Genoa and the Genoese, 958-1528

by Steven A. Epstein

Set in the middle of the Italian Riviera, Genoa is perhaps best known as the birthplace of Christopher Columbus. But Genoa was also one of medieval Europe's major centers of trade and commerce. In Genoa and the Genoese, 958-1528 , Steven Epstein has written the first comprehensive history of the city that traces its transformation from an obscure port into the capital of a small but thriving republic with an extensive overseas empire. In a series of chronological chapters, Epstein bridges six centuries of medieval and Renaissance history by skillfully interweaving the four threads of political events, economic trends, social conditions, and cultural accomplishments. He provides considerable new evidence on social themes and also examines other subjects important to Genoa's development, such as religion, the Crusades, the city's long and combative relations with the Muslim world, the environment, and epidemic disease, giving this book a scope that encompasses the entire Mediterranean. Along with the nobles and merchants who governed the city, Epstein profiles the ordinary men and women of Genoa. Genoa and the Genoese, 958-1528 displays the full richness and eclectic nature of the Genoese people during their most vibrant centuries.

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"A milestone in medieval Italian history. . . . This book is a must read for specialists of medieval and early modern Italy, and highly recommendable to anyone interested in the period.-- Sixteenth Century Journal

"A learned and intriguing book. . . . It is necessary reading for anyone interested in getting a better view of the historical evolution of the European economy and polity.-- Journal of Economic History

"Genoa's history is notoriously intricate, but Steven Epstein has produced order out of chaos; this is a work of lasting value, thoughtful, scholarly, and also readable.--David Abulafia, Cambridge University

"Genoa and the Genoese holds the promise of becoming the history of medieval Genoa in the foreseeable future.--Benjamin Z. Kedar, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem

In this comprehensive history of Genoa, Steven Epstein traces the city's transformation from an obscure port into the capital of a small but thriving republic with an extensive overseas empire. His story bridges six centuries of medieval and Renaissance history, interweaving political events, economic trends, social conditions, and cultural accomplishments. Profiling the ordinary men and women of Genoa as well as the nobles and merchants who governed the city, Epstein captures the full richness and eclectic nature of the Genoese people during their most vibrant centuries. -->

Genres: History, Italy, Nonfiction, Medieval

416 pages, Paperback

First published October 28, 1996

About the author

Steven Epstein teaches history at the University of Kansas. He was educated at Swarthmore College, St. John’s College (Cambridge University), and Harvard College, where he developed his interests in medieval social and economic history. He is the author of Speaking of Slavery: Color, Ethnicity, and Human Bondage in Italy (2000), Genoa and the Genoese 958—1528 (1996).

See also: Stephan R. Epstein.

Reviews

[Jo Walton]

I was delighted this book existed, that there was a book about Genoa and I could read it, because Genoa kept appearing at the edges of everything else I read and I wanted to know more about it. Well, I know more about it, and I suppose I am enlightened thereby.

Petrarch wrote that Genoa and Venice were the two eyes of Italy, one looking east and one west, but Genoa mostly looked east too, being deeply involved with the Crusades and having colonies in the Crimea and at Constantinople and on Chios. There's a lot of detail here about where Genoa traded and when, and what, and also about what charities people supported at different times, and about the economy. Because of the nature of the evidence there isn't -- and can't be -- much about what people thought and felt, which makes it slow going. I understand why there aren't bunches of books about Genoa the way there are about Florence and Venice.

I'm glad I've read this one.

[Andrew Reece · Rating 5 out of 5]

Historian Steven A. Epstein Studies The History Of The Medieval Genoese Commune During The Period Ranging From 958-1528.

