Medieval Bioarchaeology

People lived so differently centuries ago that it is difficult to know exactly what life was like in the pre-Industrial Era. Some scholars, like Barbara Hanawalt (mentioned here) have deduced evidence of daily life by looking at coroner's reports.

Some look at corpses.

A few years ago, DNA evidence drawn from an ancient skeleton found that a descendant of the decedent was living just a few miles from where the progenitor was buried!

Medieval skeletons yield other finds about lifestyles centuries before the Modern Era without even doing DNA analysis. Yesterday I mentioned how information about aging and disease can be drawn from analysis of certain bones and teeth.

Skeletons can also yield indicators of malnutrition or disease in childhood, based on the appearance of something called Harris lines. Harris lines are "growth arrest lines" that are formed when malnutrition or disease or stress cause the bone to pause in the lengthening process, which causes developing bone instead to increase in density.

Also, because physical stress causes bones to thicken/strengthen, one can deduce that the person with, for instance, larger bones in the hand dealt regularly with moving/carrying heavy items. Perhaps he was a stone mason, or a potter.

If an exhumation is lucky enough to reveal preserved hair, it is possible to look at levels of nitrogen-carbon isotopes that reveal stress due to physical events or dietary changes. Increased cortisol in hair samples suggest a person undergoing stress before death, such as a long illness or advanced aging. Decreased cortisol can indicate a sudden death.

Another piece of a body that survives over time is teeth. Yesterday's post mentioned some of the features that can tell us about life back then for the owner of the teeth. That leads me to wonder: what was medieval dentistry like? Let me do some research and get back to you next time. See you soon.

Skeletons in the Closet

When learning about people in the Middle Ages, you can only go so far with records and archaeology. Sometimes you have to go to the people themselves—and not be dissuaded by the fact that they are dead.

It is said that "dead mean tell no tales"—a phrase nowadays associated irrevocably with Disney's "Pirates of the Caribbean" ride, but probably originated by John Dryden in The Spanish Friar (1681), act IV, sc. i—but in fact we can learn a lot about dead men by examining their bones.

Someone who is learning a lot about the Middle Ages from bones is anthropologist Sharon DeWitte.* She spends her summers traveling from the University of South Carolina to London where she is able to analyze the bones from medieval English skeletons.

What can she tell from skeletons?

DeWitte says where the two halves of the pelvis meet in the front and join in the rear provide consistent signs of adult aging. For children, teeth and the fusing of certain bones are among the best indicators of age. To determine sex, she looks for a wider pelvis in women and a squared jaw and skull made rugged along the forehead and back by testosterone in men.

...

She also examines for linear enamel hypoplasia, or little horizontal grooves that form on the teeth of children whose enamel formation was interrupted by malnutrition or infectious disease. Visible to the naked eye, these defects remain through adulthood and tell DeWitte the ages of when the health disturbances would have occurred.

There is a whole field of study referred to as Medieval Bioarchaeology. Let's look more into that tomorrow.

Learning After Black Death

While discussing how England tried to control the movement of laborers after the Black Death yesterday, I mentioned something about what we can learn from skeletons.

A while ago, I came across this article about Dr. Sharon DeWitte of the University of South Carolina, who examines skeletons from the Middle Ages to determine what she can about their lifestyle. So far, her research has included over 600 skeletons from the 11th through 14th centuries. She has particularly studied skeletons from the period just before and just after the Black Death. She found something curious:

“I found that a significantly higher number of people were living to really old ages after the Black Death. Many people lived beyond the age of 50 and particularly above the age of 70,” DeWitte said. “I honestly was surprised by how dramatic the difference was in their survival. I’ve analyzed risks of mortality within the pre-and post-Black Death populations, and the preliminary results suggest lower overall risks of mortality after the Black Death.” [source]

She attributes this to a few things: those who survived the Plague were more likely to be from a segment of the population that was healthier to begin with. Also, the population loss led to a food surplus that promoted greater health. We have already noted, for instance, the Statutes of Laborers, rules that were established (again and again) post-Plague to try to keep peasants from moving to other estates. The shortage of laborers meant workers had new opportunities to seek better wages that would lead to better living conditions.

In the future, she intends to collaborate with others to look at genetic variation in humans before and after the Plague. Perhaps she can learn how the massive "die off" perhaps reduced certain genes that made humans more susceptible to Plague, leaving future generations healthier.

Tomorrow we'll look at some of Dr. DeWitte's other conclusions from examining skeletons.

Controlling the Workforce

“Whereas late against the malice of servants, which were idle, and not willing to serve after the pestilence, without taking excessive wages, it was ordained by our lord the king… that such manner of servants… should be bound to serve, receiving salary and wages, accustomed in places where they ought to serve… five or six years before; and that the same servants refusing to serve… should be punished by imprisonment…”

That is some of the wording of the Statutes of Laborers, also called Ordinance of Laborers..

