page_title: History of Genoa
section_title: Middle ages and Renaissance
hierarchical_section_title: History of Genoa / Middle ages and Renaissance
caption_attribution_description: Genova
context_page_description: Genoa, Italy, has historically been one of the most important ports on the Mediterranean.
context_section_description: Before 1100, Genoa emerged as an independent city-state, one of a number of Italian city-states established during this period. Nominally, the Holy Roman Emperor was sovereign and the Bishop of Genoa was head of state; however, actual power was wielded by a number of consuls annually elected by popular assembly. Genoa was one of the states known as Repubbliche Marinare along with Venice, Pisa, and Amalfi. Trade, shipbuilding, and banking helped support one of the largest and most powerful navies in the Mediterranean. There is an old saying that says: Genuensis ergo mercator, or "A Genoese therefore a merchant" but the Genoese were skilled sailors and ferocious warriors in addition (see also the Genoese crossbowmen). 
  In 1098, it is said the ashes of John the Baptist, now the patron saint of the city, arrived in Genoa. The Adorno, Campofregoso, and other smaller merchant families all fought for power in this republic, as the power of the consuls allowed each family faction to gain wealth and power in the city. The Republic of Genoa extended over modern Liguria, Piedmont, Sardinia (see also Pisan-Genoese expeditions to Sardinia), Corsica, and Nice, and had practically complete control of the Tyrrhenian Sea. Through Genoese participation in the Crusades, colonies were established in the Middle East, the Aegean Sea, Sicily, and Northern Africa. The cronista, or chronicler, of the Genoese vicissitudes was Caffaro di Rustico da Caschifellone and the hero and military leader was Guglielmo Embriaco called Testadimaglio meaning "mallet head" (see also Siege of Jerusalem (1099)). Genoese Crusaders brought home a green glass goblet from the Levant (see also Holy Chalice), which the Genoese have long regarded as the Holy Grail. In his Golden Legend, the Archbishop of Genoa, Jacobus de Voragine relates the history of the Holy Grail. 
  Not all of Genoa's merchandise was so innocuous, however, as medieval Genoa became a major player in the slave trade.
  The Genoese have a claim to the creation of the rough denim cloth then called "Blue Jean", from which derives the modern name of jeans, used by sailors for work and to cover and protect their goods on the docks from the weather. During the Republic of Genoa, Genoese merchants and sailors exported this cloth throughout Europe. The production of Genoese lace was also notable.
  The collapse of the Crusader States was offset by Genoa's alliance with the Byzantine Empire. As Venice's relations with the Byzantines were temporarily disrupted by the Fourth Crusade and its aftermath, Genoa was able to improve its position, taking advantage of the opportunity to expand into the Black Sea and Crimea. Internal feuds between the powerful families, the Grimaldi and Fieschi, the Doria, Spinola and others, caused much disruption, but in general the republic was run much as a business affair.
  In 1218–1220 Genoa was served by the Guelph podestà Rambertino Buvalelli, who probably introduced Occitan literature, which was soon to boast such troubadours as Jacme Grils, Lanfranc Cigala and Bonifaci Calvo, to the city. During this time, 1218–1219, a Genoese fleet under Simone Doria with the famous Genoese pirate Alamanno da Costa participated in the Siege of Damietta; about this period we must also remember the Genoese privateer and pirate, Henry, Count of Malta. The alliance between Byzantines and Genoese suffered after the Battle of Settepozzi, admirably described in the Annales ianuenses. 
  Genoa's political zenith came with its victory over the Republic of Pisa at the naval Battle of Meloria in 1284, and with a temporary victory over its rival, Venice, at the naval Battle of Curzola in 1298 during the Venetian-Genoese Wars. The Genoese navy was on a par with the Venetian navy and both cities had the power to rule the sea. Notable conflicts between Byzantines and Genoese were the Genoese occupation of Rhodes and the Byzantine-Genoese War.
  However, this period of prosperity did not last. The Black Death is said to have been imported into Europe in 1347 from the Genoese trading post at Caffa in Crimea on the Blac
caption: View of Genoa in 1572
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