The Treaty of Turin

After the final phase of the decades-long war between Genoa and Venice, the man brought in to mediate a permanent truce between the two maritime republics was Amadeus VI, Count of Savoy. Amadeus (1334 - 1383) was respected for his ability to rule fairly and find ways to resolve disputes (many of which were in his own family over the right of succession). 

The Treaty of Turin, or Peace of Turin, had four steps to it that will indicate how complex the political hostilities had been. Turin was in the County of Savoy at the time, and easily reachable by representatives of both Genoa and Venice.

For one, Genoa's dominance in the Black Sea had been threatened by Venice setting up a base on the island of Tenedos, a location that allowed them to threaten Genoese ships from entering the Black Sea. Tenedos had to be turned over to Amadeus. Amadeus removed the Venetian inhabitants and destroyed the fortifications so that it could never be used as a military base.

Genoa was at war with Peter II of Cyprus and Byzantine Emperor John V Paleologos, both of whom were allies of Venice. The Treaty required Venice to sever ties with these two so that they would not be involved in supporting hostility against Genoa. John V's son Andronikos was allied with Genoa, seeking Genoa's help to take over the throne. Venice was required to maintain an embargo against John V until he settled his issues with Andronikos, eliminating the need for Genoa's military support of the son.

Venice also had to forego using their own trading post on the Black Sea. They were forced to share Genoa's ports in the Crimea, and abide by any taxes or duties imposed (fairly!) by Genoa.

Hungary had been an ally of Genoa in the final battle. Venice was required to pay 7000 ducats annually to Hungary. In exchange, Hungary would avoid certain rivers that flowed into the Adriatic, allowing Venice to trade along that part of the Adriatic coast and its rivers. Venice was required to acknowledge that Hungary now owned Dalmatia.

Padua had been on Genoa's side, and the Treaty also saw Venice and Padua make peace with each other.

The decision in the first point about the island of Tenedos had repercussions that were detrimental to Europe's future. I'll explain tomorrow.

Genoa versus Venice, Part 5

The final phase of the decades-long conflict between Genoa and Venice came in 1378 to 1381 when Genoa decided to directly attack Venice instead of fighting naval battles over merchant outposts. Each of the two maritime republics wanted to create and maintain a monopoly in trade in the Black Sea, a plentiful source of fur, grain, slaves (!), and timber.

Genoa had a lot of ports in the Black Sea, and decided it had to rid the area of its greatest rival, Venice. Venice had already lost control of Dalmatia on the east coast of the Adriatic: King Louis I of Hungary had conquered it, and in 1379 had Hungarian forces to the north of Venice itself. Hungary had allied itself with Genoa, as had Padua, who created a block to the west of Venice.

Venice still had the sea accessible to its ships, and still had a strong presence in the Levant. For allies, it had Bernabo Visconti in Milan, whose mercenaries invaded Genoa but were defeated in 1379. Venice also had an ally in Byzantine Emperor John V Paleologos, restored to his throne in 1379 with the help of Venice after Genoa had helped dethrone him a few years earlier.

The two republics' ships harassed each other all over the Aegean and Levant, but ultimately Genoa decided to sail into the lagoon of Venice itself. Genoa (with help from Padua and Hungary) attacked the fishing port of Chioggia (see illustration) on 16 August 1379, overcoming a Venetian garrison of 3000 men. Within days Venice was surrounded by forces allied with Genoa.

The Venetian senate wanted to negotiate peace, but Genoa boasted that it would "bit and bridle the Horses of Saint Mark" (the famous four bronze horses at St. Mark's Basilica). Venice knew this meant a fight to the finish.

A Venetian fleet that had been plundering Genoese ships in the Aegean reached the area on 1 January 1380, blockading the Genoese ships from departing. Genoa suddenly was the one who was trapped. Months of skirmishes to re-take Chioggia went on while Genoa hoped for reinforcements. Venice, more familiar with the shallow waters, conducted night-time attacks on the Genoese ships. Venice also sunk unneeded ships with stones (that could be removed later to re-float the ships) to create barriers that the heavier Genoese galleys could not get past.

The final battle, the Battle of Chioggia, took place on 24 June 1380. Venice used cannons on board their ships for the first time. The blockaded Genoese were starving from lack of supplies, and ultimately surrendered. Venice regained control of Adriatic shipping, and a year later the Peace of Turin was signed.

The Treaty of Turin was mediated by Amadeus VI of Savoy and signed in 1381. It deserves a closer look, but that's for tomorrow.

Genoa versus Venice, Part 4

After the most recent events, the pope attempted to stop the conflict between the two, but they would not be dissuaded from their decades-long hostility.

