The Venetian–Genoese Wars were four conflicts between the

Republic of Venice The Republic of Venice, officially the Most Serene Republic of Venice and traditionally known as La Serenissima, was a sovereign state and Maritime republics, maritime republic with its capital in Venice. Founded, according to tradition, in 697 ...

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 ...

which took place between 1256 and 1381. Each was resolved almost entirely through naval clashes, and they were connected to each other by interludes during which episodes of piracy and violence between the two Italian trading communities in the

Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern Eur ...

and the

Black Sea The Black Sea is a marginal sea, marginal Mediterranean sea (oceanography), mediterranean sea lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bound ...

were commonplace, in a "

cold war The Cold War was a period of global Geopolitics, geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc, which lasted from 1947 unt ...

" climate. Starting in the

11th century The 11th century is the period from 1001 (represented by the Roman numerals MI) through 1100 (MC) in accordance with the Julian calendar, and the 1st century of the 2nd millennium. In the history of Europe, this period is considered the early ...

, Venice and Genoa had built commercial empires which, in the

13th century The 13th century was the century which lasted from January 1, 1201 (represented by the Roman numerals MCCI) through December 31, 1300 (MCCC) in accordance with the Julian calendar. The Mongol Empire was founded by Genghis Khan, which stretched ...

, became

thalassocracies A thalassocracy or thalattocracy, sometimes also maritime empire, is a state with primarily maritime realms, an empire at sea, or a seaborne empire. Traditional thalassocracies seldom dominate interiors, even in their home territories. Examples o ...

so solid as to oust the other

maritime republics The maritime republics (), also called merchant republics (), were Italian Thalassocracy , thalassocratic Port city, port cities which, starting from the Middle Ages, enjoyed political autonomy and economic prosperity brought about by their mar ...

and to make the two cities privileged interlocutors of state structures such as the

Byzantine Empire The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived History of the Roman Empire, the events that caused the ...

, the

Kingdom of Hungary The Kingdom of Hungary was a monarchy in Central Europe that existed for nearly a millennium, from 1000 to 1946 and was a key part of the Habsburg monarchy from 1526-1918. The Principality of Hungary emerged as a Christian kingdom upon the Coro ...

, etc. In the second half of the 13th century the tensions between Venice and Genoa, exacerbated by the Venetian control over

Constantinople Constantinople (#Names of Constantinople, see other names) was a historical city located on the Bosporus that served as the capital of the Roman Empire, Roman, Byzantine Empire, Byzantine, Latin Empire, Latin, and Ottoman Empire, Ottoman empire ...

following the

Fourth Crusade The Fourth Crusade (1202–1204) was a Latin Christian armed expedition called by Pope Innocent III. The stated intent of the expedition was to recapture the Muslim-controlled city of Jerusalem, by first defeating the powerful Egyptian Ayyubid S ...

, exploded. The first conflict, known as the

War of Saint Sabas The War of Saint Sabas (1256–1270) was a conflict between the rival Italian maritime republics of Genoa (aided by Philip of Montfort, Lord of Tyre, John of Arsuf, and the Knights Hospitaller) and Venice (aided by the Count of Jaffa and Asca ...

(1256-1270), was a Venetian victory, though it did not undermine the growing Genoese power in Constantinople and the Black Sea. The second conflict (1294-1299) recorded a revenge for the Ligurians, with significant military victories. After a temporary alliance against the Mongols during the

siege of Caffa The siege of Caffa was a 14th-century military encounter when Jani Beg of the Golden Horde besieged the city of Caffa (modern-day Feodosia), between two periods in the 1340s. The city of Caffa, a Genoese colony, was a vital trading hub located ...

(1346), Venice and Genoa clashed again in the

War of the Straits The War of the Straits () or Third Genoese–Venetian War was a conflict fought between the Republic of Venice and the Republic of Genoa, and their allies, in 1350–1355. The third in a Venetian-Genoese wars, series of conflicts between the two m ...

(1350-1355), during which Venice dragged in the

Kingdom of Aragon The Kingdom of Aragon (; ; ; ) was a medieval and early modern Monarchy, kingdom on the Iberian Peninsula, corresponding to the modern-day Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Aragon, in Spain. It became a part of the larger ...

, Genoa's emerging Tyrrhenian rival. This third war again ended in stalemate with a Genoese military victory at great cost. The fourth conflict, the

War of Chioggia The War of Chioggia () was a conflict fought by the Republic of Genoa against the Republic of Venice between 1378 and 1381, the conclusion of an open confrontation that had lasted for years and which had already included some occasional and limit ...

(1377-1381), saw Venice surrounded by various fronts, with the Genoese reaching the entrance to the

Venetian Lagoon The Venetian Lagoon (; ) is an enclosed bay of the Adriatic Sea, in northern Italy, in which the city of Venice is situated. Its name in the Italian and Venetian languages, ' (cognate of Latin ' ), has provided the English name for an enclosed, ...

, but, with an enormous war effort, Venice achieved the final victory, saving the city from destruction, even without a debilitating economic outlay. Acts of piracy between the Venetians and Genoese (subject to French control in the meantime) continued until the Venetian victory at the

Battle of Modon (1403) The Battle of Modon was fought on 7 October 1403 between the fleets of the Republic of Venice and of the Republic of Genoa, then under Kingdom of France, French control, commanded by the French marshal Jean Le Maingre, better known as Jean Le Main ...

