ABSTRACT
Byzantine studies have long dealt with the interaction between Greeks and Latins, demonstrating through the polemic of contemporary authors the increasing mistrust that each side felt towards the other. Following Byzantine authors, who used the same name for different groups of people and attributed to all the same negative characteristics, especially up to the end of the 12th century, scholars generally have considered the Latin world as a whole, comprising Frankish crusaders, Normans and people coming from the Italian towns. This chapter considers the specific attitude of the Byzantines towards the mercantile world and vice versa, tracing the changes observable in the sources up to the 15th century.
