Venetian–Genoese wars facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Venetian-Genoese Wars |
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| Belligerents | |||||||
.svg){kind=small} Venetian Republic Crown of Aragon Duchy of Milan |
 Republic of Genoa Byzantine Empire Paduan Contado.svg){kind=small} Kingdom of Hungary |
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| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Vettor Pisani Carlo Zeno Andrea Contarini Bernabò Visconti |
Luciano Doria Pietro Doria Francesco I da Carrara Louis I of Hungary |
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The Venetian–Genoese Wars were a long series of fights between two powerful Italian cities, Genoa and Venice. These wars, sometimes with other allies, were fought for control of trade routes in the Mediterranean Sea. They lasted from 1256 to 1381.
There were four main periods of open war. Most of the fighting happened at sea. Even when there was peace, smaller fights and piracy often broke out between the two trading groups.
In the first war (1256–1270), Venice won more battles. However, Genoa still managed to expand its trade in the Byzantine Empire and the Black Sea. Genoa won big in the second war (1294–1299). But the war ended without a clear winner. The third war (1350–1355) also ended without a clear winner. In this war, Venice teamed up with Aragon, and the fighting was more even.
In the fourth war (1377-1381), Venice faced a serious threat. Genoa and its allies almost captured the city. Even though Venice won some battles, the war left them very tired and weak. They had to agree to peace terms that felt like a defeat.
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First War: Fighting for Trade (1256–1270)
The first big fight between Genoa and Venice started over a disagreement in Acre. This led to Genoa attacking the Venetian area of the city. Venice had help from Pisa, Provence, the Knights Templar, and some local nobles. Genoa was joined by people from Catalonia, Valencia, Ancona, the Knights Hospitaller, and other local nobles.
In 1257, a fleet from Venice, led by Lorenzo Tiepolo, defeated a Genoese fleet near Acre. This happened when the Venetian ships arrived in June 1258.
In 1261, Venice faced a major problem. Genoa signed a deal called the Treaty of Nymphaeum with the Nicaean emperor Michael VIII Palaiologos. Soon after, Michael took back Constantinople, the old Byzantine capital. This city had been controlled by the Latin Empire of Constantinople, which was like a client state of Venice.
This event completely destroyed Venice's control over trade in Constantinople and the Black Sea. Venice had enjoyed this control since the city was captured during the Fourth Crusade in 1204.
Throughout this war, the Venetian navy was usually stronger than the Genoese navy in sea battles. The Genoese often tried to avoid direct fights. The big battles that did happen, like at Acre in 1258, Settepozzi in 1263, and Trapani in 1266, were clear Venetian wins.
However, because the Venetian fleet stayed together, Genoese merchant ships were mostly left alone. Venetian trade, even with convoys, suffered a lot from scattered Genoese pirates. Genoa's biggest success was in 1264. Their admiral, Simone Grillo, tricked the Venetian war fleet away and captured most of a large, unprotected convoy.
Disagreements between Genoa and Michael VIII helped Venice get some of its trading rights back in the Byzantine Empire. A truce was signed in 1268. The war ended in 1270 with the Peace of Cremona. This peace was arranged by Louis IX of France, who needed both fleets for a crusade.
Venice made its position stronger in what was left of the Kingdom of Jerusalem. But it could not stop Genoa from becoming powerful again in the Byzantine world. Genoa also gained control over trade in the Black Sea. This lasted until the Ottomans conquered Constantinople in 1453.
Second War: Genoa's Big Wins (1294–1299)
The ongoing competition between Venice and Genoa led to more clashes in 1291. Full war officially started again in 1295. Venice had some early victories, but Genoa won more battles later on. Overall, Genoa had more military success, even though their fleet suffered more damage.
In 1294, a Venetian fleet was destroyed by Genoese forces from their eastern colonies. This happened near the important port of Laiazzo in Cilician Armenia. Civil conflict in Genoa stopped them from sending a large fleet in 1296. This allowed the Venetian fleet to raid Genoese settlements in the eastern Mediterranean. They looted areas of Phokaia and Caffa, and burned the unprotected settlement of Pera near Constantinople.
In 1297, the Venetians again avoided a big battle. But they were forced to fight in 1298 when the Genoese fleet, led by Lamba Doria, entered the Adriatic Sea. In the largest battle ever between the two cities, near Korcula (Curzola), the Venetian fleet was destroyed. Andrea Dandolo led the Venetian fleet.
However, the Genoese had lost many men. They also had problems back home in Liguria. So, they went home instead of attacking Venice. A peace agreement was made the next year. It was during this war that Marco Polo, fighting for Venice, was captured. While in prison, he wrote his famous travel stories.
In 1296, Genoese people living in Constantinople destroyed the Venetian quarter and killed many Venetian civilians. Even though there was a truce between Byzantium and Venice since 1285, the Byzantine emperor Andronikos II Palaiologos immediately supported his Genoese allies. He arrested the Venetians who survived the attack, including Venice's official representative, Marco Bembo.
Venice threatened war with the Byzantine Empire. They demanded payment for the harm they suffered. In July 1296, the Venetian fleet, led by Ruggiero Morosini Malabranca, attacked the Bosphorus. During this campaign, they captured several Genoese places in the Mediterranean and the Black Sea, including the city of Phocaea. The Genoese colony of Galata, across the Golden Horn from Constantinople, was also burned down. However, the Byzantine emperor wanted to avoid a full war at that time.
