Genoese slave trade

In the 13th century, the Genoese established colonies in Crimea, and acquired slaves of various religions to sell to either Southern Europe via Crete and the Balearic Islands, or to the Middle East directly via the Black Sea.

[2] There was still a market for slavery in medieval Europe in the early Middle Ages, but it gradually started to be phased out in favor of serfdom.

However, there was a major market for slavery in the Islamic Middle East, and European slaves were referred to in the Muslim world as saqaliba.

[8] A smaller number of slaves were sold in Italy and Spain as enslaved domestic servants, called ancillae.

The Genoese obtained a concession to exploit the port mainly for the slave trade of the new world on the Pacific, which lasted until the sacking and destruction of the original city in 1671.

[17] While the Portuguese were directly involved in trading enslaved peoples to Brazil, the Spanish Empire relied on the Asiento de Negros system, awarding (Catholic) Genoese merchant bankers the license to trade enslaved people from Africa to their colonies in Spanish America.

Cartagena, Veracruz, Buenos Aires, and Hispaniola received the majority of slave arrivals, mainly from Angola.