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

Jerusalem were. In many ways Bohemond's charter reflects the confusion state of the principality
of Antioch at the time and the general lack of order in the management of the Genoese
community from the fall of the first kingdom to the appointment of Guido Spinola as consul.
An important change occurred at the end of 1189. Guido Spinola arrived in the kingdom
of Jerusalem in the latter part of 1189 as part of the large Genoese crusading mission. fie was a
consul of the commune when he left Genoa which made him the most important person in the
fleet. Guido Spinola is first Genoese mentioned in the annals' list of the Genoese leaders of the
crusade.
533 In the kingdom of Jerusalem Guido quickly won the personal respect of many people.
The Genoese annals and other contemporary sources praise Guido's activities, even charters
mention his fighting spirit in the battlefield. Moreover, with the arrival of Guido Spinola in Tyre a
new era began in the relationship between Genoa and the kingdom of Jerusalem. Guido arrived as
a leader of the Genoese contingent and may have been appointed in Genoa also to the position of
Genoese consul in the kingdom of Jerusalem.
Guido Spinola was followed by Maurino Rodoano. These two consulates from the
autumn of 1189 to the autumn of 1191 are interesting because the appointed consuls were
dominant persons who shared some similarities between them. They were both in charge when
the Third Crusade was at its height and it is significant that both embarked from Genoa as leaders
of their fellow crusaders and as acting consuls of the commune of Genoa. Guido was consul in
1189 and Maurino, who was previously consul in 1186, left Genoa as an acting consul of the
commune in 1190. Shortly before Maurino left Genoa he took part in the negotiations and
conclusion of the agreement with King Philip Augustus regarding the modified plans for the
Third Crusade. The consulates of Guido and Maurino are interesting also because the two consuls
achieved a lot in the short period of their consulates in the Latin East. Their activities reflected
Genoa's foreign policy in the Latin East.
When Guido Spinola arrived in Tyre, he had to manoeuvre in a delicate situation between
various powers. The death of many of the leaders in the east and the arrival of forces from the
west caused much tension in the Latin East, especially since the leadership of Guy of Lusignan
had already proved to be unreliable. The most delicate diplomatic decision to be made was which
of the claimants to the crown of Jerusalem to support, King Guy who was unpopular and defeated
yet the legitimate king of Jerusalem, or Conrad of Montferrat, a hero and the saviour of Tyre.
David Jacoby discussed
the complexity of this diplomatic decision:
The fierce power struggle between the two men was stimulated by the deep cleavage
existing within the higher nobility of the kingdom, which perpetuated the party quarrels
that had taken place before Hattin and had been further exacerbated by the defeat of July
1187... The two cities [Pisa and Genoa] took sides in this conflict, to the best of their own
533
Ann. Ian., vol. 2, pp. 32-33
153