The Genoese  expedition to Chios and the conquest of the island in 1346.           

The republic of Genoa was experiencing various political changes and the political life was undergoing a serious period of disturbances. The resignation of the Doge Simone Boccanegra on 23 December 1345 had caused confusion, mainly due to the conflict between intrinseci that is the citizens of the town and the estrinseci the rebels outside the city walls of Genoa (see map 1). The political party of the popolari or commoners’ party, which at that time was representing the most powerful group of citizens in Genoa, managed to take control of the situation. Two days after Boccanegra’s resignation, a new Doge was elected on Christmas day of 1345, which was officially proclaimed by the Anziani in the Cathedral church of San Lorenzo (see photo group I). The new Doge, Giovanni Murta was a man of high political reputation, prudent and cultured, with outstanding administration skills that soon after his election took action as the political circumstances demanded.

 After a failed attempt -due to the military intervention of the popolari- to enter the city walls and occupy the suburbs of Genoa, the exiles estrinseci, who were under the command of the families of Grimaldi, Spinola, Fieschi and Doria, agreed with the arbitration of the Lord of Milan Luchino Visconti and the mediation of a papal legate to sign a truce on 18 June 1345. The terms of the peace agreement were signed by the Doge and specified that the exiles-rebels apart from very few exceptions were given amnesty. The terms of the amnesty allowed the exiles to return to their homes and have their properties fully restored. Thus, peace and stability were established in the whole of the Riviera del Ponente (the Ligurian coast West to Genoa), with the exception of Monaco and Roccabrun that remained under the command of the Grimaldi family (see photo 2) that had used them for a long period of time as refuge and rallying points protecting the interests of the exiled members of the Genoese nobility. 

At the beginning of 1346, the Doge and his Council were informed that the exiles in Monaco (see map 2) had managed to assemble a fleet of thirty galleys and organize an army of ten thousand men. The reaction of the Genoese government was immediate. They decided, as a precautionary measure, to equip galleys under the command of an appointed executive committee. The committee invited individuals that were willing to fund the proposed expedition individually, accepting the responsibility of arming and equipping of the galleys at their own expenses given that the public Treasury could not afford the cost. After negotiations regarding the terms of the agreement and the required deposits requested as guarantees for fulfilling their obligation twenty-nine citizens (three nobles and twenty-six popolari) accepted the challenge at their private cost and presented themselves before the committee and twenty nine galleys were thus armed. 

The command of the fleet was given to Simone Vignoso, a brave and popular man that received the colours of the expedition by the Doge of Genoa in the Piazza of San Lorenzo in front of a huge assembly of Genoese citizens on 22 January 1346. On 24 April of the same year, the armada sailed from the harbour in an attempt to pursue the rebels and fulfill its mission. The exiles at Monaco heard about the approach of the armada fled by sea and took refuge in Marseilles (see map 2). The escape of the rebels automatically rendered the armada useless, far from its original purpose of action and left the Genoese government with the obligation of compensating for the implicated expenses. The payment of an indemnity to the ship-owners was beyond the resources of the Treasury, but a refusal to at least partly cover the expenses would have resulted to an influential opposition and lack of trust that would definitely have discouraged the people of Genoa to assist the State in the future.

Hence, it was proposed not to disband the fleet, but to change its destination and course of action. It was decided to send it on a new mission to the Near East. The new orders were to guard the Genoese possessions in those waters and give assistance to Kaffa that was besieged by the Tartars (see map 2). The fleet remained under the command of admiral Vignoso and set sail for the Levant on 3 May. On its way the fleet arrived in Terracina that accepted its submission to the Commune of Genoa and liberated Sessa before arriving directly to Euboea on 8 June 1346 (see map 2), where it encountered the ships of a new Papal league under the commands of Humbert Delfini (or Dauphin of Vienne), a rather mediocre person that intended to sail for Smyrna so as to continue the work begun by Martino Zaccaria that had captured Smyrna from Oumour back in 1344. He thought that Chios would provide a suitable base for his operations in Smyrna and for this reason asked permission from Pope Clement VI to occupy Chios for three years. By that time Simone Vignoso had intervened. Humbert asked Vignoso to collaborate with him but he refused. Vignoso replied that Chios was a Genoese colony, which had fallen temporarily under Byzantine influence through treachery, an argument that was not true because Zaccaria had always kept Chios under Byzantine sovereignty. Humbert, in an attempt to persuade him, he offered him a bribe of 10,000 gold florins and 50,000 for the shipowners that participated in the expedition, but his offer was rejected without a second thought.

