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

One practical implication of this charter was that whatever migration of Genoese
to the
Latin East had occurred since the end of the First Crusade, by 1168 it reached a certain stability
that made a social and geographical distinction possible. The 1168 charter may be seen as a
milestone in the relationship between Genoa and the Genoese settlers in the Latin East. It implies
that by 1168 a clear distinction had already formed between the two Genoese communities, that
of Genoa and that of Gibelet. By 1168 most who wished to settle in Gibelet must have done so
already and the migration between the two Genoas had reached equilibrium. It also suggests that
Hugh II, the lord of Gibelet, who had descended from the Embriaco family saw himself and the
other Genoese settlers as independent and not as part of Genoa and its society. The contract does
not specify, for example, what was to be the status of a merchant who would arrive in Gibelet and
might want to stay there for the short or long term. At what stage would such an individual lose
his right for tax-free commerce in Gibelet, or in other words, when will he no longer be a
Genoese merchant and become a resident of the crusader states? The fact that this issue was not
addressed in the contract suggests that it was probably not a conceivable problem.
Another aspect of the growing rift between Genoa and the Embriaci in Gibelet involved
the family's identity and the self-definition of its members. Studies thus far have not paid
attention to the change in the surname of the Embriaci who settled in Gibelet. Sometime in the
1160s the Embriaci from Gibelet had abandoned their Genoese surname Embriaco as well as the
name of Gibelet. Under Hugh II, the family reverted to the ancient Greek name of Gibelet -
Byblos. Members of the family and the inhabitants of the sea-port town began to refer to
themselves as the de Biblio. Evidence of this change is found in many documents in which
members of the family are mentioned in the collection of documents of the Order of St John by
Paoli and later in that by Delaville le Roulx 452 In documents from the first half of the twelfth
century the rulers of Gibelet were referred to by their Genoese surname Embriaco. For example,
between 1139 and 1157 Guglielmo II Embriaco (the father of Hugh II) is mentioned six times in
documents of the Order: in five out of the six cases his name was included in witness lists in
various acts by the count of Tripoli. 453
In 1157, however, Guglielmo made a concession of some
possessions in Tripoli to his wife Sanse and his son Hugh. In this record, Guglielmo is mentioned
for the first time as `Guillelmus Ebriacus, Dei gratia Gibelleti dominus. '454 The lordship of the
Embriaci was therefore recognised in the Latin East even when the family was supposedly still
452
Sebastiano Paoli (ed. ), Codice diplomatico del sacro militare ordine gerosolimitano, oggi di Malta, 2
vols. (Lucca, 1733-7); J. Delaville le Roulx (ed. ), Cartulaire general de /'Ordre des Hospitaliers de St.
Jean de Jerusalem (1110-1310), 4 vols. (Paris, 1894-1906). These charters include donation of possessions
to the Order in the surrounding area of Gibelet. Deschamps
identified the location of some villages. Paul
Descahmps, La Defense do comtd de Tripoli, pp. 187-189.
ass Paoli, vol. 1, nos. 18,23; Delaville, vol. 1, nos. 144,160,199
454
Paoli, vol. 1, doc. 33. p. 35
128