The Aragonese–Genoese War, also called Catalan–Genoese War was an armed conflict between the

Crown of Aragon The Crown of Aragon (, ) ;, ; ; . was a composite monarchy ruled by one king, originated by the dynastic union of the Kingdom of Aragon and the County of Barcelona (later Principality of Catalonia) and ended as a consequence of the War of the Sp ...

and the

Republic of Genoa The Republic of Genoa ( ; ; ) was a medieval and early modern Maritime republics, maritime republic from the years 1099 to 1797 in Liguria on the northwestern Italy, Italian coast. During the Late Middle Ages, it was a major commercial power in ...

that lasted from 1330 to 1336

Background

The

Aragonese conquest of Sardinia The Aragonese conquest of Sardinia took place between 1323 and 1326. The island of Sardinia was at the time subject to the influence of the Republic of Pisa, the Pisan della Gherardesca family, Genoa and of the Genoese families of Doria (family) ...

James II of Aragon James II (Catalan: ''Jaume II''; Aragonese: ''Chaime II;'' 10 April 1267 – 2 or 5 November 1327), called the Just, was the King of Aragon and Valencia and Count of Barcelona from 1291 to 1327. He was also the King of Sicily (as James I) f ...

in 1323 turned the old commercial rivalry between the

and the

into open war, and the Council of Hundred and the

Catalan Courts The Catalan Courts or General Court of Catalonia ( or ) were the policymaking and parliamentary body of the Principality of Catalonia from the 13th to the 18th century. Composed by the king and the three estates of the realm, the Catalan Court ...

proposed to

Alfonso IV of Aragon Alfonso IV (2 November 1299 – 24 January 1336), called the Kind (also ''the Gentle'' or ''the Nice'', ), was King of Aragon and Count of Barcelona (as Alfons III) from 1327 to his death. His reign saw the incorporation of the County of Urgell ...

the organization of an armada against the Genoese.

The war

Guillem de Cervelló and de Banyeres commanded an armada of 40

galley A galley is a type of ship optimised for propulsion by oars. Galleys were historically used for naval warfare, warfare, Maritime transport, trade, and piracy mostly in the seas surrounding Europe. It developed in the Mediterranean world during ...

s and 30 woodwinds and as vice admirals Galceran Marquet and Bernat Sespujades who attacked

Monaco Monaco, officially the Principality of Monaco, is a Sovereign state, sovereign city-state and European microstates, microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Regions of Italy, Italian region of Liguria, in Western Europe, ...

and

Menton Menton (; in classical norm or in Mistralian norm, , ; ; or depending on the orthography) is a Commune in France, commune in the Alpes-Maritimes department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region on the French Riviera, close to the Italia ...

in 1331, and besieged

Savona Savona (; ) is a seaport and (municipality) in the west part of the northern Italian region of Liguria, and the capital of the Province of Savona. Facing the Ligurian Sea, Savona is the main center of the Riviera di Ponente (the western se ...

and Genoa itself, then retreated to

Sardinia Sardinia ( ; ; ) is the Mediterranean islands#By area, second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, and one of the Regions of Italy, twenty regions of Italy. It is located west of the Italian Peninsula, north of Tunisia an ...

while Antonio Grimaldi armed a raid to attack the Aragonese fleet.

John XXII Pope John XXII (, , ; 1244 – 4 December 1334), born Jacques Duèze (or d'Euse), was head of the Catholic Church from 7 August 1316 to his death, in December 1334. He was the second and longest-reigning Avignon Pope, elected by the Conclave of ...

tried without success to achieve peace between the contenders. In 1332 the admirals of the fleet were the Veguer of Barcelona Pere de Santcliment in spring, and Francesc de Finestres and Arnau Oliver in winter, and Bernat Sespujades repulsed the attack of 13 Genoese galleys in

Cagliari Cagliari (, , ; ; ; Latin: ''Caralis'') is an Comune, Italian municipality and the capital and largest city of the island of Sardinia, an Regions of Italy#Autonomous regions with special statute, autonomous region of Italy. It has about 146,62 ...

, even though he had very few cash at the time. Ottobono Marini was appointed captain of ten galleys against the

in January 1333, and in April, Lanotto Cigala at the head of ten more galleys. Cigala captured in

Sicily Sicily (Italian language, Italian and ), officially the Sicilian Region (), is an island in the central Mediterranean Sea, south of the Italian Peninsula in continental Europe and is one of the 20 regions of Italy, regions of Italy. With 4. ...

some ships from

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

laden with wheat, and four Genoese ships attacked three Catalan galleys and a woodwinds and the Catalans, in their turn, captured Genoese ships and thus inflicted numerous damages on each other.

ordered that the territories of

Mallorca Mallorca, or Majorca, is the largest of the Balearic Islands, which are part of Spain, and the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, seventh largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. The capital of the island, Palma, Majorca, Palma, i ...

and

Valencia Valencia ( , ), formally València (), is the capital of the Province of Valencia, province and Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, the same name in Spain. It is located on the banks of the Turia (r ...

arm sixty galleys, of which at least thirty had to be ready in April 1333, ten for each city, and his admiral would be Galceran Marquet, who was re-elected in 1334.

Peter IV of Aragon Peter IV (Catalan: ''Pere IV d'Aragó;'' Aragonese; ''Pero IV d'Aragón;'' 5 September 1319 – 6 January 1387), called the Ceremonious (Catalan: ''El Cerimoniós''; Aragonese: ''el Ceremonioso''), was from 1336 until his death the king of ...

signed peace on September 19, 1336, after a truce had been established a few months earlier with the intervention of

Pope Benedict XII Pope Benedict XII (, , ; 1285 – 25 April 1342), born Jacques Fournier, was a cardinal and inquisitor, and later, head of the Catholic Church from 30 December 1334 to his death, in April 1342. He was the third Avignon pope and reformed monasti ...

Consequences

The war made it possible to win the rebel city of

Sassari Sassari ( ; ; ; ) is an Italian city and the second-largest of Sardinia in terms of population with 120,497 inhabitants as of 2025, and a functional urban area of about 260,000 inhabitants. One of the oldest cities on the island, it contains ...

,''Diccionari d'Història de Catalunya''; ed. 62; Barcelona; 1998; ; p. 25 key for the northern domain of

and the maritime routes.

References

Bibliography

* * {{refend Wars involving the Republic of Genoa Wars involving the Crown of Aragon 13th-century conflicts Wars involving Monaco Military history of the Mediterranean