. Thirty years later, the two republics faced each other again in the Battle of San Fruttuoso (1431), but in the context of the Wars in Lombardy and with Genoa then subject to the

Visconti of Milan The Visconti of Milan are a noble Italian family. They rose to power in Milan during the Middle Ages where they ruled from 1277 to 1447, initially as Lords then as Dukes, and several collateral branches still exist. The effective founder of the V ...

. The real cause of the truce between Venice and Genoa starting in the

15th century The 15th century was the century which spans the Julian calendar dates from 1 January 1401 (represented by the Roman numerals MCDI) to 31 December 1500 (MD). In Europe, the 15th century includes parts of the Late Middle Ages, the Early Re ...

was their involvement in systematic conflicts with other powers: for Genoa the confrontation with Aragon, then concluded by the subjugation of the Genoese to the

Kingdom of Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

in the

16th century The 16th century began with the Julian calendar, Julian year 1501 (represented by the Roman numerals MDI) and ended with either the Julian or the Gregorian calendar, Gregorian year 1600 (MDC), depending on the reckoning used (the Gregorian calend ...

; for Venice the exhausting, centuries-old conflict with the Ottoman Empire. In general, the Ottoman threat to trade and the coasts of the entire Mediterranean, especially thanks to the alliance between the Sultan of Istanbul and the

Barbary pirates The Barbary corsairs, Barbary pirates, Ottoman corsairs, or naval mujahideen (in Muslim sources) were mainly Muslim corsairs and privateers who operated from the largely independent Barbary states. This area was known in Europe as the Barba ...

, favored the rapprochement and collaboration between the two ancient rivals, e.g. in the

Battle of Lepanto The Battle of Lepanto was a naval warfare, naval engagement that took place on 7 October 1571 when a fleet of the Holy League (1571), Holy League, a coalition of Catholic states arranged by Pope Pius V, inflicted a major defeat on the fleet of t ...

. At the same time, the decline in the share of world trade passing through the Mediterranean during the

Age of Discovery The Age of Discovery (), also known as the Age of Exploration, was part of the early modern period and overlapped with the Age of Sail. It was a period from approximately the 15th to the 17th century, during which Seamanship, seafarers fro ...

thwarted the Italian republics' ambitions for commercial dominance and the resulting tensions. Despite a significant Genoese military superiority, this series of wars damaged the resources of both sides, leading Genoa into a long series of internal struggles, to the advantage of its neighbors.

Background

The economic recovery that occurred in Europe starting from the

9th century The 9th century was a period from 801 (represented by the Roman numerals DCCCI) through 900 (CM) in accordance with the Julian calendar. The Carolingian Renaissance and the Viking raids occurred within this period. In the Middle East, the H ...

, combined with the insecurity of land communication routes, meant that the main trade routes developed along the coasts of the

: in this context, and given the crisis of the central powers, some port cities of the Italian peninsula were able to acquire ever greater autonomy, to the point of playing a leading role in the European scenario. The traffic of these cities reached Africa and above all Asia, effectively inserting itself between the

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived the events that caused the fall of the Western Roman E ...

and

Islamic Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...

maritime powers, with which a complex relationship of competition and collaboration was established for the control of the Mediterranean routes. The

Crusades The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and at times directed by the Papacy during the Middle Ages. The most prominent of these were the campaigns to the Holy Land aimed at reclaiming Jerusalem and its surrounding t ...

offered these cities, the so-called

(Amalfi, Genoa, Venice, Pisa, Ancona and Ragusa) the opportunity to expand trade, which was already active, with the Levant: thousands of inhabitants of these cities flocked to the East, creating warehouses, colonies and commercial establishments, supporting the Crusaders both logistically (e.g. the Genoese supplied the troops of Bohemond of Hauteville engaged in the

Siege of Antioch The siege of Antioch took place during the First Crusade in 1097 and 1098, on the crusaders' way to Jerusalem through Syria (region), Syria. Two sieges took place in succession. The first siege, by the crusaders against the city held by the Sel ...

) and with the supply of soldiers and military support. During the 12th century, it was the

(an "excellent" commercial interlocutor of Byzantium since the so-called Chrysobull of 1082) and the

that emerged as dominant powers among the maritime republics, creating true and proper

across the Mediterranean. At the beginning of the 13th century, the Mediterranean political-commercial balance was undermined by the Latin conquest of Constantinople (1204) during the

which made Venice the undisputed master of trade with the East, which by then had extended, in that period, to the

, a commercial hub along the

Silk Road The Silk Road was a network of Asian trade routes active from the second century BCE until the mid-15th century. Spanning over , it played a central role in facilitating economic, cultural, political, and religious interactions between the ...

