Genoese navy
The Genoese navy was the naval contingent of the Republic of Genoa's military. From the 11th century onward the Genoese navy protected the interests of the republic and projected its power throughout the Mediterranean and Black Seas. It played a crucial role in the history of the republic as a thalassocracy and a maritime trading power.
Through the 17th and 18th century the power of the Genoese navy and fleet declined, thanks to bankers and no longer merchants being the strongest economic force in the Republic. The Genoese navy was disbanded following the annexation of Genoa by the Kingdom of Sardinia-Piedmont in 1815.
History
Establishment
A center of trade since antiquity, the city of Genoa relied heavily on income from merchant shipping and trade. As such, piracy posed a substantial threat to the city's merchants, who were forced to pay for the defense of their ships. The city was likewise vulnerable to attack, a fact made apparent when in 935 a fleet led by Ya'qub ibn Ishaq al-Tamimi of the Fatimids sacked the city. The Muslim incursion spurred the city to build strong harbor defenses, and renewed interest in an armed merchant marine to patrol the Ligurian Sea.In 1005 the Republic of Genoa was established; The new government was headed by a consul who would be elected every few years by the wealthiest merchants and landowners in the city. The young republic was as such dominated by the needs and desires of the merchant houses, and the navy was given a place of high importance in the new thalassocracy. A High Admiral was appointed, and with the government coordinating the navy, Genoese traders and merchants came to dominate the Ligurian Sea in the 11th century. The city-state was considered one of the four Repubbliche Marinare in Italy alongside Venice, Pisa, and Amalfi. However, the early fleet was composed of ships levied from private merchants, fishermen, and lacked dedicated warships. As such, the 11th century fleet was relegated to protecting the trade of the great merchant houses of Genoa, which continued to dominate the politics and economy of the republic. In an effort to suppress piracy, the fleet was occasionally deployed to fight against Muslim corsairs from Aghlabid in North Africa. After decades of disorder caused by the Norman conquest of southern Italy, the Genoese navy assisted in the capture of the city of Mahdia in 1087.
The beginning of the Crusades in 1095 resulted in a great period of prosperity for Genoa. As new crusaders were constantly needed to secure the Holy Land, Genoa was able to profit by assisting in the transport of military forces from Europe. To better support the crusaders, a squadron of 12 Genoese galleys were deployed to the Holy Land during the First Crusade. The ships served to counter the threat posed by the Fatimid navy and saw some successes, with the fleet succeeding in trapping a Fatimid fleet in Beirut Harbor during the First Crusade. The Genoese Embriaco family became famous for their exploits in the Holy Land during this time, most notably for their leading of a Genoese seaborne attack during the Siege of Tripoli. In addition to receiving large amounts of loot from crusader commanders, the republic established a number of Genoese trading colonies in the Mediterranean and Black Seas during the Crusades. The Lebanese town of Byblos came completely under Genoese control, and the republic was entitled to 1/3 of the crusader-controlled city of Acre's income. The Genoese fleet sheltered in these ports and defended them from pirates. In the early 12th century the Genoese navy participated in the Pisan-led 1113–15 Balearic Islands expedition to suppress Majorcan piracy.
At this time the fleet relied principally on two types of galleys, heavy Byzantine-style dromon , and lighter Italian-style galleys. This fleet was supplemented by armed merchant cogs. The Genoese fleet was effective in converting merchant galleys into warships during wartime, and so made extensive use of such converted vessels.
Mercantile conflicts
In addition to supporting the wars in the Holy Land, the navy played a vital role in the Genoese rivalry with the nearby Republic of Pisa, which competed with Genoa for influence in Corsica and Sardinia. It was common for the Italian maritime states to prey on their rival's merchant shipping, and the Genoese navy was known to both suppress and participate in this practice. In 1119 a Genoese squadron raided a Pisan merchant convoy, beginning the first of the Genoese-Pisan Wars. The first of the wars ended inconclusively, but resulted in a century of raiding and piracy as both cities fought over Corsica and Sardinia. In the 1230s a second, undeclared war erupted between Genoa and Pisa as part of the wider Guelphs-Ghibellines Conflict. The Holy Roman Emperor sided with Pisa when the war broke out, forcing Genoa to find allies abroad. The republic sided with the Pope, and sent a fleet to transport a Guelph army to Rome in a show of support for the papal cause. The Ghibellines discovered the plan and, along with a Pisan fleet, intercepted the Genoese navy at the Battle of Giglio in 1241. Weighted down with passengers and baggage, the Genoese navy lost 3 galleys sunk and 27 captured. The second war with Pisa ended in a white peace in 1243.In the eastern Mediterranean, conflicts between Genoese and Venetian merchants in Acre resulted in the War of Saint Sabas being fought from 1256 to 1270. During the conflict the Genoese navy was defeated in a series of pitched battles against Venice, and so it resorted to attacking merchant convoys instead of warships. This strategy proved highly effective and would become known as "War of the Chase" to the Genonese, in which faster Genoese galleys would outrun slower, better organized Venetian squadrons.
