Republic of Genoa

Name

From the 11th century to 1528 it was officially known as the Compagna Communis Ianuensis and from 1580 as the Serenìscima Repùbrica de Zêna ('the Most Serene Republic of Genoa') or also Repubblica di Genova (Latin: Res Publica Ianuensis, Ligurian: Repúbrica de Zêna). It was nicknamed by Petrarch as La Superba, in reference to its glory and impressive landmarks. For over eight centuries the republic was also known as la Dominante ('The Dominant one'), la Dominante dei mari ('the Dominant of the Seas'), and la Repubblica dei magnifici ('the Republic of the Magnificents').

History

Background

After the fall of the Western Roman Empire, the city of Genoa was invaded by Germanic tribes. The Eastern Roman Empire during the reign of Emperor Justinian the Great captured the city in 537 under General Belisarius as part of the Renovatio imperii. About 643, Genoa and other Ligurian cities were captured by the Lombard Kingdom under the King Rothari. In 773 the Kingdom was annexed by the Frankish Empire; the first Carolingian count of Genoa was Ademarus, who was given the title praefectus civitatis Genuensis. During this time and in the following century Genoa was little more than a small centre, slowly building its merchant fleet, which was to become the leading commercial carrier of the Western Mediterranean. In 934–35 the town was thoroughly sacked and burned by a Fatimid fleet under Ya'qub ibn Ishaq al-Tamimi. This has led to discussion about whether early tenth-century Genoa was "hardly more than a fishing village" or a vibrant trading town worth attacking.

In 958, a diploma granted by Berengar II of Italy gave full legal freedom to the city of Genoa, guaranteeing the possession of its lands in the form of landed lordships. At the end of the 11th century the municipality adopted a constitution, at a meeting consisting of the city's trade associations (compagnie) and of the lords of the surrounding valleys and coasts. The new city-state was termed a Compagna Communis. The local organization remained politically and socially significant for centuries. As late as 1382, the members of the Grand Council were classified by both the compagnia to which they belonged as well as by their political faction ("noble" versus "popular").

Rise

Before 1100, Genoa emerged as an independent city-state, one of a number of Italian city-states during this period. Nominally, the Holy Roman Emperor was overlord and the Bishop of Genoa was president of the city; however, actual power was wielded by a number of "consuls" annually elected by popular assembly. At that time Muslim raiders were attacking coastal cities on the Tyrrhenian Sea. Muslims raided Pisa in 1000, and in 1015 they escalated their attacks, raiding Luni. Mujahid al-Siqlabi, Emir of the Taifa of Denia attacked Sardinia with a fleet of 125 ships. In 1016, the allied troops of Genoa and Pisa defended Sardinia. In 1066, war erupted between Genoa and Pisa – possibly over control of Sardinia.

The republic was one of the so-called "Maritime Republics" (Repubbliche Marinare), along with Venice, Pisa, Amalfi, Gaeta, Ancona, and Ragusa.

In the Mahdia campaign of 1087, supported by Pope Victor III, Italian forces led by Hugh of Pisa attacked the North African Zirid vassals of the Fatimid Caliphate. Genoese and Pisan fleets, accompanied by troops from Amalfi, Salerno, and Gaeta, captured the Zirid capital, but could not hold it. The Genoese and Pisan burned the fleet in the city's harbour and withdrew. The destruction of the Arab fleet gave control of the Western Mediterranean to Genoa, Venice, and Pisa. This enabled Western Europe to supply the troops of the First Crusade of 1096–1099 by sea.

In 1092, Genoa and Pisa, in collaboration with Alfonso VI of León and Castile attacked the Muslim Taifa of Valencia. They also unsuccessfully besieged Tortosa with support from troops of Sancho Ramírez, King of Aragon.

Genoa started expanding during the First Crusade. In 1097 Hugh of Châteauneuf, Bishop of Grenoble and William, Bishop of Orange, went to Genoa and preached in the church of San Siro in order to gather troops for the First Crusade. Twelve galleys, one ship, and 1,200 soldiers from Genoa joined the crusade. The Genoese troops, led by noblemen de Insula and Avvocato, set sail in July 1097. The Genoese fleet transported and provided naval support to the crusaders, mainly during the siege of Antioch in 1098, when the Genoese fleet blockaded the city while the troops provided support during the siege. In the siege of Jerusalem in 1099, Genoese crossbowmen led by Guglielmo Embriaco acted as support units against the defenders of the city.

13th and 14th centuries

The commercial and cultural rivalry between Genoa and Venice played out throughout the thirteenth century. The Republic of Venice played a significant role in the Fourth Crusade, diverting "Latin" energies to the ruin of its former patron and present trading rival, Constantinople. As a result, Venetian support of the newly established Latin Empire meant that Venetian trading rights were enforced, and Venice gained control of a large portion of the commerce of the eastern Mediterranean.

