North Aegean Stories

The Lomemili Family And Genoese Trade From The Aegean To Northern Europe

Some reflections by Dimitris Krallis on Lesvos’s place in Genoese pan-European trade networks. Translation of the original document from the archives of Genoa by Aleksandar Jovanović.

While the Aegean Stories Vault works to digitize one family archive while seeking potential access to others, so that together local sources may shed light to the more recent history of Northern Lesvos, the island’s history may be reconstructed through all manner of archival materials. From La-za-pa in the Hittite state documents to Ottoman Midilli, Lesvos has long featured in the archival record. Let us then dive a few centuries into the past and visit Genoa, where evidence on the history of the island lies in the commune’s records. Here we learn that in 1393, the Genoese merchant Michele Lomellino, chartered the good ship Santa Maria of Manuele Doria on behalf of Battista Lomellino, to load 3,500 or 4,000 kantars of alum. Next to the sought after mineral he was to also load any other cargo of value from ports in the “lands of the Turks” but also from Lesvos, and to carry this along with a cargo of wine from Crete to Southampton. Once in England he would await written instructions on whether the cargo was to be sold in Sandwich or in Flanders at Sluys.

Note that both the Lomellini and the Doria were prominent families in Genoa. The Doria sired famous Genoese admirals, while we still find Lomellini scions in Ottoman Constantinople in the 18th c. The Genoese archives record a few more cases of alum export from Lesvos. In 1398, 2,500 kantars of alum were loaded at the port of Kallone on a vessel arriving from Pera in Constantinople on its way to Alexandria. Evidence from 1404, has Michele Lomellino selling 1,000 kantars of alum to Paolo Lercario and then chartering him to transport a further 3,000 kantars of his own from Kallone to Flanders. Our documentation theref connects Lesvos and its alum mines in the regions of Parakoila, Kontisia (near Agra), and Stypsi with a wider world, where the growth of the wool and cloth industry of Northern Europe, but also of Tuscany, integrated the economy of the island in much wider geographies. There is also evidence in the archival sources from Genoa of finished cloth, likely dyed with alum from Lesvos or Phokaia, making the return journey to the island. Integration in the “world economy” would bring prosperity to Lesvos in the Gattilisio era. In the context of that prosperity local Romioi also benefited.

One of them Theodigis Kolyvas from Parakoila likely owned the mining operation close to Agia Triada on the slopes of Ai Lias. If the “world economy” could bring prosperity, however, it could also cause crisis. By 1449, as alum prices appear to have been falling around the Mediterranean, a Genoese family at Pera with operations also in Chios, the Draperio, appear to come to a deal with the Ottomans, holders by now of multiple mines around the Aegean, to pay the Gattilusio 5000 ducats per year for ten years to shut down the mines in Lesvos. This may have been an attempt to restore prices, though other interpretations have also been offered for the deal. On our part we need to ask: While Gattilusio benefited from that contract, which brought in cash in return for little work, what happened to workers at the mines, to dockworkers at the ports and even to sailors how now remained unemployed? One way or another, the alum trade is one of the many ways in which the Island of Lesvos has remained connected to the wider world over the centuries. For a summary of the material on these journeys consult the rich book by Christopher Wright, The Gattilusio Lordships and the Aegean World 1355–1462 (Brill, 2014), pp. 174-88. For the original text in Latin regarding the first journey in our story see Leóne Liagre-De Sturler, Les relations commerciales entre Gênes, la Belgique et l’Outremont d’après les archives notariales génoises (1320-1400) (Institut historique Belge de Rome: Bruxelles, 1969), pp. 746-51.

The title of this last book, with its emphasis on the relations between “Belgium” a political entity that did not exist in the Middle Ages and the Western Colonial possessions in the Eastern Mediterranean (l’Outremont) offers an interesting lens for thinking about the presence of the Genoese in Lesvos, but also about the ways in which the island was exposed to wider European trade networks. The use itself of the word l’Outremont by the editor of this volume alerts us to the role of the Crusades in the integration of a politically fragmented Europe in both economic and ideological terms. In this context, Genoa, for centuries integrated in East Mediterranean and, one might say, Byzantine affairs, becomes the link between Northern Europe and the East Roman world.

The following document was drafted in Genoa, 28th of June 1393 by the Notary Andreolo Caito, V (1393–1396). It appears in folios 142 verso, 143 recto and 143verso. It was translated To English from the original Latin by Dr. Aleksandar Jovanovic (UFV).

