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

Did it really justify a crusade? In dealing with this issue there will be reference to theoretical
scholarship on the historical notion of captivity as well as studies of the economic relationship
between Christians and Muslims at the time of the crusades.
The second issue is the disposition of the maritime powers in the mind of Innocent III, his
expectations of them and the actual role that they played in the crusade. A close analysis of the
relationship between the Italian cities and Egypt will follow. It will be argued that the years
before the Fifth Crusade were times of prosperous commercial relations between Egypt and the
west in general, and between Egypt and the Italian cities in particular. There is much evidence to
support this argument. This chapter will include a review of the ways in which commercial
relationship had developed from the conclusion of the first peace truce between Saladin and King
Richard I of England in 1192 until the idea to embark on the Fifth Crusade was formed early in
the 1210s. The Italian cities had established independent diplomatic channels with Egypt over the
years. It will be argued that in the two decades before the Fifth Crusade and especially as a
consequence of the Fourth Crusade, the Italian powers headed by the Genoese had aspired to and
sought means to expand their privileged position in Alexandria. Ambassadors were frequently
sent to negotiate commercial rights; communities were established containing fondachi and
churches, bath-houses and ovens. 66 The diplomatic and commercial relationship between the
Italian cities and Egypt, which involved major economic benefits, formed a threat to Innocent's
plans. From the commercial point of view, it may be argued that the long period of peace and
prosperity had potentially contradicted the interests of the crusade.
Consequently, Innocent
exercised a rather harsh attitude towards the maritime powers: he threatened them with severe
punishments of excommunication and ordered additional preaching in their churches. Based on
this analysis, it will be suggested that Innocent's rather aggressive attitude towards the maritime
powers was a result of the Italians' close relations with Alexandria.
In 1215, Lateran IV transformed the crusade from an idea into a collective goal. But what
was the impact of the threats of excommunication and the special sermons in the churches of
Genoa? Based on an analysis of the cartularies from 1216, it will be argued that these efforts were
not in vain. The direct and vast commerce with Egypt was withheld and many Genoese took the
cross as a result of the preaching. James of Vitry was a conspicuous preacher who visited Genoa
in 1216. According to his own descriptions he successfully preached to the people of Genoa when
he stopped there on his way to the Holy Land. Furthermore, in his letters he took pride in his
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See general literature on commerce and commercial privileges. Especially, Adolf Schaube,
Handelgeschichte der romanischen Völker des Mittelmeergebiets bis zum Ende der Kreuzzüge (München,
1906), pp. 179-181; Karl H. Allmendinger, Die Beziehungen zwischen der Kommune Pisa und Ägpten in
hohen Mittelalter: Eine Rechts und Wirtschaftshistorische Untersuchung (Wiesbaden, 1967), pp. 62-3.
Heyd, Histoire du commerce du Levant, vol. 1, pp. 395-426.
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