At the end of his introduction to Genoa & the Genoese, 958-1528, historian Stephen A. Epstein poses his reader a series of four open-ended questions regarding Genoa's medieval & early Renaissance history, the answers to which serve as the foundation of the study. He asks each of them in a rhetorical fashion prior to musing upon their possible answers, all the while establishing a connection with his audience which begs them to ponder the questions themselves before jumping into his wonderfully engaging book on one of the most fascinating of the Italian city-states. This excerpt briefly discusses the fourth one: "My last question is paradoxically about the city itself, Genoa proper. Has the legitimate emphasis on the Genoese throughout the world obscured the equally important history of the Genoese in Genoa? Although I fully share the interests of my colleagues in the Genoese & their scattered settlements & colonies throughout the Mediterranean world & beyond, I increasingly think that the emphasis on trade, seafaring, & colonies, the staples of Genoese history, has minimized to some extent how Genoese political & cultural life made all the rest possible." Genoa & the Genoese, 958-1528 is an ambitious undertaking in medieval Italian history -- it seeks to chronicle a large group of disparate social, political, economic, & military events & present them in an organized, readable format that, thanks to Professor Epstein's exceptionally cohesive linguistic capabilities, still manages to hold the interest of the average reader due to the author's stellar attention to detail & his much appreciated effort to compose the study with a degree of narrative flow uncommon for the genre.

This digitally printed trade paperback edition of Steven A. Epstein's 1996 Genoa & the Genoese, 958-1528 is published by North Carolina Press & features a 323-page main text which is divided into seven chapters, a preface, & an epilogue, in addition to an appendix, Genoese Revolts & Changes in Government, 1257-1528. The author has provided maps of the Mediterranean, Liguria, & a city map of Genoa as it was during this period, in addition to numerous charts & tables depicting Genoese trade, Genoese charity, & other relevant statistics. There are 38 pages of endnotes following the main text, a 12-page bibliography, & an index at the back of the volume.

Before it became a maritime superpower under the influences of France & Spain during the sixteenth & seventeenth centuries, Genoa was a small grouping of communities connected by their close proximity to each other & by their membership in what was known as a medieval commune, the campagna, defined by Epstein as "a commune or sworn association of citizens". This commune was at the start administered by a group of consuls, the number of which fluctuated over time, in the ancient Roman fashion, followed by an elected official, usually foreign, called a podestà, whom generally served for a term of one year. Epstein describes the podestà's duties & responsibilities in the following passage: "A podestà was at once a city manager, military commander, & chief judge, a professional & presumably impartial administrator aloof from Genoa's factionism. Such officials, drawn from a professional class trained for the job & invariably foreigners, normally served for a year & then left town. Their chances of finding future employment elsewhere depended on the job they did." There were two types of consuls -- the consuls of the pleas & the consuls of the commune, with the latter taking on a supervisory role to the former, who were appointed to administer justice on minor legal matters. When the commune was in need of large amounts of money in a very short period of time, it would resort to mortgaging its future tax receipts, which involved selling or auctioning off the rights to collect certain taxes for a fixed period of time to wealthy capitalists & bankers, who would in turn make more money over a longer period of time. This became so prevalent that the republic eventually turned all of these mortgaged taxes into a funded public debt, the compera, which would instead pay those investors a fixed amount of income per two months at 8% interest.

