A Historiographical Overview of Studies on the Venetian Tana from the Beginnings to the 2010s

This article offers a brief glance on the studies done on the history of the Venetian colony in Tana, in the embouchure of the River Don on the shores of the Sea of Azov. The study of the history of Italian trade on the Levant in general and in the areas of the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov in particular, including the Venetian colony in Tana, boasts a considerable historiographical tradition. The author, however, limits himself here to the classical studies and intentionally does not go beyond the year 2010. The scholars of the XIX – early XX centuries laid down grounds for the scientific study of the Venetian trade and the development of its Black Sea colonies. To a certain extent the emergence of the social and economic history of the Levant and the Black Sea region were made possible thanks to the publication of sources. The authors of the first half of the XIX century, who studied this subject, were limited mainly to source studies, and even until now the study of history of the Italian presence on the Mediterranean and Black Seas in the XIII – XV centuries starts with a study of a range of unpublished archival sources. The early XX century was marked by intensive work on the identification and publication of the new sources. Some fundamental studies on the history of the Venetian politics and colonization in the Black sea were written. Further steps in the study of the Venetian expansion in the Black Sea area were made based on the materials of the Venetian archive. These projects tended to be collective and to be done in close relationship among the scholars from different countries. There appeared several studies on the history of the Venetian trading station in Tana. A number of researchers developed the problems of economic history of the region. The major problems of the Italian colonization were carefully studied in the recent decades. In the late XXth and early XXIst centuries there appeared a lot of studies of the Venetian and Genoese trading stations in the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov area, some of them were particularly focused exactly on Tana.

This short paper is not intended to be comprehensive, but rather offers a brief glance on the studies done on the history of the Venetian colony in Tana, in the embouchure of the River Don on the shores of the Sea of Azov. The study of the history of Italian trade on the Levant in general and in the areas of the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov in particular, including the Venetian colony in Tana, boasts a considerable historiographical tradition. The author, however, limits himself here to the classical studies and intentionally does not go beyond the year 2010.
The history of the Black Sea commerce and of the Italian (chiefly Genoese and Venetian) colonization of the region implying the establishment of the new settlements provoked interest already starting from the XVI century, because it was impossible to write the historical narratives on Venice without covering also its trade and it colonial possessions in the Mediterranean Sea and in the Black Sea area. However, the authors of the early modern historical narratives highlighted the events of the political life of their city-state, outlined the nature of trade, linked economic, diplomatic and military policy, but did not turn to the study of economic life and economic and social history as such. The problems of the Mediterranean economy and society came to the attention of the historians much later -they took a significant place in historical scholarship only in the XIX century, together with the emergence of economic and social history as disciplinary fields of historical science and the beginning of scientific critical study of sources.
The scholars of the XIX -early XX centuries laid down grounds for truly scientific study of the Venetian trade and the development of its Black Sea colonies. To a certain extent the emergence of the social and economic history of the Levant and the Black Sea region were made possible thanks to the publication of sources. With regard to Venice, the most famous publication of this type is the one by G. L. F. Tafel and G. M. Thomas 1 ). In addition, a 1 Urkunden zur alteren Handels-und Staatsgeschichte der Republik Venedig mit besonderer Beziehung auf Byzanz und die Levante om 9. bis zum Ausgang des 15. Jahrh. herausg. von G. L. Fr. Tafel und G. M. Thomas, Vienne 1856-57; Diplomatarium number of sources of Genoese origin related to the Genoese colonies in the East had been published by A. Vigna 2 . The authors of the first half of the XIX century, who studied this subject, were limited mainly to source studies. One of the first generalizing studies that considered the issues of Venetian trade (including the Black Sea trade) was the monograph written by Pierre Antoine Noël Bruno, count Daru 3 . Another major achievement in the study of the Mediterranean trade of Venice was the two-volume classic work of the German scientist W. Heyd «History of medieval Levantine trade», published in German 4 and in French 5 . Long before the «History» Heyd also published a book about the Italian trading stations of in the East 6 . It was one of the first overviews of this subject in Italian and his study was extremely appreciated and recognized by the Italian colleagues and was included in the publication of the "Nuova collezione di opere storiche". Heyd became one of the founders of the scientific study of the Mediterranean trade in the middle ages, and his works served as the basis for subsequent researchers of this subject and are recognized to this day. One can say that this monograph is unsurpassed in terms of the breadth of coverage and preciseness of the source data. Heyd used in his «History» a wide range of sources published by the time, and he was consequently the first one who gave a more or less description of the Вчені XIX -початку XX століть заклали основи для наукового вивчення венеціанської торгівлі та розвитку її чорноморських колоній. Початок XX століття ознаменувався інтенсивною роботою з виявлення та публікації нових джерел. Подальші кроки у вивченні венеціанської експансії в Причорномор'ї були зроблені на основі матеріалів Венеціанського архіву. Основні проблеми італійської колонізації були ретельно вивчені в останні десятиліття. В кінці XX -початку XX століття з'явилося багато досліджень венеціанських і генуезьких торгових станцій в районі Чорного і Азовського морів, деякі з них були особливо зосереджені саме на Тані.
he had almost no one to refer to as his predecessor. All the other authors whom he mentions were mainly the source publishers. Until now the study of history of the Italian presence on the Mediterranean and Black Seas in the XIII -XV centuries begins with a study of a range of unpublished archival sources.
