The Crusades, the Genoese and the Latin East - DSpace at ...

commenda contract in which he received £6 3s Od invested in one coat of chain mail
(osbergo) 35'
It cannot be determined, however, whether these commodities were taken along because of the
crusade or in spite of it. Other interesting travellers include Conrad from Acre who took gold
worth of £4 is Od and promised to go on the proximo passagio to Acre where he would pay it
back at the usual rate of 3 bezants per Libra 35ß Another interesting sea-loan was taken by
Adalardo Faber from Hermerio filio Rogerio de Ultramare. Adalardo received £20 and promised
to pay 57%2
ultramarinos de Acri. It is interesting to note that this is the first occasion that the
currency in Acre was named ultramarinos instead of
bezants 359
Two other sea-loans were taken for approximately one year in the Latin East and were to
be paid back in Genoa. Pietro and Enrico Doria received £50, which they promised to pay
back in
Genoa. The agreement specifies that they had to pay back within fifteen days postquain naves de
Ultramare venerint when the Peregrina returned. But if the ship's route were to change than they
should ship the commodities on the Benedicta or the Gloria. The contract specified the rate for
this loan, `ad rationem f30 per centum. 9360
Simon Malfigliastro had a better offer, probably
because he borrowed twice as much money. On 08 November 1216 Simon borrowed £100 with
an interest rate of 24%. He promised to pay this money back by 01 September when the
Benedicta, a ship owned by Opizio Tartaro, returned to Genoa, or when one of the other two ships
came back. The date of this transaction is somewhat unusual because in previous years most of
the contracts to the Latin East were made in September, shortly before the autumn sail. In 1216,
improved shipping technology allowed the Genoese
to depart from Genoa later than usual. James
of Vitry wrote about that in his letters from the same winter when he described the advantages
and disadvantages of his winter venture to Acre. James wrote about the Genoese that `naves
habentfortissimas et magne quantitatis, unde tempore hiemali consueverunt transfretare eo. '361 It
is probable that James of Vitry therefore embarked on one of the three ships, the Benedicta,
Gloria or the Peregrina. He may have even come across the above mentioned merchants, Simon
Malfigliastro or one of the Doria brothers, for all three were wealthy Genoese of famous families.
The sums borrowed by these merchants were also the largest registered for that venture. What
was James of Vitry's opinion about these contracts and the blunt charge of interest? One of
357
Lanfranco, 1216, no. 1163, from 28 September 1216
ass
Lanfranco, 1216, no. 1087, from 05 September 1216
359
Lanfranco, 1216, no. 1111, from 17 September 1216
360
Lanfranco, 1216, no. 1248, from 18 October 1216
361
Jacques de Vitry, Lettres de Jacques de Vitry (1160/1170-1240) 6veque de Saint-Jean d'Acre, ed.
Robert B. C. Huygens (Leiden, 1960), vol. 1 pp. 77-8. The Genoese `have very sturdy ships of a great size,
as a consequence of which they are used to crossing the sea in winter'. John Pryor translated this letter but
he commented later that `winter voyages were nevertheless the exception to the rule and the vast majority
of shipping, both commercial and naval, sailed from spring to autumn. ' John H. Pryor, Geography,
Technology, and War: Studies in the Maritime History of the Mediterranean, 649-1571 (Cambridge, 1988),
pp. 84,89.
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