Book contents
- Frontmatter
- BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE
- PREFACE
- Contents
- LIST OF PLATES
- I A FLOATING REPUBLIC
- II THE EXPULSION OF MOGAHID FROM SARDINIA
- III THE EXPEDITIONS AGAINST PALERMO AND MEHDIA
- IV THE FIRST CRUSADE
- V THE BALEARIC EXPEDITION
- VI WAR WITH GENOA
- VII THE WAR WITH THE NORMANS
- VIII INTO THE VORTEX
- IX PISAN COLONIES
- X FREDERICK BARBAROSSA
- XI EXPULSION OF THE GENOESE FROM CONSTANTINOPLE
- XII BARISONE OF ARBOREA
- XIII RAINALD OF COLOGNE
- XIV GENOA AND LUCCA AGAINST PISA
- XV CHRISTIAN OF MAYENCE
- XVI THE COMMUNES DEPRIVED OF THEIR CONTADI
- XVII PISA AND THE EMPEROR HENRY VI
- XVIII ‘THE GREAT REFUSAL’
- XIX PISA UNDER THE GOVERNMENT OF THE CONSULS
- XX CONSORTERIE GENTILIZIE
- XXI FROM CONSULS TO POTESTA
- BIBLIOGRAPHICAL APPENDIX
- INDEX
- Plate section
- Frontmatter
- BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE
- PREFACE
- Contents
- LIST OF PLATES
- I A FLOATING REPUBLIC
- II THE EXPULSION OF MOGAHID FROM SARDINIA
- III THE EXPEDITIONS AGAINST PALERMO AND MEHDIA
- IV THE FIRST CRUSADE
- V THE BALEARIC EXPEDITION
- VI WAR WITH GENOA
- VII THE WAR WITH THE NORMANS
- VIII INTO THE VORTEX
- IX PISAN COLONIES
- X FREDERICK BARBAROSSA
- XI EXPULSION OF THE GENOESE FROM CONSTANTINOPLE
- XII BARISONE OF ARBOREA
- XIII RAINALD OF COLOGNE
- XIV GENOA AND LUCCA AGAINST PISA
- XV CHRISTIAN OF MAYENCE
- XVI THE COMMUNES DEPRIVED OF THEIR CONTADI
- XVII PISA AND THE EMPEROR HENRY VI
- XVIII ‘THE GREAT REFUSAL’
- XIX PISA UNDER THE GOVERNMENT OF THE CONSULS
- XX CONSORTERIE GENTILIZIE
- XXI FROM CONSULS TO POTESTA
- BIBLIOGRAPHICAL APPENDIX
- INDEX
- Plate section
Summary
The year 1119 marks the definite beginning of the long struggle between the Communes of Pisa and Genoa. The immediate cause of the war seems to have been the privilege of Gelasius II; but, in no circumstances could hostilities have been long averted. The Tyrrhenian Sea was too narrow for more than one mistress; the interests and ambitions of the two cities clashed continually, and, thanks to the prestige which Pisa's earlier triumphs had won her, Genoa was being steadily relegated to a position of commercial inferiority. There was but one alternative: she must either destroy the sea-power of Pisa or be herself destroyed by it. And here her geographical position served her well. The barren mountains which cut her off from territorial extension inland also formed a well-nigh impregnable rampart against attack; strategically she was to all intents and purposes an island, and, once she had established her authority over the two Riviere, the only outlet which was left to her was the sea. Nature had forced upon her an unity of aim which did much to insure success. The case of Pisa was very different. Without a single great natural harbour and with no mountain barrier on the landward side, she was continually tempted to territorial acquisitions and continually distracted by land warfare.
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- A History of PisaEleventh and Twelfth Centuries, pp. 71 - 81Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2010First published in: 1921