. In March 1261, the Byzantine-Nicene emperor

Michael VIII Palaiologos Michael VIII Palaiologos or Palaeologus (; 1224 – 11 December 1282) reigned as Byzantine emperor from 1261 until his death in 1282, and previously as the co-emperor of the Empire of Nicaea from 1259 to 1261. Michael VIII was the founder of th ...

allied himself with Genoa to reconquer Constantinople from the

Latins The term Latins has been used throughout history to refer to various peoples, ethnicities and religious groups using Latin or the Latin-derived Romance languages, as part of the legacy of the Roman Empire. In the Ancient World, it referred to th ...

and signed the Treaty of Nymphaeum which granted the Genoese important commercial privileges in the Black Sea and the Mediterranean in exchange for their active support against the other Latin powers and, above all, Venice. Constantinople was liberated from the Latins on the following 25 July and Genoa was able to establish itself there, then extending its influence into the Black Sea, where it reached

Pontus Pontus or Pontos may refer to: * Short Latin name for the Pontus Euxinus, the Greek name for the Black Sea (aka the Euxine sea) * Pontus (mythology), a sea god in Greek mythology * Pontus (region), on the southern coast of the Black Sea, in modern ...

(northern

Anatolia Anatolia (), also known as Asia Minor, is a peninsula in West Asia that makes up the majority of the land area of Turkey. It is the westernmost protrusion of Asia and is geographically bounded by the Mediterranean Sea to the south, the Aegean ...

) and the

Crimea Crimea ( ) is a peninsula in Eastern Europe, on the northern coast of the Black Sea, almost entirely surrounded by the Black Sea and the smaller Sea of Azov. The Isthmus of Perekop connects the peninsula to Kherson Oblast in mainland Ukrain ...

, while Venice was formally expelled (although the Venetian quarter of the metropolis continued to be used and populated). This first open clash between Venice and Genoa, which originated well before the Byzantine reconquest of Constantinople and due to the inevitable collision between the two thalassocracies, came to be known as the War of Saint Sabas and was the prelude to a conflict that dragged on with alternating events until the threshold of the

Battlefield

The Venetian-Genoese clashes usually took place off the coasts and trading posts that the two maritime republics controlled both along the Italian Peninsula and elsewhere in the Mediterranean and Black Seas. Venice had built the foundations of its commercial empire thanks to the Chrysobull of 1082, establishing itself in Constantinople,

Athens Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...

Thessaloniki Thessaloniki (; ), also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, Salonika, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece (with slightly over one million inhabitants in its Thessaloniki metropolitan area, metropolitan area) and the capital cit ...

, Thebes, Antioch,

Ephesus Ephesus (; ; ; may ultimately derive from ) was an Ancient Greece, ancient Greek city on the coast of Ionia, in present-day Selçuk in İzmir Province, Turkey. It was built in the 10th century BC on the site of Apasa, the former Arzawan capital ...

as well as in the islands of

Euboea Euboea ( ; , ), also known by its modern spelling Evia ( ; , ), is the second-largest Greek island in area and population, after Crete, and the sixth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. It is separated from Boeotia in mainland Greece by ...

and

Chios Chios (; , traditionally known as Scio in English) is the fifth largest Greece, Greek list of islands of Greece, island, situated in the northern Aegean Sea, and the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, tenth largest island in the Medi ...

. In 1204 it considerably extended its area of influence in the Mediterranean following the capture of

Zadar Zadar ( , ), historically known as Zara (from Venetian and Italian, ; see also other names), is the oldest continuously inhabited city in Croatia. It is situated on the Adriatic Sea, at the northwestern part of Ravni Kotari region. Zadar ...

, the subsequent annexation of Dalmatia and the sack of Constantinople by the Crusaders. In the arrangement among the crusaders regarding the distribution of conquered territories, the ''

Partitio terrarum imperii Romaniae The ''Partitio terrarum imperii Romaniae'' (Latin for "Partition of the lands of the empire of ''Romania'' .e., the Eastern Roman or Byzantine Empire, or ''Partitio regni Graeci'' ("Partition of the kingdom of the Greeks"), was a treaty signed a ...

'', the Venetians received (in theory) three-eighths of the Byzantine Empire, including three-eighths of the city of Constantinople itself. Venice subsequently renounced part of its territorial claims, believing that control of the commercial centers and trade routes that crossed the former Byzantine Empire was more essential. In addition to its positions on the mainland, Venice took advantage of the Byzantine weakening to take control of several Greek islands: in the

Cyclades The CYCLADES computer network () was a French research network created in the early 1970s. It was one of the pioneering networks experimenting with the concept of packet switching and, unlike the ARPANET, was explicitly designed to facilitate i ...

, where the Duchy of Naxos was founded (1207); in

Crete Crete ( ; , Modern Greek, Modern: , Ancient Greek, Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the List of islands by area, 88th largest island in the world and the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, fifth la ...

(1209), where the Duchy of Candia was founded; and in the

Ionian Islands The Ionian Islands (Modern Greek: , ; Ancient Greek, Katharevousa: , ) are a archipelago, group of islands in the Ionian Sea, west of mainland Greece. They are traditionally called the Heptanese ("Seven Islands"; , ''Heptanēsa'' or , ''Heptanē ...

(

Corfu Corfu ( , ) or Kerkyra (, ) is a Greece, Greek island in the Ionian Sea, of the Ionian Islands; including its Greek islands, small satellite islands, it forms the margin of Greece's northwestern frontier. The island is part of the Corfu (regio ...

Lesbos Lesbos or Lesvos ( ) is a Greek island located in the northeastern Aegean Sea. It has an area of , with approximately of coastline, making it the third largest island in Greece and the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, eighth largest ...

