Т. 1. «Азия и Африка: Наследие и современность»

Asia and Africa: their Heritage and Modernity. Vol. 1 21 Источниковедение и историография  Ближнего Востока byzantinae , called Stadiodromicon , which demonstrates the itinerary of the Byzantine fleet fromConstantinople toCrete viaNaxos 1, but it does not mention that the inhabitants of Naxos continued to have the above-mentioned tax arrangement. No doubt, such friendly stable relations between the local people and the Arabs of Crete were limited to a few islands situated near Crete, i.e. the small island of Dia across Handax, the capital of the Emirate of Crete 2 . On the other hand, the island of Cythera, located at the westernmost corner of the maritime front between Byzantium and the Emirate of Crete, had become a constant battle field 3 . To conclude, after careful scrutiny, the often overlooked hagiographical sources, frequently based on eyewitness information, are useful to complete our knowledge about the turbulent situation that prevailed on theArab-Byzantine maritime front in the south- ernAegean from the 9 th century until the reconquest of Crete by the Byzantine in 961. Vera Costantini (University of Venice, Venezia) Venetian Sources on the Ponto-Caspian Area (XV–XVII centuries) The Ottoman conquests of Thessaloniki (1430), Constantinople (1453), and Negroponte (1479) negatively affected Venetian hegemony in the Northeastern Mediterranean region: understandably, the sultans were determined to protect their new capital city from foreign interferences 4 . As a consequence, the Signoria ’s ruling 1 See V. Christides, The Conquest of Crete by the Arabs , p. 221–224; J. Haldon, “Theory and Practice in Tenth-Century MilitaryAdministration: Chapters II, 44 and 45 of the Book of Ceremonies”, Travaux et Mémoires 13 (2000), p. 218–235, esp. 234–235 (article: p. 201–352); J. H. Pryor, “The Σταδιοδρομικόν of the De Cerimoniis of Constantine VII, Byzantine War- ships, and the Cretan Expedition of 949”, in The Greek Islands and the Sea , ed. J. Chrysosto- mides, Ch. Dendrinos and J. Harris, Camberley, Surrey 2004. P. 77–83 (article: P. 77–108). 2 V. Christides, “The Maritime Arab-Byzantine Frontier in the Southern Aegean (ca. 824/6–961): Cythera, Naxos, Paros, Elaphonesos, Dia”. P. 646–647. 3 For Cythera see M. Leontsini, “Όψεις του κυθηραϊκού τοπίου από τους σχολαστικούς υπομνηματισμούς στην αγιολογική αναπαράσταση» in Α ´ Διεθνές Συνέδριο Κυθηραϊκών Μελετών Ι, Cythera 2003. P. 310; J. N. Coldstream—G. L. Huxley, eds., Kythera, Excavations and Studies Conducted by the University of Pennsylvania Museum and the British School of Athens, London 1972; for a hagiographical source with valuable information about the Arab-Byzantine struggle in the southernAegean in the tenth century, see N. A. Oikonomides, “Ο βίος του Αγίου Θεοδώρου Κυθήρων (10 ος αι.) (12 Μαΐου-ΒΗG 3 , αρ. 2430)”, Πρακτικά Τρίτου Πανιονίου Συνεδρίου , Athens 1967. P. 264–291. 4 K. P. Matschke. Research problems concerning the transition to Tourkokratia: the Byzan- tinist standpoint // F. Adanır and S. Faroqhi (eds.). The Ottomans in South-Eastern Europe. Leiden, 2002. P. 79–113. Th. Stavrides. The Sultan of Vezirs. The Life and Times of the Ottoman Grand Vezir Mahmud Pasha Angelović (1453–1474). Leiden-Boston-Köln, 2001.