Batumi in European Sources of the 15th Century

Abstract

The article discusses the reports of European travelers about Batumi in the late Middle Ages. German (Bavarian) warrior and
traveler Johann (Hans) Schiltberger tells about Batumi in the 20s of the 15th century, who calls Batumi the capital of Samegrelo.
An interesting fact is the attack of 200 Burgundian pirates on Batumi in 1445 under the command of the famous knight Geoffrey
Toyse, a relative of Duke Philip III (1419-1467). The Europeans who came to loot were met here by Gurieli with a detachment of 600
people. The captured Toyse was released only at the request of the Emperor of Trebizond.
In the 70s of the 15th century, the Venetian merchant and Diplomat Giosafat Barbaro and the Venetian ambassador to the court
of Uzun Hassan - Ambrogio Contarini attributed Batumi to a part of Samegrelo, however, the first one called the head of Samegrelo
“Bendiani”, the second – “Gorbola”. Based on the above-mentioned, we think that at the beginning of the 15th century, Batumi was subordinate to the leader of Samegrelo, in the middle of the 40s, Gurieli repulsed the Burgundian pirates in Batumi, which indicates his certain legal status. In the late 1450s, Batumi was part of the Principality of Samtskhe (South Georgia), and in the 1470s it was already part of Sabediano, which was ruled by Bediani, also known as Dadian-Gurieli