Vasilief, A History of the Byzantine Empire

The fall of Byzantium

Political and social conditions in the Empire

Page 7

At the head of the democracy of Thessalonica stood the zealots who in 1342 expelled the nobles from the city, pillaged their rich houses, and established a sort of republican government by the members of the zealot party. Complications within the city led to a bloody massacre of the nobility in 1346. Nicholas Cabasilas was one of the few who escaped death. Even after Cantacuzene had come to an agreement with John V Palaeologus, the zealot government at Thessalonica continued to exist and in certain respects resembled a real republic. The zealots paid no attention to orders from Constantinople, and Thessalonica was governed as an independent republic until in 1349 John V and Cantacuzene finally succeeded, by their united efforts, in putting an end to the democratic regime of the zealots.

The real causes of the revolution of Thessalonica are not yet quite clear. The Roumanian historian, Tafrali, considered the chief cause the deplorable economic situation of the population, and saw in the zealots the champions of freedom and better social conditions for the future. Diehl wrote: The struggle of the classes, rich against poor, aristocrats against plebeians, and the atrocity of the struggle manifest themselves in the interesting, tragic and bloody history of the commune of Thessalonica in the fourteenth century; this struggle betrays a vague tendency towards a communistic movement. On the other hand, another historian maintained that in the revolt of Thessalonica the political element, that is, the struggle against the partisans of John Cantacuzene, prevailed over the social element. This problem deserves further study, but it appears that the social background occupied the first place in the revolution of Thessalonica; however, the social problem was intermingled with the political interests of that time, with the civil war between John V and John Cantacuzene. As an example of class struggle the revolution at Thessalonica is one of the most interesting phenomena in the general history of medieval social problems.

Owing to the external and internal conditions of the Empire, Byzantium lost control of her trade. Yet before the Turks definitely cut off all connection, Constantinople, as before, remained a center where merchandise came from various quarters and where one might meet merchants of different nationalities.

Francesco Balducci Pegolotti, a Florentine merchant and writer of the first half of the fourteenth century, a factor in the service of the mercantile house of the Bardi, gave valuable information about the merchandise for sale at Constantinople itself and at Galata or Pera, and about western merchants there. Pegolotti mentions Genoese, Venetians, Pisans, Florentines, Provencals, Catalans, Anconans, Sicilians, and all other strangers (e tutti altri strani). A Burgundian pilgrim of the first half of the fifteenth century, Bertrandon de la Broquiere, wrote that he saw in Constantinople many merchants of various nations, but the Venetians had more authority; in another place he mentioned Venetians, Genoese, and Catalans. Of course, in addition there were in Constantinople many other merchants both from the west, for example from Ragusa on the Adriatic Sea, and from the east. Commercial intercourse in Constantinople was truly international.

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