In Chapter 1, From Nothing to Something, Epstein chronicles an interesting incident that occurred between the competing city-states of Genoa & Pisa, as Genoa hoped to convince Pope Callixtus II & his curia into reversing an edict originally passed by Pope Urban II stipulating that Pisa's archbishop possessed the right to consecrate bishops on the island of Corsica. The Genoese dispatch the chronicler Caffaro & another diplomat, Barisone, to Rome with a substantial bribe to convince Callixtus & his cabinet to decide in their favor, & while their efforts are successful, they must pay a lofty sum of 500 silver marks & 50 ounces of gold, some of which had to be borrowed from banks in Rome. Genoa made common cause with the foes of its bitter rival, Pisa, & the city also forged alliances of its own with its close neighbors, namely Pavia. The Genoese constable was called the cintractus, charged by the consuls with keeping order in the commune, convening the parlamento, & alerting the citizens in case of emergencies. There was no set wage or salary for the cintractus, but his official benefits & responsibilities were also decided by the consuls & his board was called the convivium, to be provided by Genoa's butchers. The commune brokered treaties & alliances with various cities on France's Provençal coast, such as Fos, Hyères, & Fréjus for trading privileges & a wheat tribute, called the census, in addition to other mutually beneficial terms, & they also forged agreements with nobles such as Count Roger of Calabria & Sicily & Count Ramon Berenguer I of Barcelona in return for protection, exemption from taxes, & safe travel through their lands. In the mid-twelfth century the Genoese participated in various military operations with the Spanish, namely Ramon Berenguer IV of Catalonia & King Alfonso VII of Castile, to retake Almería & Tortosa, key ports such as under Muslim occupation in exchange for one-third of those cities. Interestingly, the Genoese awarded control of the commune's share of these cities to private citizens, a trend which was to continue as time progressed. This crucial chapter introduces key concepts & terms that are copiously referenced further in the main text, & Epstein does a magnificent job of dividing the daunting amount of information & events into manageable, headed subsections, such as Ancient & Early Medieval Legacies, The First Crusade & its Aftermath, & The Commune in Action. The style of his prose changes to suit his current subject, & one passage he will provide a cursory overview of the Ligurian environment & geography, while in the next he is discussing the fall of the Western Roman Empire & the coming of the Lombards. He maintains this engaging balance throughout the entirety of the study.

Chapter 2, Taking Off contains Epstein's interesting analysis of a cartulary belonging to a twelfth-century Genoese notary, Giovanni Scriba, which contains entries for 1306 notarial acts during the 10-year period from 1154-1164. Epstein discusses how this important artifact from the Middle Ages contains clues which assist in ascertaining the economic patterns of commerce which led to Genoa's dominance in overseas trading. Three unique types of financial contracts found in the cartulary are discussed in this chapter -- the commenda, societas, & sea loan. The commenda consisted of an investor & a traveling partner, the latter of whom, in exchange for a predetermined portion of the end profit, would accept a captial investment from the investor & agree to take on the running of an overseas trading venture. The societas involved two investors, one who stayed home & one who traveled to run the company, who both sunk equal amounts of capital into a business venture & thus divided the profits according to agreed-upon guidelines, usually the amount of work involved. A sea loan occurred when a single partner took out an advance to fund an overseas business venture, & the partner agreed to pay back the loan plus interest pending his safe return to his home port, Genoa. Professor Epstein lauds the Genoese's knowledge of foreign markets, their astute business contracts which were able to yield high profits in a stable legal environment, & the integrity & seaworthiness of its shipping industry all as contributing factors in what he describes as the city-state's "first-mover" status in maritime commerce. He then argues that in order to understand the Genoese trade industry it becomes necessary to analyze its scale, scope, & transaction costs, describing in what manner its merchants achieved the first of these, in the following passage: "The scale of Genoese trade grew; Genoese merchants accomplished this by improving their efficiency, wisely allocating their resources to the best & most profitable markets, dominating those markets wherever & whenever possible by conducting privileged trade, & keeping their own costs as low as practicable. The scale of trade had to increase if each new generation of beginners was going to find opportunity & capital to make their fortunes." Also discussed in this chapter are the trade policies & diplomatic arrangements made between the commune & two of the most powerful men in the twelfth century -- the Byzantine Emperor, Manuel Comnenus, & the Holy Roman Emperor, Frederick Barbarossa.

