Venice and the Mongols: The Eurasian Exchange That Transformed the Medieval World
By Nicola Di Cosmo and Lorenzo Pubblici
Princeton University Press
ISBN: 978-0-691-25624-5
As two powers expanded, Venice eastward and the Mongol Empire westward, their interests converged around trade. This book explores their diplomacy and commercial ties, revealing how the Black Sea became a centre of medieval globalization.
Excerpt:
Venice was a central protagonist in the Mongol ambition to reinvent the world through commerce. While the Mongols provided the infrastructure, the Venetians contributed their knowledge, passion, and financial resources. Alongside their Genoese counterparts, Venetian merchants were instrumental in their wise guidance of fostering and managing these unprecedented relations with the emerging Mongol power. They skillfully employed new tools and strategies to pursue a shared goal, becoming key figures in this transformative chapter of global trade.
Who is this book for?
One of our favourite books published so far in 2026, this work examines how the Venetian Republic established ties with the Mongol Empire during the 13th and 14th centuries. Like their Genoese rivals, the Venetians developed an extensive commercial network centred on the Black Sea. Their connections with the Golden Horde and the Ilkhanate helped facilitate trade with regions farther into Asia. Most readers will already know the story of Marco Polo, who receives a chapter here, but they will discover that he was part of a much larger and more complex history.
This book deserves a wide audience. Anyone interested in Venice, the Mongols, Genoa, the Black Sea region, trade and economics, diplomacy and geopolitics, the Black Death, or the Global Middle Ages itself will find much of value here.
“Those hoping that a book called Venice and the Mongols would be a deep-dive into everything Marco Polo will be disappointed, for that most celebrated of Venetians warrants only a single chapter. Authors Nicola Di Cosmo and Lorenzo Pubblici focus rather more on Venice’s forays—commercial and territorial—into the Black Sea, where they ran up against the Mongols in Crimea. After the Fourth Crusade and the Mongol’s westward conquests, “The Pontic area,” write the authors, “became a common space, a nexus between Asia and Europe” at what was respectively the western- and eastern-most expansion of each.” ~ review by Peter Gordon in Asian Review of Books.
The Authors
Nicola Di Cosmo is Professor of East Asian History at the Institute for Advanced Study. Lorenzo Pubblici is Associate Professor of Premodern Central Asian History and Cultures at the University of Naples.
Venice and the Mongols: The Eurasian Exchange That Transformed the Medieval World
By Nicola Di Cosmo and Lorenzo Pubblici
Princeton University Press
ISBN: 978-0-691-25624-5
As two powers expanded, Venice eastward and the Mongol Empire westward, their interests converged around trade. This book explores their diplomacy and commercial ties, revealing how the Black Sea became a centre of medieval globalization.
Excerpt:
Venice was a central protagonist in the Mongol ambition to reinvent the world through commerce. While the Mongols provided the infrastructure, the Venetians contributed their knowledge, passion, and financial resources. Alongside their Genoese counterparts, Venetian merchants were instrumental in their wise guidance of fostering and managing these unprecedented relations with the emerging Mongol power. They skillfully employed new tools and strategies to pursue a shared goal, becoming key figures in this transformative chapter of global trade.
Who is this book for?
One of our favourite books published so far in 2026, this work examines how the Venetian Republic established ties with the Mongol Empire during the 13th and 14th centuries. Like their Genoese rivals, the Venetians developed an extensive commercial network centred on the Black Sea. Their connections with the Golden Horde and the Ilkhanate helped facilitate trade with regions farther into Asia. Most readers will already know the story of Marco Polo, who receives a chapter here, but they will discover that he was part of a much larger and more complex history.
This book deserves a wide audience. Anyone interested in Venice, the Mongols, Genoa, the Black Sea region, trade and economics, diplomacy and geopolitics, the Black Death, or the Global Middle Ages itself will find much of value here.
“Those hoping that a book called Venice and the Mongols would be a deep-dive into everything Marco Polo will be disappointed, for that most celebrated of Venetians warrants only a single chapter. Authors Nicola Di Cosmo and Lorenzo Pubblici focus rather more on Venice’s forays—commercial and territorial—into the Black Sea, where they ran up against the Mongols in Crimea. After the Fourth Crusade and the Mongol’s westward conquests, “The Pontic area,” write the authors, “became a common space, a nexus between Asia and Europe” at what was respectively the western- and eastern-most expansion of each.” ~ review by Peter Gordon in Asian Review of Books.
The Authors
Nicola Di Cosmo is Professor of East Asian History at the Institute for Advanced Study. Lorenzo Pubblici is Associate Professor of Premodern Central Asian History and Cultures at the University of Naples.
You can learn more about this book from the publisher’s website.
You can buy this book on Amazon.com | Amazon.ca | Amazon.co.uk
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