During the 14th and 15th centuries the Ottoman Empire emerged as the new
hegemonial power in the Romania, i.e. the territories that once had
formed the core of Byzantium. As a major economic and political agent in
this area, Venice and the Venetian elite were thoroughly affected by
this transition, and consequently Venetian documents have often been
used to elucidate the history of the late Byzantine and early Ottoman
epoch. Yet, the repercussion of this change in the numerous works of
late medieval Venetian historiography, particularly in the often
anonymous chronicles, still awaits systematic exploration. Against this
background, the present collection of papers, that goes back to an
international workshop held in 2014, combines both, methodological
reflections on the characteristics of the Venetian cronachistica and the
use of the information it contains, and a number of individual
case-studies reflecting crucial stages of the Byzantine-Ottoman
transition.