In the name of our Lord, amen. I, Manuel de Auria, citizen of Genoa, son of the departed Melchione, lord and shipmaster of a ship called Santa Maria, presently located in the port of Genoa, hereby allocate to you, Michele Lomellino, citizen and merchant of Genoa, emancipated son, as you say, of lord Cosma Lomellino, who is present and accepting, the said ship by way and title of lease and freight contract under the following terms and conditions: I promise and agree to maintain and upkeep the said ship for the entire below-described voyage and period specified below, fully sailable, well-rigged, and properly fitted with masts, yards, sails, ironwork, ropes, equipment, crew, and all other things necessary and appropriate to complete the said voyage. And with the said ship I will depart from the port of Genoa no later than the 15th day of July, and with it sail straight to Chios. In Chios, I will remain with the said ship for two full consecutive days waiting to receive your instructions or from another person acting on your behalf, directing me to one specific place in Turkey to pick up and load cargo – the specific place in Turkey will be given, and it should include Mytilene, provided that I’m not bound to go to Skyros, even if I am told that I must go to Skyros. Once I receive your response, I promise and agree to depart from Chios with the ship and proceed directly to the specified place in Turkey, including Mytilene. On arrival at the designated port of loading agreed in Chios, I promise and agree to remain there with the said ship for ten working and loading days. I will take aboard, on your behalf and in your name, as much alum and other goods of weight, and not volume, as you wish, up to a total amount of 3,500 cantari by Genoese measure, and up to 4,000 cantari at your discretion for the additional 500; your decision regarding these must be communicated to me in Chios before the ship departs from there. If, at the said Turkish port where the goods should be loaded, you do want to deliver the complete cargo as planned, but you want to deliver part of it in Candia, then after I wait for the said ten days to elapse in Turkey, and after I have taken on those goods you choose to load there, I promise and agree to depart with the ship and proceed straight to the port of Candia. There, in the port of Candia, I will remain another ten working and loading days since the boat’s docking, where you may pack, load, and send as cargo as much wine, malvasia, or any other goods in weight, and not volume, as needed to complete the total of 3,500 or 4,000 cantari, depending on your earlier choice based on the above agreement that I can carry another 500 cantari. For the purpose of calculation and dividing, each transport barge full of malvasia or wine will be counted as eleven cantari in the Genoese system. Once the goods are thus fully loaded, I promise and agree to guard and protect them to the best of my ability and to sail with them directly to Antona in England [1], outside the customs zone, and to remain with the ship for three full consecutive days following arrival in Antona in England, outside the customs zone, awaiting your instructions or those of your person as to which one of two locations — Sandwich or the port of Sluys in Flanders — I must go to unload the cargo. Upon receiving the instructions, I promise and agree to go with the ship and cargo from Antona and sail straight to the indicated location — Sandwich or Sluys, as per your reply. There at one of these two ports, I promise and agree to deliver and hand over the cargo to you or your legal representative for unloading, as quickly and conveniently as possible. Also, at Antona outside the customs zone, during the three-day waiting period, you can choose to unload part of the cargo, and I will deliver to you whatever portion you wish. All loading and unloading will be done according to the local customs and practices of those ports. All of the above is subject to the just impediments of God, the sea, or war. I am to do all this and promise to do so in exchange for freight payment of thirteen Genoese soldi per cantaro, measured by the Genoese standard, for all goods loaded as described above in Turkey and Candia, and delivered and unloaded at Antona and then either Sandwich or Sluys in Flandres. You must pay me this freight at the place of unloading at the customary times and manner used in those regions for comparable freights.

On his part, the said Michele, accepting the terms as stated above and below, promises and agrees to the said Manuel to notify the said shipmaster in Chios during the two-day waiting period, which Turkish port, including Mytilene, excluding Skyros, the ship should go to, and whether he wishes to load the extra 500 cantari as per his choice. He must make these declarations during that time. He also promises to deliver the goods to be loaded, either entirely in Turkey or partially in Candia as mentioned, in the amount of 3,500 to 4,000 cantari, within the respective periods for which the said ship is to remain at each place. Also, at Antona, outside the customs zone, during the three-day waiting period, if Michele wishes to unload a quarter of the cargo, he may do so, and he must instruct the very shipmaster whether the ship should proceed to Sandwich or Sluys. At whichever of the two ports the ship ends up unloading the cargo, Michele promises to accept the goods and unload them as quickly and conveniently as possible, and to pay the agreed freight charge as described above, according to the quantities and terms specified.

It being agreed between the said Manuel and Michele, in this present instrument and contract that if Manuel, with the said ship, does not sail to the designated Turkish and Candian ports, or refuses to load the agreed 3,500–4,000 cantari of goods as promised, then he must, from now, by his own will, pay to Michele or his legal representative thirteen Genoese soldi per cantaro of cargo not loaded, in cash, as compensation for Michele’s damages and loss – this amount is agreed in advance. On the other hand, if Michele, in the said Turkish and Candian places, fails to deliver and hand over the cargo for loading to Manuel within the said periods as outlined, or refuses or is unable to do so, he must likewise pay to Manuel thirteen Genoese soldi per cantaro of unshipped goods, in cash, as payment for the loss of freight space. Both Manuel and Michele mutually promise and agree to observe and uphold all the above in order not to come under the penalty of 2,000 golden florins of good and true Florentine weight, solemnly promised. The party in breach will owe this penalty to the other every time the contract is violated, and the amount is hereby fixed as the pre-assessed value of damages, including all costs and legal expenses, without affecting the validity of the rest of the contract. To ensure fulfillment, both parties mutually pledge all their current and future goods, and Manuel especially pledges the said ship, its rights and earnings and freights, such that this special pledge does not override the general one, nor vice versa. They also agree that either party may be legally pursued, arrested, or incarcerated in Genoa, Savona, Pisa, Nice, Candia, London, Bruges, or anywhere else, under any ecclesiastical or secular judge wherever either party is found, and both parties bind themselves to submit to the jurisdiction of those places and to answer legal claims, make payment, and comply with judgments as if the contract had been signed there. They waive all privileges of forum, and any legal exceptions or contrary claims, any chapter, or statute to the contrary. Both Manuel and Michele, for safety and solemnity, have sworn on the Holy Gospels that they will observe and uphold everything in this contract, and will not act or argue against it in any way. Michele, without prejudice to Manuel, states that he enters into this naulizatio, lease, and all its terms on behalf of Battista Lomellino, son of lord Neapolione, by commission, as he says, from Niccolò Lomellino, Battista’s brother, to the extent of half of everything in this contract.

Done at Genoa, in the Banks district, at the bench of the undersigned notary, on the 28th of June, year 1393 since our Lord’s birth, 15th indiction according to Genoa, around the third hour. Witnesses: Theramius Centurione, Martinus Falamonica, Bartholomeus Aspiranus, citizens of Genoa, summoned and requested.

[1] Antona, or Anthona in the Latin original is likely the settlement of Antony, in Cornwall, that appears in the 1086 Domesday Book.

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