ace

Journal of Medieval History 6(1

Caffaro of Genoa is distinguished among medieval

writers of history in being the earliest urban
chronicler and the earliest secular historian in
western Europe. However, his works and career
remain relative) unknown to a remarkable number
of contemporary medievalists in the, Englishspeaking world. Caffaro was the originator of the
Genoese Annals and remained their sole authorfor
more than half a century. In addition he wrote at
least two other historical works of great value.
Throughout his long life he played a prominent
role in the a$airs of his ci&. He served repeatedb
as a consul, ambassador, and diplomat for the
GenoeseRepublic, and he was as well a crusaderand
a successful militay commander. In his writing and
in his career Caffaro consistently displf;r that
uniqueQ secular and urban temperament we too
readily associate onb with the historians of
Antiqui@ and the Renaissance.

169

In English-speaking areas the study of the

medieval history of western Europe has
long tended to emphasize northern concerns.
These concerns, for example, are directly
in the
source-books
which
reflected
American medievalists have produced in
such numbers. With few exceptions, the
mdjority of the materials they contain are
either English, French and German, or
ecclesiastical in origin. In similar fashion,
the research and writing of our medievalist
scholars has traditionally
been concerned
with the feudal, ecclesiastical, or agrarian
institutions of northern Europe. Work by
Americans in intellectual
history, while
often of broad scope, has fallen predominantly into the area of legal studies and
political or legal theory. These are undoubtedly
rich and significant
areas of
historical investigation, and the work which
American scholars have produced in such
fields has often been of striking quality and
originality. However, the absorption of this
traditional mainstream of medieval scholarship with feudal, ecclesiastical, agrarian
and lega: matters has led, perhaps inevitably,
to the relative neglect of some significant
materials which illustrate other equally
important aspects of medieval society and
institutions. These materials consist of annals, chronicles, notarial records, and a
variety of other public and private documents, which go back at least as early as the
eleventh century, and are abundant by the
twelfth century. Many of them have still tr,
be edited and very few have ever been
translated into English. They come from
Mediterranean
Europe,
predominantly
from northern Italy. Most importantly,
they are urban in or+
and secular in
temperament.

170

The study of these southern European

sources can provide historians with an
intimate pictlze of a social milieu and an
economic and political orientation which
often UJntrasts most instructively with that
of nrrthem Europe. Such historical utility
alone is safficient reason to deplore their
relative neglect by English-speaking writers
in favor of better known and more readily
available sources. Yet these documents and
chronicles also have an instrinsic value as
unique pieces of western Europes historical
literature
in the turclfth and thirteenth
centuries, and their earliest examples are as
much a part of the Renaissance of the
Twelfth Century as is Otto of Freisings
Ct~onicon or John of Salisburys HistoGa
pontificalis. The best examples of this literature, and the most important
northern
Italian narrative histories from the twelfth
century, are the works of the Genoese
historian
Caffaro,
which
unfortunately
remain but poorly known to many scholars.
It is to be hoped, therefore, that this account
may serve as a useful introduction
to
Caffaros life and works. and also in some
degree document
the origins of secular
historiography in a medieval Italian commune.
Both the unique personal qualities of
Caffaro of Genoa and the breadth and
range of his historical production belie his
relative obscurity among twelfth-century
historians. He is the earliest non-clerical
historian and the earliest urban chronicler
in Latin medieval Eurone. His Genoese
Annals open in the last deide of the eleventh
century, and Caffaro appears to have begun
their composition early in the first decade
of the twelfth century. Caffaro is also one
of those multi-talented
westex historians

