Battle of Chioggia

Last updated
Battle of Chioggia
Part of the War of Chioggia
DateJune 24, 1380
Location
Result Venetian victory
Belligerents
Flag of Genoa.svg Republic of Genoa Flag of Most Serene Republic of Venice.svg Republic of Venice
Commanders and leaders
Pietro Doria  
Matteo Maruffo
Carlo Zeno
Vettor Pisani
Doge Andrea Contarini
Strength
23 galleys under Pietro Doria
Genoese reinforcements [1]
34 galleys under Pisani and Contarini, 14 galleys under Zeno [2]
Casualties and losses
Destruction of much of the Genoese fleet [3]
4,000 men captured [3]
17 galleys captured [3]
_

The Battle of Chioggia was a naval battle during the War of Chioggia that culminated on June 24, 1380 in the lagoon off Chioggia, Italy, between the Venetian and the Genoese fleets. [4] The Genoese, commanded by Admiral Pietro Doria, had captured the little fishing port in August the preceding year. [4]

Contents

The port was of no consequence, but its location at an inlet to the Venetian Lagoon threatened Venice at her very doorstep. The Venetians, under Vettor Pisani and Doge Andrea Contarini, were victorious thanks in part to the fortunate arrival of Carlo Zeno at the head of a force from the east. [4] [5] The Venetians both captured the town and turned the tide of the war in their favor. A peace treaty signed in 1381 in Turin gave no formal advantage to Genoa or Venice, but it spelled the end of their long competition: Genoese shipping was not seen in the Adriatic Sea after Chioggia. [6] [5] This battle was also significant in the technologies used by the combatants. [7]

Background

By the fourteenth century, interregional trade had seen a very large increase, aided in part by improved navigational and naval technologies as well as by the collapsing Byzantine empire. [5] The northern Italian cities of Genoa and Venice were well placed to foster this trade that extended east through the Mediterranean to Constantinople, the Middle East, and the Black Sea, as well as north through the Strait of Gibraltar to the Baltic Sea. [5] [8] Common goods that were traded in the region included timber, metals, weapons, slaves, salt, spices, and grain. [8] Grain from the Black Sea region became increasingly important to feed the growing urban populace of the city-states and support the growing naval merchant class, with most grain imports coming through the ports at Caffa in modern-day Crimea and Chios in the eastern Aegean Sea. [8] Throughout this period both Genoa and Venice became ever more entrenched in trade, building considerable naval forces to protect their interests and battling for trade dominance in a series of sporadic wars that largely culminated with Chioggia. [5]

Lead-up to the battle

Since 1372, Venice and Genoa had been engaged along with their respective allies in the War of Chioggia, the fourth Genoese War. [5] In 1378, when full-scale hostilities occurred in earnest, Venetian Captain General of the Sea Vettor Pisani was sent with a fleet of 14 galleys to attack Genoese waters. [9] It is worth noting that throughout the War of Chioggia, the sizes of the fleet of both sides were relatively small compared to other wars. [9] This is a sign that the plagues and general slump of the mid-fourteenth century had weakened both cities. [9]

After some moderately successful campaigning, Pisani requested to return home to refit his ships but was denied by the Venetian leadership. [9] He was ordered to spend the winter near Pola in modern Croatia. [9] There he was led into a trap by an attacking Genoese fleet in which he was outnumbered and saw most of his fleet destroyed. [9]

The Genoese pressed their advantage and sent their force towards Venice, burning towns and capturing ships as they went along the Lido. [9] In August 1379, they, along with an allied force from Padua, moved into the Venetian Lagoon and captured the small port of Chioggia, right at the doorstep of Venice itself. [9]

Battle

After the loss of Chioggia, Venice asked the Genoese to negotiate, but they replied that they would only do so after they had “bridled the horses of San Marco”. [9] Apparently they intended to attack Venice, but decided to secure themselves at Chioggia for fear of navigating the lagoon. [6] Venice responded by mobilizing every resource it could muster, using forced loans and mass conscription to assemble and arm a force of galleys 34 strong. [9]

Pisani, who had been imprisoned for his crushing defeat at Pola, was released after crowds took to the streets demanding that he be put back in command. [6] He served as executive officer under the Doge himself, who took command as Captain General. [9] After training the new conscripts, who were mostly craftsmen, the new fleet executed Pisani's plan to turn the besieging Genoese into the besieged. [9]