After the Black Death (1348-50 in England), the workforce was radically reduced. In a culture where 90%+ of the workforce was involved in agriculture, and every bit of it done by manual labor, this was potentially disastrous for lords who relied on peasants to plant and tend and harvest crops. The obvious solution was to offer better wages if peasants would leave their homes and settle in the lords' villages that had been deserted by the Pestilence.

This competition for labor did not sit well with most of society, who saw it as a disruption of the way things had been for centuries. The first Ordinance of Laborers was established by Edward III in 1349 to try to prevent the disruption of society that a "free market" could create. It stated:

• Everyone under the age of 60 must be willing to work
• Employers must not hire more workers than they need
• Wages must remain at pre-Pestilence levels
• Food prices must not be increased

Did it work?

• 1350 saw the Stature of Laborers that fixed the wages of laborers and artisans.
• 1356 saw regulations placed on the trade of masons. (Freemasons use this as proof that Freemasonry has been fighting "the Man" for centuries.)
• 1368 saw the Statute of Laborers reaffirmed.
• 1377 saw an act restricting the freedom of serfs to move from domain to domain.

Clearly, the laws had to be re-enacted because no one was listening. The attempt to suppress the freedom of the lower classes continued for the next two centuries. In England the above led to the Peasants' Revolt of 1381

What else can we learn about life immediately following the Black Death? You'd be surprised what you can learn from examining skeletons. I'll explain that tomorrow.

(Full disclosure: much of this post is a repeat from 2012, with new info added.)

After the Black Death, Part 2

As seen yesterday, the significant population loss resulting from the Black Death had a positive effect on laborers' wages. Reduction in the labor force made competition to hire laborers more keen, and those wishing to get their crops planted and harvested had to offer better rates to get laborers to travel to their demesne.

Unfortunately, this increase in wages did not result in an increase in quality of life. Inflation is not just a feature of modern economics. Because of the disruption in trade, etc., prices went up. Estimates from one scholar put the price increase at 27% just from 1348 to 1350. 

On the other hand, individuals had more cash on hand. With the deaths came a transfer of wealth to relatives, so there was more money in the hands of each individual. Barbara Hanawalt's research found, for instance, that the money lender in a town or village was likely to be a widow who inherited from her husband (sometimes a few husbands in a row) and used it to support her neighbors.

The changes mentioned in the preceding two paragraphs helped lead to the decline of the class called "serfs." There was more mobility, and the attempts to keep laborers tied to one lord's manor or demesne became increasingly difficult. Serfs could ask for higher wages or a larger percentage of the crops they harvested. The peasant class began to accrue more wealth. A generation or two would see a larger "middle class" forming.

Another change (difficult to quantify) came in the Church. St. Boniface centuries earlier was said to lament that "In the old days our priests were of gold and their chalices of wood; now the priests were of wood and their chalices are gold." The Black Death left many Church positions and parishes empty. The Church had to ordain many new priests quickly to fill appointments.

When the Black Death struck Europe in 1347, the increasingly secular Church was forced to respond when its religious, spiritual, and instructive capabilities were found wanting. The Black Death exacerbated this decline of faith in the Church because it exposed its vulnerability to Christian society.

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Part of the reason why the Catholic Church was so negatively affected by the plague was due to the deterioration in the quality of its clergy. A great number of priests succumbed to the pestilence, and the individuals whom the Church recruited to take their place could not adequately perform their duties. [link]

Tomorrow I'm going to talk about England's attempts to control the movement of peasants away from their obligated land to find new jobs.

After the Black Death, Part 1

Although the cause of the Black Death has been questioned, what we know as the Bubonic Plague is the likeliest culprit, causing widespread mortality throughout Europe, killing as much as one-third of the population over just a few years (1347-1350).

This enormous demographic shift caused chaos on a scale hitherto unknown.

National estimates of mortality for England, where the evidence is fullest, range from five percent, to 23.6 percent among aristocrats holding land from the king, to forty to forty—five percent of the kingdom’s clergy, to over sixty percent in a recent estimate. The picture for the continent likewise is varied. Regional mortality in Languedoc (France) was forty to fifty percent while sixty to eighty percent of Tuscans (Italy) perished. Urban death rates were mostly higher but no less disparate, e.g., half in Orvieto (Italy), Siena (Italy), and Volterra (Italy), fifty to sixty—six percent in Hamburg (Germany), fifty—eight to sixty—eight percent in Perpignan (France), sixty percent for Barcelona’s (Spain) clerical population, and seventy percent in Bremen (Germany). [link]

What was the impact of the loss of population? We don't have census data, but there are records that survive from monasteries and landowners (lords) who did keep track of their finances.