who enjoyed a full and varied career in the

world of high politics. In a remarkable life,
extending over more than eighty-six years,
Caifaro was a participant in the First
Crusade, militar; commander and hero,
for no f&er that; six decades a prominent
figure in the government of hi city, a wily
diplomat and elder statesman, an historian,
a man ofietters, and not least ofall a worldlywise and cosmooolitan observer of the
human condition: These qualities and experiences deeply influenced Caffaros historical works, rendering them secular in
attitude, pragmatic in approach, and
patriotic in spirit.
Caffaro was the originator and the
principal author of the Annales Ianaenses
(Belgrano 1890) which occupy a special
niche in Italian historiography in so far as
they provide the only example of a continuous chronicle, always the work of contemporaries, extending over two centuries.*
Caffaro was their sole author for the years
1099 to 1163, He conceived the idea of the
Annals and began their composition when a
very young man, but his public career so
often interrupted his role as historian that
he finished his labors only as a very old man.
In the words of Vito Vitale (1955a:19), a
distinguished modern historian of Genoa,
Caffaro, Vissuto nel piem di ma vita agitafa,
eglt nc tramanah vibrante il ricorh in aaster3 ed
&ace racconto.In his cjwn short introduction
to the Annals Caffaro narrates with obvious
pleasure how in 1152 (when he was seventytwo years of age) he formally presented his
work to the consuls of the commune and
their councillors. Pleased and impressed, the
consuls, ordered that Caffaros book be
copied by the public scribe and deposited
in the arL*lives of the city, in order that, as

Caffaro himself intended, future generations

should know about the deeds and triumphs
of the Genoese (Belgrano 1890:3-4). This
incident is pointedly significant, for in it
one may see the official expression of an
historical awakening in twelfth-century
Genoa. It speaks to the deep appreciation
which Caffaros contemporaries in Genoas
political hierarchy felt for the useful and
patriotic work which he had begun more
than a half century before; and it clearly
illustrates their awareness of urban development per se, their pride in the accomplishments of the Republic and its distinguished
chronicler, himself a product of the young
and vigorous society he describes.
These judgements are also born out by
the fact that from this point forward a
historical consciousness on the part of the
Genoese government was sustained, and in
succeeding decades the Annals became more
and more an official chronicle of the
Republic, sponsored by the state, and very
often executed by public scribes or others
directly involved with officialdom. These
are the continuators of Caffaro, who carried
the Annals forward for well over a century
after their creators lifetime.5 In much of the
second half of the thirteenth century the
Annals became the collaborative work of a
kind of committee, and it was only at the
close of the thirteenth century, with the
final s:gment of the work, that a single
author again emerged in the person of
Jacopo Doria, who is considered the most
worthy successor of Caffaro, aad who
covered the period from 1280 to 1293. Thus
the Annals of Caffaro and his continuators
span the two most significant and glorious
centuries of Genoese history; they reflect
Genoas historical consciousness and pro-

171

vide avital fiamework for any reconstruction

of Genoese and related affairs in the high
Middle Ages.
In addition
to the Annals, however,
Caffaro was the author of at least two minor
works which testify to his personal zeal as a
crusader and to his pride in Genoas feats
in the Holy Wars. These works expand upon
events treated with much greater brevity
in the Annals. The De liberatione civitatum
orientis (Belgrano 1890:98-124),
the longer
of the minor works, describes the participation of the Genoese in the First Crusade and
enumerates the privileges and holdings with
which the grateful Latin princes of Syria
rewarded them, and which became the
basis of Genoas colonial empire in the
eastern Mediterranean. Caffaro himself was
a participant in many of these events and
his account of them is fresh and original.
Yet it seems clear that the De liberatione was
written only in the mid 115Os, probably as
much as half a century after the briefer
account of those same ten years which opens
the Annals. The arguments of Belgrano,
Caffaros principal editor, are persuasive.
He stresses the significance of the fact that
there are numerous cross-references from
the De liberatione to the Annals, but none
whatsoever
from the Annals to the De
liberatione.
Caffaro also interrupts his narrative of the events of the year 1101 to insert
a detailed account of the siege of Margat
in 1140 - an event for which he is the bnly
source and of which he may have been ZZI
eyewitness (Belgrano 1890 : 115-l 6). Belgrano concludes that the De liberatione was in
fact composed by Caffaro only in 1155 and
was originally intended as a kind of legal
brief, detailing the valor0 1s deeds of the
Genoese in the First Crusadn and describing