Kythira Kythira ( ; ), also transliterated as Cythera, Kythera and Kithira, is an island in Greece lying opposite the south-eastern tip of the Peloponnese peninsula. It is traditionally listed as one of the seven main Ionian Islands, although it is dist ...

, etc.). The management of these territories was "mixed": in Constantinople, power was centralized in the hands of a

podestà (), also potestate or podesta in English, was the name given to the holder of the highest civil office in the government of the cities of central and northern Italy during the Late Middle Ages. Sometimes, it meant the chief magistrate of a c ...

who was responsible, theoretically, for everything that happened in ''Romania''; in the Aegean, as anticipated, Venice preferred to enfeoff its nobles and citizens by creating a network of

vassal A vassal or liege subject is a person regarded as having a mutual obligation to a lord or monarch, in the context of the feudal system in medieval Europe. While the subordinate party is called a vassal, the dominant party is called a suzerain ...

age on the model of what was done by the French Christian potentates with whom it had collaborated in the Fourth Crusade. Genoa established itself as a maritime power following a series of victories against the

Republic of Pisa The Republic of Pisa () was an independent state existing from the 11th to the 15th century centered on the Tuscan city of Pisa. It rose to become an economic powerhouse, a commercial center whose merchants dominated Mediterranean and Italian t ...

between 1118 and 1131. In 1191 it took possession of

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, ...

, over whose currently independent principality the Genoese Grimaldi family still reigns. Following the Treaty of Nymphaeum (1261) with the Byzantines, Genoa gained access to the Black Sea, where it established several trading ports around the Crimea (e.g. Gazaria), whose main port, Caffa, was founded around 1266, a stable settlement in Constantinople in the district of Pera and others in Anatolia: in the cities of

Phocaea Phocaea or Phokaia (Ancient Greek language, Ancient Greek: Φώκαια, ''Phókaia''; modern-day Foça in Turkey) was an ancient Ionian Ancient Greece, Greek city on the western coast of Anatolia. Colonies in antiquity, Greek colonists from Phoc ...

and Scalanova (current Kuşadası) on the Mediterranean side,

Trabzon Trabzon, historically known as Trebizond, is a city on the Black Sea coast of northeastern Turkey and the capital of Trabzon Province. The city was founded in 756 BC as "Trapezous" by colonists from Miletus. It was added into the Achaemenid E ...

Amasra Amasra (from Greek language, Greek Amastris Ἄμαστρις, ''gen''. Ἀμάστριδος) is a small Black Sea port town in the Bartın Province, Turkey. It is the seat of Amasra District.Sinop on the Black Sea side. In 1284 Genoa took possession of

Corsica Corsica ( , , ; ; ) is an island in the Mediterranean Sea and one of the Regions of France, 18 regions of France. It is the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, fourth-largest island in the Mediterranean and lies southeast of the Metro ...

and part of

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 ...

following the victory against Pisa in the Battle of Meloria (in which the Pisan fleet was commanded by a Venetian, former consul of Constantinople Alberto Morosini). Like Venice, Genoa also managed these territories with an approach that favored, in the most important strategic-commercial hub (in this case the Crimea), a management consistent with the democratic regime of the city while in the Aegean there was massive recourse to the enfeoffment of citizens who personally built the overseas dominion of the republic. Compared to the Venetians, however, the Genoese were free, in the

14th century The 14th century lasted from 1 January 1301 (represented by the Roman numerals MCCCI) to 31 December 1400 (MCD). It is estimated that the century witnessed the death of more than 45 million lives from political and natural disasters in both Euro ...

, to create real potentates with great autonomy with respect to their homeland, due to the intrinsic characteristics of the Genoese municipality, which lacked the widespread state presence of Venice.

Conflicts

War of Saint Sabas

The first large-scale conflict between Genoa and Venice, named the War of Saint Sabas, dates back to a few years before the Byzantine reconquest of Constantinople. It originated from a dispute between merchants in

Acre The acre ( ) is a Unit of measurement, unit of land area used in the Imperial units, British imperial and the United States customary units#Area, United States customary systems. It is traditionally defined as the area of one Chain (unit), ch ...

(then the capital of the

Kingdom of Jerusalem The Kingdom of Jerusalem, also known as the Crusader Kingdom, was one of the Crusader states established in the Levant immediately after the First Crusade. It lasted for almost two hundred years, from the accession of Godfrey of Bouillon in 1 ...

since the

Holy City A holy city is a city important to the history or faith of a specific religion. Such cities may also contain at least one headquarters complex (often containing a religious edifice, seminary, shrine, residence of the leading cleric of the religi ...

had been reconquered for the Muslims by

Saladin Salah ad-Din Yusuf ibn Ayyub ( – 4 March 1193), commonly known as Saladin, was the founder of the Ayyubid dynasty. Hailing from a Kurdish family, he was the first sultan of both Egypt and Syria. An important figure of the Third Crusade, h ...