...in England ... the immediate impact was to lower real wages for both unskilled and skilled workers by about 20% over the next two years. Estimated per capita GDP decreased from 1348 to 1349 by 6%. Similarly, in Spain, where the Black Death also arrived in 1348, real wages were 9% lower in 1350 and estimated per capita GDP decreased by 3.3%. [link]

Once the Black Death had passed and recovery began, wages started to rise for agricultural laborers (by far the majority of the population was agricultural, working lands for a lord). A landowner in need of workers could offer higher wages out of desperation, causing nearby landowners who offered less to lose their labor force. Laws called the Statute of Laborers were passed in England following the Black Death that required peasants to stay in one place, but the fact that these laws were passed every few years tells us that no one was actually following the law.

Not all wages rose. Those in the building trade found the demand for new construction at a historic ebb, so wages for laborers in that field were low.

We'll talk more tomorrow, especially about how prices skyrocketed.

Before the Black Death

The greatest impact on European culture was not the Fall of Rome, the mass (forced) adoption of Christianity, the creation of the Holy Roman Empire, or any other event that seemed to make widespread change. The biggest event to affect European culture took place over the course of a few years.

Before we get to the changes wrought by this biological disaster, let's talk about a "pre-Plague" event.

The Black Death (which we now know was a major wave of the Bubonic Plague) arrived in Italy on 12 Genoese ships in October 1347. This event is often mentioned as the start of the Black Death. It's a completely Euro-centric approach, though, and as you know, this blog sometimes reaches eastward to discuss other events and people outside of Western Europe. We should ask ourselves: where did the 12 ships come from, and where did they get the Plague?

Genoa had extensive trade routes on the Black Sea, and built ports to serve themselves. One of these was Kaffa, on the Crimean coast (now called Feodosia or Theodosia, its original name when founded by Greek colonists 2000 years before the events we're talking about). Kaffa's part in our story begins when a Venetian (we recently discussed the hostility between Venice and Genoa, but the ultimate result allowed Venetians to use Genoese ports) killed a Mongol official in 1343. Janibek Khan, current ruler of the Golden Horde, assembled an army to bring the Venetian, who went to Kaffa, to Mongol justice.

China had been suffering from the Plague, and an outbreak of it while Janibek Khan besieged Kaffa weakened the army and diminished his ability to assault the city. He ordered one final attack:

The dying Tartars, stunned and stupefied by the immensity of the disaster brought about by the disease, and realizing that they had no hope of escape, lost interest in the siege. But they ordered corpses to be placed in catapults and lobbed into the city in the hope that the intolerable stench would kill everyone inside. What seemed like mountains of dead were thrown into the city, and the Christians could not hide or flee or escape from them, although they dumped as many of the bodies as they could in the sea. And soon the rotting corpses tainted the air and poisoned the water supply, and the stench was so overwhelming that hardly one in several thousand was in a position to flee the remains of the Tartar army. Moreover one infected man could carry the poison to others, and infect people and places with the disease by look alone. No one knew, or could discover, a means of defense.

(You can see how little they understood the spread of disease.)

Is the story true? It comes from Gabriel de Mussis, a notary from Piacenza in northern Italy not too far from Genoa, who wrote an account of the Plague as it was happening (he survived it). He could easily have got it from the Genoese.

I've talked about the Plague quite a bit. Now we've talked about"pre-Plague." Tomorrow we'll get to "post-Plague."

Urban Planning

Aristotle called the Greek philosopher Hippodamas the father of city planning because Hippodamas supposedly designed the right-angled grid layout for towns. Street layouts into rectangular blocks existed long before Hippodamas (498 - 408 BCE), however, so we don't really know the first person who decided that streets should be planned out carefully in patterns.

The Romans used orthogonal layouts in their colonies. A central forum was surrounded by civil service buildings, with two wider-than-average roads—one running north-south, one running east-west—intersecting at the forum. Streets were laid out in uniform widths at right angles to achieve a grid, creating rectangular "blocks" for houses. Pope Pius II re-designed the town of his birth in a similar fashion, renaming it Pienza after himself.

After the 5th-century Fall of Rome in Western Europe, many of their colonies did not maintain the same civil services; urban living started to revert to agrarian styles, and urban planning was less of a focus. Urban culture started to revive in the 10th and 11th centuries with stronger central governments forming and more international trade.

Increasing population created a need for more food, which meant more areas were opened up to agriculture. As these areas spread farther from existing towns, new centers of living had to spring up to avoid unnecessarily long commutes.

Many residential areas sprang up organically around a fortress or an abbey. Because a fortress could have been set up on a hill for defensive purposes, the buildings and streets created around it might have been designed more to accommodate the topographical setting than an orthogonal layout.

Still, many towns were created deliberately by a lord who controlled a fortress. A town could produce economic advantages that a lord could tax. The rise of more towns in Europe hit a peak in the early 14th century. By the mid-14th, however, a worldwide health crisis caused an enormous number of towns to be abandoned for lack of residents. I'm talking about the Black Death, of course, which has been mentioned numerous times in this blog. Tomorrow, let's talk about what happened immediately after the Black Death, and the economic impact it had.