Simone Vignoso decided to set sail for Chios taking advantage of the political crisis of the Byzantine Empire and the internal struggles between Palaiologi and Cantacuzene that followed the death of Andronikos III. Initially, three galleys were sent ahead of the fleet to condemn Humbert’s scheme and offer the protection of the Genoese fleet to the Governor of the island Calojanni Cibo (Ziffo) and the island itself under the condition that the Genoese flag of Saint George should be flown from the fortifications of Chios. Cibo acting on behalf of the Greek nobility that was in charge of governing the island, without a second thought rejected Vignoso’s proposal and he declared ready to repel any assaults against Chios.

Admiral Vignoso arrived at Chios on 15 June and gave the order to attack, but as he entered the harbour the fleet encountered the first manifestations of Chian resistance in the form of arrows, javelins and stones. Nevertheless, the Genoese managed to establish a bridge-head from which they had access by the sea to the town of Chios. The town was attacked also by land and Vignoso’s soldiers advanced into it, where fierce street fighting started with the Greeks that fought bravely and caused 500 casualties in dead alone to the Genoese that managed to occupy the town by the end of the day.

The days that followed, the Genoese landed at Cape Mastic and occupied six nearby fortifications and by 21 June 1346 the whole island apart from the main fortification of the town was under Genoese control. Cibo had withdrawn his garrison inside the castle awaiting the Genoese attack. The harbour was blocked with a chain and Vignoso’s men built up outside the castle a surrounding wall far higher than the ramparts running from the torrent near the Church of Saint Isidore to the entrance of the harbour. Thus Cibo was isolated from the outer world both by sea and land. By 12 September 1346, the garrison was overcome by hanger and forced to surrender and sign a treaty in the church of Saint Nicholas inside the fortress, which was to govern the relationship between the Genoese and the Greeks of Chios (see map 3).

In return for the surrender of the fort, the Genoese Commune received Cibo as a citizen of Genoa, while Cibo promised to be loyal to the Commune. In addition, Cibo was entitled to retain his political power granted to him by the prostagmata or golden bulls of the Byzantine Emperor, but he had to transfer to the Commune the obligations that he previously had to the Emperor. Cibo was also granted complete freedom of action and amnesty and was allowed to keep all his inherited or purchased possessions including even the monastery of Santa Maria (Sikelia) that was under his patronage (see photo group 3). He was finally offered a stipend of 7,000 perperi per annum that was to be paid by the revenues of Chios in three installments and exempted along with his brother Costa and nephew Michael Coressi from all kinds of taxation imposed by the Commune for life. All Greeks were given amnesty too and could retain and continue to possess freely all their movable property and real estate, but they had to be loyal to Commune and not to the Emperor. The same applied to Clergy, monasteries and churches that they were subject to the Commune and the Greek population was free to remain undisturbed in its customs and in the exercise of its faith.

Four days after the settlement in Chios, Vignoso set sail for Phocaea on 16 September 1346. The town had been governed by the families of Zaccaria and the Cattaneo after its re-conquest by emperor Andronikos III back in 1336. The inhabitants -under the commands of Leon Petronas- refused to surrender, but the Genoese managed to overcome their resistance within four hours of siege and a treaty was signed soon after. Old and New Phocaea (9 km north-east of the Old city, see map 2) were under the control of the Genoese and Vignoso appointed Calojanni Cibo, as governor (Podesta’) of both places appointed by Genoa. Vignoso’s fleet left Chios for Genoa between 8 and 10 October without being disturbed by the Imperial regiment under the commands of Theophylaktos that only managed to capture a few Genoese merchant ships.