Greek Captives and Mediterranean Slavery, 1260–1460

Alasdair C. Grant is Research Associate in the Emmy Noether project “Social Contexts of Rebellion in the Early Islamic Period” (SCORE) at the University of Hamburg. He is author of Greek Captives and Mediterranean Slavery, 1260–1460 (Edinburgh University Press, 2024).

• MapsPrefaceAcknowledgementsIntroduction: A Crisis of CaptivityPrevious Scholarship Aims, Evidence and Approaches Ethnic Categories Religious Categories Categories of UnfreedomChapter OutlinePart I: Historical ContextsChapter 1: Political Changes in Asia MinorThe Late Medieval Romania The Collapse of Byzantine Asia Minor Evidence of Crisis (1): Cyprus Evidence of Crisis (2): Crete Catalans in the Romania ConclusionsChapter 2: Slave Trading in the Mediterranean and Black SeaThe Slave Trade Greek Captives in Context Genoa and the Trade in Greek Captives Byzantine Relations with the Mamlūk Sultanate Greek Captives, Cyprus and the Mamlūk Sultanate ConclusionPart II: Social DynamicsChapter 3: Captives, Slaves and RefugeesCaptives or Slaves? Experiences of Captivity Experiences of Slavery Captives or Refugees? Trends in Forced Mobility ConclusionsChapter 4: Methods of RedemptionRansom as Religious Duty Captives’ Letters of Clerical Advocacy (Aichmalotika) The Distribution of Testimonials Further Evidence for Itinerant Alms-Seeking The Individual as Ransomer Prisoner Exchanges Military Orders ConclusionPart III: Cross-Cultural RelationsChapter 5: Christian Masters, Christian Slaves?Religion and Slavery Ethnicity and Slavery Subjecthood and Captivity ConclusionChapter 6: Turkish Conquests, Conquered GreeksGreek Clergy and Captives under Islamic Rule Greek Captives and Slaves in Islamic Asia Minor Raiding and Depopulation Conquest and Deportation ConclusionsConclusion: A Mediterranean PhenomenonBibliographyIndex

What makes the book extremely fascinating is, first, the rich, comparative—and up to now unexplored—material, consisting of literary and documentary texts mostly in Greek and Latin but also in western European vernaculars, Arabic and Turkish, which cover a remarkably broad geographical area (from the Aegean to Egypt and from Cyprus to Catalonia). Second is the author’s approach, which combines empirical and social-historical elements. [...] This all-around treatment of the subject makes this book valuable to a broad range of scholars who are interested in social, cultural, demographic, and political structures and influences in Byzantine, Crusader, Western Medieval, and Ottoman Studies.