The role of regional geographical factors and political institutions in thirteenth- and fourteenth-century Cilician long-distance trade

Lin, Wei-Sheng (2019). The role of regional geographical factors and political institutions in thirteenth- and fourteenth-century Cilician long-distance trade. University of Birmingham. Ph.D.

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Abstract

My thesis complements our current understanding of Western merchants’ trading activities in the Cilician region during the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries as well as the history of medieval Mediterranean trade. The two major primary sources used are the medieval portolan charts produced around the Western Mediterranean and the Armenian concessions issued to Genoa and Venice. With portolan charts I demonstrated the wider geographical extent of Western merchants’ activities in the region than what is depicted in the medieval textual sources and currently available archaeological data. Ayacium, though an important city in the Armenian kingdom, was not the only place where the Western merchants engaged in trading. With the Armenian concessional texts, I showed the changing approaches adopted by the Armenian kings to protecting and regulating rights of Western merchants. In particular, I demonstrated the need to include available textual sources recording the process of diplomatic negotiations before interpreting the significance of concessions obtained by Western merchants. Instead of being a synthesis on the medieval Cilician economy, my findings identify a need for targeted archaeological data collection in the region of Rough Cilicia and provide a basis for evaluating similar concessions obtained by Western merchants from medieval rulers around the Mediterranean.

Type of Work:

Thesis (Doctorates > Ph.D.)

Award Type:

Doctorates > Ph.D.

Supervisor(s):