The transitional period in Genoa after French rule, the Catalan threat and the Venetian assault on Chios. 1411-1432.

The French were loosing the control of Genoa and they were left with very few Ligurian territories in the west that sold to the Genoese and the Florentines. At the same time the Catalans were engaged in attacking the Genoese merchant ships and continued their hostilities by bombarding Chios in 1411. The struggle of Genoa against the Catalan pirates spread from the eastern to the western Mediterranean. The expenses involved in the preparations against pirates and rebels very soon exhausted the Treasury and in the absence of resources the Doge and his Council decided to extend the period of the allowance of Chios to the Mahonesi. The lease of the island was due to expire on 21 November 1418, but it was renewed for twenty nine years on 11 March 1413. The agreement clearly constituted an attempt for the Genoese to balance their finances and to continue to have rights over Chios and Phocaea with a redemption that could be made payable between 1445 and 1447.

Approximately, two years after the agreement with the Republic, the Mahonesi obtained the right to trade throughout the Ottoman Empire and agreed to pay in return a tribute of 4000 gold scudi per annum to the Sultan Mahomet I. The following years, political turbulence and hostilities in Genoa led to another crisis that was utilized by the Milanese, who eventually obliged the Republic to surrender to the over-lordship of the Duke of Milan Filippo Maria on 2 November 1421. The Genoese merchants were in a way favoured by this development, because they were relying on the political and military strength and influence that their foreign lord could exert on the region and their enemies. In the Near East, the Catalans kept on harassing the Genoese vessels, but the Mahonesi took action against them very efficiently. In Italy, the army of the duke of Milan announced a decisive victory on 22 June 1431 on the river Po near Cremona against the Venetian fleet that experienced heavy casualties. Genoa had been drawn rather reluctantly in that conflict as an ally of the Milanese. The loss inflicted upon the Venetians in June 1431 did not have any serious consequences upon the Venetian sea power that reacted promptly by defeating the Genoese fleet near Portofino (see map 2) and by blockading by sea and by land the city of Genoa.

At the same time the Maggior Consiglio of Venice decided to organize a large scale assault on Chios that was one of the very few Genoese colonies left in the Levant. Instructions were given to the Castellani of Coron and Modon (see map 2) Andrea Trevisano and Niccolo’ Erizzo respectively to prepare galleys for the attack. By mid September of 1431 all required arrangements had been made and the commander of the Venetian expedition Andrea Mocenigo set sail for Crete where was the meeting point for the organized missions to Chios, Beirut and Alexandria. Delfino Venerio was commanded to set sail to Chios with his fleet.

The infantry that was the main Venetian attacking force to Chios was under the commands of Scaramuccia de Papia that had clear orders not to raid the island but to hold Chios permanently under Venetian rule. Envoys were sent to the Sultan so as to reassure him that the tribute paid by the Genoese would be maintained by the Venetians once they take control of the island. At this point it is worth mentioning that no statement was made to the Byzantine Emperor, who was the nominal sovereign of Chios. The Venetian fleet arrived off Chios on November 1431under the command of Andrea Mocenigo carrying on board a force of seven hundred archers and seven hundred infantry men commanded by Scaramuccia. The Mahonesi had at their disposal 1000 men that is 700 Genoese and about 300 Greeks concentrated in the fort commanded by Raffaele Montaldo. So as to have a good control of the port, the defenders sank two small ships at the sides of the port entrance and left just a narrow passage that was controlled by two Genoese vessels. The Venetians commenced their attack by bombarding the fortress walls and fighting broke out in the market place of Chios. The outer and oldest walls were soon destroyed and the defenders withdrew their forces at the inner and newer walls, which had been constructed in 1401 and were surrounded by a double moat. The forces of the Mahonesi and Greeks were numerically inferior to those of the Venetians, but they resisted very efficiently and bravely although the man power they had at their disposal was not enough to man their lines of defense on the walls, the two towers and the ships that were guarding the port entrance.

During the siege, an unexpected event was decisive for the fate of the battle. Some Venetian boats at night managed to penetrate into the harbour and occupy it with no difficulty. The defenders on the towers and the ships reacted by abandoning their positions and found refuge in the fortress. The number of the defenders inside the fort was significantly augmented and their resistance was increased by the arrival of their compatriots. However, the Venetians were now able to approach the fort and they managed to bombard the tops of the walls, while some of their troops surrounded the land part of the walls. The battle was fierce and the two opponents were employing all possible means of war (crossbows, long-range machines) even hand to hand with a lot of losses from both sides. The Venetians tried to enter the fortress at a point where it had collapsed, but they were immediately repelled by the Mahonesi. At a certain point of the battle, some Venetians created a small breach on the walls and tried to climb up, the defenders withdrew and Montaldo managed to throw down the scaling ladders.

By the end of the day, the Venetians decided to abandon their attempt to capture the city by direct attack. Scaramuccia organized the digging of subterranean galleries beneath the fort walls, but during the inspection process, he was struck in the groin by a javelin launched by the defenders on the walls. He died five days later and his unexpected death greatly encouraged the defenders who attempted a number of sorties that caused a lot of harassment to the Venetians without though suffering a lot of casualties. In the mean time, Genoa was organizing an expedition of support by equipping vessels to be sent for Chios’ defense and the Genoese of Pera showed their support to their compatriots by sending two galleys to Chios that succeeded in passing between the Venetians ships and disembark their troops in the fort. The defenders took heart of that event and the Venetians were getting desperate after all these futile efforts.

Finally, on 17 January 1432, two months and eleven days after their arrival they set sail for Rhodes. Before abandoning Chios, they destroyed the mastic and orange plantations in Campos. The news of the Venetian withdrawal reached Genoa and the Governor Oldrado Lampugnano announced the news to the public, praising the resistance, the heroism and the moral that had been displayed by the defenders of Chios. Although the people of Chios did not need any further help, he informed them that two galleys under the command of Pietro Re’ had been sent to them.