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

Conclusions
The main contribution of this dissertation is in the comprehensive use of notarial evidence for the
study of the history of the crusades and the Latin East. Inevitably, there are many findings that
would interest historians of other fields too. Some issues regarding the financial and other
economic aspects of the crusades were addressed in this dissertation, such as the meaning of the
shipping of the crusaders and the supply of war-time commodities to the Latin East. This
discussion proved that there is still need of a study of the economic history of the crusades to be
written. The lack of such scholarship was both an obstacle and a challenge that had to be
encountered several times in this thesis. This dissertation should, therefore, be seen as an attempt
to fill up some of the gap in the existing historiography. In other words, it was a step in the
exploration of Genoa's relations with the crusading movement and the crusading states.
The research was carried out with a particular emphasis on the view of the Genoese
people as they were presented in the cartularies during certain years of the crusades. In the light
of the evidence presented, several conclusions can be drawn. The commune as well as individual
Genoese contributed to the success of the Third Crusade. Moreover, the full commitment of
Genoa to the Third Crusade was made evident through the examination of the notarial records of
the year 1190. This commitment was compared to Venice's approach to the shipping of the
crusaders at the time of the Fourth Crusade. The support of individual Genoese
to the crusade was
evident in their donation of money to support individual knights and the Latin East in general.
The supply of commodities and especially the shipping of grain were commercial investments as
well as act of crusading charity.
The mercantile and legal cultures of the Genoese were used to organise the Third
Crusade. Genoa thus contributed to the institutionalisation of the crusading movement as the
application of similar contracts became a standard in the organisation of following crusades. In
1190, the Third Crusade seemed to indicate prospect and boom to the Genoese but by August of
that year the city entered a phase of financial problems when the crusade failed to embark as
planned. The impact of these years in Genoa may be seen in the city's reluctance to accept the
shipping contract for the Fourth Crusade. Genoa, however, also benefited during this period when
trade relations were established with new markets like England. It was also made clear that
individual bankers and merchants profited from the traffic of crusaders and merchants through the
port of Genoa.
The examination of Genoa at the time of the Fourth Crusade was a challenge of a
different nature. Several issues were addressed, the reasons that Genoa did not join the crusade,
how were Genoa and its Mediterranean web of commerce affected by the crusade and finally in
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