The activity of the Odessa Society for History and Antiquities (ЗООИД) founded in 1839 contributed greatly to the study of sources. For example, the materials on the management of the Genoese Gazaria by the Bank of Saint George were studied by Russian historians in this society, as well as the work of the Tauric Scientific Archive Commission (ИТУАК) and other institutions 8 . The merits of their scholars in the field of the study of the history of the Black Sea in the middle ages were widely recognized 9 . The major scholars working within these institutions on the history of Italian politics and colonization in the Black sea were F. K. Brun 10 , M. Volkov 11 , V. N. Yurgevich 12 , and L. P. Kolly 13 , who were special attention of the researchers of the XIX -XX centuries 18 . These Genoese-Tatar coins were studied by O. Retovsky 19 . The contemporary historiography connects these marks on the Golden Horde coins with the Caffiote mint. These coins are seen as a transitional stage between the Golden Horde coins minted in Caffa at the beginning of the XV century and the aspres of Caffa of the 1420 -1470s. 20 The coins with the Tatar tamga were widely produced in the 1370 -1380s 21 and widely spread in Azaq 22 . Nowadays there are different opinions on the starting point of the own coinage of the Genoese Caffa as well as on the marks 23 , but it is clear that these coins served both to the needs of the local market and to the intense exchanges between the Crimean trading stations of Genoa and Tana. The numismatic material was analyzed both from the point of view of the information on the political history that it provides, and, subsequently, from the point of view of the history of the economy and monetary circulation in the region in the middle ages 24 .
The early XX century was marked by intensive work on the identification and publication of the new sources. Some fundamental studies on the history of the Venetian politics and colonization in the Black sea were written by F. Brun, M. Volkov, and N. 18  eval studies of the University of Genoa, established in 1963 and headed by Geo Pistarino. Pistarino and his students studied mainly the problems of economic history. These projects tended to be collective and to be done in close relationship among the scholars from different countries.
The major problems of the Italian colonization were carefully studied by F. Thiriet and M. Balard. In F. Thiriet's monograph the emphasis was placed on consideration of the Mediterranean possessions of Venice 34 . Thiriet also investigated certain aspects of Venetian trade in the Black Sea region, to which he returned in his subsequent publications, using the materials of the Venetian assemblies, regestae which he had previously compiled. M. Balard made the greatest contribution to the study after V. Heyd in his classical monograph on the Genoese colonies 35 . The economy and trade of Venice in the middle ages, navigation, money circulation, and market conditions were actively studied by F. Lane 36 43 . Donald Nicol gave in his panoramic study 44 a detailed description of the relations between Venice and Byzantium from the beginnings of the Venetian Republic to the fall of the Byzantine Empire. His study is a generalizing one; it often does not have a deep analysis of the socio-economic causes of certain processes, but it is highly informative as for the history of international relations in the middle ages.
In the late XXth and early XXIst centuries there appeared a lot of studies of the Venetian and Genoese trading stations in the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov area (some of them were particularly focused exactly on Tana): here it is necessary to mention the studies by S.P. Karpov 45 ,A.L. Ponomarev 46 ,A.A. Talyzina 47 , N.D. Prokofieva 48 and others. The monograph of S. P. Karpov devoted to the Italian maritime republics and the Southern Black Sea coast in the XIII -XV centuries 49 is the first fundamental generalizing work focusing on one of the main directions of the trade of Genoa and Venice in the Southern Black Sea region. The monograph is particularly valuable because it is based on a wide range of sources, both published and unpublished. The second chapter of the monograph describes the structure of the Venetian trade carried out through the ports of the Black Sea region, connecting the West with the East. The author reconsidered in this book the vision of the relative shares of the groups of the imported and exported commodities within the general structure of both local and international trade 50 . Scrutinizing the balance of the Italian maritime republics, S. P. Karpov came to the conclusion that the steady deficit of gold and silver in their trade with the Southern Black Sea region was fully compensated by the profits from resale of goods delivered to Western Europe 51 . The monograph of S.P. Karpov demonstrated the scrupulous analysis of sources and filled many gaps, it was also important for the study of the political history of the Northern Black Sea region. In another monograph S. P. Karpov studied the Black Sea navigation of the Venetian Republic in the XIII -XV centuries 52 : the types of ships and conditions of seafare, piracy, routes of navigation, composition of crews etc. The monograph was published with tables and graphs with all the main parameters of navigation, which was an accurate barometer of the state of trade relations in the region. Another monograph by S.P. Karpov on the history of the Trebizond Empire 53 was focused on the political and economic relations in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Black Sea region in the XIII -XV centuries, stressing for the first time in modern historiography the international importance of the Trebizond state in the middle ages, its role as a mediator between Europe and the Middle East.
Here the author stops, as the overview of the most recent historiography of the last decade was not set as a goal in this article; however, much was done and still much has to be done, including a panoramic generalizing history of Tana, and remains a matter of future. 53Карпов С. П. История Трапезундской империи. СПб., 2007.