On the night of December 22, the Venetian force sunk barges laden with stones in the canals and channels leading to the lagoon, blocking the supply lines and escape of the Genoese occupying Chioggia. [9] The Venetian ships could more readily navigate the smaller canals, and so they blocked the larger ones, using a small land force at Chioggia as a distraction while they worked. [6] The Venetians spent the next five months struggling to defend the barriers from Genoese attacks, while the Genoese's supplies dwindled. [9] Carlo Zeno, who had been using his force of 14 well-equipped galleys to capture undefended Genoese ships in the east, arrived in January, greatly bolstering the Venetians’ efforts. [9] Gradually they secured every entrance to the lagoon. [9]

The Genoese sent reinforcements to aid their force in Chioggia, but the Venetians would not let them past their barriers, preventing them from entering the battle and dividing the Genoese force. [9] After the starving Genoese in Chioggia unsuccessfully attempted to bribe the Venetian mercenaries into their service, they surrendered on June 24, 1380. [9] Despite the victory at Chioggia, the Venetians then had to battle the rest of the Genoese forces until the Peace of Turin in 1381. [9]

Technology

The primary mode of naval warfare during this time in the Mediterranean was the galley ship, although its variants were also increasingly used as trade ships. [10] Its design effectively balanced carrying capacity and speed to create a ship well suited to many purposes. [10] These were the main ships of war used during the battle, with the exception of the barges sunk by Venice to blockade their lagoon.

This battle is of additional note because it was the first recorded use of ship-mounted gunpowder weapons being used in combat in Europe. [7] The Venetians, who were already using powder siege weapons on land, mounted small bombards to many of their galleys during the fight to keep the Genoese force cordoned off in Chioggia. [7] Although there is little known about these weapons, it is known that they were not used for ship-to-ship combat. [7] The weapons were far too inaccurate to be used against other ships, and instead were used to bombard enemy walls and fortifications. [7] The Genoese commander, Pietro Doria, was killed by a collapsing fortification that was hit by a ball fired from a Venetian galley. [9]

Aftermath

At the Peace of Turin, Venice made several concessions to the Genoese, including Tenedos, the original source of contention in the war. [6] [9] Nevertheless, the Genoese stopped their military and trade forays into most of the Mediterranean, perhaps as a result of their defeat combined with debts and domestic civil unrest. [11] Venice too was left with a great deal of debt, but crawled slowly out of it over the next few decades. [9]

Fernand Braudel sets the end of sporadic warfare between the two early centers of aquatic empire as a result of the economic retrenchment of the 14th century: "Perhaps the answer is that only prolonged prosperity and a rising tide of trade had made it possible to indulge for so long in battles which were fierce but not in the end mortal... Both major and minor wars had become too expensive a luxury. Peaceful coexistence would have to be the rule." [12]

Left with no major enemies, Venice expanded its power along both Adriatic coasts, posting a fleet at Corfu to guard the sea's entrance. [11] They increased their trade influence on the Greek Peloponnesus and greatly extended inland at home. [11] By 1400, Venice had 3000 ships, and in a population of 200,000 had 38,000 seamen. [13] Venice's system of aquatic economic domination is one that continued to surface even after its decline, with an example being Portugal's later domination of the seas around Africa and Asia. [14]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of Preveza</span> 1538 battle of the Third Ottoman–Venetian War

The Battle of Preveza was a naval engagement that took place on 28 September 1538 near Preveza in the Ionian Sea in northwestern Greece between an Ottoman fleet and that of a Holy League. The battle was an Ottoman victory which occurred in the same area in the Ionian Sea as the Battle of Actium in 31 BC. It was one of the three largest sea battles that took place in the sixteenth century Mediterranean, along with the Battle of Djerba and the Battle of Lepanto.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vettor Pisani</span> Venetian admiral

Vettor Pisani was a Venetian admiral.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">War of Chioggia</span> Conflict between Venice and Genoa from 1378 to 1381

The War of Chioggia was a conflict fought by the Republic of Genoa against the Republic of Venice between 1378 and 1381, the conclusion of an open confrontation that had lasted for years and which had already included some occasional and limited military clashes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of Meloria (1284)</span> Naval battle between Pisa and Genoa; decisive Genoan victory

The Battle of Meloria was fought near the islet of Meloria in the Ligurian Sea on 5 and 6 August 1284 between the fleets of the Republics of Genoa and Pisa as part of the Genoese-Pisan War. The victory of Genoa and the destruction of the Pisan fleet marked the decline of the Republic of Pisa.