In Chapter 3, Between the Devil & the Deep Blue Sea, Epstein provides an interesting anecdote regarding a revolt which was staged against Genoa by its vassal city, Savona, & it begins when Savona misleads its mother city about the trustworthiness of its podestà, & then goes behind Genoa's back & begins dealing with the Ghibelline-allied imperial legate, Count Tomasso of Savoy, proposing to deliver the city's salt gabelle, which is a tax on salt, into the count's hands in return for his making common cause with the rebels, who were located all over the Riviera Ponente, the western riviera. During that period Genoa was a Guelf-allied city, which meant its loyalty was to the pope, unlike Tomasso, who was allied with the Holy Roman Emperor, Frederick II Hohenstaufen. Guelfs & Ghibellines had been opposing factions since the Investiture Controversy which began towards the end of the eleventh century. Genoa's newly-elected podestà strongly advised taking action against the rebellious area & successfully conducted a month-long siege of Tortona in May 1227, but there was still trouble brewing in Lombardy, as possession of a strategic fortress, Capriata, had been contested with the neighboring city of Alessandria since 1224, in addition to a number of tax-collecting-related issues between Genoa, Alessandria, & another town, Tortona, at a place called Gavi. This diplomatic clash over the castle & village was so drawn out that it required the intervention of a third party, Milan, in order to be resolved. Epstein's six sprawling chapters are each sub-divided into smaller, easy-to-tackle sections which contain groups of events related to a common theme. Charitable donations were an important part of Genoese culture & society, & later in chapter 3 the author analyzes the trend of Genoese charity, in the form of bequests, during the periods 1205-1226 & 1227-1253, & he provides a pair of itemized charts augmenting his research that breaks down the different causes to which the Genoese donated, whether the testator was male or female, & the average amount of the bequest. At the end of the chapter Epstein juxtaposes the economic value versus the cost of acquiring Andora, a fortified castle & town in the Riviera Ponente purchased by the commune from the heirs of the Marchese Bonifazio of Cravesana in 1252, offering convincing data which adds up to a comparatively meagre yearly profit of L122s.18d.9 weighed against a staggering purchase price of L8000.

Among the topics canvassed in Chapter 4, The Captains of the People is Genoa's shifting relationship with Charles of Anjou, Count of Anjou & Provence. The commune came into conflict with Charles over a coastal city, Ventimiglia, which lay close to the western border of their Ligurian state, with both powers claiming suzerainty over the territory, but an agreement was eventually reached & a treaty signed in 1269. Epstein proceeds to briefly describe the French potentate's one-sided campaign to wrest control of Naples & Sicily from Conradin of Hohenstaufen, which ends on 29 October 1268, & then describes Genoa's subsequent discovery in 1272 that Charles in fact violated their treaty by plotting against the commune with Pope Innocent IV's nephew, Cardinal Ottobono Fieschi. This leads to a simultaneous invasion of the Riviera Levante by Charles of Anjou & his Lombard confederates from beyond the Alps which was pushed back by the Genose Captains of the People, Oberto Spinola & Oberto Doria, & ultimately was to drag on for another four years, until another treaty was finally signed in 1276 & confirmed by Pope Adrian V, one of the few notable acts of his short pontificate. Much of this chapter is concerned with a detailed exploration of medieval Genoese culture, prose, & historiography, highlighting figures & written works notable in this field such as Giobanni Balbi's Catholicon, the histories of Jacopo Doria, & the verse of a mysterious Genoese elegist known only as the Anonymous Poet. Genoa's culture was varied & diverse, a product of its maritime location & its mercantile background, & in the following passage, Professor Epstein describes some of the cultural influences that the city experienced towards the end of the thirteenth century: "By the 1280's & 1290's hundreds of merchants, sailors, & soldiers had visited places as diverse as Bruges, Southampton, Safi, Caffa, & Alexandria. This collective travel taught the Genoese about languages & the different customs of people in matters of dress & food. In this light Genoese culture was always practical & eclectic; its people needed to know how to get on in commerce, & they adopted bits of foreign practices that seemed sensible & rewarding."

