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

independence of the Embriaci and the results of this supposed integration were not followed
further by these scholars. Importantly, scholarship on the Italians and the kingdom of Jerusalem
has traditionally assumed the preservation of identity and ties between the communities in the
commercial settlements and their home towns in Europe. The relationship between the Embriaco
family and the Latin East, like Genoa's relationship with its communities overseas, was more
complex, in my opinion, than is portrayed in the historiography. This chapter, which is dedicated
to the special case of Gibelet and the Embriaco clan, will examine how the relationship between
Genoa and its settlers changed over the years.
Genoa and Gibelet, a background
Genoa's relationship with the crusader states goes back to the very beginning of the First Crusade
and the establishment of the crusader kingdom of Jerusalem. Ample evidence shows that Genoa
made a significant military contribution to the success of the crusades. In particular, the Genoese
naval assistance was conspicuous during the First Crusade and the beginning of the twelfth
century. Benjamin Kedar, for example, showed how Genoese fleets and armed forces played a
fundamental role in the early years of the first kingdom of Jerusalem. He argued that `... Genoese
assistance was so vital to Baldwin and indispensable to the conquest of the Syro-Palestinian
harbours... '403 Indeed, during the early years of the existence of the kingdom of Jerusalem,
Genoese fleets arrived in the Latin East every year and provided help and assistance to the
crusaders. No less important, however, was the role of Genoa during the Third Crusade. The
commitment of the commune to that crusade, especially at its preparatory stages, was discussed in
Chapter One. It was argued, for example, that Genoa committed its entire fleet for the shipping of
the crusaders in 1190, an act which was as significant as Venice's commitment in 1202 to the
transportation of the crusaders during the Fourth Crusade.
In return for its help, Genoa, like Venice and Pisa, demanded and received possessions,
legal rights and commercial privileges in the crusader states. When given the rights to do so, the
maritime powers established communities overseas, where they then lived in special quarters. In
this manner the Genoese possessed
parts of many sea-port cities and towns in the Latin East, such
as Acre, Antioch and Tripoli. Gibelet, however, was different because of the full ownership
Genoa had over that town. The first indication of the importance the Genoese attributed to
possessing Gibelet is derived from a financial dispute which took place in Genoa in the 1140s
between the commune and members of the Embriaco clan. In 1145, the consuls of Genoa
apparently demanded to confiscate the property of the heirs of Nicola Embriaco from Genoa,
403 Benjamin Z. Kedar, `Genoa's Golden Inscription in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre: A Case for the
Defence', in Gabriella Airaldi and Benjamin Z. Kedar (eds. )1 comuni italian! ne! regno crociato di
Gerusalemme (Genoa, 1986), p. 327.
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