Medieval ‘Floating’ Finances: The Techniques of Mediterranean Trade in Cilician Armenia (Thirteenth and Fourteenth Centuries)

Medieval Mediterranean trade was conducted through a complex system of multiple commercial techniques. Among these, a central role was played by the commenda contract, various types of loans and monetary transfers, assignments, and contracts relating to the chartering of merchant ships. To what extent was Cilician Armenia involved in Mediterranean trade, and what geography of commercial connections can be mapped on the basis of documents compiled by notarial agents? The notarial transactions drawn up in Ayas encompass all the main well-known forms of commercial agreements that were widespread in Mediterranean trade. In commenda contracts, loans, and other agreements, the deadlines for completing commercial activity are often specified, which to some extent outline the temporal dynamics and the intensity of communications in Mediterranean trade during the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. The geographical scope of these transactions covers almost the entire Mediterranean basin, including the cities of the Mamluk Sultanate of Egypt.