Venice had fared so poorly that it saw the need for more serious aid than the untrained conscripts it had gathered. It turned to places that might join it against Genoa. The republic of Pisa was approached, but they were also a maritime republic and would not have minded if Genoa and Venice destroyed each other.

Venice also approached the Crown of Aragon (the union of Aragon, Barcelona, Provence, and others by a marriage that produced Alfonso II of Aragon in 1157). Aragon had fought with Genoa over Sardinia, and the current ruler of the Crown of Aragon, Peter IV of Aragon, was happy to aid Venice.

The other surprising ally the Venetians found was the Byzantine Empire. Despite the antipathy toward Venice for their actions during the Fourth Crusade, Genoa's conquest of Chios angered Constantinople. Genoa tried to dissuade the Aragonese and the Byzantines from trusting Venice, to no avail.

Genoa saw the odds against them growing, and so they made some bold moves. Existing taxes were diverted to the war effort. A loan of 300,000 lira was forced out of wealthy banks with a promise of substantial returns. All this went to the construction of a larger fleet. The Genoese in the port of Pera across from Constantinople requested aid from their Muslim neighbor, the Ottoman sultan Orhan Ghazi.

In July 1351, a fleet of 60 ships, each holding 180 men, sailed from Genoa. They first attacked a Venetian ally in the Aegean, the Duchy of the Archipelago, capturing its duke and plundering Naxos. The fleet, under the command of admiral Paganino Doria, failed to find the main Venetian or Aragonese fleet to engage them in battle. Doria sailed to Pera where there was a Venetian blockade. When the Genoese approached, Venice sank some of their own ships to prevent capture and fled.

There were battles all over the Mediterranean and Aegean, with no side gaining a clear upper hand. Finally, late in the day on 13 February 1352, with only two hours of light, the fleets were in the same place: southeast of the Bosporus. The Genoese fleet had to face the combined Venetian, Aragonese, and Byzantine fleets.

The Battle of the Bosporus was chaotic, especially since they fought past sundown. Both sides lost many ships and men, and only the withdrawal of the Aragonese and Venetians allowed the Genoese to claim a Pyrrhic victory. Both sides spent weeks nursing their wounds. The Genoese anchored on Orhan's side of the Bosporus. When he offered to continue the battle on 3 March, the other side declined. The Aragonese and Venetian fleets departed, leaving the Byzantines to accept the fact that they would have to live with the Genoese as neighbors.

There was more fighting over Sardinia following all this, but that was between Genoa and Aragon. Twenty years later was the final conflict of the wars between Venice and Genoa, in which Genoa decided to invade Venice itself. See you tomorrow.

Genoa versus Venice, Part 3

After the Battle of Curzola in 1299, in which Venice lost dozens of ships and thousands of men against Genoa, Venice was subdued for decades. Genoa maintained dominance in Black Sea trade, but Venice still had a presence there and throughout the Mediterranean. Constantinople's dislike of Venice helped Genoa establish a merchant colony across the Golden Horn from the city. This colony, Pera, became so powerful a trading town that it pulled trade away from Constantinople itself. 

In 1345, rebel Genoese called the Grimaldi were in Monaco, and Genoa wanted to take Monaco. A fleet was assembled for that purpose. It caused the Grimaldi to abandon Monaco for Marseille, and the fleet needed a new goal. Admiral Simone Vignoso led 29 galleys toward the Aegean Sea to deal with Venetian presences.

Vignoso learned that Humbert II of Viennois intended to capture the island of Chios (its ancient citadel is pictured above) and use it as a base to attack Turks as part of something called the Second Smyrniote Crusade. Humbert asked Vignoso to aid him in the venture, but Vignoso refused. Humbert was allied with Venice, and Vignoso wouldn't do anything to potentially aid Venice or its allies.

Vignoso chose to attack Humbert's fleet, taking horses and equipment, and capturing Chios. This move angered the Venetians and the Byzantines (who owned Chios), as well as Pope Clement VI who had called for the Smyrniote Crusade. Constantinople was dealing with a civil war, and so could not afford to worry overmuch about Chios.

In August 1350 Venice declared war on Genoa. At the end of August, 35 ships set sail for the Aegean. This was after a few devastating years of the Black Death, causing both Genoa and Venice to lose up to half their citizenry. The galleys were less well-manned than they would have been just a few years before, so Venice conscripted men from their other territories. This meant they went into a naval battle with inexperienced men who had not trained for war.

In the first encounter between the two navies, Venice attacked a merchant fleet, but once some of the ships were captured, the undisciplined conscripts abandoned fighting to plunder the Genoese ships, allowing the rest of the merchant fleet to escape and spread the word of the attack.