The Piccolominis and Pienza

Enea Silvio Bartolomeo Piccolomini (18 October 1405 - 14 August 1464) had a very simple origin. He was born to the very large family of a simple soldier. The Black Death reduced his siblings from 18 to two sisters, leaving only Enea to work the fields with his father.

Eventually he became a priest and secretary to a bishop, then secretary to the antipope Felix V, then pope himself as Pius II, recounted in this post. What that leaves out was that he used his authority as pope to indulge in some urban planning, designing a "perfect city."

His perfect city started as the town of Corsignano in Siena, his birthplace. It appears in records as early as the 9th century. The Piccolomini family came into possession of parts of it about a century before Enea was born. Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II had given an ancestor, Engelbherto Piccolomini, a fiefdom there in 1220. This is the town he chose to become "Pienza" ("Pius city").

He rebuilt the town over five years into what he considered an ideal Renaissance city, with a cathedral (the building on the left in the illustration), palaces for the family and for the bishop, and a new town hall in a trapezoidal pattern. He intended it as a vacation place from Rome.

The rebuilding was overseen by Bernardo Rossellini (1409–1464), whose design work was enhanced by his skill at assembling a large number of skilled stoneworkers to create a premier workshop in Florence.

Pope Pius was the only pope until that time who had written an autobiography. In 1462 he began an account of his life, including details about the structures of Pienza. This was perhaps unnecessary, because they still stand. (In 1996 Pienza was declared a UNESCO Heritage site.)

This was an early example of urban planning. Are there others? What was the status of urban planning in the Middle Ages? Let's start to answer that question tomorrow.

Pope Felix V

In a surprising turn in 1439, during a time when the papacy was in turmoil and rival popes were almost commonplace, the Council of Basel chose Amadeus VIII, Duke of Savoy, to be the next pope. He agreed to take on the role in 1440, taking an oath that had been written by the Council of Basel and leaving Savoy in the hands of his son.

The delegation to Chateau Ripaille to inform Amadeus that he was the Council of Basel's choice to be the next pope included a man named Enea Silvio Bartolomeo Piccolomini. He was secretary to one of the Council of Basel members, the Bishop of Fermo, Domenico Capranica. (Domenico was interested in Basel because Pope Eugene IV had refused to make Domenico a cardinal.) Piccolomini became secretary to the new pope.

Officially, Amadeus is considered an antipope, Felix V, and his decisions had little effect on the Roman Catholic Church. Going to Basel to meet with the Council there and accept the position, he used Basel originally as his base of operations. The Council was seeking to reform the structure of the Church, and Felix ordered the Alma universitas studii curiae Romanae, the "Universal School for the Study of the Roman Curia" in 1440, which 20 years later would become the University of Basel, formalized by Pope Pius II.

There was another pope, Eugene IV, who had been crowned by Holy Roman Emperor Sigismund. Sigismund had allowed the Council of Basel to form, granting safe conduct rights to all those traveling to it. He had been succeeded by Emperor Frederick III, who in 1447 canceled the safe conducts. Frederick ordered the burgomeister of Basel to disperse the members of the Council. They all moved to Lausanne to join Felix and create a papal headquarters there.

When Pope Eugene IV died in 1447, the College of Cardinals in Rome elected Tommaso Parentucelli as Pope Nicholas V. Both popes wanted to come to a settlement of the dual papacies. At a session in 1449 of the Council of Lausanne, Felix agreed to give up his title. The Council of Lausanne voted to accept Nicholas V as their pope as well.

What to do with Amadeus VIII? He was made Bishop of Sabina and a cardinal. He did not have long to enjoy the title and the life with less pressure. He died on 7 January 1451 and was buried at Ripaille, the chateau to which he had originally retired from political life to live as a monk.

Felix V's secretary, Piccolomini, had an interesting background, and became a pope himself, Pius II! Let's take another look at him next.

From Count to...Pope?

Amadeus VIII (1383 - 1451) took on the title Count of Savoy at an early age after the death of his father, Amadeus VII. His grandmother, Bonne of Bourbon, was regent from 1391 until 1397, when she was implicated (certainly unjustly) in the death of her son and sent away to retire at Château de Mâcon.

Around this time, Savoy was expanding its borders and influence, so much so that it took on a grander identity than County, and became the Duchy of Savoy, with Amadeus VIII becoming the first Duke of Savoy thanks to an appointment by Holy Roman Emperor Sigismund of Luxembourg.

Another positive event in the history of Savoy (politically speaking) was the death in 1418 of his cousin, Louis of Piedmont. Louis was a branch of the family that frequently disputed the leadership. Louis had left Amadeus as his heir in his will, which thus united the male lines of Savoy.

