The Trade in Slaves in the Black Sea, Russia, and Eastern Europe

doi:10.1017/9781139024723.005

Chapter 5 - The Trade in Slaves in the Black Sea, Russia, and Eastern Europe

from Part I - Captivity and the Slave Trade

Published online by Cambridge University Press: 09 September 2021

Hannah Barker

Edited by

Craig Perry ,

David Eltis ,

Stanley L. Engerman and

David Richardson

Show author details

Craig Perry: Affiliation:
Emory University, Atlanta
David Eltis: Affiliation:
Emory University, Atlanta
Stanley L. Engerman: Affiliation:
University of Rochester, New York
David Richardson: Affiliation:
University of Hull

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Summary

The Black Sea, Russia, and eastern Europe exported slaves throughout the medieval period. Most had been born free but were enslaved through capture or occasionally through sale by relatives. During the eighth through tenth centuries, slaves were traded from eastern Europe and the Baltic to elite households in Byzantium and the Islamic world via the Dniepr and Volga river systems, the Carolingian empire, and Venice. In the thirteenth century, the structure of this slave trade changed as a result of the Mongol invasion of eastern Europe, Italian colonization of the Black Sea, the success of the Mamluk state, and the crusading activities of the Teutonic Knights in the Baltic. People enslaved in the Baltic now tended to be traded westward rather than eastward; people enslaved in eastern Europe and the Caucasus tended to pass through the Black Sea into Italian, Mamluk, or Ottoman hands; and people enslaved in the Balkans were trafficked primarily by Venetians or Ottomans. Many aspects of this trade deserve further study, however, such as political marginality and decentralization as factors that enabled slaving; violations of the principle that slaves should come from a different religious background than their owners; and the logistics of local slave trades.

Keywords

Balkans Baltic Sea Carolingians child sale Circassia Mamluks Mongols Slavs Teutonic Knights Venice

Type: Chapter
Information: The Cambridge World History of Slavery , pp. 100 - 122

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781139024723.005 [Opens in a new window]

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Print publication year: 2021

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References

A Guide to Further Reading

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