The senate in Venice was not happy with the behavior of the conscripts, but realized it could not dissuade them from desiring plunder without the risk of them mutinying. Riches had been one of the things offered to them during the drafting process.

The Genoese ships that had escaped joined with more at Chios. This small fleet then went and attacked the city of Negroponte, a Venetian base. Its Venetian governor fled (and was later tried for cowardice).

We'll see what happened after starting tomorrow.

Genoa versus Venice, Part 2

After the War of Saint Sabas between Genoa and Venice, a generation went by without outright war. In 1291, the Fall of Acre lost the Crusaders an important base, and both Venice and Genoa were desperate to expand their influence in other parts of the Levant and the Black Sea.

Skirmishes started in 1294 by Genoese ships harassing Venetian ships in the Aegean Sea. Genoese also harassed Venetians in Constantinople, emboldened by the Byzantine hostility to Venetians because of the events of the Fourth Crusade. In 1296 Venice openly declared war on Genoa.

Venetian ships threatened the Genoese presence in the Black Sea after capturing the Golden Horn, Constantinople's inner harbor. After, the fleet sailed into the Black Sea and Crimea, capturing a large port, Genoa retaliated by using their fleet to raid Venetian ships closer to home, in the Adriatic.

Venice sent a fleet of 95 ships into the Adriatic. They encountered the Genoese fleet between the Dalmatian coast (now Croatia) and the island of Curzola. The fighting went very poorly for the Venetians, who ran their ships aground while trying to capture the Genoese ships. Of the 95 Venetian ships, 83 were destroyed, the rest fleeing.

Casualties were heavy on both sides. Genoa had many casualties, and the son of Genoese admiral Lamba Doria was killed, about which Doria said "Throw him overboard into the deep sea. What better resting place can we give him?"

The Venetians lost not only 7,000 to 9,000 men and dozens of ships; one of their number taken prisoner was a widely traveled man named Marco Polo. While in a Genoese prison, he wrote about his travels.

A treaty between the two maritime republics was signed the following year. The uneasy peace lasted for two generations this time. Venice had come out on top in the first war, Genoa in the second. The third time would see no clear victor and heavy losses for both sides. I'll tell you about the War of the Straits next time.

Genoa versus Venice, Part 1

Four times between 1258 and 1381, the rivalry between the maritime republics of Genoa and Venice reached a tipping point that turned into military action. Both had extensive trade operations in the Mediterranean and the Black Sea and were largely equal in power, until 1204.

In 1204, the events of the Fourth Crusade led to Venice having significant political influence in Constantinople, and therefore the Byzantine Empire. Although the Venetians were driven from Constainople, it still took several decades for the intense competition between the two republics to turn into a war.

There was land in the coastal city of Acre—owned by the Abbey of Saint Sabas (illustration)—that was claimed by both Venice and Genoa. In 1257, a Venetian admiral broke through the Acre harbor chain (strung to prevent unwanted ships) and destroyed several Genoese ships that were harbored there. Genoa had a fortification at Acre, and their crossbowmen fired at the attackers. Venice had siege engines, which they brought to bear, blockading Acre for more than a year.

The Genoese had the support of the Knights Hospitaller in the city, as well as the Byzantine Empire (Michael Paleologos had just driven out the Venetians). Venice meanwhile had the Knights Templar on its side. Both sides hired Muslim mercenaries; these were frequently Turcopoles, "sons of Turks," who were light cavalry often employed by Byzantine states. Genoa made an alliance with Baibars, the sultan of the Egyptian Mamluks, but his promised fleet never appeared. Genoa also approached Michael Paleologos, who was happy to provide support against the Venetians.

Efforts to mediate the conflict by a local lord failed, and a naval battle took place. The Genoese navy of about 50 ships was overrun by the Venetian navy. The Genoese abandoned Acre and retreated to Tyre, a city from which the Venetians had been evicted in 1256.

The War of Saint Sabas (1256 - 1270) annoyed the pope, who feared a Mongol or Muslim attack that would be successful because too many Christian resources were being wasted fighting each other. Pope Gregory X, along with France and Sicily, pressured the two republics to agree to the Peace of Cremona in 1270, although Genoa did not get their part of Acre back until 1288.

The Venetians came out ahead in this war. A generation later, however, Genoa got the upper hand. I'll explain tomorrow.

Genoese Trade

After the Crusades gave it the opportunity to start creating trading posts in the Eastern Mediterranean, the maritime republic of Genoa began to expand its influence rapidly. In fact, the town became officially the self-governing commune "Republic of Genoa" in 1099, in the immediate aftermath of the First Crusade.