In order to regain control of the commerce, the Republic of Genoa allied with Michael VIII Palaiologos, emperor of Nicaea, who wanted to restore the Byzantine Empire by recapturing Constantinople. In March 1261 the treaty of the alliance was signed in Nymphaeum. On 25 July 1261, Nicaean troops under Alexios Strategopoulos recaptured Constantinople.

As a result, the balance of favour tipped toward Genoa, which was granted free trade rights in the Nicene Empire. Besides the control of commerce in the hands of Genoese merchants, Genoa received ports and way stations in many islands and settlements in the Aegean Sea. The islands of Chios and Lesbos became commercial stations of Genoa as well as the city of Smyrna (İzmir).

Genoa and Pisa became the only states with trading rights in the Black Sea. In the same century the Republic conquered many settlements in Crimea, where the Genoese colony of Caffa was established. The alliance with the restored Byzantine Empire increased the wealth and power of Genoa and simultaneously decreased Venetian and Pisan commerce. The Byzantine Empire had granted the majority of free trading rights to Genoa. In 1282 Pisa tried to gain control of the commerce and administration of Corsica, after being called for support by the judge Sinucello who revolted against Genoa. In August 1282, part of the Genoese fleet blockaded Pisan commerce near the river Arno. During 1283 both Genoa and Pisa made war preparations. Genoa built 120 galleys, 60 of which belonged to the Republic, while the other 60 galleys were rented to individuals. More than 15,000 mercenaries were hired as rowmen and soldiers. The Pisan fleet avoided combat, and tried to wear out the Genoese fleet during 1283. On 5 August 1284, in the naval Battle of Meloria the Genoese fleet, consisting of 93 ships led by Oberto Doria and Benedetto I Zaccaria, defeated the Pisan fleet, which consisted of 72 ships and was led by Albertino Morosini and Ugolino della Gherardesca. Genoa captured 30 Pisan ships and sank seven. About 8,000 Pisans were killed during the battle, more than half of the Pisan troops, which were about 14,000. The defeat of Pisa, which never fully recovered as a maritime competitor, resulted in gain of control of the commerce of Corsica by Genoa. The Sardinian town of Sassari, which was under Pisan control, became a commune or self-styled "free municipality" which was controlled by Genoa. Control of Sardinia, however, did not pass permanently to Genoa: the Aragonese kings of Naples disputed control and did not secure it until the fifteenth century.

Golden age of Genoese bankers

Though not well-studied, Genoa in the 15th century seems to have been tumultuous. The city had a strong tradition of trading goods from the Levant and its financial expertise was recognised all over Europe. After a brief period of French domination from 1394 to 1409, Genoa came under the rule of the Visconti of Milan. Genoa lost Sardinia to the Crown of Aragon, Corsica to internal revolt, and its colonies in the Middle East, Eastern Europe, and Asia Minor to the Ottoman Empire.

In the 15th century, two of the earliest banks in the world were founded in Genoa: the Bank of Saint George, founded in 1407, which was the oldest state deposit bank in the world at its closure in 1805, and the mount of piety of Genoa was founded in 1483 and it still exists.

Threatened by Alfonso V of Aragon, the Doge of Genoa in 1458 handed the Republic over to the French, making it the Duchy of Genoa under the control of John of Anjou, a French royal governor. However, with support from Milan, Genoa revolted and the Republic was restored in 1461. The Milanese then changed sides, conquering Genoa in 1464 and holding it as a fief of the French crown. Between 1463–1478 and 1488–1499, Genoa was held by the Milanese House of Sforza. From 1499 to 1528, the Republic reached its nadir, being under nearly continual French occupation. The Spanish, with their intramural allies, the "old nobility" entrenched in the mountain fastnesses behind Genoa, captured the city on May 30, 1522, and subjected the city to a pillage. When the admiral Andrea Doria of the powerful Doria family allied with the Emperor Charles V to oust the French and restore Genoa's independence, a renewed prospect opened: 1528 marks the first loan from Genoese banks to Charles.

Under the ensuing economic recovery, many aristocratic Genoese families, such as the Balbi, Doria, Grimaldi, Pallavicini, and Serra, amassed tremendous fortunes. According to Felipe Fernández-Armesto and others, the practices Genoa developed in the Mediterranean (such as chattel slavery) were crucial in the exploration and exploitation of the New World.

At the time of Genoa's peak in the 16th century, the city attracted many artists, including Rubens, Caravaggio, and van Dyck. The architect Galeazzo Alessi (1512–1572) designed many of the city's splendid palazzi. In the next 50 years, other palazzi were designed by Bartolomeo Bianco (1590–1657), designer of centrepieces of the University of Genoa. A number of Genoese Baroque and Rococo artists settled elsewhere and a number of local artists became prominent.