172

their rewards and privileges. This document

the Genoese legate presented
to Pope
Hadrian IV on the occasion of Genoas
complain*3 against the violation of her
rights a:rd privileges by the Latin princes of
Syria (1890:xcii-x&ii).
Caffaros second minor work concerns
Genoas western crusading venture of 114648, directed against the Moslems of Spain
and the Balearic Isles. This enterprise
brought wealth and glory to many of the
Genoese citizerq, but dangerously strained
the resources of the Genoese commune
(Krueger
1950: 117-28). Caffaros brief
account of these events is entitled, Astoria
ccpionk
Almarie et Turtose (Belgrano 1890:
78-89). The author was himself commander
of the first expedition
in 1146, which
captured Minorca and laid siege to the
Spanish city of Almeria. All the internal
evidence suggests that this work was written
very soon after the events themselves.
Finally, there may be a third minor work,
the Brevis historia Zherosolymitani
(Belgrano
1890: lZ-49),
which presents the story of
the kingdom of the crusaders from 1099 to
1188. Clearly Caffaro could not have written
it all, but it is possible that he was the
author of the earlier portion of the work,
which seems to bear a close relationship to
both the De liberatione and the Annals.
For more than two centuries there have
been various editions of all or part of
Caffaros works. The earliest was that of
Murdtori, who in 1725 published an inferior
edition of the Annals - including CalTaros
continuators - in Volume 6 of the Snip,ores
serum Italicalum.
Only in the following
century was the task of editing Caffaro
resumed, when in 1842 a much improved
edition of Caffaro and his continuators was

produced by the formidable German schoiar

Georg Heinrich Pertz and published in
Volume 18 of the Scripores series in the
Monumen~aGermaniae historica. But it was not
until the close of the century in 1890, that a
truly definitive edition of Caffaro, his continuators, and all the minor works appeared.
This was the work of Luigi Tommaso
Belgrano, to whom reference has been made
above. Published
by the Zsfitufo Storico
Italian0 in the series Fonti per la sloria dltalia,
the Belgrano edition is equipped with a
lengthy introduction
and a full scholarly
apparatus which draws upon all earlier
materials6
We are fortunate in that Caffaros personal history is markedly less obscure than
that of many important medieval chroniclers. His long life and varied public career
were crowded with military adventures,
high drama, and personal honours. A
Genoese aristocrat, born about 1080 into an
important Visconti family, he first ventured
into the greater Mediterranean world at the
dawn of the twelfth century, when as a
young man of twenty he join4
the third
Genoese expedition to aid the First Crusaders and the infant Latin kingdom of
Jerusaleum.7 This was the second expedition
commanded by Genoas swashbuckling hero
of the First Crusade, Guglielmo Embrizro
known by the revealing epithet Hammerhead (Ca@t Ma&). He was the most
colorful member of that aggressive family
which came to control most of Genoas
holdings in Syria down to the end of the
twelfth century. This flotilla of twenty-six
galleys and six nauese departed Genoa on
1 August 1100, reaching Laodicea early in
the winter. The moment of the Genoese
arrival was propitious: Godfrey of Bouillon

was dead, Bohemond of Taranto for the

time being a prisoner of the Moslems, and
the conquest of the coast, so vital to the
preservation
of Jerusalem
itself, was in
jeopardy. The Genoese supported Baldwins
accession to the throne of the Latin kingdom
of Jerusalem ; then, having tasted combat
with the Saracens, having made an Easter
pilgrimage to Jerusalem and bathed in the
Jordan, and afterwards having participated
in the capture of Arsuf and enjoyed a
triumph in the fall and sacking of Caesarea,
Caffaro and his companions set out for
home. After some delays, they arrived at
Genoa in October 1101,
covered with glory
and laden with booty. These were the
experiences that fired Caffaros youthful
imagination
and inspired him to begin
composition of the Annals.
We hear nothing more of Caffaro for the
next decade, and it is possible that he may
have returned to Syria. This was the conjecture of Pertz, supported at least in part
by Caffaros relatively full knowledge of
affairs there during that period. An extant
document testifies to the death of his father,
Rustico di Caschifellone, in 1111 - an event
which doubtless summoned him home (Belgrano 189O:lxxv). However, his full participation in the great affairs of the Genoese
Republic did not begin until the 1120s.
Caffaro first held the high office of consul
of the commune in 1122. This was the
supreme executive office of the state, and
in these years there were normally four to
six consuls elected annually. In all, Caffaro
held the consulship six times between 1122
and 1 149.9 In addition, on two occasions in 1130 and 1144 - Caffaro served as one of
the consuls k Placilis, or judicial administratot-s, whose functions were separated from

173

it was indeed amazing that in all the time otthe

war the Genoese always captured from Pisan territory
galleys, ships, men and mosey. And the Pisans in
truth in all ~hc time ofthe \*+.r did not even xm~c mto
Gcnoese territory. except \ntth one galley which.
captured by the Genoes~, (Belgrano 1890:24j.