The military history of the Republic of Venice started shortly after its founding, spanning a period from the 9th century until the Republic's fall in the 18th century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maritime republics</span> Sea-based city-states on the Italian peninsula and Dalmatia during the Middle Ages

The maritime republics, also called merchant republics, were Italian thalassocratic port cities which, starting from the Middle Ages, enjoyed political autonomy and economic prosperity brought about by their maritime activities. The term, coined during the 19th century, generally refers to four Italian cities, whose coats of arms have been shown since 1947 on the flags of the Italian Navy and the Italian Merchant Navy: Amalfi, Genoa, Pisa, and Venice. In addition to the four best known cities, Ancona, Gaeta, Noli, and, in Dalmatia, Ragusa, are also considered maritime republics; in certain historical periods, they had no secondary importance compared to some of the better known cities.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Venetian–Genoese wars</span> Series of territorial conflicts between Genoa and Venice (13th-14th centuries)

The Venetian–Genoese Wars were four conflicts between the Republic of Venice and the Republic of Genoa which took place between 1256 and 1381. Each were resolved almost entirely through naval clashes and connected to each other by interludes during which episodes of piracy and violence between the two Italian trading communities in the Mediterranean Sea and the Black Sea were commonplace, in a "cold war" climate.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carlo Zeno</span> Italian admiral

Carlo Zeno was an Italian admiral from Venice, who is considered a hero of the War of Chioggia against the Republic of Genoa.

The Peace of Turin of 1381, ended the War of Chioggia (1376–81), in which Venice, allied with Cyprus and Milan, had narrowly escaped capture by the forces of Genoa, Hungary, Austria, Padua and the Patriarchate of Aquileia. Venice had overcome this crisis, forcing the surrender of the Genoese fleet at Chioggia, fighting a second Genoese fleet to a standstill in the Adriatic, and turning Austria against Padua, thus forcing its most threatening landward opponent into retreat. However, the war had been extremely costly for Venice, and it was only able to secure peace by making major concessions to its opponents.

Oberto Doria was an Italian politician and admiral of the Republic of Genoa, ruling the republic as Capitano del popolo.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of Settepozzi</span> 1263 battle off the island of Spetses

The Battle of Settepozzi was fought in the first half of 1263 off the Greek island of Settepozzi between a Genoese–Byzantine fleet and a smaller Venetian fleet.

This article presents a detailed timeline of the history of the Republic of Venice from its legendary foundation to its collapse under the efforts of Napoleon.

Niccolò Pisani (fl.1350–1354) was a Venetian admiral renowned for his victories during the 14th Century War of the Straits between the Republic of Venice and its rival Italian republic, Genoa.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Venetian navy</span> Naval militants of the Venetian armed forces

The Venetian navy was the navy of the Venetian Republic which played an important role in the history of the republic and the Mediterranean world. It was the premier navy in the Mediterranean Sea for many centuries between the medieval and early modern periods, providing Venice with control and influence over trade and politics far in excess of the republic's size and population. It was one of the first navies to mount gunpowder weapons aboard ships, and through an organised system of naval dockyards, armouries and chandlers was able to continually keep ships at sea and rapidly replace losses. The Venetian Arsenal was one of the greatest concentrations of industrial capacity prior to the Industrial Revolution and responsible for the bulk of the republic's naval power.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of Gallipoli (1416)</span> Battle between Venice and the Ottoman Sultanate; upset Venetian victory

The Battle of Gallipoli occurred on 29 May 1416 between the fleets of the Republic of Venice and the Ottoman Empire off the port city of Gallipoli, the main Ottoman naval base. The battle was the main episode of a brief conflict between the two powers, resulting from Ottoman attacks against possessions and shipping of the Venetians and their allies in the Aegean Sea in 1414–1415. The Venetian fleet, under Pietro Loredan, was charged with transporting a Venetian embassy to the Ottoman sultan, but was authorized to attack if the Ottomans refused to negotiate. The subsequent events are known chiefly from a detailed letter written by Loredan after the battle.

