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

Henry's fleet harbour in Tripoli? Instead of enjoying commercial privileges, Henry of Malta
eventually had to pay Bohemond. Moreover, Bohemond demanded
that they supply him military
aid. In exchange for their help Bohemond promised privileges. It is interesting that in the
charter's description Henry of Malta was fully allied with Genoa. The privileges were granted to
Henry, `per manus Albert! Galline et Armanni vicecomitis sui' and to the city of Genoa. 248
The privileges granted in Bohemond's charter are significant for several reasons. In the
context of Genoa's reaction to the Fourth Crusade, this charter should be considered as part of a
series of letters of concessions and further privileges that the Genoese requested and received in
the northern parts of the crusader states. The first charter in Tripoli was granted in 1203, followed
by another one in Tripoli and Antioch in 1205 249 A third charter regarding Antioch and St
Simeon was granted in 1216250
Finally, in 1221 and 1223 the Genoese were granted rights and
possessions
also in Beirut 251
The 1205 charter was based on Bohemond's previous charter, from 1203. The two
charters share many points, including occasional repetition of phrases. For example, both charters
specify exactly who is entitled to them. The applied to omnibus Januensibus et Januensium filiis.
The expansion of the receiving body to include Genoese descendants is an interesting mirror to
the changes that occurred in Genoese society and what it had been through in that age of
expansion. The definition was clearly made to include the Genoese outside Genoa, or Genoese
descendants who were no longer inhabitants of the home-town. However, the documents
explicitly excluded those Genoese who were inhabitants of the crusader states: `... exceptis
burgensibus Januensibus regni Jerusalem vel comitatus Tripolis sive Cypri vel principalus
Antiochie. '252 These Genoese, now citizens of the various crusader states, did not enjoy the right
to use the new Genoese court in Tripoli or the commercial privileges Genoa was granted in
Tripoli and Antioch.
Several differences between the charters of Bohemond IV from December 1203 and July
1205 reveal further how important the northern states were for the merchants of Genoa. The
commercial privilege from 1203 included: `libertatem in Tripoli de omnipeccunia sua vendendi
emendi mittendi et traendi sine omni consuetudine et iure peccunie sue.... '253 The Genoese
merchants faced two problems with this privilege. The most important problem was that it was
confined to Tripoli. The Genoese merchants, however, wanted to get to Aleppo. The extension of
2481
Libri lurium, vol. 1/2, no. 345, p. 167.
249
Reinhold Röhricht `Amalrich I., König von Jerusalem (1162-1174), p. 489; I Libri lurium, vol. 1/2,
numbers 345.
2501 Libri lurium, vol. 1/2, number 347.
25' Mid, vol. 1/2, numbers 349,350.
252 Ibid, vol. 112, no. 345.
253 Röhricht `Amalrich I., König von Jerusalem (1162-1174)', p. 489.
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