Decline

In May 1625, a French-Savoian army briefly laid siege to Genoa. Though that siege was eventually lifted with the aid of the Spanish, the French would later bombard the city in May 1684 for its support of Spain during the War of the Reunions. In-between, a plague killed as many as half of the inhabitants of Genoa in 1656–57. Genoa continued its slow decline well into the 18th century, losing its last Mediterranean colony, the island fortress of Tabarka, to the Bey of Tunis in 1742.

As its economy and power both continued to decline, in 1729 the Republic had to face another revolt in Corsica. It is seen as the first real rupture between the island and the Genoese Republic: it may also be the most important, because the representatives of the Church and the Roman Curia both "justified" the war. This time the Genoese government requested the help of Charles VI. After Genoa paid a 60,000 florins lump sum and 100 scudi for each dead soldier, Charles sent 10,000 German infantry of the Imperial Army to join the Republic's soldiers commanded by Camillo Doria. Genoa managed to contain the rebellion, but this was not to last. A revolt in 1733 had the Genoese appealing to the Emperor for help, but the Imperial Army was tied up against the French in the ongoing War of the Polish Succession, and thus declined to intervene. Even before the rebellions, Genoa had only had loose control of the island; the Republic had effectively demilitarized itself, with only 2,000 soldiers (all spread throughout fortifications in Liguria) for a mainland population of about half a million, and law and order on Corsica were very weak, with nearly 900 murders per 100,000 people there annually from 1701 to 1733. The Genoese government tried to ban private firearm ownership on Corsica without success. A guerrilla war would continue on the island until it was sold to France in 1768.

The Convention of Turin of 1742, in which Austria allied with the Kingdom of Sardinia, caused some consternation in the Republic. However, when this temporary alliance was made more reliable and lasting via the 1743 Treaty of Worms, the fear of diplomatic isolation had caused the Genoese Republic to abandon its neutrality and to ally with the House of Bourbon in the War of the Austrian Succession. Consequently, the Republic of Genoa signed a secret treaty with France, the Spain and the Kingdom of Naples, all three of which were ruled by Bourbons. On 26 June 1745, the Republic of Genoa declared war on the Kingdom of Sardinia. This decision would prove disastrous for Genoa, which later surrendered to the Austrians in September 1746 and was briefly occupied until a revolt liberated the city two months later. The Austrians returned in 1747 and, along with a contingent of Sardinian forces, laid siege to Genoa before being driven off by the approach of a Franco-Spanish army.

The end of the Republic and its brief revival in 1814

In 1794 and 1795 the ideals of France's revolution reached Genoa, thanks to Genoese propagandists then taking refuge in southeastern France, and a conspiracy against the aristocratic and oligarchic ruling class developed. In 1796, the French army under Napoleon defeated Austria and Piedmont, gaining control of the region. In May 1797, Genoese Jacobins, aided by French volunteers, moved to overthrow Doge Giacomo Maria Brignole, giving rise to a civil war in the streets between opponents and supporters of the government.

Napoleon's representatives then intervened. In early June, the old elites who had ruled Genoa for all of its history were overthrown. On June 14, 1797, the Ligurian Republic was proclaimed, under the watchful care of Republican France. After Bonaparte's seizure of power in France, a more conservative constitution was enacted, but the Ligurian Republic's life was short: in 1805 it was annexed by France, becoming the départements of Apennins, Gênes, and Montenotte.

With the fall of Napoleon, Genoa temporarily regained independence as the Repubblica genovese, which lasted less than a year. However, the subsequent Congress of Vienna assigned all Genoese territories (all of Liguria, the Oltregiogo area, and the island of Capraia) to the Kingdom of Sardinia, ruled by the House of Savoy, even though this contravened the principle of restoring legitimate governments and monarchies.

In 1849, the Genoese retained strong traditions of republicanism and autonomy, which made them resistant to Sardinian rule, leading to a week-long conflict violently suppressed led to sack of the city by the Royal Sardinian army.

Government

The history of Genoa, of the Genoese and of the republic that held its fate for a long time, but also of the governments that gradually took turns leading the city, to reach the time of the Doges, is traceable through the work of historians who have continued the storytelling work begun at the end of the 11th century by Caffaro Di Caschifellone (historian and himself municipal consul) with the "Annales ianuenses".

The Republic of Genoa's governance history is divided into five stages:

Consul: 11th century – 1191

Podestà: 1191–1256

Capitano del popolo: 1257–1339

Doge (elected for life): 1339–1528

Doge (elected for terms of two years): 1528–1797

The republic was substantially democratic in shape, while those of the Podestàs and the Captains of the people strongly restored the often conflicting relationship between the authority and the freedom. The perpetual doges, on the other hand, proclaimed themselves popular, even though sometimes crossing the oligarchy; finally the fifth republic was institutionally aristocratic. By custom, prelates in Genoa were unable to take on public office.