), a key business center for all trade and interests, especially Italian, in

Levant The Levant ( ) is the subregion that borders the Eastern Mediterranean, Eastern Mediterranean sea to the west, and forms the core of West Asia and the political term, Middle East, ''Middle East''. In its narrowest sense, which is in use toda ...

ine coast. Futile reasons, actually fueled by old grievances that had excluded the Genoese from the division of the Byzantine lands after the

, led to a Genoese attack on the Venetian district of Acre. The Venetians, together with Pisans and Provencals, the

Knights Templar The Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon, mainly known as the Knights Templar, was a Military order (religious society), military order of the Catholic Church, Catholic faith, and one of the most important military ord ...

and some of the local nobility, turned against the

Catalans Catalans ( Catalan, French and Occitan: ''catalans''; ; ; or ) are a Romance ethnic group native to Catalonia, who speak Catalan. The current official category of "Catalans" is that of the citizens of Catalonia, a nationality and autono ...

, the Anconitans, the

Knights Hospitaller The Order of Knights of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem, commonly known as the Knights Hospitaller (), is a Catholic military order. It was founded in the crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem in the 12th century and had headquarters there ...

, other local nobles and the Genoese. A fleet sent from Venice under Lorenzo Tiepolo in 1257 defeated a Genoese fleet off Acre when it arrived in June of the following year. In 1261, with the signing of the Treaty of Nymphaeum between Genoa and the Nicaean emperor

, the reconquest of Constantinople from the Latins supported by Venice took place, as anticipated. On the maritime side, the

Venetian navy The Venetian navy () was the navy of the Venetian Republic which played an important role in the history of the republic and the Mediterranean world. It was the premier navy in the Mediterranean Sea for many centuries between the medieval and ea ...

maintained its dominance in battle over the Genoese. The major battles that occurred, at Acre in 1258, at Settepozzi in Euboia in 1263, and off

Trapani Trapani ( ; ; ) is a city and municipality (''comune'') with 54,887 inhabitants, on the west coast of Sicily, in Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Trapani. Founded by Elymians, the city is still an important fishing port and the mai ...

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. ...

in 1266, were crushing Venetian victories. The Genoese instead concentrated on attacks on Venetian commercial convoys with acts of piracy as in the Battle of Saseno. The disputes between the Genoese and Emperor Michael VIII allowed the Venetians the possibility of having commercial privileges in the Byzantine Empire, with a truce signed in 1268. The war ended in 1270 with the Peace of Cremona, mediated by

Louis IX of France Louis IX (25 April 1214 – 25 August 1270), also known as Saint Louis, was King of France from 1226 until his death in 1270. He is widely recognized as the most distinguished of the Direct Capetians. Following the death of his father, Louis VI ...

and

Pope Clement IV Pope Clement IV (; 23 November 1190 – 29 November 1268), born Gui Foucois (; or ') and also known as Guy le Gros ( French for "Guy the Fat"; ), was bishop of Le Puy (1257–1260), archbishop of Narbonne (1259–1261), cardinal of Sabina ( ...

who wished to organize the

Eighth Crusade The Eighth Crusade was the second Crusade launched by Louis IX of France, this one against the Hafsid dynasty in Tunisia in 1270. It is also known as the Crusade of Louis IX Against Tunis or the Second Crusade of Louis. The Crusade did not see an ...

and needed the Venetian and Genoese fleets for this undertaking. Following the peace, Venice increased its power in what remained of the Kingdom of Jerusalem but was unable to prevent the relaunch of Genoese trade in the Byzantine world and the establishment of their commercial dominion in the Black Sea which would last until the Ottoman conquest of Constantinople (1453).

War of Curzola

The continuous rivalry between Venice (which in 1277 had managed to re-enter the Byzantine political orbit by settling in

) and Genoa led to clashes in 1291 and the resumption of war in 1295. In 1294, at the Battle of Laiazzo, a Venetian fleet was destroyed by a naval fleet from Genoa's eastern colonies off the important port of Laiazzo, in the

Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia The Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia, also known as Cilician Armenia, Lesser Armenia, Little Armenia or New Armenia, and formerly known as the Armenian Principality of Cilicia, was an Armenian state formed during the High Middle Ages by Armenian ...

. Subsequently, the Venetians rebuilt a fleet that sacked the Genoese ports of Phocaea in the Aegean, Caffa in the Crimea, and Pera (then unwalled) in Constantinople. In retaliation for the sack of Pera, the Genoese of Constantinople attacked the local Marciano neighborhood, massacring its inhabitants. Despite the Byzantine-Venetian truce of 1285, the Byzantine emperor

Andronikos II Palaiologos Andronikos II Palaiologos (; 25 March 1259 – 13 February 1332), Latinization of names, Latinized as Andronicus II Palaeologus, reigned as Byzantine emperor from 1282 to 1328. His reign marked the beginning of the recently restored em ...

immediately sided with the Genoese, arresting the Venetian survivors of the massacre, including bailo Marco Bembo. In July, the Venetian fleet, under the command of Ruggiero Morosini Malabranca, stormed the Bosphorus. During the expedition, various Genoese possessions in the Mediterranean and Black Sea were captured and plundered, including again

and Pera. The ''basileus'', however, preferred at that point to avoid siding with Genoa again to avoid a war with Venice. In 1298, the Genoese fleet under the command of Lamba Doria entered the Adriatic and engaged the Venetians in the bloody

Battle of Curzola The Battle of Curzola (today Korčula, southern Dalmatia, now in Croatia) was a naval battle fought on 9 September 1298 between the Genoese navy, Genoese and Venetian navy, Venetian navies. It was a disaster for Venice, a major setback among the ...

