Sea battle at Pola

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The sea ​​battle at Pola (on May 7, 1379 ) was one of the battles in the so-called Chioggia War (or “fourth Genoese-Venetian war”), which was fought between the sea ​​republics of Genoa and Venice for supremacy in the Mediterranean . The present Croatian city of Pula is located in the northern Adriatic Sea, on the southern tip of Istria .

background

On May 30, 1378, the Venetians under Admiral Vettor Pisani had won a sea victory against the Genoese at Anzio , who in turn tried, together with Hungary and other northern Italian allies, to besiege Venice from land and sea and to surrender to force. In the autumn of 1378, the Genoese fleet under Admiral Luciano Doria invaded the Adriatic and supported the operations of the militias of the Patriarch of Aquileia and the allied Hungarian troops in Dalmatia . Doria wintered there with his fleet. The Venetian fleet returned from Cyprus in autumn 1378 , where attempts had been unsuccessful to drive the Genoese out of Famagusta . The Venetians wintered in their naval port in Pola.

Course of the battle

In the spring of 1379 the Genoese laid the cities of Grado and Caorle in ruins and appeared on May 7th in front of Pola. The Venetian Admiral Vettor Pisani was well aware of his numerical inferiority and did not want to sail , but the captains of his ships urged him to counter the Genoese insolence with an attack. Despite Pisani's disorderly approach, the fierce fighting soon seemed to develop in favor of the Venetians. The Genoese flagship was captured and the Genoese commander, Luciano Doria , killed. But instead of withdrawing at this crucial moment, Luciano's brother Ambrogio took command of the fleet and fought back the Venetians with all determination.

Further course

The Venetian casualties amounted to 700 dead and 2,400 prisoners (800 of whom were killed after the battle). 15 Venetian galleys also fell into the hands of the Genoese. Pisani only brought seven galleys back to Venice. He was sentenced to six months in prison and banned from public office for five years. But when the city of Venice itself was threatened in the Chioggia War , Pisani was again given command. At Chioggia he locked the Genoese fleet in the lagoon, defeated them decisively at Brontolo and retook the city of Chioggia in June 1380. Although the Venetians were inferior to the Genoese at Pola at sea, they were able to keep the upper hand on land and thus secured their success in the war and thus supremacy in the eastern Mediterranean.

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