ИСТИНА

The paper aims to examine the Catholic perspective on two major Eastern Christian communities of Genoese Caffa, Greeks and Armenians. The study involves an image of Non-Catholics provided by popes, missionaries and Genoese officials as well as their legal status and everyday practice. During the 13th and 14th centuries, Eastern Christians were considered as a threat for Catholic preachers, unless they converted to the union with Rome. Genoese government, however, tolerated mixed marriages due to the lack of population and even encouraged them in the 15th century. After the Council of Ferrara-Florence, Armenian and Greek bishops gained the right of court over their flock, which would be challenged by Latin bishops and Genoese authorities. The Genoese preferred not to intervene in the two communities, not to visit Armenian and Greek churches officially, and the expression of “heretics and schismatics” remained an easy way to mark all the Eastern Christians.