Presentation of the book by Evgeny Alexandrovich Khvalkov "The Colonies of the Sea in the Black Sea Region: Evolution and Transformation"

On March 1, in terms of the seminar “The Frontiers of History”, the presentation of the book by Evgeny Aleksandrovich Khvalkov, Associate Professor of the Department of History, “The Colonies of the Black Sea Region: Evolution and Transformation”

On March 1, in the framework of the seminar “The Frontiers of History”, there was a presentation of the book by Evgeny Khvalkov, Associate Professor of the Department of History at the Higher School of Economics of the St. Petersburg Campus “The Colonies of the Black Sea Region: The Evolution and Transformation”.

The presentation began with the speech of the head of the department of history Alexander Semenov, which was of a welcoming nature, and also made it possible to learn more about the author of the book being presented. Then the word was transferred to the author himself.

Evgeny Aleksandrovich began with the fact that his book, devoted to the problem of the evolution of Genoese colonies in the Black Sea region in the XIV-XV centuries, was written on the basis of a thesis defended in 2015. Further, the speaker addressed the topic “The Frontiers of History” and touched upon the topic of the prerequisites for the appearance of the Italian colonies in the Black Sea region. These include Venetians getting access to the straits and, consequently, to trade in the Black Sea after the events of 1204, as well as the Treaty of Nimfey in 1261, which resulted in Genoa obtaining exclusive rights to Black Sea trade.

The author explained the specifics of the use of the concept of "Gazaria", entrenched in a collection of Genoese colonies in the Black Sea. The book covers the events before 1475, when the Black Sea colonies were conquered by the Ottomans.

Further, the author pointed out that the main research problem of the work lies in how the poly-ethnic society of the Genoese colonies was able or could not adapt to the serious political changes caused by the Ottomans, as well as how it had changed during the 15th century.

Evgeny pointed out that the main sources for his work were the masses (counting books). He studied three massaries from different time periods, reflecting the composition of the population of the colonies. The author has created a classification of residents based on profession, ethnicity, religion, etc.

Further, the author described in detail the method he used to identify the ethnicity of the inhabitants of the city, which included an analysis of personal and family names, family ties, positions held, place of origin, etc.

Evgeny finished his presentation by voicing the assumption that there is a continuity between medieval colonialism and colonialism of the new time.

At the end the problems of colonialism, changes in the natural landscape in the region, legal pluralism in the colonies, the origin of the concept of "Gazaria" were discussed, as well as the influence of religion on the identification of the inhabitants of the colonies.

Report: Grigory Khorkov