, the largest and most challenging maritime clash between the two republics to date. The Venetian fleet, under Andrea Dandolo, was destroyed. The Genoese had also suffered serious losses and decided to return home rather than advance towards Venice. It was during this battle, according to some in Curzola and according to others in Laiazzo, that the famous Venetian

Marco Polo Marco Polo (; ; ; 8 January 1324) was a Republic of Venice, Venetian merchant, explorer and writer who travelled through Asia along the Silk Road between 1271 and 1295. His travels are recorded in ''The Travels of Marco Polo'' (also known a ...

was taken prisoner and while in prison he wrote his memoirs.Ostrogorsky, p. 490-491 In 1299 with the Treaty of Milan the two Republics signed peace. The Venetians instead continued the war with the Byzantines.

Interlude: Fights against the Turks and Mongols

At the beginning of the

, relations between Genoa and Venice were still in a state of tension (in 1304 the Genoese occupied

with the approval of Byzantium) but the political upheavals in Crimea managed to make the two thalassocracies unlikely allies. On the Black Sea, relations between the Mongols and Italian merchants were somewhat ambiguous: the Mongol knights, averse to the sea, benefited from the Italian trade that connected Asia and Europe through the Crimea but the enrichment of the European trading posts fueled their greed. From 1307 tensions emerged on the issue of the trade in Turkish slaves, sold by the Italians to the

Mamluk Sultanate The Mamluk Sultanate (), also known as Mamluk Egypt or the Mamluk Empire, was a state that ruled Egypt, the Levant and the Hejaz from the mid-13th to early 16th centuries, with Cairo as its capital. It was ruled by a military caste of mamluks ...

of Egypt to make them soldiers. Dissatisfied with this trade fueled by steppe kidnappings to provide an army to his enemy the Mamluks, Khan

Toqta Tokhta (also spelled Toqta, Toktu, Tokhtai, Tochtu or Tokhtogha; died ) was Khan of the Golden Horde from 1291 to 1312. He was a son of Mengu-Timur and a great-grandson of Batu Khan. His name "Tokhtokh" means "hold/holding" in the Mongolian ...

of the

Golden Horde The Golden Horde, self-designated as ''Ulug Ulus'' ( in Turkic) was originally a Mongols, Mongol and later Turkicized khanate established in the 13th century and originating as the northwestern sector of the Mongol Empire. With the division of ...

arrested the Genoese residents of Sarai Berke and besieged Caffa. Poorly protected by an earth and wood fence, the city fell in May 1308 and was abandoned by the Genoese who set it on fire. When Toqta died in 1312, Genoa sent ambassadors to his successor,

Özbeg Khan Giyasuddin Muhammad Uzbek Khan, better known as Özbeg (1282–1341), was the longest-reigning Khan (title), khan of the Golden Horde (1313–1341), under whose rule the state reached its zenith. He was succeeded by his son Tini Beg. He was the s ...

, who agreed to welcome the Genoese back and in 1316 adopted measures to encourage the reconstruction of Caffa. In 1327, Venice began to push for the formation of an anti- Turkish league including Byzantium, the Knights Hospitallers and the lord of Chios, to put a brake on the growing power of the Turkish Beilicates of Anatolia (in 1320, Smyrna, already Genoese, had been conquered by the Turkish emir of Aydin). The league faced and defeated the Turkish fleets in the Battle of Adramyttium (1334) and then supported the Anatolian expeditions of

Hugh IV of Cyprus Hugh IV (1293/1296 – 10 October 1359) was King of Cyprus from 31 March 1324 to his abdication, on 24 November 1358 and, nominally, King of Jerusalem, as Hugh II, until his death. The son of Guy, Constable of Cyprus (son of Hugh III of Cyprus) ...

(1336-1337). The subsequent Christian expeditions, known as the Smyrna Crusades (1343-1351), managed to bring some order to Anatolia, giving the Venetians respite from the Turkish threat. In the meantime, after the death of Özbeg Khan in 1341, his son

Jani Beg Jani Beg ( Persian: جانی بیگ, Turki/ Kypchak: جانی بک; died 1357), also known as Janibek Khan, was Khan of the Golden Horde from 1342 until his death in 1357. He succeeded his father Öz Beg Khan. Reign With the support of his mo ...

reignited tensions between the Mongols, recently converted to

Islam Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...

, and the Italians in Crimea. In 1343, a Mongol nobleman was killed during an altercation with a Venetian merchant in the city of Tana, and in retaliation, the Horde attacked the Venetian exercises in Tana, giving Jani Beg the pretext to assume control of all Italian trading posts, while the Genoese took advantage of the Venetian withdrawal from Tana to establish a commercial monopoly in the Black Sea. In 1346 Jani Beg attacked Caffa. After two years of siege, the Mongols were forced to retreat after being decimated by the plague, which also infected the Genoese after Jani Beg decided to throw plague-ridden corpses over the city walls. Following this act of bacteriological warfare, the

epidemic An epidemic (from Greek ἐπί ''epi'' "upon or above" and δῆμος ''demos'' "people") is the rapid spread of disease to a large number of hosts in a given population within a short period of time. For example, in meningococcal infection ...

rapidly spread to Caffa, most likely from rats making their way into the city rather than because of the flung corpses, and forced the Genoese to abandon the city after the siege was lifted by the Mongols. The dispersal of Italian merchants in the Mediterranean, with their ships carrying

flea Flea, the common name for the order (biology), order Siphonaptera, includes 2,500 species of small flightless insects that live as external parasites of mammals and birds. Fleas live by hematophagy, ingesting the blood of their hosts. Adult f ...

