Плаване и комуникации по Западното Черноморие (XIII–XV в.)
Navigation and sea communications in the Western Black Sea, 13th–15th centuries

Summary/Abstract: Sailing along the Western coast of the Black Sea had a millennium traditions dating back to the Chalcolithic age. The main line of communications that strung the Western Black Sea harbours together was the meridian sea route, linking the northern Black Sea steppes with the Bosphorus. The effective exploitation of a given sea route and the frequency of sailings depended on various factors such as the existing harbour infrastructure; the maintenance and supply of maritime links and communications; the navigational experience and knowledge about the particular sea route; the political and military situation; the state control over shipping and over the freedom of movement of independent merchants; the economic conjuncture; the capacity of the particular region to produce and export the agricultural surplus as well as the ability/inability of importing areas to absorb the products brought there. All these factors mixed together perfectly during the 13th–15th centuries longue durée when the Western Black Sea was incorporated into the Mediterranean world-economy run by the Italian maritime republics. The Venetian and Genoese merchants and mariners sailed along the Western Black Sea route quite intensively, while managing their trade activities. The study of the nautical documentation such as portulans and naval charts reveals the Italians’ high level of knowledge on the navigational characteristics of the Western Black Sea medieval harbour system. Both nautical charts and portulans used to apply a cabotage approach, however the former adhered strictly to the shoreline following each harbour and moorings along the coast, while the portulans descripted the main sea trade routes. That is why the maps depicted the whole coastal line and included the full nomenclature of local harbours unlike the portulans. The analysis of the data drawn from the written sources, portulans and naval charts indicates that the Venetians and Genoese relied on the local network of merchant and sea communications, and even managed to expand it, thus strongly contributing to the cohesion within the Western Black Sea contact zone. Coastal and open sea lanes were both used. There were also some direct sea lines linking the most important trade and logistics urban centers of the Western Black Sea. Despite the heavy ship traffic and the permanent accumulation of maritime knowledge and experience, each sea journey still got an individual, inconstant and highly unpredictable character due to the dynamics of local weather conditions and the limits of medieval navigation, shipbuilding and technology in general. For that reason the type of the ship, the number and competence of its crew as well as the presence on board of a pilot, experienced enough in navigating the local aquatories, were factors of great significance.

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