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

Figure 11: Acre - the census per house in the Genoese quarter, distributed by price
Centre of the
quarter, perhaps
by the church of
St Lawrence and
the old tower?
Genoa's census in Acre
1
ý- ý-ý--Tý-ýa
15
ý14 ruga
lanuensis ?
One of the missing parameters in this chart is obviously the ruga St Laurentii.
Presumably the possessions of the church were located in an expensive part of the quarter.
Because the most expensive tax on a house in the quarter was 32 bezants it is possible to conclude
that the church had between five and eight houses paying census of between 20 and
30 bezants.
This may be seen more as an intellectual game compared to the traditional analysis presented at
the beginning of this chapter; however, it is clear that this analysis opens up a window to a better
understanding of how the church of St Lawrence had managed its property, what it included and
its relative value.
This chapter dealt with a special case of Genoese settlers in the Latin East. It was the only
time that an entire town was granted to a maritime city. Many questions were asked at the
beginning of this chapter about the economic potential of such a special ownership of a sea-port
town and the commercial advantages Genoa could have expected. The results of this research,
however, came as a surprise. It became evident that the story of the de Biblio was linked to the
experience of other communities and families of settlers in the Latin East. The lords of Byblos
struggled with their feudal bonds to Genoa and advanced their position in the Latin society by
paving their way into the higher aristocracy in the kingdom of Jerusalem. The pact signed
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