Crusades and Crusaders in Medieval Greece 65
who defended Chios against the Turks.138 Reasonable though his appointment
in 1343 may appear based on these credentials, it was also a rather unfortu-
nate and tactless choice. His presence has been seen as one of the reasons for
Byzantium’s reluctance to participate in the crusade, even if a more important
factor was the Byzantine civil war at the time. The Byzantines had cause to be
suspicious. Martino seemed intent on using the opportunity to reclaim Chios
and Phocaea, and the pope felt compelled to issue prohibitions against any
such action. Clement vi clearly started to mistrust his appointee as he twice
instructed Henry of Asti, the papal legate with the crusade, to replace the cap-
tain if he was deemed unsuitable. Martino was killed during the operations
in Smyrna, in January 1345, before he had the chance to make any attempts to
gain control over his old domains; but Chios and Phocaea were captured by
another Genoese, Simone Vignoso, in the following year.139 Martino Zaccaria,
therefore, stands as an example of a crusader whose participation stemmed
from direct involvement in the area, and was most likely motivated by his own
territorial and commercial ambitions.
A very different group of crusaders were those who travelled to the East
looking for a chance to fight the infidels, to perform chivalrous deeds, or
merely for the sake of adventure, without any specific interest in the area of
engagement. A good example is Humbert ii of Vienne, the captain-general of
the second wave of the Crusade of Smyrna in 1345–47. Humbert undertook this
expedition for the most part at his own expense, both for the fleet and for the
soldiers he would take with him. The dauphin was a rich noble, and he seems
to have been motivated by a sincere desire to serve the Church while at the
same time boosting his prestige. In Setton’s words, “Humbert saw himself as a
paladin”.140 Humbert appears to have been enthusiastic for the Holy War, but
not a particularly competent commander. He achieved little in his time in the
Aegean, which was marked by indecisiveness and inefficiency, before heading
back to the West after less than two years, heavily in debt from his adventure.141
138 Mollat, Jean xxii, nos. 16977, 22117. See Mike Carr, “Trade or Crusade? The Zaccaria of
Chios and Crusades against the Turks,” in Contact and Conflict in Frankish Greece and the
Aegean, pp. 115–34.
139 Gatto, “Per la storia di Martino Zaccaria”; William Miller, “The Zaccaria of Phocaea and
Chios, 1275–1329,” The Journal of Hellenic Studies 31 (1911), 44–55; Housley, Avignon Papacy,
pp. 252–53.
140 Setton, Papacy, 1:195.
141 Claude Faure, “Le dauphin Humbert ii à Venise et en Orient (1345–1347),” Mélanges
d’archéologie et d’histoire 27 (1907), 509–62; Setton, Papacy, 1:195–212 (quotation at 195);
Housley, Avignon Papacy, pp. 253–57. A more positive assessment of Humbert by Mike
Carr, “Humbert of Viennois and the Crusade of Smyrna: A Reconsideration,” Crusades 13
(2014), 239–53.