Aristocratic families

In the first two centuries from the institution of the Dogate for life in Genoa, it was above all the Adorno (seven doges elected) and Fregoso (ten doges elected) families who fought the position.

After the reform of 1528, among the seventy-nine "biennial Doges" who came to power, many were elected from a small number of noble houses in the city organized into 28 "Alberghi", in particular:

Grimaldi: eleven doges.

Spinola: eleven doges.

Durazzo: eight doges.

De Franchi, Giustiniani and Lomellini families: seven doges each.

Centurione: six doges.

Doria: six doges.

Cattaneo: five doges.

Gentile: five doges.

Brignole: four doges.

Imperiali: four doges.

De Mari, Invrea and Negrone families: four doges each.

Pallavicini: three doges.

Sauli: three doges.

Lercari: three doges.

Balbi, Cambiaso, Chiavari, Pinelli, Promontorio, Veneroso, Viale and Zoagli families: two doges each.

Della Torre: two doges.

Assereto, Ayroli, Canevaro, Chiavica Cibo, Clavarezza, Da Passano, De Ferrari, De Fornari, De Marini, Di Negro, Ferreti, Franzoni, Frugoni, Garbarino, Giudice Calvi, Odone, Saluzzo, Senarega, Vacca and Vivaldi: one doge each

Genoese possessions

At the time of its founding in the early 11th century the Republic of Genoa consisted of the city of Genoa and the surrounding areas. As the commerce of the city increased, so did the territory of the Republic. By the end of the 12th century all of Liguria fell under the Republic of Genoa. After the First Crusade in 1098 Genoa gained settlements in Syria. (It lost the majority of them during the campaigns of Saladin in the 12th century.) In 1261 the city of Smyrna in Asia Minor became Genoese territory.

In 1255, Genoa established the colony of Caffa in Crimea. In the following years the Genoese established further colonies in Crimea: Soldaia, Cherco and Cembalo. Genoa and its colonies fought against several Mongol states in the Genoese–Mongol Wars to control the Crimean peninsula. In 1275 the Byzantine Empire granted the islands of Chios and Samos to Genoa.

Between 1316 and 1332, Genoa established the Black Sea colonies of La Tana (present-day Azov) and Samsun in Anatolia. In 1355, the Byzantine Emperor John V Palaiologos granted Lesbos to a Genoese lord. At the end of the 14th century the colony of Samastri was established in the Black Sea and Cyprus was granted to the Republic. At that period the Republic of Genoa also controlled one quarter of Constantinople, capital of the Byzantine Empire, and Trebizond, capital of the Empire of Trebizond. The Ottoman Empire conquered most of the Genoese overseas territories during the 15th century.

Other territories outside mainland Italy

Crimea (Gazaria): Genoese colonies along the southern coast of Crimea, including Caffa (modern-day Feodosia), from 1266 to 1475, lost to the Ottoman Empire (Kefe Eyalet).

Giudicato of Logudoro (Sardinia): Genoese influence over the Kingdom of Sardinia from 1259 to 1325.

North Aegean Sea (Chios and surrounding islands): Controlled by Genoa from 1261 to 1566.

Corsica: Under Genoese rule from 1284 until 1768, when it was ceded to France.

Gibeletto (Byblos) and Tyre (in present-day Lebanon): Held during the time of the Crusader states, c. 1100 to the late 13th century.

Tabarka (Tunisia): Controlled by Genoa from 1540 to 1742.

Cities in present-day Romania: Including Calafat, Giurgiu, Licostomo, Vicina, and Galați; Genoese trading posts and fortifications established between the 13th and 15th centuries.

County of Nice (part): Held by Savoy until it was ceded to France under the Treaty of Turin in 1860.

Monaco: Sold to the Grimaldi family in the 15th century, who established an independent principality.

Economy

Genoese traders bought salt – from Hyères near Toulon in French Provence, from Cagliari in Sardinia, Tortosa in Iberia, and from other areas in the Black Sea, North Africa, Cyprus, Crete, and Ibiza – and made salami. They then sold salami in southern Italy for raw silk, which was sold in Lucca for fabrics, which were then sold to Lyon. Mule caravans from Genoa carried salt directly to Piacenza, where it was transferred to river barges and transported down the Po to Parma, and other Po Valley cities such as Reggio and Bologna. Along these trade routes, Genoa competed with Venice for salt and for other cargoes, such as salami, prosciutto, cheese, textiles and spices.

Notable people

Christopher Columbus, late 15th century Genoese explorer sponsored by the Catholic Monarchs of Spain who was the first person to find a route to the Caribbean and South America

Giovanni Giustiniani, nobleman, mercenary captain, and defender of Constantinople during its siege in 1453.

Ingo della Volta, late 11th century or early 12th century Genoese politician