484 – to trace changes over time. The main attention will be given to the juridical regulation of the local Armenian merchants’ commercial practices and their perception by the Roman-Catholic townspeople and clergy, namely to the strategies of exclusion and inclusion. Armenian merchants’ status as Monophysite Christian minority allowed their Catholic competitors to legitimate restrictions imposed on Armenians’ businesses. On the other hand, far-reaching privileges granted by the Moslem rulers to Armenian merchants coexisted with, and were frequently challenged by, Islamic law and local legal practice. There was a well-known legend in the medieval Europe that these privileges were granted to Armenians directly by the prophet Mohammad (actually, he gave these privileges to the Nestorians with which Armenians were often mixed in the Western mind as “another eastern heretics”). In the age of Pax Mongolica, Armenian merchants from Cilicia as well as from Greater Armenia and Georgia began enlarge the network of trading colonies also in the northern direction. In the Black Sea region, they often settled in the Genoese and Venetian Colonies. In the second half of fourteenth century, prosperous Armenian merchant communities existed in Caffa, Soldaia, Solchat, Tana/Azak, Moncastro, Kilia, Suceava, Lemberg and Kamianiec-Podilski. At that time as well as in fifteenth century their commercial ties stretched to Cyprus, Egypt, Indias, Moscow, and Venice. Some of these ties I explore on the micro-level through the reconstruction of the biographies of certain Armenian merchants. This paper is a part of my large-scale research project concerned with the long-distance and cross-cultural trade of Armenian Diasporas in the late medieval and early modern East-Central Europe, Eastern Mediterranean, Persia, India, and Venice during the period of 1250-1700. I would like to emphasize the following main issues of my research agenda: How did merchants belonging to different religious groups conduct trade with one another during the Medieval and Early Modern period? How did different societies – Christian as well as non-Christian – accommodate “infidels” in the interest of promoting profitable commercial activity?

Medieval Studies, Eastern European history, Armenian History, Cultural Intermediaries In The Early Modern Mediterranean, History of the Mediterranean, and 1 more

Location: Heidelberg, Germany

More Info: International Conference Union in Separation. Trading Diasporas in the Eastern Mediterranean (1200-1700)

Event Date: Feb 18, 2011

Organization: Heidelberg University

Early Modern History, Early Modern Europe, Memory Studies, Social and Collective Memory, Cultural Memory, and 3 more

Publication Date: 2014

Publication Name: Srednie Veka. Studies in Medieval and Early Modern History