In Chapter 5, Long Live the People, the Merchants, & the Doge: 1311-1370, Epstein discusses a variety of topics which include the gradual evolution of the Genoese government from a traditional commune to a dogeship, Genoa's civil war which lasted from 1314-1331, & the overall effect on the city-state's economy of the outbreak of the Bubonic Plague in 1347. A series of costly military campaigns against Pisa & Venice had caused Genoa's public debt to reach an almost unmanageable size, & in order to relieve this crisis the city had to search for newer & more effective solutions in an effort to pay it all off. The author describes some of the measures taken by the city, & also mentions the difficulty as a historian in following the flow of money during that period, in the following excerpt: "Like other cities in crisis, the Genoese devised new taxes to create fresh revenues that could serve as pledges for more debt. For instance, someone decided that taxing paving stones, bricks, & roof tiles was a good way to capture some revenue & benefit from the city's building boom. Unfortunately, the officials did not provide any figures on the income from these taxes, singly or collectively. But their thinking is evident: the state's first priority was to guarantee that its creditors would be paid." Eventually, so many public debts, known as comparas, were created by the government auctioning off taxes & imposing forced loans on the wealthy that all of the rich creditors & shareholders were essentially running Genoa as it was, & in order to safeguard their investments & outstanding loans they used a tremendous amount of capital to found a landmark institution, the Casa di San Giorgio, or Bank of Saint George, & thus the bank & the Genoese government became inseparable entities, their destinies both intertwined with the fate of the city. This process of converting the old debts into the new shares which were governed by the bank was a complicated procedure that took four years & involved transferring six existing comparas with interest rates ranging from 8%-10% into one huge compara, the compara of San Giorgio, with a lower rate of 7%, which lost the wealthy shareholders a small amount of revenue but gained them the security of knowing that the loans would eventually be paid back. Eventually, the Casa di San Giorgio began trading shares of the public debt of their neighboring city of Florence, called the Florentine monte, which means, 'mountain', but Epstein also mentions that all of the debt trading between cities did not infect the period's ethos.

The final two chapters discuss such topics as the brief period of French rule, which was characterized by the heavy-handed administration of Jean Le Meignre. The popular unrest which arose in Genoa as a result of it, as Bouicialt's policies suppressed the popular political faction, the popolo, who had both Guelf & Ghibelline partisans & favored Genoese self-governance. The final chapter, To Throw Away a Thousand Worlds covers the rise of Christopher Columbus & the complex political scenario which ultimately led to Andrea Doria's 1528 coup d'état, an event that forever changed the fabric of Genoa's government from a commune to a republic. Overall, Steven A. Epstein's Genoa & the Genoese, 958-1528 is an outstanding medieval history of an Italian city-state that is often overlooked in favor of its more popular neighbors, Venice, Florence, & Milan. It should find appeal with both history enthusiasts & newcomers to the genre who are simply curious to learn more about Genoa. Epstein does a magnificent job in this book of organizing his information in a way that makes sense & presenting it in a compelling narrative format which makes following Genoa's exciting story very enjoyable. The additional features such as the informative maps & the myriad detailed charts depicting key statistics add immeasurably to the learning experience, & this period covered in this volume, 958-1528, render it a wonderful companion to Professor Thomas Allison Kirk's 2005 Genoa & the Sea: Policy & Power in an Early Modern Maritime Republic, 1559-1684. I hope you enjoyed the review, thank you so much for reading!

[Miles Cameron · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very solid, well-written, well-paced piece of general history that offers a dynamic account of a complex subject. The author eschews lengthy rambles on, for example, the Guelfs and the Ghibbelines to concentrate on a few major themes in the history of Genoa, and he does a brilliant job. Also provides an excellent bibliography. I grant this book is probably not suitable for those with no background in Medieval Italy. Shrug.

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

There seems to be a difficult narrative thread running through Genoese history which Steven Epstein struggles to pull up from the sea bed.

