the disintegration of the empire 87
the men of the republic thus appeared to have exhausted all moral and
practical means to address the besetting problem of the muslim barrier
in the east.121
appearances were deceptive, however, since—as marino sanudo, a keen
observer of medieval commerce and merchants, observed—when merchants
find one road closed, they “consider, search and find another.”122 after the
genoese lost any hope of reaching central asia and the indian ocean via
the well-guarded fertile crescent, they went ahead nevertheless.
in order to reach the distant sources of wealth, they had somehow to
bypass the semi-circle of the eastern mediterranean coast, which the sul-
tan of cairo had closed to outsiders. geographically, they had two options:
go either by the atlantic, or by the Black sea. driven by the entrepreneur-
ial spirit for which they were famous, the genoese tried both routes—
with entirely different results.
the first attempt to discover a Westward route to india dates from
1291, by the brothers Ugolino and vadino vivaldi, close relatives of admi-
ral Zaccaria. the year, and the family connection, point to a causal con-
nection between this venture and the outcome of the genoese-mamluk
war. although the two galleys which set out to explore new horizons were
swallowed without trace by the vast atlantic, they stand for the vitality
of the republic which would, two centuries later, produce christopher
columbus.123
121 the extent to which the fervour stirred up by rabban Bar sauma’s embassy had
given way to apathy is evident in the treatment accorded to Buscarello de’ghizolfi, one of
the most zealous promoters of the ilkhanid-genoese alliance, when he bore an identical
message calling to arms against the mamluks. the ilkhan arghun’s ambassador was given
the cold shoulder in his native city, and returned to persia accompanied by an english visi-
tor (desimoni, Conti, pp. 20 ff.; petech, “marchands,” p. 563; sinor, “mongols,” pp. 534–535;
papacostea, “gênes,” p. 217). nor was the new attitude dictated by a momentary loss of
nerve, but was the republic’s enduring policy, forged in the turbulent year 1290. this fixed
policy even withstood the wave of enthusiasm which the ilkhan ghazan’s victory over
the mamluks in syria in 1300 unleashed in the ligurian republic. high-born ladies were
offering up their jewels to finance a new expedition overseas. the government however
was unmoved by such patriotic sacrifice, and would not jeopardise its good relations with
egypt. this stubbornness led to the abandonment of the last tremor of anti-mamluk senti-
ment in genoa, which was called (probably without ironic intent) the ‘women’s crusade’
(lopez, Genova, p. 245, papacostea, “gênes,” pp. 218, 223).
122 sanudo/Bongars, p. 23: Nam quando mercimonia constringuntur vel impediuntur tal-
iter quod conduci nequeant aliquo per vnam viam, mercatores ad vtilitatem suam vigilantes,
cogitant, perquirunt & inveniunt viam aliam, per quam illa conducunt ad locum ipsum.
123 the most important sources on this expedition are collected in henning, Terrae, iii,
pp. 119–132; cf. also lopez, “luci,” pp. 104–112 (the section ‘i vivaldi e le indie’), papacostea,
“gênes,” p. 219.