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

controlled the trade at the eastern terminus and guarded over Genoese interests.
'437 Later in his
book Day concluded his impression comparing Genoa's place in Constantinople and in the Latin
East: `in 1182 the Latin massacre in Constantinople showed the Genoese that their long-time
partners, the Montferrats, could not protect them as the Embriaci did in Syria'. 438 Day's
impression is a result of several assumptions, not uncommon in Genoese historiography, about
the loyalty of the Embriaco family to Genoa and the preservation of its Genoese identity whilst in
the Latin East. However, it was already demonstrated that Genoa had in fact faced a series of
troubles, already at the first half of the twelfth-century, when it tried to enforce its authority over
the Embriaco in Gibelet.
The following discussion will follow the developments of these troubled relationships
later on. Indeed, Genoa may have desired to maintain control over the Embriaco family and its
citizens overseas, but this mission had become difficult to accomplish. In 1168, fourteen years
after the conclusion of the contract with Guglielmo II Embriaco, a delegation of Genoese was
sent over to Gibelet to conclude new agreements with Guglielmo's son Hugh II, who succeeded
his father as the lord of Gibelet. Lanfrännco Alberico led the Genoese mission to the Latin East in
1168. He was an eminent figure in Genoa for many years. He had already served twice as consul
by that time, in 1160 and 1164 439 Lanfranco remained in the Latin East for at least another year,
because in 1169 he secured the old Genoese privileges in Antioch and other cities
from Prince
Bohemond III. In the 1169 charter, Lanfranco is described as `vir nobilissimus predicte civitatis
eiusque totius senatus ac consulum venerabilis legatus.
'440 Several years later in Genoa he was
also described in a similar way. In the description of a peace treaty signed between Genoa and
Pisa in 1172, the Genoese annals mention the presence of Lanfranco Alberico among the viris
nobilibus who signed the contract on behalf of the commune.
441 There is no doubt, therefore, that
Genoa sent a mission at a high diplomatic level to head the negotiations in Gibelet 442
The Genoese delegation travelled to Gibelet and met with Hugh II, the heir of Guglielmo
II Embriaco and the lord of that town since 1163.443 The evidence of this meeting is found in a
charter that Hugh II granted to the merchants of Genoa. Hugh promised the Genoese security and
tax-free commerce in his territory: `... ego Hugo Ebriacus, Dei gratia Gibelleti dominus, consilio
meorum hominum, condono omnem dricturam in civitate Gibelleti omnibus hominibus lanue... '
437 Gerald W. Day, Genoa's Response to Byzantium, 1155-1204: Commercial Expansion and Factionalism
in a Medieval City (Urbana, 1988), p. 126.
438Ibid,
p. 165.
439 CDG, vol. 1, p. 378; Ann. Ian., vol. 1, p. 157; Agostino Olivieri, `Indice per ordine di cognomi dei
consuli del comune e dei placiti', ASLSP 1 (1858), p. 461.
4401 Libri Iurium, vol. 112, no. 340, p. 159.
441 Ann. Ian., vol. 1, p. 248.
442 About Lanfranco Alberico see also Favreau-Lilie, Die Italianer im Heiligen Land, p. 217 note 187.
443 Rey, ROL, p. 401.
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