What floats on the surface seems to be a series of loosely connected revolts, conflicts and changes to monetary policy which are difficult to make sense of. Epstein occasionally redeems this with prolonged analysis of the sourcework which reveals a warren of dark streets bloodied with factional conflict between the warring families of Genoa and the Guelf/Ghibbeline supporters, as well as some broader chords of Italian and Mediterranean history.

However these salient points often go underdeveloped, leaving the reader unsatisfied. There was a brief part on Genovese ecology and how the Genovese did not want to lose their forests to the lumber industry which built ships, and just as this point begins to get interesting Epstein quickly changes tracks and moves onto something else.

If you can fight your way through the reeds, Epstein manages to shine a light on the economic history of this oft overlooked city, and there are undoubtedly helpful things to be garnered from this text. However, readers of economic and social history will be disappointed that Epstein seems unable to paint a proper Alltagsgeschichte, and so the faces of the Genovese fail to coalesce with any meaningful sense of clarity on the window.

[Erik Champenois · Rating 3 out of 5]

A decent overview of Genoese history from 958-1528, although not particularly well written and one that could have used greater clarity of organization and more analysis of particularly important events and developments. Genoa was one of the most important Italian city states of the period, often competing with Venice in particular, as well as with other city-states. Genoa had territorial and commercial power throughout the Mediterranean and even in Crimea, and had to engage and balance with the Holy Roman Emperor, the Papacy, the French, the Spanish, and the rest of Italy. The city also experienced a significant amount of internal conflict and the Genoese don't generally come off as well behaved, often asking outsiders to rule and restore peace. The author covers slavery in Genoese society, arguing that Columbus being Genoese made slavery in the Western hemisphere an earlier and more brutal development than might otherwise have been the case. All in all, a good book to get a feel for Genoese history, though not as well-written or well organized as I would have liked.

[Jonathan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm shocked, actually, that this only took a little over a month to read -- it felt like six! I appreciated the partial focus on slavery, which ties in with some other books I've been reading on slavery in the Mediterranean during the same time period. Getting through all the financial samples was a lot of work for me. But I will never again have trouble remembering (as I always have before) which side were the Guelfs and which the Ghibellines!

[Rusty del Norte · Rating 3 out of 5]

A survey of medieval Genoa. Lots of tidbits that can enhance information you already have. But by itself it jumps around at to try to connect individuals and families. Much of it needs more fleshing out.

[Jule · Rating 5 out of 5]

I could find no other book about medieval Genoa, so this is my go-to on that topic. Please tell me if you know some other book or article or anything, really.

[Deniss Ojastu · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a solid book on the Medieval history of one of the greatest naval powers of the Mediterranean in the 11-13th centuries. I read it as part of preparation for the trip to the region of Italy Liguria and did not regret it. I particularly liked the economic analysis of how Genoese managed to have quite a large scope of merchant and military activities despite coming from rather limited geographical area. Co-financing ship voyages, spreading the risks, issuing and selling shares in overseas enterprises - all these traits of the modern capitalism were already present in Medieval Genoese Republic.

It was also interesting to follow how the internal strife among various noble clans have ultimately led to demise of the Republic. At times, it was tiresome to follow all the feuds and family names involved - especially towards the end of the book. But otherwise, the book is based on a substantial research of the preserved documents of that time, is quite well-written and sets the right focus in the analysis of Genoa's history.

[José Augusto Miranda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good book on medieval Genoa. Epstein goes for economic, a lot of politics, and some cultural and religious aspects of the city. Very well researched although too much detailed on the many political upheavels this incredible city lived through in medieval times and renaissance. If this abundance of details serves well for research (my case), It makes the reading very dry, dull and hard to follow for general reader interested in the city's history.

[AskHistorians]

An excellent survey of the most powerful Italian merchant republic of medieval Italy after Venice. Focuses on the citizens of the city, rather than their activities abroad (although there is quite a bit of that in there as well) as other histories do. EXCELLENT ENDNOTES!