Its prominence in maritime trade earned it many nicknames: la Superba ("the Superb One"; the name given to it by Petrarch), la Dominante ("The Dominant One"), la Dominante dei mari ("the Dominant of the Seas"), and la Repubblica dei magnifici ("the Republic of the Magnificents").

What trade items made Genoa so powerful? Wine and olive oil went all over the Mediterranean. Because of their involvement in the Black Sea, they had access to some of the great grain producers of Europe. Spices and silks came from the countries to the east. Silk thread was imported and woven into cloth in Genoa, then exported.

They also made their own type of cloth. The Genoese navy and ship builders needed sturdy material that could be worn wet or dry. In response to this need, Genoa produced a fustian cloth referred to as being of "medium quality and of reasonable cost." "Fustian" was a Latin word (fustaneum) for this type of heavy cotton cloth; originally with a linen warp (the vertical threads held together in the loom) and a cotton weft (the threads passed back and forth by the shuttle). "Fustian" can be applied to corduroy, velvet, or moleskin.

The Genoese navy used this material for trousers because it was durable and wore well even when wet, unlike wool. This "jeans" material was also exported, and it is suspected that the name "jeans" comes from Gênes, the French word for Genoa.

Genoa also exported salt, salami, prosciutto, and cheeses. There were, however, other maritime republics that dealt in the same goods. One of these other republics, Venice, became such a rival that the two republics went to war. We'll start talking about that tomorrow.

Genoa

We've touched on Genoa and the possible origin of its name before.

Genoa is on the far northwestern coast of Italy, and archaeological evidence suggests the area has been inhabited since at least the 4th millennium BCE. The original inhabitants were the Ligures, who traded with Etruscans and Greeks, showing that they already had maritime trade. The waters between the Genoese coast and Corsica are called the Ligurian Sea after these early inhabitants.

Despite occasional setbacks, like being destroyed by Carthage during the Second Punic War (218 - 201 BCE), Genoa grew in population and power.

Genoa was "in the news" frequently during the early Middle Ages. It was occupied by the Ostrogoths after the fall of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century. The Byzantines made it the seat of their vicar when they defeated the Goths. The invasion of the Lombards into Italy in 568 saw the bishop of Milan fleeing to Genoa for safety. After Augustine of Hippo died, his body was transported to Genoa in 725. Genoa was annexed by the Franks when they conquered the Lombards. It was thoroughly destroyed in 934-35 by a Fatimid fleet. In 1098, supposedly the ashes of John the Baptist were brought to Genoa, who considered him their patron saint.

By 1100 it was growing fast and establishing itself as an independent city-state on the Italian peninsula. The bishop of Genoa was its head, with the pope as the ultimate ruler, but administrative power was actually wielded by local consuls.

Involvement in the Crusades allowed Genoa to create trading posts in the Eastern Mediterranean, the Levant, and in Northern Africa. In Genoa Cathedral is a flat dish made of green glass that was brought back from the Levant after the Crusades. It is claimed to be the Holy Grail, the dish used by Jesus during the Last Supper.

It began to spread its influence as a maritime merchant town. Along with Amalfi, Pisa, Venice, and others, Genoa was known as a "Maritime Republic." An old saying—Genuensis ergo mercator ("A Genoese therefore a merchant")—indicated that Genoa was synonymous with maritime trade.

In fact, it was one of the most powerful maritime republic from the 11th century up until 1800CE. Tomorrow we'll look at some of its trade deals, and what it exported, including something that almost everyone wears to this day.

Buscarello de Ghizolfi and Family

Yesterday's post mentioned Buscarello de Ghizolfi, a man from Genoa who served a few Mongol leaders as their ambassador to Europe, speaking to kings of France and England and others to suggest an alliance. The alliance was to cooperate against the growing threat of Islam, and to help overthrow the Egyptian Mamluk regime. (Those goals were never realized.)

Buscarello was part of a Jewish family of merchants who were prominent through the late Middle Ages and early Renaissance. Prior to going to Persia to serve in the Ilkhanate, we see mentions of Buscarello in 1274 where he is involved with arming a galley (the city-states of Italy were frequently at odds with each other as well as non-Italians; note the Genoese-Venetian war that Marco Polo was involved in).

A few years later, he and his brothers are known to have been in Cilician Armenia, which is likely where he came to the attention of Mongol leadership. He joined Arghun Khan of the Ilkhanate as an officer, and eventually was named ambassador. He carried out several diplomatic missions for Arghun and his sons, Ghazan and Öljaitü (the illustration is a letter from Öljaitü to Philip IV of France). He even named his son "Argone," after Arghun.