Amadeus was married to Mary of Burgundy, daughter of the Duke of Burgundy, Philip the Bold. When his wife died in 1428, he founded the Order of St. Maurice with six other knights and lived with them in a monastic lifestyle in the chateau of Ripaille, which had been built overlooking Lake Geneva by his grandmother. He left his teenage son Louis as regent of the duchy.

This was a time of papal conflict when opposing groups of Catholic bishops and cardinals were supporting different candidates for pope. Amadeus was in favor of limiting papal supremacy and having the church governed more by ecumenical councils. This endeared him to certain cardinals. Recently there had been three rival popes: Clement VIII, Benedict XIV, and another Benedict XIV.

A Council of Basel was to determine who should be the rightful pope, and Amadeus requested that Savoyan bishops be allowed to attend. Another pope, Eugene IV, had been declared by his loyalists. The Council of Basel suspended him, and in June 1349 declared him a heretic. Cardinal Louis Aleman warned the council that they needed a pope who was rich and powerful to defend the Church from its enemies.

In October 1349 they chose 33 members from five nations to choose a pope. There is no reason to believe that Amadeus wanted to be pope, but over the course of several ballots he received a majority of votes. In November the council issued a decree that Amadeus VIII was elected pope. A delegation was sent to Ripaille to inform him. He was persuaded to take the position, and he renounced all connection to the Savoyan government, naming his son as Duke of Savoy.

He took the regnal name Felix V. Tomorrow we'll see how this unexpected pope managed.

Bonne of Bourbon

After numerous engagements to find the right bride, Amadeus VI of Savoy finally married Bonne of Bourbon (1341 - 19 January 1402). They were married in 1355, when he was 21 and she was 14. Her parents were Peter I, Duke of Bourbon and Isabella of Valois. Two of their other daughters became queens of France and Castile. The betrothal of Bonne to Amadeus was intended to bring some French influence to the Italian peninsula.

Bonne came to the marriage with a dowry of 3000 florins annually. The wedding took place while there was active hostility during the Hundred Years War. Amadeus was supporting France, and came to Paris for the wedding but had to return immediately to the fighting.

Eleven years later, they had had a few children (some of whom died young). In 1366 Amadeus was to go to Bulgaria on a "mini Crusade." He trusted Bonne enough to leave her in charge of the County. While he was away, a cousin died, James the Lord of Piedmont. His widow disputed the succession of their eldest son on behalf of her younger sons. (The eldest was from an earlier marriage.) Bonne managed to keep both sides from warring, but could not negotiate a settlement about succession. The eldest son, Philip, had to travel to find Amadeus to obtain a ruling.

In 1382, Bonne actually sold some of her jewelry to raise money to support her husband's military endeavors. She also spent money on building. In 1371 she built a chateau in a duchy of Savoy on the border of France, overlooking Lake Geneva.

When Amadeus died in 1383, his will left Bonne in charge rather than his son, Amadeus VII. The younger Amadeus had been born in 1360, so he was older than his father was when the succession passed to him. The younger Amadeus was betrothed to the daughter of the Duke of Burgundy, and there was a concern that French influence on the future of Savoy was becoming too great.

Bonne and the council maintained the regency while Amadeus VII got married and had a child, Amadeus VIII. Amadeus VII died in 1391. A few years later, Amadeus VII's doctor accused Bonne of ordering her son's death. The Duke of Burgundy accused members of the Savoy council of being involved. This caused the regency to be taken from her, leaving her grandson, Amadeus VIII (1383 - 1451), in charge.

Amadeus VIII had an unusual promotion from his initial royal title. It's a plot twist you won't see coming, but I'll explain it all next time.

Amadeus' Engagements

Like all rulers, Amadeus VI, Count of Savoy (1334 - 1383), was going to need an heir. He was only nine years old when his father died and passed the title to Amadeus, but arrangements for noble families start young, in many cases long before the potential heir is an adult.

In fact, when Amadeus was only four, an arrangement was made that he should marry the three-year-old daughter of Holy Roman Emperor Charles IV, Margaret of Bohemia. Margaret was a year or two younger than Amadeus.

Two years later, the contract with Margaret was broken. She went on to marry Louis I of Hungary in 1342 when she was seven years old. She died in 1349, still a teenager. They had no children.

In 1340, he was instead engaged to Joanna of Bourbon, the niece of Philip VI of France. Joanna was four years younger than Amadeus, and at the time of the arrangement was only two years old. The deal was designed to bring Savoy under French influence. She had already been betrothed to Humbert, Dauphin of Viennois; that was nullified in favor of Amadeus. The engagement to Amadeus was called off in 1344, and she ultimately married her first cousin—which required a papal dispensation because of consanguinity—who became Charles V of France (history's first tennis player known by name and the enforcer of synchronized time).

In 1347, another match was proposed. This time he became engaged to three-year-old Joan, daughter of Philip of Burgundy, which would have made him heir to Burgundy. Joan (1344 - 1360) was even brought to Savoy to be raised there and learn the customs of the people. In 1355, however, she was released from the engagement. She went into a convent at Poissy where she died at the age of 16.

