War of Curzola
War of Curzola | |||||||
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Part of the Venetian–Genoese wars | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
Republic of Venice |
Republic of Genoa Byzantine Empire (1295) | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Pietro Gradenigo Roger Morosini Giovanni Soranzo Andrea Dandolo † |
Lamba Doria Andronikos II | ||||||
Strength | |||||||
40 war galleys 95 vessels | 165 galleys | ||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
65 vessels destroyed 9,000 killed 5,000 captured | unknown |
The War of Curzola was fought between the Republic of Venice and the Republic of Genoa due to increasing hostile relations between the two Italian republics. Spurred largely by a need for action following the commercially devastating Fall of Acre, Genoa and Venice were both looking for ways to increase their dominance in the Eastern Mediterranean and Black Sea. Following the expiration of a truce between the republics, Genoese ships continually harassed Venetian merchants in the Aegean Sea.[1]
In 1295, Genoese raids on the Venetian quarter in Constantinople further escalated the tensions, resulting in a formal declaration of war by the Venetians in the same year. A steep decline in Byzantine-Venetian relations, following the Fourth Crusade, resulted in Byzantine Empire favouring the Genoese in the conflict.
The Byzantines entered the war on the Genoan side. While the Venetians made swift advances into the Aegean and Black Seas, the Genoans exercised dominance throughout the war, finally besting the Venetians in the Battle of Curzola in 1298, with a truce being signed the next year.[2]
Background
The
Since the
Course of the War
Venice soon arranged a fleet of 40 war galleys. Captained by Roger Morosini, he sailed to Constantinople soon after the declaration of war and attempted to break the Genoese blockade. He soon captured the Golden Horn, Constantinople's inner harbour, and began attempts to take the city, targeting all Genoese and Greek shipping moving through the harbour. Andronikos, remembering the Fourth Crusade and fearing he would lose the city, soon made peace with Venice, arranging for the release of all imprisoned Venetians and the swift return of their confiscated property. Another Venetian fleet soon departed, this time captained by Giovanni Soranzo.[4]
The goal of this fleet was to attempt to actually break past the Genoan Bosphorus and get into the Black Sea itself. Soranzo was successful. He managed to break the blockade and sail into the Black Sea to
Finally, in 1298, the Genoans decisively engaged the Venetians off the coast of Curzola (modern Korčula). In the Battle of Curzola, the Genoese navy won a clear victory, managing to sink 65 of the Venetians' 95 vessels, killing 9,000 Venetians and capturing another 5,000. The next year, the Genoans and the Venetians arranged an uneasy treaty, putting an inconclusive end to the four year war.[5]
References
- ^ Hazlitt 1900, pp. 464–466, Volume 1, Battle of Curzola.
- ^ Ostrogorsky 1969, p. 418.
- ^ Madden 2012, p. 180.
- ^ a b c Madden 2012, p. 181.
- ^ Madden 2012, pp. 181–182.
Bibliography
- Hazlitt, William Carew (1900). The Venetian Republic. A. and C. Black, London.
- Ostrogorsky, George (1969). History of the Byzantine State. Rutgers University Press. ISBN 0-8135-0599-2.
- Madden, Thomas (2012). Venice: A New History. Penguin Group. ISBN 978-0147509802.