The War of Saint Sabas (1256–1270) was a conflict between the rival
Italian maritime republics
The maritime republics ( it, repubbliche marinare), also called merchant republics ( it, repubbliche mercantili), were thalassocratic city-states of the Mediterranean Basin during the Middle Ages. Being a significant presence in Italy in the M ...
of
Genoa
Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Italian region of Liguria and the List of cities in Italy, sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of the 2011 Italian ce ...
(aided by
Philip of Montfort, Lord of Tyre
Philip Ι of Montfort, (died 17 March 1270, Tyre) was Lord of La Ferté-Alais and Castres-en-Albigeois 1228–1270, Lord of Tyre 1246–1270, and Lord of Toron aft. 1240–1270. He was the son of Guy of Montfort and Helvis of Ibelin ...
,
John of Arsuf
John of Ibelin (c. 1211–1258), commonly called John of Arsuf, was the lord of Arsuf from 1236 and Constable of Jerusalem from 1251. He was a younger son of John I of Beirut. His elder brother, Balian, inherited Beirut. He served as regent ...
, and the
Knights Hospitaller
The Order of Knights of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem ( la, Ordo Fratrum Hospitalis Sancti Ioannis Hierosolymitani), commonly known as the Knights Hospitaller (), was a medieval and early modern Catholic Church, Catholic Military ord ...
) and
Venice
Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 ...
(aided by the
Count of Jaffa and Ascalon
The double County of Jaffa and Ascalon was one of the four major seigneuries comprising the major Crusader state of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, according to 13th-century commentator John of Ibelin.
History
Jaffa was fortified by Godfrey of Bouill ...
,
John of Ibelin, and the
Knights Templar
, colors = White mantle with a red cross
, colors_label = Attire
, march =
, mascot = Two knights riding a single horse
, equipment ...
), over control of
Acre
The acre is a unit of land area used in the imperial
Imperial is that which relates to an empire, emperor, or imperialism.
Imperial or The Imperial may also refer to:
Places
United States
* Imperial, California
* Imperial, Missouri
* Imp ...
, in 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 ...
.
Siege of Acre, 1257–1258
The war began when the Venetians were evicted from
Tyre in 1256 and war grew out of a dispute concerning land in
Acre
The acre is a unit of land area used in the imperial
Imperial is that which relates to an empire, emperor, or imperialism.
Imperial or The Imperial may also refer to:
Places
United States
* Imperial, California
* Imperial, Missouri
* Imp ...
then owned by
Mar Saba
The Holy Lavra of Saint Sabbas, known in Arabic and Syriac as Mar Saba ( syr, ܕܝܪܐ ܕܡܪܝ ܣܒܐ, ar, دير مار سابا; he, מנזר מר סבא; el, Ἱερὰ Λαύρα τοῦ Ὁσίου Σάββα τοῦ Ἡγιασμέ ...
but claimed by both Genoa and Venice. Initially the
Genoese navy
The Genoese navy was the naval contingent of the Republic of Genoa's military. From the 11th century onward the Genoese navy protected the interests of the republic and projected its power throughout the Mediterranean and Black Seas. It played a ...
had a clear upper hand, but its early successes were abruptly reversed when 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 ...
, a former ally, signed a ten-year pact of military alliance with Venice.
In 1257 a Venetian admiral,
Lorenzo Tiepolo
Lorenzo Tiepolo (died August 15, 1275) was Doge of Venice from 1268 until his death.
Biography
Born in Venice, Lorenzo Tiepolo was the son of Doge Jacopo Tiepolo.
Tiepolo demonstrated skill as commander when, during the War of Saint Sabas with ...
, broke through Acre's
harbour chain and destroyed several Genoese ships, conquered the disputed property, and destroyed Saint Sabas' fortifications. However he was unable to expel the Genoese, who were 800 men strong and armed with 50–60
ballista
The ballista (Latin, from Greek βαλλίστρα ''ballistra'' and that from βάλλω ''ballō'', "throw"), plural ballistae, sometimes called bolt thrower, was an ancient missile weapon that launched either bolts or stones at a distant ta ...
e, from their quarter of the city despite throwing up a blockade; there were also siege engines among the Venetians.
The famed
Genoese crossbowmen
The Genoese crossbowmen ( it, Balestrieri genovesi) were a famous military corps of the Middle Ages, which acted both in defense of the Republic of Genoa and as a mercenary force for other Italian or European powers.
Armed with crossbows, they ...
took part in the fighting in Acre; the life of the Count of Jaffa was spared by a chivalrous Genoese consul who forbade his crossbowman to shoot the Count from his tower. Pisa and Venice hired men to man their galleys in Acre itself during the siege; the average rate of pay of a Pisan- or Venetian-employed sailor on one of their galleys was ten
bezant
In the Middle Ages, the term bezant (Old French ''besant'', from Latin ''bizantius aureus'') was used in Western Europe to describe several gold coins of the east, all derived ultimately from the Roman ''solidus''. The word itself comes from th ...
s a day and nine a night. The blockade lasted more than a year (perhaps twelve or fourteen months), but because the Hospitaller complex was also near the Genoese quarter, food was brought to them quite simply, even from as far away as Tyre.
At that point, in August 1257, the regent of the kingdom,
John of Arsuf
John of Ibelin (c. 1211–1258), commonly called John of Arsuf, was the lord of Arsuf from 1236 and Constable of Jerusalem from 1251. He was a younger son of John I of Beirut. His elder brother, Balian, inherited Beirut. He served as regent ...
