Background in
Crimea. During the
Early Middle Ages,
Genoa was a small, poor fishing village of 4,000 inhabitants. By slowly building its merchant fleet, it rose as the leading commercial carrier of the Western Mediterranean, starting to become independent from the
Holy Roman Empire around the 11th century. A meeting of all the city's
trade associations (
compagnie) and the noble lords of the surrounding valleys and coasts eventually signaled the birth of Genoese government. The then-born
city-state was known as
Compagna Communis. The local organization maintained a political and social significance for centuries.
Possessions The participation of the
Genoese Fleet in the Crusades (particularly the conquests of
Antioch and
Acre) enriched it enormously. During the
First Crusade, the Genoese Republic obtained Acre (one third of the port's incomes) and Gibelet (present-day
Byblos,
Lebanon), which become a familiar possession of the
Embriaco family, who styled themselves as
Lords of Gibeletto (1100 – late 13th century). Other small colonies were formed in
Tartous (
Syria),
Tripoli (Libya), and
Beirut (Lebanon). However, the Muslim reconquest in the following century removed Genoese presence from the
Holy Land. Genoa also established colonies on the Spanish Mediterranean coast from
Valencia to
Gibraltar, but these were also short-lived. These colonies consisted usually of a city quarter (or even a single square) with wooden single- or double-floor houses with workshops in the lower floor. of
Sudak in the
Crimea Direct territorial expansion of Genoa began in the 13th century with the occupation of
Corsica (annexed in 1284 and kept until the 18th century) and northern
Sardinia. Genoa remained dominant in the
Tyrrhenian Sea after the decisive naval victory against
Pisa in the
Battle of Meloria (1284). Genoa had also started to form colonies of
Ligurians in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Black Sea in second half of the 13th century. The Genoese presence was not based on military occupation, but on economic "concessions" of Genoese and Ligurian families associated with the local traders and dominant classes. In the eastern Mediterranean, Genoa was greatly advanced by the
Treaty of Nymphaeum (1261) with the Byzantine emperor
Michael VIII Palaeologus, which, in exchange for the aid to the Byzantine reconquest of Constantinople, actually ousted the Venetians from the straits leading to the Black Sea. The main Genoese commercial bases were
Chios and
Mytilene in the
Aegean Sea, and
Caffa, the major trading center between
Mongol-ruled Eastern Europe and Central Asia and Western Europe. Other colonies included Cembalo (modern
Balaklava), Soldaio (
Sudak), Vosporo (
Kerch), while other were located on the
Azov Sea, including
Tana (
Azov), Matrega (
Taman), Mapa (
Anapa), Bata (
Novorossiysk) and others, on the Abkhazian coast, such as Savastopoli (
Sukhumi), or on the Ukrainian coast, such as Salmastro or Moncastro (
Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi), Ginestra (now part of
Odesa). In 1275, Genoese nobleman
Manuele Zaccaria received the twin towns of
Old and
New Phocaea from the Byzantine Empire. Later in 1304, the
Zaccaria family conquered the island of
Chios, which was briefly re-conquered by the Byzantine Empire during 1329, but returned to Genoese control in 1346. In 1354, Francesco Gattilusio helped Emperor
John V Palaiologos take power, which in turn received the island of
Lesbos (commonly called Mytilene in the time) as a gift and
dowry for marriage with the Emperor's sister. Later the
Gattilusio family acquired several territories in Greek territory, such as
Imbros,
Samothrace,
Lemnos,
Thasos and
Ainos (Enez). These Greek territories were very profitable for Genoa due to the mining and trade of
alum, which remained one of the most lucrative commodities traded by Genoese merchants. In 1155, Genoa was given a
fondaco (store and market quarter) at
Galata (
Pera), facing
Constantinople, by emperor
Manuel Komnenos, although in the following century the relationship with the Byzantine Empire were often strained. In 1201 the city also obtained privileges and quarters from the
Kingdom of Armenia. Pera fell to the Ottoman forces in 1453, when all of Constantinople was captured. Meanwhile,
Chios remained a fief of the Giustiniani family until the Ottoman conquest in 1566. There were some 33,000 descendants of the Genoese colonists in Constantinople and
İzmir in 1933. Genoa had also conquered the island of
Tabarka off the
Tunisian coast, which was held by the Lomellini family from 1540 to 1742. Part of the latter's citizens later moved to
Carloforte in Sardinia. In addition to its possessions in Crimea, the most important Genoese colonies in the Black Sea area were
Taman,
Copa,
Bata,
Maurolaca and
Mapa; most of them would survive under Genoese rule until the late 15th century. . Painting by
Luca Cambiasi, , in the Palazzo Lercari-Parodi in Genoa The decline of the Genoese colonies in Crimea coincided with the Ottoman expansion in the late 15th century. Aside from the Crimean cities, Genoa also lost its lands in the
Taman Peninsula, which had belonged to the noble
Ghisolfi family. Other losses included the commercial bases of Licostomo in
Moldavia and Moncastro near Odesa. The fall of the eastern colonies caused a deep economical crisis which eventually turned into an unstoppable decline for the Republic of Genoa as a major European power. It thus moved its interests in the western Mediterranean, establishing flourishing communities in
Cádiz,
Lisbon and
Seville. Genoa, in particular, became an efficient banking base of
Habsburg Spain, supplying loans and organizing
slave trade as holders of an
Asiento. Genoese traders were active in
Old Panama, one of the main ports on the Pacific, at least until 1671. The Spanish governor of Panama,
Sebastián Hurtado de Corcuera, even recruited Peruvians, Panamanians, and Genoese in Panama to found
Zamboanga City after its conquest from the Muslim Sultanates of Sulu and Maguindanao in the
Philippines. The last Genoese colonies disappeared in the 18th century: Tabarka was occupied by the Ottoman Empire (1742), and Corsica was annexed by France after the
Treaty of Versailles in 1768. The Republic itself ended in 1797, when it was conquered by the
French First Republic under
Napoleon and replaced with the
Ligurian Republic. ==See also==