The Battle of Modon was fought on 7 October 1403 between the fleets of the Republic of Venice and of the Republic of Genoa, then under French control, commanded by the French marshal Jean Le Maingre, better known as Boucicaut. One of the last clashes in the Venetian–Genoese wars, the battle ended in a decisive Venetian victory.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Genoese navy</span> Military unit

The Genoese navy was the naval contingent of the Republic of Genoa's military. From the 11th century onward the Genoese navy protected the interests of the republic and projected its power throughout the Mediterranean and Black Seas. It played a crucial role in the history of the republic as a thalassocracy and a maritime trading power.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of Trapani</span> 1266 battle of the War of Saint Sabas

The Battle of Trapani took place on 23 June 1266 off Trapani, Sicily, between the fleets of the Republic of Genoa and the Republic of Venice, as part of the War of Saint Sabas (1256–1270). During the war, the Venetians held the upper hand in naval confrontations, forcing the Genoese to resort to commerce raiding and avoiding fleet battles. In the 1266 campaign, the Genoese had an advantage in numbers, but this was not known to the Genoese commander, Lanfranco Borbonino. As a result, the Genoese tarried at Corsica until the end of May. The Venetian fleet under Jacopo Dondulo, was left to sail back and forth awaiting the appearance of the Genoese fleet in the waters around southern Italy and Sicily. Fearing that the other side had more ships, both sides reinforced their fleets with additional ships, but the Genoese retained a small numerical advantage.

The Battle of Saseno took place on 14 August 1264 near Saseno Island off the coast of Albania, between a fleet of the Republic of Genoa and a trade convoy of the Republic of Venice, during the War of Saint Sabas. Since the outbreak of the war in 1256, the Genoese had experienced only defeats in direct confrontations with the Venetian navy, and had therefore resorted to raiding the Venetian commerce convoys to the Levant that were critical to the Venetian economy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Byzantine–Venetian treaty of 1268</span> Temporary peace treaty

In 1268, the Byzantine Empire and the Republic of Venice agreed to temporarily end hostilities which had erupted after the Byzantine recovery of Constantinople by Emperor Michael VIII Palaiologos in 1261.

References

  1. Sanderson, Michael W. B. Sea Battles: a Reference Guide. 1st American ed. Middletown, Conn., Wesleyan University Press, 1975, p. 140.
  2. Lane, Frederic Chapin. Venice, a Maritime Republic. Baltimore, Johns Hopkins University Press, 1973, pp. 193–194
  3. 1 2 3 Sanderson, Michael W. B. Sea Battles: a Reference Guide. 1st American ed. Middletown, Conn., Wesleyan University Press, 1975, p. 51.
  4. 1 2 3 "Carlo Zeno". Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 2015. Web. 10 Mar. 2015 <http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/656525/Carlo-Zeno>.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Pemsel, Helmut. A History of War At Sea : an Atlas and Chronology of Conflict At Sea From Earliest Times to the Present. [1st English language ed., fully rev.] [Annapolis, Md.]: Naval Institute Press, 1977.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 Hattendorf, John B, and Richard W. Unger. War at Sea in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. Woodbridge, Suffolk, UK: Rocherster, NY, 2003. Print.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 Guilmartin, John Francis. "The Earliest Shipboard Gunpowder Ordnance: An Analysis of Its Technical Parameters and Tactical Capabilities." The Journal of Military History 71.3 (2007): 649-69. Web.
  8. 1 2 3 McNeill, William Hardy. Venice, the Hinge of Europe, 1081-1797. Chicago, University of Chicago Press, 1974, p. 20-53.
  9. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 Lane, Frederic C. VENICE, A MARITIME REPUBLIC. N.p.: Johns Hopkins UP, 1973. p. 192-196 Print.
  10. 1 2 Dotson, John E. "Merchant and Naval Influences on Galley Design." Ed. Craig L. Symonds. New Aspects of Naval History : Selected Papers Presented At the Fourth Naval History Symposium, United States Naval Academy, 25–26 October 1979 (1981): 20-31. Print.
  11. 1 2 3 Reynolds, Clark G. Navies In History. Annapolis, Md.: Naval Institute Press, 1998.
  12. Braudel, The Perspective of the World (1984), p. 118
  13. Potter, E. B, Roger Fredland, and Henry Hitch Adams. Sea Power : a Naval History. 2nd ed. Annapolis, Md.: Naval Institute Press, 1981.
  14. Brockey, Liam Matthew. Portuguese Colonial Cities In the Early Modern World. Farnham, Surrey, England: Ashgate, 2008, p. XV