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.

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.