Open war between Venice and the Byzantines did not start until after the Battle of Curzola. It began after the war with Genoa ended with the Treaty of Milan in 1299. This left Venice free to fight against the Greeks.
Third War: A Costly Stalemate (1350–1355)
Arguments over trade in the Black Sea caused another war to start in 1350. Venice teamed up with King Peter IV of Aragon. King Peter was fighting Genoa over control of Sardinia and trade competition. Aragon joined the war in 1351.
After small fights in the Aegean Sea and around the Bosphorus, a large Genoese fleet attacked the Venetian colony of Negroponte in 1351. This fleet was led by Paganino Doria. Then, they moved on to Constantinople. The Byzantine Emperor John VI had lost a short war with Genoa in 1348–1349. He was convinced to join Venice and helped them attack Pera.
A combined fleet of Venetian and Catalan ships arrived soon after. It was led by Niccolo Pisani and Ponce de Santapau. They joined forces with the Byzantines. A very bloody battle, called the Battle of the Straits, was fought in the Bosphorus in February 1352. Both sides lost many soldiers. The Catalans suffered the most serious losses. This made Pisani pull back, and Doria was able to force Byzantium out of the war.
In August 1353, Pisani led the Venetians and Catalans to a huge victory. They defeated the Genoese, led by Antonio Grimaldi, near Alghero in Sardinia. Genoa was worried by this defeat. To get financial help, they put themselves under the rule of Giovanni Visconti, the Lord of Milan.
In 1354, Paganino Doria surprised Pisani at his anchorage in Zonklon (Sapienza). He captured the entire Venetian fleet. This defeat helped lead to the removal of the Venetian leader, Doge Marino Faliero. Venice made peace with Genoa on June 1, 1355. This war did not have a clear winner itself. But Venice was so tired that it soon lost Dalmatia to Hungary. Genoa ended Milanese rule in 1356, as they no longer needed Milan's support.
Fourth War: The Chioggia Crisis (1377–1381)
In 1376, Venice bought the important island of Tenedos near the Dardanelles from the Byzantine Emperor John V. This threatened Genoa's access to the Black Sea. Because of this, Genoa helped John's son, Andronikos IV, take the throne. In return, the island was supposed to go to Genoa. This started a new war between the two cities.
Genoa failed to take Tenedos from Venice in 1377. But they gained support from Venice's rivals on the mainland: Hungary, Austria, Aquileia, and Padua. Only Padua gave a lot of help. Venice allied with Milan, whose army threatened Genoa from land. They also allied with the Kingdom of Cyprus. Cyprus had lost a war with Genoa in 1373-74 and was under Genoese control.
A small Genoese fleet, led by Luciano Doria, entered the Adriatic Sea in 1378. They defeated the Venetians, led by Vettor Pisani, at Pula in 1379. After getting more ships, the Genoese advanced towards Venice under Pietro Doria. Luciano had been killed at Pula. The Genoese could not break through Venice's defenses. But they captured the port of Chioggia near the southern end of the Venetian lagoon. They had help from the Paduans on land.
In December 1379, the Venetians managed to sink ships to block the harbor of Chioggia. This trapped the Genoese fleet inside. Venice got more help when a raiding fleet, led by Carlo Zeno, returned. This fleet had been very successful against Genoese trade all over the Mediterranean. A new Genoese fleet was put together in the Adriatic. But it could not break through to help the trapped forces in Chioggia. The Genoese inside were forced to surrender in June 1380.
Fighting continued between the Genoese and Venetian fleets over ports in the upper Adriatic. But with help from Amadeus VI of Savoy, both sides agreed to peace at Turin in 1381. Even though Venice won at Chioggia, the war was very bad for Venice's money. They only got peace by agreeing to give up things. This included leaving Tenedos, accepting Genoa's control in Cyprus, giving up their main land possession of Treviso, and paying yearly tribute to Hungary. Genoa and its allies did not have to give up much.
After the Wars: A New Balance
The War of Chioggia did not truly end the rivalry between Venice and Genoa. Venice was very weak after the war. But it slowly managed to fix its money problems. It also took advantage of its rivals' weaknesses on the mainland to get back what it had lost.
Genoa had more trouble with the debts from these wars. Over the next decades, its financial problems got worse. Its constant political instability became very serious after 1390. This led Genoa to accept French rule in 1396. This was the first of many times Genoa was ruled by foreign powers in the 1400s. This limited Genoa's ability to act freely.
These different paths meant Genoa could not compete with Venice as much politically. However, Genoa's trade continued to do well until the mid-1400s. After 1400, the growing power of Aragon in the western Mediterranean became a bigger threat to Genoa. This led to a series of full wars (1420–26, 1435–44, 1454–58). These wars became more important than the old rivalry with Venice. This lasted until Alfonso V of Aragon died in 1458.
Small acts of piracy between Venetians and Genoese still happened. A notable one was after a sea battle at Modon in 1403. When Milan ruled Genoa, fighting on the Italian mainland between Milan and Venice pulled Genoa into another sea war with Venice in 1431-33. Still, the rivalry was no longer the most important thing for either city.
See also
In Spanish: Guerras Veneciano-Genovesas para niños
- Byzantine–Venetian War (1296–1302)
