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

justified. The cartulary of Lanfranco from 1216 contains wills with bequests for passagio de
ultramare. As Steven Epstein showed, bequests for the crusades were not common in Genoa
before the Fifth Crusade. Epstein's analysis of 190 Genoese wills compiled between 1155 and
1204 reveals that there was only one bequest for the crusades from the time of the Third
Crusade. 73 Nonetheless, Epstein wrote that `ransoming captives from the Muslim was a
meritorious act, as was donating to the crusades. '374 It is very significant, however, that between
23 August 1216 and 21 December 1216 a collection of such bequests suddenly appear in the wills
(appendix 4). Moreover, Lanfranco documented in that period seven wills, of four women and
three men. Out of the seven, five wills contain bequests for the crusade. Is that a reflection of
James' preaching in Genoa? Is it possible to identify a female response to James's enthusiastic
preaching?
Steven Epstein mentions these bequests
to the crusading efforts, which he considered an
act of social charity, because
the crusades were, `particularly in the Italian ports, a war effort and
a kind of commercial investment.
' 375 Epstein noticed a particularly large number of such wills
during the preparations for the Fifth Crusade, but James Powell was the first to suggest, in a
footnote, that this phenomenon might be linked to the preaching of James of Vitry376 These
cases, therefore, deserve a closer observation. Berta de Gala, Aidela uxor Oberti Nigrini and
Montanaria uxor Martini de Mari draperii bequeathed £%s, L4 and L5 respectively. 377 Montanaria,
wife of a wool weaver, specified in her bequest that she intended to take this sum with her to the
Holy Land: s100 lego in servitio passagi ultramarini si non iero, si autem iero illos mecum
portabo. 378
The case of Montanaria is an example of a name that should be added to Powell's list
of people who planned to embark for the Latin East. Aidela's will refers to a previous one that
was thereby cancelled. Since her previous will has not remained it cannot be determined what had
motivated her to make a new will and whether this was just in order to add the bequest for the
crusade. Furthermore, Bertranno de Lavania and Berta de Gala both made their wills, one after
the other, on the same day of 23 August 1216. In the light the sudden appearance of this series of
bequests it seem inevitable to suggest a strong link to the preaching efforts on the eve of the
crusade.
373
As was mentioned in Chapter One, Epstein did not take the will of Anselmo Buxono into account (OS,
1190, no. 609 from 10 August) or merchants' donations for the crusade in other contracts (GC, 1191, no.
318 from 20 March 1191) or their supply of grain and other commodities for the crusaders.
374
Steven A. Epstein, Genoa and the Genoese, 958-1528 (Chapel Hill, 1996), p. 92.
375
Steven A. Epstein, Wills and Wealth in Medieval Genoa, 1150-1250 (Cambridge Mass., 1984), pp. 187-
188.
376 Powell, Anatomy of a Crusade, pp. 67-68.
37 Lanfranco 1216, nos. 1079,1224,1319.
378 Lanfranco 1216, no. 1319, from 21 December 1216.
107