Nympha (1261)

The initiative to conclude a treaty came from Genoa, who wanted to take revenge on the Venetians for their defeats in the Palestinian war of Saint Sava , in particular for the expulsion from Acre in 1258 , and, in turn, expel their enemies from Constantinople. According to the Genoese annals, "remembering Venetian offenses, the Genoese did not stop at nothing in order to create difficulties for their opponents." The offer of Genoa was necessary by the way for the Nicene Emperor Michael VIII Palaeologus , to whom the unsuccessful siege of Galatia in the spring of 1260 showed the need to have a strong fleet to win back Constantinople from the Latins . Michael, preoccupied with rumors that the Pope is gathering troops to help the Latin Empire, hoped to find a natural ally in Venetia against the Venetians; the latter the Nicene emperor wanted to expel completely outside the state.

At the end of 1260, the ambassadors of Guillermo and Gvarnero departed from Genoa to the east, endowed with unlimited powers. The contract was concluded on March 13, 1261 in the town of Nymphae, Nikea, located in Asia Minor . On April 28, the text of the treaty was signed by Michael VIII, and then sent to Genoa with the Nicene embassy, ​​which included the parakimomen Isaac Duca, the uncle of the emperor, Theodore Qvirikot and the archdeacon Leo. On July 10, the treaty was ratified by the Genoese authorities.

The Nymphaean treaty was an analogue of the figure of 1082, with which Alexey I Komnenos bestowed trade privileges on the Venetians. The Greek text of the Treaty of Nymphaea was not preserved. The terms of the contract are known from the Latin text in the Genoa registers (there are also two Latin copies, parchment 1267 and paper 1285). Genoa received complete freedom of trade throughout the empire, as well as in the Black Sea , which was declared open only to Greek, Genoese and Pisan ships. Genoa also received the right to establish trading posts in Smyrna , Alea, Adramity , Thessaloniki , Sosandras, Chios , Lesbos , as well as on Euboea and Crete , not yet conquered by the Greeks. All Venetian possessions in Constantinople and other regions were transferred to the Genoese, and Venetian ships were to be expelled from all ports. In turn, Genoa pledged to send a fleet to capture Constantinople, arm 50 ships at the expense of Nicaea, and grant Greek merchants insignificant trade privileges in Liguria . Any Genoese living in the empire could have been enrolled in the Greek army, but only his consuls and Podesta of Constantinople remained in the court. From the list of states against which the Genoese could fight, Cilician Armenia , the Kingdom of Cyprus and the Achaean Principality were excluded.

The Nymphaean treaty did not bring any practical results to the Greeks. The help of the Genoese ships in the Bosporus was not needed - the Niceneans occupied Constantinople on their own ( July 25, 1261). On the contrary, the treaty adversely affected the entire subsequent history of Byzantium, becoming the largest mistake of Byzantine diplomacy. It was the beginning of the Genoese domination of the Black Sea and the market of Constantinople itself. In 1265, Michael VIII, fearing the economic gain of Genoa, returned part of the rights to the Venetians, allowing their ships access to the Black Sea. But it was too late: by this time, the Genoese had virtually deprived Byzantium of its largest naval base in the Aegean Smyrna, which enabled the Turks to complete the conquest of the Byzantine provinces in Asia Minor by the beginning of the XIV century ^[1] .

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