One journey involved Buscarello's nephew, Corrado de Ghizolfi, going ahead to request safe passage for an embassy to Iran.

Buscarello drops out of the public record by 1317. The family remained active in the Black Sea as part of Genoese trade. In 1419, Simeone de Ghizolfi married Bikhakhanim, a princess of Tmutarakan, a medieval principality of Kievan Rus. The translation of her name suggests that she was a descendant of Genghis Khan. Simeone became ruler of Tmutarakan through this marriage. As late as 1482 a descendant, Zacharias de Ghizolfi, was still ruling there.

This gave Genoa a lot of influence on the Black Sea. Genoa, as mentioned above, was a significant rival of Venice for control of maritime trade. Let's look at it's history next time.

Genoese Blue Jeans

Mention "jeans" or "blue jeans" and someone will comment that they were patented in the 1870s by Levis Strauss and Jacob Davis after Davis put rivets on the pockets to make them strong enough to be worn by miners who wanted to stuff rocks in their pockets. They have become a universal symbol of modern Western culture. But why are they called "jeans"?

They were around before Davis stuck the rivets on the pockets, and there is a theory that the name comes from Gênes, the French word for Genoa. Could the fabric be named for a city? Why not? After all, denim certainly is derived from de Nîmes—"from Nîmes"—because the material comes from the twill fabric first made in Nîmes, France.

Genoa produced a fustian cloth referred to as being of "medium quality and of reasonable cost." "Fustian" was a Latin word (fustaneum) for this type of heavy cotton cloth; originally with a linen warp (the vertical threads held together in the loom) and a cotton weft (the threads passed back and forth by the shuttle). "Fustian" can be applied to corduroy, velvet, or moleskin. 

The Genoese navy used this material for trousers because it was durable and wore well even when wet, unlike wool. Denim was higher quality and used for overgarments.

Were they "blue" jeans? This jeans development was in the 14th century, and the blue would have had to come from indigo. The word "indigo" as a color is first used in 1289 (that we know of, in English), and the Genoese may have used it, but indigo could be expensive because it had to come from India (hence its name) until the late 19th century, and we don't know that they bothered to dye their jeans material blue.

I think we should talk more about medieval dyes next

Genoa Grows

After the sack of Genoa by the Fatimids, the city started to recover. One avenue for commercial growth was the Crusades, and the First Crusade gave Genoa opportunities to find goods in the East worth trading.

Genoa contributed a dozen ships and 1200 soldiers (a little over a tenth of it population) to the Crusade, setting out in July 1097. The Genoese provided naval support and supplies to the main army. Theirs were the ships that blockaded Antioch during the Siege of Antioch. In 1099, Genoese bowmen were important during the Siege of Jerusalem.

Joining the Crusade also brought them into more contact with the Eastern Roman Empire. The city made treaties for trading rights with the Byzantines, Tripoli (Libya), Antioch, Armenia, and Egypt.

This was challenged by the other strong naval port on the other side of the Italian peninsula: Venice. The role Venice played in the Fourth Crusade—frequently discussed in this blog, but see here for a start—saw Venice gain control over most of the maritime trade in the Eastern Mediterranean.

On the other hand, when Michael VIII Paleologos in Nicaea wanted to recapture Constantinople he turned to Genoa for help, since Venice was helping the current emperor. This was in 1261, and on 25 July they were successful. Genoa was granted free trade rights in the Nicene Empire, and it used the islands of Chios and Lesbos and the city of Smyrna as local headquarters. Genoa now surpassed Venice as the major trading power on the Mediterranean Sea.

...and then they invented blue jeans, but we'll save that story for tomorrow.

The Fatimids Sack Genoa

In the 10th century, Genoa was becoming an important port on the Ligurian Coast in far northwest Italy. Their ships were trading with much of the Western Mediterranean. This made them a target for competition, and additionally a target for the Fatimid Caliphate in 934CE. The Fatimid Caliphate had conquered Ifriqiya (Northern Africa), and wished to dominate the Mediterranean. (The illustration shows the extent of the Fatimids in the 10th century; the red star represents Genoa.)

Although there are no eyewitness accounts of the Fatimid navy attacking Genoa, it was a well-known event to both Christian and Muslim writers not long after. Bishop Liudprand of Cremona (c.920 - 972), writing in 960CE (samples of his chronicling were mentioned here and here), wrote about the Muslims first attacking the city of Acqui, not far from Genoa, and then says:

At the same time, in the Genoese city, which has been built in the Cottian Alps, overlooking the African sea, eighty miles distant from Pavia, a spring flowed most copiously with blood, clearly suggesting to all a coming calamity. Indeed, in the same year, the Phoenicians [North Africans] arrived there with a multitude of fleets, and while the citizens were unaware, they entered the city, killing all except women and children. Then, placing all the treasures of the city and the churches of God in their ships, they returned to Africa.

