Curzola War
Venice's galley at the Battle of Curzola (19th century engraving ( The Granger Collection ))
| date | 1294-1299. |
|---|---|
| place | Today's Italy , Black Sea , Mediterranean |
| output | draw |
| consequences | Consolidation of the growing power of Genoa |
| Parties to the conflict | |
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| Commander | |
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Andrea Dandolo
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The Curzola War was the second of the four wars that took place between the Republic of Venice and the Republic of Genoa that fought for control of trade in the Mediterranean . The war, named after the site of the largest naval battle, the island of Curzola, today Korčula , lasted from around 1293/94 to 1299/1302.
Mainly because of the need for action after the fall of Acre , Genoa and Venice looked for ways to secure their dominance in the Mediterranean and the eastern Black Sea , and to find new ways for trans-Asian trade. The Genoese ships, which concluded an armistice between the two sea powers, therefore began to raid the Venetian traders in the Aegean Sea .
In 1295, the Genoese escalated these actions with raids in Constantinople , which led to the declaration of war in Venice that same year. The deterioration in relations between Byzantium and Venice due to the Fourth Crusade also resulted in the Byzantines favoring the Genoese in the conflict. The Byzantines sided with the Genoese during the war. While the Venetians made rapid advances in the Aegean and Black Seas, the Genoese dominated the warfare throughout the war, eventually defeating Venice at the Battle of Curzola in 1298, resulting in an armistice the following year.
prehistory
The fall of Acre in 1291 proved a crushing defeat, both morally and militarily, for Christians across Western Europe. The loss of the city was particularly tragic for Venice, as Acre had a significant Venetian population and with the loss of the city, Venice also lost an important route for the trade of oriental spices to Europe. This led to a worldwide loss of the Eastern spice trade in Europe in the Middle Ages, as the Muslim empires then began to close traditional routes. Now Venice was barely able to compete with Genoa, which was able to maintain its colonies in Azov and in the Crimea , so the economy was badly damaged. Since the Fourth Crusade, the Byzantine emperors also preferred Genoa as a commercial ally rather than Venice. For this reason, in 1291, Genoa held institutional power within the Byzantine Empire to block the Venetians in the Bosporus and thus block their access to the Black Sea.
All of these factors came together and motivated the Genoese to attack Venetian convoys and merchants in the Aegean Sea , as well as major attacks on Venetian Crete. Now, with the blockade of the Bosphorus, the attack on Crete and the attacks on Venetian merchants in the Aegean Sea, and finally the Genoese attack on the Venetian quarter in Constantinople in 1295, followed by the arrest of the surviving Venetians by the Byzantine emperor Andronikos II Palaiologos (r. 1282–1328), the Venetians had no choice but to declare war to protect their dominance in the Mediterranean.
course
Venice soon organized a fleet of 40 war galleys , led by Roger Morosini. Shortly after the declaration of war, they sailed for Constantinople and tried to break the Genoese blockade . They soon captured the Golden Horn , the inner port of Constantinople, and began to take the city by attacking all Genoese and Greek ships that passed through the port. Andronikos, thinking of the fourth crusade and fearing the loss of the city, soon made peace with Venice, arranged for the liberation of all Venetians and the swift return of all of their confiscated property. Another Venetian fleet left Venice a short time later, this time led by Captain Giovanni Soranzo. The aim of this fleet was to break the power of the Genoese on the Bosphorus and reach the Black Sea. Soranzo was successful. He managed to break the blockade and reach the Black Sea and Crimea, capturing the great port of Caffa .
However, the Genoese were still determined to beat the Venetians. Due to their dominant position in the Aegean Sea, they began several successful raids on the Adriatic , which severely damaged the Venetian supply lines. Finally, in 1298, a decisive confrontation took place between them on the coast of Curzola (modern Korčula ). In the naval battle of Curzola , the Genoese fleet, led by Lamba Doria, achieved a clear victory by sinking 65 of the 95 Venetian ships that made up the Venetian fleet, killing 9,000 Venetians and capturing 5,000 others. Among the prisoners was the Venetian traveler Marco Polo , who in captivity, with the help of an author who was with him, Rustichello da Pisa , wrote down his journeys, which were published under the title Il Milione . It became one of the most revered cartographic documentaries of all time.
Even so, the Venetians were still not discouraged. In a short time they were able to set up a new fleet of 100 galleys, which the Genoese did not expect. In the following year, the Genoese and Venetians concluded an unstable treaty in Milan on May 25, mediated by Matteo Visconti , Pope Boniface VIII and Charles II , which led to an unsuccessful end to the war after four years of war in Venice could maintain control of the Adriatic Sea and the right to trade in Romania .
literature
- Michel Balard : La Romanie génoise (XIIe-Début du XVe siècle) , Genoa 1978, pp. 59-61.
- Thomas Madden : Venice. A New History , Penguin Group, 2012. ISBN 978-0147509802 .
Remarks
- ↑ Timeline of the history of Venice.Retrieved April 15, 2018.