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

consuls of the commune in Genoa and often appear in the contemporary Genoese sources. Rosso
della Volta had been to Alexandria and England and negotiated with Saladin as well as Richard
the Lion Heart. In the light of the prominence of these people it is interesting that apparently
some of them did not return alive from the Third Crusade. The retired consuls Spezzapietra
(1182; 1188) Nicola Embriaco (1176; 1179; 1185; 1188) and Simone Doria (1176; 1180; 1186;
1188) are not known to have returned to Genoa or remained in the east. Their names, which often
appeared in documents and in the annals before the crusade, are not mentioned again in any of the
contemporary sources. They could have perished or been taken captive, there is no way of telling.
This is interesting because they were the leaders of the Genoese crusade and it is rare to find
people in such position fighting and perishing at war. Another Genoese, Rubaldo de
Bontommaso, was held in captivity in Egypt at the beginning of 1192, where he probably
died; 35
his own granddaughter married Filippo Spezzapietra in 1200 36 It is interesting to imagine the
marriage of two Genoese whose ancestors perished in different circumstances during the Third
Crusade. These fragments of evidence are what known about the Genoese contribution to the
crusade. The fact that the Genoese help, their dedication and bravery were remembered years
later, to be explicitly re-related by Henry of Champagne, is another sign of the gap left in the
narrated history.
The appointment of Guido Spinola as a representative of the Genoese in the Latin East is
another indication of the seriousness in which the crusade was perceived by the Genoese. Guido
was an elected consul of the year 1189 in Genoa itself, which means that he was the actual leader
of the enterprise. He remained in the Latin East and became the local representative of the
Genoese commune in the kingdom of Jerusalem for a couple of years. This was not an easy
mission. He had to manoeuvre between various rival powers; a struggle over the throne of
Jerusalem, and later on, between the vigorous monarchs who joined the turmoil and amply
contributed to it. During that time, a ruthless competition over concessions began. Lands, legal
rights and property were promised to naval and land forces and fought over before the territory
was even recovered from the Muslims. Between 1187 and 1191, Count Raymond III of Tripoli,
Conrad of Montferrat and King Guy of Lusignan issued charters to the three Italian powers, the
Genoese amongst them. These records sometimes contradicted one another and changed in
accordance with the political transformations. It is very significant to find a person
like Guido
Spinola at the head of the commune at that stage, and as will be discussed in chapter five, it
contributed much to the fast recovery of the commune in the Latin East. Interestingly, this was
also an opportunity for individual Genoese to acquire possessions and new status in the Latin
33 GC, 1192, no. 1504, an act from 22 January 1192. See more about Rubaldo in Chapter Three.
36 Guglielmo di Sori, MS 102, p. 158, R1.
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