-infested

rats Rats are various medium-sized, long-tailed rodents. Species of rats are found throughout the order Rodentia, but stereotypical rats are found in the genus ''Rattus''. Other rat genera include ''Neotoma'' (pack rats), '' Bandicota'' (bandicoot ...

, was the cause of the second plague pandemic in Europe, the "

Black Death The Black Death was a bubonic plague pandemic that occurred in Europe from 1346 to 1353. It was one of the list of epidemics, most fatal pandemics in human history; as many as people perished, perhaps 50% of Europe's 14th century population. ...

War of the Straits

Disputes over Black Sea prompted the outbreak of another war in 1350, in which Venice allied with King Peter IV of

Aragon Aragon ( , ; Spanish and ; ) is an autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in Spain, coextensive with the medieval Kingdom of Aragon. In northeastern Spain, the Aragonese autonomous community comprises three provinces of Spain, ...

, who was at odds with Genoa over control of

and the commercial rivalry between his Catalan subjects and the Genoese, and entered the war in 1351. Following clashes between local forces in the Aegean and around the

Bosphorus The Bosporus or Bosphorus Strait ( ; , colloquially ) is a natural strait and an internationally significant waterway located in Istanbul, Turkey. The Bosporus connects the Black Sea to the Sea of Marmara and forms one of the continental bo ...

, in 1351 a major Genoese fleet under Paganino Doria besieged the Venetian colony of Negroponte before advancing to Constantinople. The Byzantine Emperor John VI, who had lost a short war with the Genoese in 1348–1349, had been induced to enter the war on the Venetian side and assisted them in attacks on Pera. A combined Venetian-Catalan fleet under Niccolo Pisani and the Catalan Ponce de Santapau arrived soon afterwards and joined forces with the Byzantines, and the bloody Battle of the Bosphorus was fought in the Bosphorus strait in February 1352. Both sides suffered heavy casualties, but the most serious losses were inflicted on the Catalans, inducing Pisani to withdraw and enabling Doria to force Byzantium out of the war. In August 1353, Pisani led the Venetians and Catalans to a crushing victory over the Genoese under Antonio Grimaldi off

Alghero Alghero (; ; ; ) is a city of about 45,000 inhabitants in the Italian province of Sassari in the north west of the island of Sardinia, next to the Mediterranean Sea. The city's name comes from ''Aleguerium'', which is a mediaeval Latin word m ...

in Sardinia. Alarmed by the defeat, Genoa submitted to Giovanni Visconti,

Lord of Milan The Lordship of Milan was a state in Northern Italy created in May 1259 following the election of Martino della Torre as lord of Milan. From 1259 to 1277 it was governed by the Della Torre, Della Torre family until, following the Battle of Desio, ...

, in order to secure his financial support. In 1354 Paganino Doria caught Pisani unprepared in his anchorage at Zonklon (Sapienza) in the

Peloponnese The Peloponnese ( ), Peloponnesus ( ; , ) or Morea (; ) is a peninsula and geographic region in Southern Greece, and the southernmost region of the Balkans. It is connected to the central part of the country by the Isthmus of Corinth land bridg ...

and captured the entire Venetian fleet. This defeat contributed to the deposition of doge Marino Faliero, and Venice made peace with Genoa on 1 June 1355. Though inconclusive in itself, Venice's exhaustion by this war helped bring about the loss of

Dalmatia Dalmatia (; ; ) is a historical region located in modern-day Croatia and Montenegro, on the eastern shore of the Adriatic Sea. Through time it formed part of several historical states, most notably the Roman Empire, the Kingdom of Croatia (925 ...

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

shortly afterwards. Freed of the need for support from Milan, the Genoese brought an end to Milanese rule in 1356.

War of Chioggia

In 1376 Venice bought the strategically positioned island of

Tenedos Tenedos (, ''Tenedhos''; ), or Bozcaada in Turkish language, Turkish, is an island of Turkey in the northeastern part of the Aegean Sea. Administratively, the island constitutes the Bozcaada, Çanakkale, Bozcaada district of Çanakkale Provinc ...

near the

Dardanelles The Dardanelles ( ; ; ), also known as the Strait of Gallipoli (after the Gallipoli peninsula) and in classical antiquity as the Hellespont ( ; ), is a narrow, natural strait and internationally significant waterway in northwestern Turkey th ...

from the Byzantine Emperor

John V John V may refer to: * Patriarch John V of Alexandria or John the Merciful (died by 620), Patriarch of Alexandria from 606 to 616 * John V of Constantinople, Patriarch from 669 to 675 * Pope John V (685–686), Pope from 685 to his death in 686 ...