The disastrous defeats at the hands of Pisa and Venice hindered Genoese ambitions, but also led to the creation of a dedicated naval force in Genoa. Larger galleys were built, the office of High Admiral was granted more powers, and the formidable Genoese crossbowmen were added to the crews of Genoese warships. When a third war broke out between Pisa and Genoa, the rebuilt Genoese fleet won a major victory at the 1284 Battle of Meloria, in which the Genoese captured 37 Pisan galleys and 9000 sailors. The battle left Genoa the strongest naval power in the Western Mediterranean.
With Pisa in a state of decline, Genoa expanded into Corsica and northern Sardinia. In 1266 Genoese merchants purchased the city of Kaffa from the Golden Horde and went on to establish further trading colonies in the Black Sea and Byzantine Empire. This expansion brought Genoa into further conflict with the powerful city-state of Venice, which also had trade relations in the area. The bitter rivalry escalated into the first of the Venetian–Genoese wars in 1296, at which point Genoa's fleet consisted of 125 galleys. Despite outnumbering the Venetian navy, the Genoese fleet was unable to catch them, and Genoa's merchants suffered greatly during the war. A change came in 1298 when a major engagement was fought in the Adriatic Sea off the coast of Korčula. At the Battle of Curzola, a fleet of 75 Genoese galleys decisively defeated a force of 95 Venetian galleys, destroying or capturing 83 of the enemy ships. However, Genoese casualties were heavy and the city's shipyards were unable to quickly replace the ships lost at Curzola. The conflict ended in a relative stalemate in 1299. Following the war, Genoa dominated the Mediterranean slave trade and the Genoese navy employed thousands of galley slaves as oarsmen. This new policy decreased the cost of maintaining the navy, as rowers no longer had to be paid, but also decreased the number of men available for boarding parties, as Genoese captains did not trust armed slaves.
In 1340 a contingent of 15 Genoese galleys under the command of Pietro Barbavera fought for the French fleet against the English fleet at the pivotal Battle of Sluys.
As Genoa continued to expand its trade network during the 14th century, the navy was increasingly employed to defend trade routes. While these naval trade routes greatly benefited the city, they also left it vulnerable to disease. In 1347 the Black Death was introduced to Kaffa during a Mongol siege and soon spread aboard fleeing Genoese ships. A Genoese merchant fleet sailing from Kaffa spread the disease to Messina, from which city the plague spread to the rest of Europe. Over 40,000 people in the city of Genoa died in the pandemic, a disaster that reduced the amount of money available to finance the fleet. Many sailors were also killed by the Black Death, leaving the navy undermanned.
A third conflict with Venice began over trading disputes in the Black Sea in 1350. Venice allied itself with the Crown of Aragon and the Byzantine Empire, and in doing so mustered a large force that outnumbered the Genoese navy. Genoa won a costly victory at a battle in the Bosporus Straits in February 1352 that forced Byzantium to withdraw from the war. The tide of the war reversed when in 1353 the Genoese navy suffered a defeat at the Battle of Alghero. The loss of a fleet at Alghero sparked civil unrest in Genoa, further hampering the Republic's war effort. To combat this discord, the republic was temporarily dissolved and Genoa came under the rule of the Duke of Milan. In November 1354 a Genoese fleet commanded by Admiral Paganino Doria surprised a Venetian fleet off the coast of Pylos. At the ensuing Battle of Sapienza Genoa sank or captured 35 Venetian galleys. A peace treaty was signed between Venice and Milan in 1355, bringing an end to the conflict. While the status quo in the east was maintained, the Crown of Aragon was able to establish itself as a major rival to Genoese domination of the Western Mediterranean. Genoa broke free from Milanese control following the conclusion of the war, and the republic was reestablished.
In 1378 the War of Chioggia broke out between Genoa and Venice, a conflict Genoa initiated to counter Venetian threats to the Republic's trade routes in the Black Sea. During the war, a large percentage of the navy was relegated to escorting transport ships from Genoa to Crimea. The Venetians took advantage of the absence of Genoese warships and raided coastal settlements under Genoese control. The Genoese navy suffered a defeat in 1378 when a squadron was destroyed by the Venetians off of the Cape d'Anzio. Genoa won a victory in May 1379, after which the fleet sailed to the port of Chioggia in the Adriatic and captured the city. The Genoese intended to use their new position at Chioggia to blockade the city of Venice, but on June 24, 1380 the navy was defeated and driven from the city by a Venetian relief force. 17 Genoese warships were captured in the ensuing rout, and the Genoese army was left stranded in Chioggia without supplies. The Genoese garrison later surrendered the town, and the War of Chioggia soon ended in a status quo, having exhausted both Genoa and Venice. The Genoese navy lost vital sailors, ships, and was supplanted as the leading naval power in the Western Mediterranean by Aragon.