Два варианта городской истории средневекового Причерноморья — Белгород и Олешье
Two Variants of the Urban History of Medieval Black Sea Region — Belgorod and Oleshye

Author(s): Nicolaj D. Russev
Subject(s): History, Archaeology, Political history, Middle Ages, 6th to 12th Centuries, 13th to 14th Centuries
Published by: Издательский дом Stratum, Университет «Высшая антропологическая школа»
Keywords: domination of the Golden Horde; Byzantium; Moldova; Belgorod; Oleshye; Bulgarians; Genoese; international sea trade; Ottoman expansion
Summary/Abstract: Relying on written sources, the author considers the fate of two towns from the Black Sea region — Belgorod and Oleshye. In the “pre-Mongolian“ period, the two towns did not display any close relationship, because by the end of the 10th century, the town located in the mouth of the Dniester River and historically connected with the right bank of the Danube had already completed a whole stage in its history, while the town near the Dnieper, which played an important role in relations between Medieval Russia and Byzantine Crimea appeared only in the 11th century.By the end of the 13th century, under the rule of Mongolian governor Nohay, Belgorod saw a revival of Byzantine traditions and became an important obstacle on the way of the Italians spreading into this region. At the same time, Oleshye (Illiche) was in declining state. Only in the second half of the 14th century, the settlement attracted the Genoeses as a port in which it was possible to buy considerable amounts of food.In the last quarter of the 14th century, Moldova forced the Golden Horde out of the Dniester basin. In Belgorod (Asprocastro), the Greeks took leading positions. In the conditions of instability of 1432—1457, the autonomy of the city increased so much that the local community started running independent business with Italians and even Ottomans.The expansion of the Great Duchy of Lithuania towards the Lower Dnieper region broke the former tenor of life and led Illiche to decline. Only in 1440—1450 the life here became more active as the Mongols and Genoeses re-established their partner relations.The collision between Caffa and Belgorod, with the castle of Illiche just in the center of it, provoked irreparable damage to the urban life in the Lower Dnieper region. In the conditions of Ottoman rule established in the region in 1475—1484, Illiche never revived, and Belgorod (Akkerman) got an entirely new appearance.

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