, threatening Genoese access to the Black Sea. This induced the Genoese to help John's son Andronikos IV to seize the throne, in return for the transfer of the island to Genoa, initiating a new war between the two republics. The Genoese failed to take Tenedos from the Venetians in 1377, but gained the support of a coalition of Venice's mainland rivals Hungary,

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

Aquileia Aquileia is an ancient Roman city in Italy, at the head of the Adriatic at the edge of the lagoons, about from the sea, on the river Natiso (modern Natisone), the course of which has changed somewhat since Roman times. Today, the city is small ( ...

and

Padua Padua ( ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) in Veneto, northern Italy, and the capital of the province of Padua. The city lies on the banks of the river Bacchiglione, west of Venice and southeast of Vicenza, and has a population of 20 ...

, although only Padua gave substantial assistance. Venice allied with Milan, whose army threatened Genoa from the landward side, and with the

Kingdom of Cyprus The Kingdom of Cyprus (; ) was a medieval kingdom of the Crusader states that existed between 1192 and 1489. Initially ruled as an independent Christian kingdom, it was established by the French House of Lusignan after the Third Crusade. I ...

, which had been defeated in a war with Genoa in 1373-74 and subjected to Genoese hegemony. A small Genoese fleet led by Luciano Doria invaded the Adriatic in 1378 and defeated the Venetians under Vettor Pisani at

Pula Pula, also known as Pola, is the largest city in Istria County, west Croatia, and the List of cities and towns in Croatia, seventh-largest city in the country, situated at the southern tip of the Istria, Istrian peninsula in western Croatia, wi ...

in 1379. Having been reinforced, they advanced against Venice under Pietro Doria, Luciano having been killed at Pula. Though failing to break through the defences of the Venetian lagoon, the Genoese captured the port of

Chioggia Chioggia (; , ; ) is a coastal town and (municipality) of the Metropolitan City of Venice in the Veneto region of northern Italy. Geography The town is located on a small island at the southern entrance to the Venetian Lagoon about sou ...

near its southern end, with support from the Paduans on land. In December 1379 the Venetians were able to sink blockships in the harbour of Chioggia, trapping the Genoese fleet inside. Venice was reinforced by the return of a raiding fleet under Carlo Zeno, which had enjoyed exceptional success against Genoese commerce throughout the Mediterranean. A new Genoese fleet was assembled in the Adriatic, but was unable to break through to relieve Chioggia. The forces trapped inside were forced to surrender in June 1380. Fighting continued between the Genoese and Venetian fleets over the ports of the upper Adriatic, but through the mediation of

Amadeus VI of Savoy Amadeus VI (4 January 1334 – 1 March 1383), nicknamed the Green Count () was Count of Savoy from 1343 to 1383. He was the eldest son of Aymon, Count of Savoy, and Yolande Palaeologina of Montferrat. Though he began his rule under a regency, ...

, the two sides negotiated peace at Turin in 1381. Despite the victory at Chioggia, the war had been financially disastrous for Venice, which only secured peace by agreeing to concessions including the evacuation of Tenedos, recognition of Genoese supremacy in Cyprus, the surrender of its principal mainland possession of

Treviso Treviso ( ; ; ) is a city and (municipality) in the Veneto region of northern Italy. It is the capital of the province of Treviso and the municipality has 87.322 inhabitants (as of December 2024). Some 3,000 live within the Venetian wall ...

, and the payment of an annual tribute to Hungary, whereas Genoa and its allies made no significant concessions.

Disengagement

The War of Chioggia left the rivalry between Venice and Genoa unresolved, as had all previous conflicts between them. Venice was left severely debilitated, but was gradually able to rebuild its public finances and to take advantage of the weaknesses of its mainland rivals to redress its losses. Genoa had less success in dealing with the debts accumulated during these wars, and fell into deepening financial incapacity over the following decades. Its chronic political instability became acute after 1390, contributing to the acceptance of French sovereignty in 1396, the first of a series of prolonged bouts of foreign rule during the fifteenth century, which reduced its freedom of action. These contrasting developments diminished Genoa's capacity to compete with Venice politically, although its commercial fortunes continued to flourish until the middle of the fifteenth century. After 1400, the expansion of Aragonese power in the western Mediterranean posed an increasing threat to Genoa, which led to a series of full-scale wars (1420–26, 1435–44, 1454–58) and remained a major preoccupation until the death of

Alfonso V of Aragon Alfonso the Magnanimous (Alfons el Magnànim in Catalan language, Catalan) (139627 June 1458) was King of Aragon and King of Sicily (as Alfons V) and the ruler of the Crown of Aragon from 1416 and King of Naples (as Alfons I) from 1442 until his ...

in 1458, taking priority over the old rivalry with Venice. Sporadic piratical violence between Venetians and Genoese continued, notably in the wake of a naval clash at Modon in 1403. During a period of Milanese rule in Genoa, conflict on the Italian mainland between Milan and Venice drew Genoa into another inconclusive naval war with Venice in 1431-33. Nonetheless, the rivalry had ceased to be a dominant consideration in either city's affairs.

Notes

References

* * * * Ostrogorsky, George. ''History of the Byzantine State'', Rutgers University Press, (1969) * Setton, Kenneth M. ''Catalan Domination of Athens 1311–1380''. Revised edition. London: Variorum, 1975. * Norwich, John Julius. ''A History of Venice''. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1982. *Rodón i Oller, Francesch. ''Fets de la Marina de guerra catalana''. Barcelona: 1898. *