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

of the Tuscan merchants in the kingdom of Jerusalem and the northern states should be seen in
the context of the transitions that the Latin East had been through during the formative years of
the second kingdom.
Commerce in the region of the Middle East was particularly affected. The political and
economic turbulence of 1187-92 and 1201-05 started to show their long-term effects. Acre lost its
monopolistic position as the only international harbour visited by Genoese merchants in the
kingdom of Jerusalem. Tyre became a convenient alternative for the merchants who were
interested in travels to the northern parts of the crusader states. Moreover, with the opening of the
route to Aleppo, Alexandria no longer functioned as the only Ayyubid port for Genoese ships.
The Genoese, like other European merchants, discovered northern Syria. Heyd described this
change with fine sarcasm, saying it seemed that `long time had passed before the European
merchants gained enough courage to risk themselves in these region S., 262
Why did Genoa not join the Fourth Crusade? This question was given several answers,
some of which are perhaps unexpected. Taking the impact of the Third Crusade into account, it
was suggested that Genoa was economically not interested in the shipping contract for the Fourth
Crusade. The geopolitics of the region, the war with Pisa and the especially the conflict in Sicily
were pressing problems. It is suggested that Genoa was taking part in the war against Markward
and that it managed in this way to gain great economic benefits.
262 Heyd, Histoire du commerce du Levant, vol. 1, p. 373.
81