The Black Sea. Crossroads of the Intercontinental Route-Ways (1204-1453)

Introduction - The Expansion of the West into the Eastern Mediterranean (11th -12th centuries) - The End of the Byzantine Monopoly in the Straits and Latin Domination in Constantinople (1204-1261) - Mongol Expansion and Eurasian Trade Axes (1206-1260) – Golden Hoard trade policy (1242-1396) - Ilhanat’s trade policy (1261-1335) - Byzantine restoration to the Straits and Genoese penetration into the Pontic basin (1261-1293) - First Straits War (1294-1299) - Consolidated Genoese hegemony. Venice's return to the Black Sea (1299-1333) - Italian merchants in Asia - Second Straits War (1350-1353) - Third Straits War (1376-1381). The opening of the continental roads to Central Europe - The final phase of the Genoese hegemony in the Black Sea (1381-1453) - The journey of the Pontic basin. Ships and navigation - Trade, commercial capital and commercial policy - Establishment of Ottoman rule in the Straits and the transformation of the Black Sea into a “Turkish lake” - Bibliography - Annexes - Chronological guide - Maps.