The Sacro Catino at Genoa

Extract

On the 15th July, 1099, Jerusalem was captured from the infidels by the knights and soldiers of the First Crusade. The decisive attack was delivered from a remarkable wooden tower, designed and constructed by Guglielmo Embriaco, commander of the Genoese. There were days and I dare say weeks of rejoicing by the victorious host, and then it began to melt away. The object of the crusade seemed to have been attained; in batches large or small the crusaders returned to their homes by sea or by land. Thus when Baldwin became king of Jerusalem he had only three hundred horse and as many foot soldiers left to defend the city, and it must have fallen if the Saracens had delivered an attack. Just at this time, in the spring of 1101, a Genoese fleet of thirty-six galleys, six ships, and eight thousand fighting men, under the aforesaid Admiral Guglielmo Embriaco arrived at Jaffa. It will easily be understood that the crusade itself and the consequent settlement of parts of Palestine and Syria by European immigrants had created a considerable opportunity for trade between the Levant and Italy. Venice had already a strong position at Constantinople, and practically controlled the trade from that capital. The Pisans had made good their position at Antioch and thereabouts. The Genoese realized that, if a share of this lucrative trade was to be theirs, it behoved them to bestir themselves and obtain privileges for the South.