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

Provisions (vianda) for each person and every horse were also calculated, in accordance with the
main contract, to last eight months and the wine, enough to last four months. Indeed, the number
of horses and squires required per knight, as well as the measures of food and wine taken abroad
were all regulated by the king of France. The private contract emphasises this point, `... hec
faciemus vobis secundum cunventum regis et ducis. 'S0 Assumingly the warriors planned to carry
armour and war machines with them. In the previous year the annals mentioned the equipment
carried by the Genoese crusaders: `machina et alia bellica instrumenta. 51 In the ship the lord of
Salins and his knights were promised whichever two rooms they choose under the ship's castle as
well as the castle itself. 52 The agreed fee for the transportation was 8'h silver marks of Troyes
inclusive per knight, with two horses and two squires. As mentioned above the fee requested in
August was lower than the agreed fee of 9 marks which was specified in the initial contract with
the messengers of King Philip Augustus in February.
Commercial aspects of the crusade:
The main difference between the situation at the beginning of 1190 and the summer of the same
year was that the French army had decided to postpone its departure. This meant that individual
Genoese had to negotiate private contracts thereafter. When King Philip arrived in Genoa in
August he made a new concession to the Genoese. This document is very different to the contract
from February. The king confirmed all the promises made by Hugh of Burgundy. The Genoese
were promised vast concessions and territory in the land conquered by the French during the
crusade as well as part of the booty taken. Interestingly, this document does not specify what was
Genoa expected to do in return. There is no discussion of the shipping arrangement
S3 But
evidence from the notarial archive indicates a fundamental change. Merchants registered a large
bulk of commercial contracts to Sicily and Ultramare. From the summer of 1190 throughout the
winter of 1191 commerce blossomed alongside the preparation for the crusade. The same ship in
which the lord of Salins and his knights planned to travel on was also offered to merchants and
the transfer of commodities. Moreover, this ship is only one among many. In the contracts that
were registered by the notaries there is evidence of at least four large ships (navis) as well as one
or two cogs (cocca) that were prepared for embarkation to Ultramare in the year 1190.54
so OS, 1190, no. 599.
51 Ann. Ian., vol. 2, p. 33.
52 `... et duas cameras cum castello de supra cameris, sicut camere determinant, dabimus vobis', OS, 1190,
no. 599.
53 CDC, vol. 2, no. 198, pp. 378-381.
54 See OS, 1190, nos. 49,599,602,634,657-8,661,663-4; GC, 1191, nos. 511,950; GC, 1192, nos. 1488,
1615; Useful list of ships and a discussion of Genoese ships and their destinations can be found in Hilmar
C. Krueger, Navi a proprietä navale a Genova seconda meta del sec. XII, in ASLSP: nuova serie, vol. 25
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