Amadeus had another idea for a bride and decided to ally himself with what seemed a greater power: England. He sent a message to King Edward III, requesting the hand of his daughter Isabella. In an unusual move (for him), Isabella was two years older than Amadeus. Nothing came of this; she married Enguerrand VII, Lord of Coucy.

Finally, in September 1355, he married Bonne of Bourbon, daughter of the Duke of Bourbon, Peter I. She was only 14 to his 21. The marriage was successful and enduring. Tomorrow I'll tell you about "the one that didn't get away."

The Amadeus Crusade

When he was 32-years-old, Count of Savoy Amadeus VI started a mini-Crusade. He sent 1700 men on 15 ships to aid Byzantine Emperor John V Paleologos against the Ottomans. (They were cousins: John's mother was Anne of Savoy; her father and Amadeus' father were brothers.)

His small force met up with others: Francesco I of Lesbos and the King Louis I ("the Great") of Hungary. Together they drove the Turks from Gallipoli (but a few years later it was back in Turkish hands).

Then John V was captured by Bulgaria, and Amadeus responded by capturing some Bulgarian ports on the Black Sea. The emperor of Bulgaria, Tsar Ivan Alexander, had actually supported John V years earlier during his regency in exchange for some important fortresses. Amadeus' threat to Ivan Alexander, to release John or be attacked, resulted in John's release. The cousins spent Christmas together at a port on the Black Sea.

Back home, Amadeus established a method of relief for impoverished citizens, a welfare system that was one of the first of its kind. He also had a mechanical clock set up in public in 1377, with an officer to keep it running.

In 1381 he mediated between Genoa and Venice to set terms that ended their very long conflict. The two maritime republics compromised over control of the island of Tenedos by giving control of it to Amadeus. He relocated all the inhabitants (who were compensated financially) and destroyed all the structures (paid for by Genoa).

A year after he negotiated the Treaty of Turin, he joined (antipope) Pope Clement VII and Louis of Anjou in an attempt to free Queen Joan I of Naples from the rival pope, Urban VI. On this adventure Amadeus became ill and died. He was succeeded by his son, Amadeus VII.

Who was Amadeus VII's mother? Tomorrow I want to go through the many engagements Amadeus went through before he finally agreed to marry someone.

Amadeus VI of Savoy

When Aymon, Count of Savoy, died in 1343, his successor, his son Amadeus, was only nine years old. Two cousins were assigned as co-regents. Those cousins, Amadeus III of Geneva and Louis II of Vaud, agreed that neither would make a decision without the other's agreement. Their decisions also could be reviewed by the council of nobles.

The arrangement was very sensible and politic. There was another cousin, however, who tried to throw a wrench into the works. Joan of Savoy had tried to claim the County of Savoy for herself after the death of her father, Edward. Edward was succeeded by Aymon, but Joan thought she should have succeeded her father even though Savoy was governed by Salic law. She was acknowledged at the time as having a point, but was convinced to renounce her claim and cause no trouble in exchange for an annual pension.

Now, with a nine-year-old in power, she renewed her claim. Two years after Amadeus became count, she received a similar deal, renouncing the claim in exchange for a yearly allowance of 5000 livres.

Amadeus was educated in and enjoyed the arts of war, reading both the classical era work on war, De Re Militari, and the more recent De Regimine Principum, concerning the morality of ruling temporally. He was also devout, taking a vow of fasting that was so strict that he endangered his health and had to ask Pope Clement VI to release him from the vow.

In 1348, the Black Death was sweeping over Europe, and Savoy was not spared. As was often the case in times of disaster, Jews were blamed. Savoyan nobles tried to protect them, putting some in locked towers for protection. Savoyan courts tracked down those responsible for killing Jews, executing some and fining others.

Amadeus was nicknamed the "Green Count." On his 19th birthday in 1353, a series of tournaments were held. He appeared with a green silk tabard over his armor and green plumes on his helmet. He was accompanied into the lists by 11 green-clad knights, each led by a lady dressed in green who led the knight's horse by a green cord. Green became a popular color for him and his court after that. (Green was difficult to produce before the 1700s and the discovery of new chemicals. To get green, you had to dye fabric first yellow, and then blue. To have a lot of green showed extravagance.)

Tomorrow we'll look at his adult life.

The Problem of Tenedos

Tenedos (now a Turkish possession called Bozcaada) is an island in the northeast of the Aegean Sea. It was mentioned in the Iliad and the Odyssey. Virgil's Æneid claims Tenedos is where the Greeks hid their ships to convince the Trojans that they had departed after they dropped off the Trojan Horse. Its location is important as an outpost to see any traffic from the Mediterranean through the Dardanelles to the Sea of Marmara, which gives access to Constantinople and then the Black Sea.

