Despre originea tranzitului de vin cretan prin Moldova în secolul al XVI-lea
On the Origin of Cretan Wine Transit Through Moldavia in the Sixteenth Century

Summary/Abstract: This study examines the origins and development of the Cretan wine trade through Moldavia to Poland in the sixteenth century—a significant economic phenomenon that connected the Mediterranean world with Central and Eastern Europe. According to Venetian and Polish sources, between 1570 and 1590, approximately 1,000 tons of Cretan wine were transported annually to Poland, with an estimated commercial value of 200,000 florins. The trade route ran from Crete to Constantinople, Chilia, Moldavia, and finally Lviv, emerging as a result of Venetian merchants losing their traditional markets in England and Flanders. Archival documents from the Venetian State Archives, especially those in the Bailo a Costantinopoli and Notai di Candia collections, confirm the involvement of Cretan merchants in the wine and leather trade at Chilia as early as the 1530s–1540s. Among the merchants mentioned are Cristodulo Malachi, Manoli Caliath, and other Greek traders involved in the transport and sale of Malvasia and Muscat wines. The notarial acts recorded (1532, 1541, 1565, 1568) demonstrate a well-organised trade network, though initially on a modest scale. The research supports Marian Małowist’s hypothesis that commercial relations between the Ottoman Empire, Moldavia, and Poland were re-established around 1530 after a period of military conflicts. In conclusion, the study argues that the origins of Cretan wine transit through Moldavia should be dated to the first half of the sixteenth century, rather than after 1560, marking an important stage in Moldavia’s integration into the major commercial circuits of the early modern world.

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