Liudprand mentions, among the treasures taken away from Genoa, linen and silk. This would have been too early for the West to be developing silk production, and so it suggests that Genoa was prosperous enough to be trading in such valuable materials with the East.

The first Arabic source is from even later, and names the caliph who ordered the attack. Other Arabic sources get very specific in details, although they don't always agree on things like the number of ships (20 or 30). As they approached, the Muslim ships encountered merchant ships, attacking and appropriating their goods and taking prisoners.

Genoa is described here as a well-fortified city, and although other cities would have been attacked, Genoa is the only one named. Unlike Liudprand's report, the Arabic source says the Genoese fought outside the city walls and then on the streets. The city was plundered and burned on 16 August 935. Because of the medieval tendency to exaggerate, we have to consider carefully whether we believe the report of 8000 prisoners taken, including 1000 women sold into slavery.

The fact that Genoese records don't exist in any large numbers before the second half of the 10th century gives further evidence that there was destruction prior to that. The author of the Golden Legend, Jacobus de Voragine, writing 300 years later, claims the attack was successful because the Genoese fleet was away at the time, but they pursued the Fatimid fleet and rescued the captives. (Not very likely, Jacob.)

Genoa slowly recovered, however, and we'll look at its rise to commercial powerhouse starting tomorrow.

Genoa the Superb

Actually, when Petrarch referred to Genoa as "la Superba" he meant "the proud one." Genoa, on the northwest coast of the Italian peninsula, was a powerhouse of commerce from the 11th century until the end of the 18th. It was one of the wealthiest cities in the Middle Ages and Renaissance, and one of the largest naval powers in Europe.

The origin of the name is uncertain. The Latin genu/genua means "knee," which could refer to its placement in relation to the "boot" of Italy. Because it has mountains on one side and the sea on the other, some say it comes from Latin ianua, "door," because like the derivative that gives us Janus, the two-headed god of the Romans (and January), it faces two ways. Pliny the Elder called it oppidum Genua, "Genoa town."

It is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world, with evidence of occupation from at least the 4th millennium BCE. In the 1st century BCE it traded in honey, skins, and timber. Its alliance with Rome made it a target of the Carthaginians during the Punic wars, and Genoa was destroyed by Carthaginians during the Second Punic War in 209BCE. After the Punic Wars ended in 146BCE, Rome granted it Roman municipal rights.

It was occupied by the Ostrogoths after the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476CE. After the Byzantine Empire under Justinian I defeated the Ostrogoths, Byzantium made Genoa the seat of its vicar in the West. For awhile, Genoa grew slowly, building ships and making commercial connections to the Western Mediterranean.

There was another power—not Ostrogoth, Roman, or Carthaginian—that was making a name for itself in the 10th century, and that was the Fatimid Caliphate. Operating out of North Africa, they wanted to control trade (and destroy infidels). Tomorrow we will see what they did to Genoa.

Valencia Later

After all the political turmoil, Valencia was possessed by James I of Aragon. He forced tens of thousands of Muslims to leave. There were Jews in Valencia, and in 1239 they were given their own quarter in which to live, with a cemetery for Jews on the outskirts. In 1390, this quarter had a high wall erected around its perimeter, with the cemetery still outside. The wall had three gates which were closed each night.

The wall, designed to help Christians feel "safe" from Jewish presence, did not prevent a pogrom in 1391. A parade of Christian youths marched to the Jewish quarter, claiming that Jews should be baptized or die. Thousands of Jews were murdered by the crowd; some converted; the Jewish quarter was destroyed.

Of course, no matter how wealthy or poor, free or conquered, Christian or Muslim or Jewish a European or Mediterranean country could be, sooner or later in the Middle Ages the Bubonic Plague came along. Plague came to the Iberian Peninsula in the spring of 1348, reducing the population of Spain (it is estimated) from 6,000,000 to under 2,500,000.

The Plague returned in waves. It was back again in March 1395; on 6 July the city council of Valencia met to determine how to combat the problem. Charitable donations were suggested to please God (whose anger was the ultimate source of their distress), and a procession to the chapel of Our Lady of Mercy was organized to ask for divine mercy. Funds were authorized for the removal of dead animals that had been thrown into the streets.

