Caffaro di Rustico da Caschifellone ( 1080 – c. 1164) was a statesman, diplomat, admiral and historian of the

Republic of Genoa The Republic of Genoa ( lij, Repúbrica de Zêna ; it, Repubblica di Genova; la, Res Publica Ianuensis) was a medieval and early modern maritime republic from the 11th century to 1797 in Liguria on the northwestern Italian coast. During the Lat ...

. Between 1122 and 1149 he served eight terms as a

consul Consul (abbrev. ''cos.''; Latin plural ''consules'') was the title of one of the two chief magistrates of the Roman Republic, and subsequently also an important title under the Roman Empire. The title was used in other European city-states throug ...

. His most enduring work was the ''

Annales ianuenses The ''Annales ianuenses'' (Latin: "Genoese annals") or ''Annali Genovesi'' form the official history of the Republic of Genoa during the High Middle Ages. It is the earliest medieval civic chronicle and the earliest set of annals composed by a lay ...

'' ("Genoese annals"), the

official history An official history is a work of history which is sponsored, authorised or endorsed by its subject. The term is most commonly used for histories which are produced for a government. The term also applies to commissions from non-state bodies includin ...

of the Genoese republic, which he began and which was continued by successors down to 1294. He also wrote ''Ystoria captionis Almarie et Turtuose'', an account of the siege of Almería (1 August – 17 October 1147) and the siege of Tortosa (1 July – 30 December 1148). Caffaro was born in the village of Caschifellone (now part of

Serra Riccò Serra Riccò ( lij, A Særa) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Genoa in the Italian region Liguria, located about north of Genoa, in the Val Polcevera. Serra Riccò borders the following municipalities: Casella, Genoa, M ...

) in either 1080 or 1081. While a teenager, he travelled to the

Holy Land The Holy Land; Arabic: or is an area roughly located between the Mediterranean Sea and the Eastern Bank of the Jordan River, traditionally synonymous both with the biblical Land of Israel and with the region of Palestine. The term "Holy ...

with a Genoese contingent on the

First Crusade The First Crusade (1096–1099) was the first of a series of religious wars, or Crusades, initiated, supported and at times directed by the Latin Church in the medieval period. The objective was the recovery of the Holy Land from Islamic ru ...

from August 1100 until January 1101. He returned to the Holy Land in the 1130s. Some time after that, perhaps in 1155–56, when Genoa was in the midst of a dispute with the

Kingdom of Jerusalem The Kingdom of Jerusalem ( la, Regnum Hierosolymitanum; fro, Roiaume de Jherusalem), officially known as the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem or the Frankish Kingdom of Palestine,Example (title of works): was a Crusader state that was establishe ...

, Caffaro wrote ''De liberatione civitatum orientis'' ("On the Liberation of the Cities of the East"), a work on the First Crusade, the relations between the West and the

Byzantine Empire The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...

and travel distances between the cities of the East. Shortly thereafter he began writing his history of Genoa, titled ''Annales''. Though Caffaro's imperfect

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

prevented the ''Annales'' from achieving greatness as literature, the chronicle was the first of its kind in Genoa and remains an important historical record. It is an important source of information on the careers of the early Embriachi. On the strength of his fame as crusader, Caffaro became a captain in the Genoese navy, and fought in several battles against the

Republic of Pisa The Republic of Pisa ( it, Repubblica di Pisa) was an independent state centered on the Tuscan city of Pisa, which existed from the 11th to the 15th century. It rose to become an economic powerhouse, a commercial center whose merchants dominated ...

and other Mediterranean powers. Toward the end of his life he became a

diplomat A diplomat (from grc, δίπλωμα; romanized ''diploma'') is a person appointed by a state or an intergovernmental institution such as the United Nations or the European Union to conduct diplomacy with one or more other states or internati ...

, and carried out several diplomatic missions on behalf of Genoa to the courts of

Pope Callixtus II Pope Callixtus II or Callistus II ( – 13 December 1124), born Guy of Burgundy, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 1 February 1119 to his death in 1124. His pontificate was shaped by the Investiture Controversy, ...

, the

Emperor Frederick I Frederick Barbarossa (December 1122 – 10 June 1190), also known as Frederick I (german: link=no, Friedrich I, it, Federico I), was the Holy Roman Emperor from 1155 until his death 35 years later. He was elected King of Germany in Frankfurt on ...

and King

Alfonso VII of León and Castile Alfonso VII (1 March 110521 August 1157), called the Emperor (''el Emperador''), became the King of Galicia in 1111 and King of León and Castile in 1126. Alfonso, born Alfonso Raimúndez, first used the title Emperor of All Spain, alongside hi ...

, and also to Pisa.Day, Gerald W., "Manuel and the Genoese: A Reappraisal of Byzantine Commercial Policy in the Late Twelfth Century" (''The Journal of Economic History'', Vol. 37, No. 2

977 Year 977 ( CMLXXVII) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Europe * May – Boris II, dethroned emperor (''tsar'') of Bulgaria, and his brother Roman ma ...

289–301).

References

Further reading