Communes · Kingdom of Jerusalem · as at first light, 1 January 1200

Genoese

The Genoese have held a quarter in Acre since the early twelfth century, round their church of San Lorenzo, with their own court, market and tower.

Their ships helped Conrad of Montferrat hold Tyre in 1187 and carried Philip Augustus to Acre in 1191, and Conrad rewarded them with a quarter and exemptions at Tyre. Henry of Champagne favoured them over the Pisans, which helped set off the Pisan troubles of 1193. Under Aimery, the Pisans' patron, their standing is less warm; their privileges in 1200 are not pinned by a charter of his.

Who he is

Name
The commune of Genoa and its consuls or viscounts at Acre and Tyre (names not pinned)
Title
The Genoese commune overseas
Since
Early twelfth century (Acre); 1187 (Tyre, Conrad's grant)
Confidence
medium

General outline; Genoa's reward for supporting Conrad (History of Tyre); Henry of Champagne's favour to the Genoese (Henry of Champagne). Dated charters of the 1190s not checked.

Overlord

The commune of Genoa.

What it holds

  • The Genoese quarter at Acre (San Lorenzo).
  • The Genoese quarter at Tyre.

How it was acquired

Royal grants of the twelfth century; Conrad's grant at Tyre (1187).

Allies and rivals

Rivals of Pisa above all, and of Venice.

How things stand that morning

Present and self-governing in Acre and Tyre on 1 January 1200.

Wealth

Trade; no figures.

Military

Ships; the fortified quarter.

Threats

  • Pisan hostility.

Where the sources disagree

Evidence: The quarters are certain; their privileges in 1200 are known only in outline.

On the map: Quarters shown as small discs at approximate positions.

Primary sources for Kingdom of Jerusalem

Chronicles, registers, sagas and inscriptions written in or near 1200 that cover this entry. Each has its own page with editions, translations and where to read it.

  • The Book of the Two Gardens, on the Reigns of Nur al-Din and Saladin, and its Sequel, Abu Shama (Shihab al-Din Abd al-Rahman al-Maqdisi) (about 1240 to 1267, at Damascus). The Rawdatayn ends with Saladin's death in 1193 and matters for 1200 as the store of Imad al-Din al-Isfahani's lost al-Barq al-Shami and of al-Qadi al-Fadil's letters, quoted at length, which describe the Ayyubid princes, the Jazira and the frontier a few years earlier. Read online
  • The Chronicle of Ernoul and Bernard the Treasurer, Ernoul, squire of Balian of Ibelin, and later compilers (the 1187 core soon after the event; the whole in its present form 1227 to 1232). The Ibelin household's version of events in Outremer. Read online
  • The Old French Continuation of William of Tyre (Eracles), Anonymous continuators, the earliest drawing on Ernoul (about 1220 to 1277; the first continuation (1184 to 1197, the Lyon Eracles) compiled about 1230 from material of the 1190s). For the Latin East at 1200 it narrates the aftermath of the Third Crusade: the truce of 1192, the succession to Jerusalem through Queen Isabella's marriages to Henry of Champagne (died September 1197) and Aimery of Lusignan, Aimery's rule as king of Jerusalem from 1198 while king of Cyprus, the German crusade of 1197 to 1198 and the recovery of Beirut and Sidon, the truce with al-Adil of 1198, the Antioch succession quarrel between Bohemond IV and Leo of Armenia, and the Pisan plot against Aimery. Read online
  • Chronicle of Alberic of Trois-Fontaines, Alberic of Trois-Fontaines (about 1227 to 1241, at the Cistercian abbey of Trois-Fontaines in Champagne). The widest net of any Latin chronicle for 1200, compiled from dozens of sources, many now lost. Read online
  • The Chronicle of Smbat Sparapet (Sempad the Constable), Smbat Sparapet, brother of King Hetum I of Cilicia (about 1270 to 1276). The Cilician court chronicle, drawing on Matthew of Edessa for its early part and on family memory later. Read online
  • The Eloquent Exposition of the Conquest of Jerusalem, Imad al-Din al-Isfahani (al-Katib) (about 1192 to 1193). Saladin's secretary's ornate account of the conquest of Jerusalem and the Third Crusade, ending with Saladin's death in 1193. Read online
  • The Rare and Excellent History of Saladin, Baha al-Din Ibn Shaddad (after 1193, probably between about 1198 and 1228, at Aleppo). Ends with Saladin's death in March 1193 and so gives no event of 1200, but it is the formative portrait of the Ayyubid house of 1200: al-Adil, al-Afdal, al-Aziz and al-Zahir Ghazi as Saladin's lieutenants, the Mosul and Jazira campaigns, the war of Acre and the treaty of Jaffa of 1192. Read online
  • Calendar of the Acts of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, Various, calendared by Reinhold Rohricht (documents 1097 to 1291; calendar published 1893, Additamentum 1904). A chronological calendar of every charter, letter and treaty of the Latin East then known, with date, parties, witnesses and the edition where each is printed. Read online

7 more in the sources library for The Latin East and the Ayyubids.

Sources and studies

  1. History of Tyre, Lebanon (Wikipedia)
  2. Henry II of Champagne (Wikipedia)

Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.