It was possessed by many different entities over the centuries, but we are interested in how Venice held it before the Battle of Chioggia, part of the conflict between Venice and Genoa. The Treaty of Turin in 1381 that ended the war handed Tenedos over to Count Amadeus VI of Savoy, who negotiated the treaty. He then destroyed any fortifications on it so that it could not be used for military purposes. He also evacuated all the Venetians and others, who were to be compensated financially. Genoa was supposed to pay for the effort to destroy the structures.

It was only a decade after the Treaty that concerns arose about the spread of the Ottomans. The island was completely deserted and without any functional buildings, so there were discussions about re-occupying and re-fortifying it.

Genoa and Venice were still the two greatest maritime republics with lots of ships going in and out of Marmara and the Black Sea. Genoa invoked the Treaty of Turin and put its foot down against any occupation by Venice. Venice likewise said they would not agree to any suggestion of shared management. Venice also spoke against granting rights to the papacy, the Knights of St. John, or the Byzantine Empire. (A case of "If I can't play the game my way, I'll prevent anyone else from playing.")

The disputes stretched out until it was too late and the Ottoman Turks had spread to the whole area. Genoa was able to maintain the biggest share of Black Sea trade up to and even after the Fall of Constantinople in 1453.

I mentioned yesterday that Amadeus of Savoy was chosen to mediate between Genoa and Venice because of his ability to deal with conflicts, and that some of those were within his own family. Next time I'll explain that.

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.

Mongol Partners

There was a surprising amount of connection between the Mongol Empire and culture and the people of Western Europe. Part of this was because of the traditional Mongol tolerance for other religions and cultures. It did not hurt that the Mongol Empire saw Islam as a threat and was willing to form an alliance with the Christian West to hold back the spread of Muslims.

Although a permanent alliance was never formed, there was plenty of collaboration. We've recently looked at the merchant brothers, the Polos. Let's talk about some of the men who worked with Ghazan of the Ilkhanate.

A letter from Pope Boniface VIII to the Archbishop of Nicosia refers to Isol the Pisan as "Vicar of Syria and the Holy Land for Ghazan the Emperor of the Tartars." Isol seems to have been at the court of Ghazan for several years, rising to be Ghazan's ambassador to Cyprus. (It was not uncommon for the Khans to employ outsiders to various positions; Marco Polo is an example.) Isol had been around for a while in Persia: when Ghazan's younger brother Öljaitü was baptized a Christian, Isol stood as godfather. (Öljaitü did not stay Christian: after succeeding Ghazan, he changed in 1310 to Shi'a Islam.) (Ghazan and Öljaitü  are together in the illustration.) 

A man from Genoa served as ambassador to Europe from 1289 to 1305, working for Öljaitü, his brother Ghazan, and before them their father Arghun. Buscarello de Ghizolfi traveled back to Europe on Arghun's behalf to try to form an alliance. Buscarello carried messages for Philip IV of France and Edward I of England saying that, were they to bring their armies to his aid, Arghun would meet them with 20,000 to 30,000 horses and supplies to help retake the Holy Land. If Egypt could be conquered, Arghun would deliver Jerusalem to the West.

Edward agreed, but did not commit to a firm date for the endeavor. Buscarello returned to Persia with an English ambassador, Sir Geoffrey de Langley. A second attempt a few years later by Öljaitü to invite France and England to join him amounted to nothing.

Still, the commerce between Europeans and lands to the East brought many innovations such as gunpowder and paper currency, silk, different foods and spice, etc.

I want to talk a little more about Buscarello and his family tomorrow.

Mongol-Christian Alliances

Ghazan Khan (1271 - 1304) was not the first Mongol leader to communicate with Christians, but he set about to firm up an alliance to deal with what he considered a greater issue: Egyptian Mamluks. This was the time of the Crusades, and therefore Christian military groups were all over the Holy land and nearby. Armenia also had a Christian state.

Unfortunately, at this point the goal of the Crusades, Jerusalem, was no longer under Christian control. The plan was to unite all these forces with the Mongol Empire to conquer Egypt, whereupon (it was agreed) that the Christians would be given control of Jerusalem.

With plans in place, Ghazan marched to Syria in October 1299, where he was joined by the army of the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia (which a few years later would have its own problem with Egypt).The Armenians also had some Knights Templar and Hospitallers among them. They defeated an army of Egyptian Mamluks at the battle of Wadi al-Khazandar.

Aleppo had already been taken, and Damascus surrendered soon after. The majority of Ghazan's army then retreated for the rest of the winter, going north where they could find grazing for their horses. The Mamluks sent a delegation to Ghazan (who had recently converted to Islam) at his camp (see illustration) in January 1300 to speak to him, saying:

"You claim that you are a Muslim and you have with you Mu'adhdhins, Muftis, Imams and Shaykhs but you invaded us and reached our country for what? Although your father and your grandfather, Hulegu were non-believers, they did not attack us and they kept their promise. But you promised and broke your promise."