Something entirely different was also happening in Valencia that decade. Genoese traders realized that the Valencian climate was good for the growing of white mulberry, a fast-growing tree native to China and India. The important thing about white mulberry is that its leaves are the preferred food of a moth whose scientific name is Bombyx mori, and whose importance is their larvae, which we know as silkworms.

Silk as highly prized, and production had been controlled and kept secret for centuries by China. Once Mediterranean cultures discovered the secret, they worked hard to free themselves from dependence on the Far East. For a time, thanks to the Genoese merchants in Valencia, the area was a major center of silk production. Valencia became an economic powerhouse and entered into a Golden Age of expansion and building.

Unfortunately, a civil war in the 1520s created many internal problems. The city's prominence continued to slide until in the early 18th century the War of Spanish Succession marked the end of its independence.

Now, about the Genoese merchants who started silk production in Valencia. They traded in more than silk. I'll tell you more about them tomorrow, and the medieval slave trade.

The Medieval Slave Trade, Part 1

We should probably start by pointing out the misleading nature of the illustration [MS. Ludwig XIV 6, c.1290-1310, from Aragon]. Depictions of slavery in the 13th and 14th centuries more often than not show dark-skinned subjects. The truth is that sub-Saharan Africa was not a common source of slaves for traders.

Long before nations gathered to develop the concept of "universal human rights," treating outsiders with far less regard than your own countrymen was standard practice. Slavery in medieval Europe was a natural extension of the Roman Empire's policy of conquering new lands and taking their inhabitants for purposes of labor and entertainment. Slavery was built into the legal system: a slave's worth, what was allowable for slaves, how they could be traded or freed, etc. Wales in the 10th century had laws set down by Hywel Dda (he was mentioned back in January), and the Visigoths used slavery for criminals who could not pay fines.

One "softening" of the slave trade was promoted by the Roman Catholic Church, who worked to prevent slavery of "co-religionists." St. Patrick, who had been a slave, argues in a letter to British chieftain Coroticus against making captured people slaves because sinners are already slaves to the devil:

I am at a loss to know whether to weep more for those they killed or those that are captured: or indeed for these men themselves whom the devil has taken fast for his slaves. In truth, they will bind themselves alongside him in the pains of the everlasting pit: for "he who sins is a slave already" and is to be called "son of the devil." [source]

About 10% of the population of England were slaves at the time of the Domesday Book, although the word used to denote a slave, servus, was also used for those who we now know to be serfs.

Because of the church's opposition to selling Christians to non-Christians, other sources were sought. For Venice, this meant capturing Slavs and eastern European pagans to sell to Muslims. Caravans of slaves would be led through Austria to reach Venice. A document that surfaced in 1250 in Bavaria records the tolls paid in the opening years of the 10th century for crossing the Danube; they include salt, weapons, wax, horses, and more, including slaves on their way from Bohemia and the Kievan Rus to Italy.

Genoa and Venice both sold slaves around the Black Sea starting in the 13th century, selling to Muslims those from Baltic, Slavic, Armenian, Georgian, and Turkish lands. Genoa did a lot of business from Crimea to the Mamluks in Egypt who were originally slaves themselves. Amalfi, on the southwestern coast of Italy, was a major exporter of slaves to North Africa.

This focus on Italian cities is unfair, since so many other countries bought and sold slaves. This topic will go on for another couple posts, at least. Stay tuned.

The Crimea

The much-disputed Crimean Peninsula

On the north coast of the Black Sea, a peninsula extends from the southern part of Ukraine. If you look at enough of its history, you will find numerous occupants: Turks and Italians, Greeks and Goths, Huns and Scythians and Bulgars. One of the earliest occupants of the peninsula were the Cimmerians, an Indo-European tribe that lived there long before the Common Era, presumably driven south by the Scythians from their homeland north of the Caucasus. For a long time it was called Taurica after the Taures, a Cimmerian group. The best guess regarding the derivation of "Crimea" is that it comes from "Cimmerian."

Invasions took place throughout the Classical and Medieval Eras. A group now referred to as Crimean Tatars (descendants of the Mongols of Genghis Khan fame) thrived there in the Middle Ages. Despite their numbers, the Tatars did not always control the territory. Venice created several settlements on the coast in order to control trade on the Black Sea; these were taken over by Genoa in the 13th century and controlled by them for the next two centuries.

...and here's an interesting tie-in to one of the best-known events of the Middle Ages. The first appearance of the Black Death in medieval Europe came on twelve Genoese ships coming from the east in October 1347 and landing in Sicily. It is entirely possible that Crimean ports were the source of the Plague.

