The Crusades and Venice (11th–13th Centuries)
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.60053/TER.2026.11.362-378Keywords:
Venice, Crusades, Middle Ages, Byzantine Empire, Genoa, Enrico Dandolo, OutremerAbstract
Venice’s participation in the Crusades, with the possible exception of the Fourth
Crusade, remains insufficiently understood and the subject of considerable scholarly debate.
Narrative sources present this involvement in a contradictory manner, thereby posing
significant challenges to researchers. This ambiguity has been further reinforced by a longdominant
interpretative framework in the historiography of Venice that privileges the
Republic’s commercial interests while largely overlooking its religious motivations.
This article examines Venetian participation in the classical Crusades on the basis of evidence
drawn from sources of diverse provenance—Venetian, Western, and Byzantine. The role of
Venice in the first five Crusades is attested in the sources, with the exception of the Second
Crusade, for which possible explanations are proposed. The study also addresses the so-called
Venetian Crusade. In addition to an analysis of the primary sources, the article highlights
several historiographical issues. The conclusion offers observations on the evolution of
Venetian crusading policy and the factors that shaped its development.
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