A Mongol-Christian plan was made for late 1301. Ghazan wrote to Pope Boniface VIII to send troops and priests so that the Holy Land could become a Frankish state. He also wrote in 1302 to the pope and to Charles II of Anjou. Unfortunately, troops did not arrive.

Ghazan failed to conquer the Mamluks after several battles, and gave up after a decisive loss in April 1303. When he died on 11 May 1304, his brother Öljaitü succeeded him.

Since the title of this post is the Mongol-Christian Alliance, I want to talk more specifically about some of the Christians and Europeans who worked directly with Ghazan and the Mongol Empire. See you tomorrow.

Ghazan Khan

A direct descendant of Genghis Khan, Ghazan Khan ruled the Mongol Empire's Ilkhanate (southwestern part of the empire, what now is Iran) and lived from 1271 to 11 May 1304. No, he did not have a long life, or a long reign, but he accomplished a lot out of necessity.

He had, as was customary for Mongol Khans, several wives, but he first came up in this blog in yesterday's post when we learn that he married a princess, Kököchin, who had been chosen for Ghazan's father by Kublai Khan himself. Kököchin's journey took so long that her intended, Arghun Khan, was dead by the time she arrived, and Ghazan married her himself. (It probably pleased her that Ghazan was the same age as she.)

On the death of his father in 1291, rule of the Ilkhanate went to Ghazan's uncle, Gaykhatu. One of the innovations during Gaykhatu's reign was the introduction of paper money to the Ilkhanate, but Ghazan rejected the idea in his territory of Khorasan, because the humidity of the region made the paper unfeasible.

Gaykhatu was killed in 1295, probably by the same people who killed Ghazan's father in order to put Gaykhatu in charge. That faction chose Ghazan's cousin Baydu to take over and be a figurehead. Ghazan marched on Baydu, who after some battles offered co-rulership to Ghazan. Ghazan rejected this, but was concerned because Baydu had a much larger army.

A powerful noble named Nowruz urged Ghazan to continue to attack Baydu and become ruler. Nowruz pledged his support, but with a condition: Ghazan had to convert to Islam. The Mongol attitude toward religion was one of curiosity and tolerance. Ghazan had been raised as an Eastern Christian, and had also been tutored by a Chinese Buddhist monk. Ghazan did not hold religion as high a priority as politics, so he made the change. Their political bid was successful, and Ghazan (seen on a horse in the illustration) became the next Khan of the Ilkhanate.

The traditional Mongol tolerance for other religions went out the window. Nowruz led persecutions against Buddhists and Christians. Churches were looted and destroyed. Despite this, Ghazan was willing to work with Western Europeans against a common enemy: the Egyptian Mamluks. We will talk about those alliances tomorrow.

Escorting a Princess

Arghun Khan (1258 - 1291) was the son of Abaqa Khan and ruler of the Ilkhanate, in the southwestern part of the Mongol Empire. Arghun (shown here with one of his brides) wanted a new bride after the death of his favorite, Bolgana (who had also been his father's consort), and he asked his great-uncle Kublai Khan to provide him with one.

Kublai chose the 17-year-old Kököchin, of the Chinese Yuan dynasty. Her escort to the Ilkhanate included three of Kublai's envoys and a young Venetian named Marco Polo. Marco, along with his uncles, had been "guests" of Kublai for many years. Kublai did not want to lose the company of his foreign guests, but his envoys insisted. In the words of Marco Polo from his account:

The overland road from Peking to Tabriz was not only of portentous length for such a tender charge, but was imperiled by war, so the envoys desired to return by sea. Tartars in general were strangers to all navigation; and the envoys, much taken with the Venetians, and eager to profit by their experience, especially as Marco had just then returned from his Indian mission, begged the Khan as a favour to send the three Firinghis* in their company. He consented with reluctance, but, having done so, fitted the party out nobly for the voyage, charging the Polos with friendly messages for the potentates of Europe, including the King of England.

There were problems on the voyage

involving long detentions on the coast of Sumatra, and in the South of India, ...; and two years or upwards passed before they arrived at their destination in Persia. The three hardy Venetians survived all perils, and so did the lady, who had come to look on them with filial regard; but two of the three envoys, and a vast proportion of the suite, had perished by the way.

Not only had some of the escorts died along the way, but so had Arghun by the time his anticipated bride had arrived. In fact, he had died before the escorts had even set out, a fact they did not know until they had arrived.

The trip was not wasted, however, because Arghun had a son, Ghazan, who was about the same age as the princess Kököchin. Although not as handsome as his father, he was in many ways an excellent ruler and war-leader. He also had good diplomatic relations with Europeans and the Crusaders. Let's talk more about Ghazan Khan tomorrow.

*Firinghis or farang is Persian and originally intended to refer to Franks, lumping all Western Europeans together.