In the era of Tamerlane, the Crimean Tatars finally asserted control over most of the area—except the Genoese towns—establishing the Crimean Khanate in 1441 under the rule of a descendant of Genghis Khan. The Genoese towns were finally captured, but not by the Tatars. The Ottoman Empire conquered the Genoese towns, then took the current Crimean Khan captive. He was released after the Tatars recognized the sovereignty of the Ottomans.

In the late 1700s, a treaty between the warring Russian and Ottoman Empires left the Crimean Peninsula in the hands of Russia, one step closer to the present controversy.

Medieval Benghazi

The port at Benghazi, where it all began

Benghazi has been much in the news lately. As with any part of the Eastern Hemisphere, it has been around long enough to have medieval history.

Hundreds of years BCE (sources vary regarding the date of its founding), a city called Euesperides was founded by the Greeks on the coast of the Mediterranean. It was likely named in honor of the Hesperides, the daughters of Hesperus who tended a peaceful garden in the extreme West. Coins from Euesperides dating as far back as 480 BCE have been found, with Delphi on one side and the silphium plant on the other. Silphium, valued as a spice and a medicine, was a major export; today, however, we have no idea what plant species it was.

Herodotus mentions it in his History when the satrap of Egypt sends a force to conquer the Cyreneans there. The Greek historian Thucydides mentions it being besieged by "Libyans"; the town was saved that time by a fleet led by a Spartan general who arrived by accident due to unpredictable winds. One of their kings, Arcesilaus IV, competed in the Pythian Games* in 414 BCE.

Euesperides moved in the mid 3rd century BCE—presumably because of the silting up of the lagoon its ships used—and was renamed Berenice (for the daughter of King Magas of Cyrene. Ancient Berenice was located under what is now the center of the modern city.) The city later came under Roman rule and existed for several centuries, but dwindled to a small settlement. St. Anthony the Great may have traveled through there on his way to be a hermit in the desert.

In the 13th century, the location became a stopping place for Genoese merchants who wished to trade with the interior. (Remember, the Genoese were spreading out all over the mediterranean, even as far as Monaco.) By the 1500s, it was appearing on maps as Marsa ibn Ghazi. I have not discovered who the "sons of Ghazi" were for whom it is now named, but Ghazi is a Muslim title of respect, so it may have a non-specific origin.

Benghazi has been through many changes of name, and its long history is fraught with conflict and attempts—some successful—for regime change.

*The Olympian Games were not the only "world-wide" athletic competitions in the Classical World.

Before Princess Grace

When American actress Grace Kelly married Rainer III of the House of Grimaldi, Prince of Monaco, in April of 1956, the world suddenly noticed Monaco. This principality on the Riviera, halfway between Nice and Sanremo, is largely a tourist attraction now, but hundreds of years ago was considered a strategic military location. The quarter called Monaco-Ville was once known as the Rock of Monaco, on which the Castle of Monaco was a hotly contested structure, especially if you were Genoese or an enemy of the Genoese.

Which brings us to the Grimaldis. Their founding father was a Genoese statesman named Grimaldo who lived in the 1100s. His sons and grandsons became a maritime force to be reckoned with. Fearing that a rival family might become more powerful and take over Genoa, the Grimaldis entered into an alliance with their fellow Guelphs, the Fieschi family.* Military conflicts between families ensued. In 1271, Guelphs were banned from Genoa, and the Guelphic factions sought refuge elsewhere. The search for strategic locations included setting sights on the Rock of Monaco. The Guelphs made peace with the pope five years later, but several chose not to return but to stay in other locations where they could raise armies against future conflicts.

Tides turn, and in time the Ghibellines were exiled from Genoa. As Guelphs and Ghibellines took turns being exiled and needing headquarters elsewhere, the Rock of Monaco changed hands more than once. Then, on the night of 8 January, 1297, François Grimaldi and his cousin, Rainier I, approached the castle of Monaco, which was then in the hands of the rivals of the Grimaldis. But he did not approach in force; instead, the story says, he and his companions were dressed as friars.

When the gates were opened to admit the group of friars, however, swords appeared from under their robes, and the surprise attack allowed the Guelphs to take over the castle. The coat of arms of the ruling family of Monaco commemorates this event by depicting two monks with swords.

Sadly for François, his marriage produced no heirs. He did not, therefore, establish a dynasty. In fact, the Grimaldis were driven out of Monaco a few years later. They returned, however, and re-took it by force this time. After François died, Rainer I, the cousin who accompanied him on his Trojan Horse raid, became the first sovereign Grimaldi ruler of Monaco and began the dynasty whose descendant made a star into a princess.

*The Guelphs were a faction that supported the Pope's interests over those of the Holy Roman Emperor; supporters of the HREmperor were known as Ghibellines.