, who had initially tried to mediate, confirmed a treaty with the city of
Ancona
Ancona (, also , ) is a city and a seaport in the Marche region in central Italy, with a population of around 101,997 . Ancona is the capital of the province of Ancona and of the region. The city is located northeast of Rome, on the Adriatic S ...
granting it commercial rights in Acre in return for aid of fifty men-at-arms for two years. Though Ancona was an ally of Genoa and John sought by his treaty to bring the feudatories — most of whom were onside — to support Genoa against Venice, his plan ultimately backfired and
John of Ibelin and
John II of Beirut
John of Ibelin (died 1264), often called John II, was the Lord of Beirut from 1254, named after his grandfather John I, the famous "Old Lord of Beirut", and son of Balian of Ibelin, who surrendered Jerusalem to Saladin in 1187. His parents were Ba ...
"manipulated the complex regency laws" in order to bring the feudatories of the Kingdom of Jerusalem into a position of support for Venice. In this they had the support of the new bailiff,
Plaisance of Cyprus,
Bohemond VI of Antioch
Bohemond VI (–1275), also known as the Fair, was the prince of Antioch and count of Tripoli from 1251 until his death. He ruled while Antioch was caught between the warring Mongol Empire and Mamluk Sultanate. In 1268 Antioch was captured by the ...
, and the Knights Templar. At this juncture,
Philip of Montfort, who had been providing food to the Genoese in Acre, was one of Genoa's few supporters.
Philip was staying about a mile away from Acre, in a place called the New Vineyard (''la Vigne Neuve'') with "80 men on horses and 300 archer-villeins from his land" (''lxxx. homes a chevau et. ccc. archers vilains de sa terre''). In June, as per a plan, he marched on Acre and joined up with a band of Hospitallers while a Genoese fleet attacked the city by sea. The Genoese navy, numbering some 48 galleys and four sailing ships armed with siege engines, under
Rosso della Turca was
quickly overrun by the Venetians and the Genoese had to abandon their quarter and retreat with Philip to Tyre. The conflict wore down and by 1261 a fragile peace was in effect, although the Genoese were still out of Acre.
Pope Urban IV
Pope Urban IV ( la, Urbanus IV; c. 1195 – 2 October 1264), born Jacques Pantaléon, was the head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 29 August 1261 to his death. He was not a cardinal; only a few popes since his time ha ...
, who had become understandably worried about the effect of the war in the event of a
Mongol
The Mongols ( mn, Монголчууд, , , ; ; russian: Монголы) are an East Asian ethnic group native to Mongolia, Inner Mongolia in China and the Buryatia Republic of the Russian Federation. The Mongols are the principal member of ...
attack, a threat that passed without materialising, now organised a council to re-establish order in the kingdom following five years of fighting.
Naval skirmishing, 1261–1270
The Genoese then approached
Michael VIII Palaiologos
Michael VIII Palaiologos or Palaeologus ( el, Μιχαὴλ Δούκας Ἄγγελος Κομνηνὸς Παλαιολόγος, Mikhaēl Doukas Angelos Komnēnos Palaiologos; 1224 – 11 December 1282) reigned as the co-emperor of the Empire ...
,
Emperor of Nicaea
This is a list of the Byzantine emperors from the foundation of Constantinople in 330 AD, which marks the conventional start of the Eastern Roman Empire, to its fall to the Ottoman Empire in 1453 AD. Only the emperors who were recognized as le ...
. After the
Treaty of Nymphaeum was ratified in 1261, the emperor funded fifty ships to fight the Venetians. After this assault, in 1264, the Venetians returned to Tyre to conquer it, but backed out when Tyre received reinforcements.
During the continuous skirmishing of the 1260s, both sides employed Muslim soldiers, mostly
Turcopoles
During the period of the Crusades, turcopoles (also "turcoples" or "turcopoli"; from the el, τουρκόπουλοι, literally "sons of Turks") were locally recruited mounted archers and light cavalry employed by the Byzantine Empire and the ...
, against their Christian foes.
In 1266, the Genoese had made an alliance with
Baibars
Al-Malik al-Zahir Rukn al-Din Baybars al-Bunduqdari ( ar, الملك الظاهر ركن الدين بيبرس البندقداري, ''al-Malik al-Ẓāhir Rukn al-Dīn Baybars al-Bunduqdārī'') (1223/1228 – 1 July 1277), of Turkic Kipchak ...
, who was to outfit some troops for an expedition against Acre, but the Genoese' promised fleet never got underway.
On 16 August 1267, Genoa managed to capture the
Tower of Flies and blockade the harbour of Acre for twelve days before being evicted by a Venetian flotilla. The ongoing warfare between Genoa and Venice had a major negative impact on the Kingdom's ability to withstand external threats to its existence. Save for the religious buildings, most of the fortified and defended edifices in Acre had been destroyed at one point or other (and Acre looked as if it had been ravaged by a Muslim army) and according to the
Rothelin continuation
The ''Rothelin Continuation'' is an anonymous Old French prose history of the Crusades and the Crusader states between 1229 and 1261. It is one of the most important sources for the period it covers, which includes the Barons' Crusade (1239–1241) ...
of
William of Tyre's ''History'', 20,000 men in total had lost their lives, a frightful number considering the Crusader states were chronically short on soldiery.
The War of Saint Sabas was settled in 1270 with the
Peace of Cremona, ending the hostilities between the Venetians and the Genoese. In 1288, Genoa finally received their quarter in Acre back.
Further reading
*Racine, Pierre.
Les villes d'Italie, mi XII° siècle – XIV° siècle'. SEDES, 2004.
*
Notes
References
*
*
{{refend
Wars involving the Knights Hospitaller
Wars involving the Knights Templar
1250s conflicts
1260s conflicts
13th century in the Republic of Genoa
13th century in the Republic of Venice
1250s in Asia
1260s in Europe