was

Conspicuously absent ,n such passages are

references to Gods hell? or God:, will; but
quite apparent are CaflBros patriotic zeal
and secular preoccupatblB with naval glory
and material gain.
f

174

Figure 2. Caffaros Ann&. Marginal sketch of

Portovenere. Paris, BN, MS. lain 10136, IY5v,

This

decade

political
in

and

1131,

1141

of intense
military

and

until

as a consul

fourth

time,

participation

affairs
Caffaro

of the

there

came

reappears

commune

is another

knowledge

of his carecr.

in

Annuls

the

and

1141 are very

than

the

that

that

period

travefhng

again

his contention
there
detailed

in

CafTaro
far

spent

from
Caffaro

pointing

eyewitness-like

in

in an\

may

at Icast

some

home,

possibly

Belgrano

supports
been

to his singulari)
of the

the

in I146

time.
city

with

his sixth

The

expedition
siege

commanded

the

1880:

final
of

for
the

Minorc
and

and

six
and

sixty-six

and

concluded

consulship

cavalrymen
when

This

commanded

1146

machines

resumrd

as consul

Moslem

galleys

and

when,

of Almeria,

and

twent)-two
carving

from

life at home.

Cafiaro

against

the Spanish

horses

military

climaxed

expedition

(Befgrano

in the I 140s Caffaro

and

fifth

Margat

year

11X.).

event,

period

of Castle

that

Ixxvii-lxxviii;

entries
more

account

capture

his political

One

have

and

Saracens

in our

little

must

siege

the

1131

between

consuls.

to Syria.
that

Thr

providing

of the

1140by
and

years

thin.

names

conjecture
of

for

in

for

lacuna

certain
the

in

to a close

in 1149.

comprised
cargo
OIVZ

which
years

01
ships

hundred
Caffaro
of

age,

provided a tale full of battles and bombast,

narrated at some length in both the Annals
and the .YstosMcaptionis Almarie et lurtose
(Belgrano 1890:33-5, 7889). It was successful both militarilv. and financiallv something that cannot truly be said of the
larger expedltinns of 1147 and 1148 which
captured Almeria and Tortosa, but resulted
in near economic disaster for the Genoese
commune (Krueger 1950 : 117-28; Vitale
1955a:34-5; De Negri 1968:260-4).
T!te coming of the 11509, and his
seventieth year; would seem to have marked
the end of Caffaros long political and
military career, as is suggested by his
present;rtion of the Annals to the consuls of
the commune in 1152. That year did not,
however, mark the end of his service to the
state, for on two occasions thereafter he
acted with consummate skill as diplomat and
elder statesman. Indeed, it is this facet of
Caffaros public life - his role as diplomat
and ambassador to popes and princes which modern students are apt to find most
intriguing. Few diplomatic- careers have
enjoyed a more spectacular beginning than
did Caffaros. His first mission as the envoy
of his city involved nothing less than the
wholesale bribery of the papal curia. In

1121, significantly the year before his first

consulship, Caffaro was sent to Rome,
along with his fellow citizen Be&one, to
attempt to win the consent of the papacy
to t1.e abrogation of the Pisan archbishops
metropolitan rights over the bishops of
Corsica. These had been granted in 1092
when the Piin bishop was elevated to the
rank of archbishop (the incumbent was
Daimbert of the First Crusade). To the
consternation of the Genoese, the privileges
had been confirmed in 1118 by Pope Gelasius
II. It was ostensibly this contention which
brought on the long war between Genoa
andpisafrom 1119to 1133.
Caffaro and his colleague took a practical
and calculated approach to the problem,
one which paid off in direct ratio as th,_y
paid up. In writing, Pope Calixtus II and
his cardinals agreed to favor the Genoese
cause for the consideration of over 1500
marks ofsilver and 50 ounces of gold, divided
among the pope, the curia, and a few other
key perrrnages. Down payments were stipulated, the balance to be paid only after the
pope had carried out his part of the bargain.
Much of the money was borrowed by
Caffaro and his colleague from Roman and
Pavian money lenders at an interest rate
of at least twenty percent. This remarkable
document has survived and has been published by both Pertz and Belgrano.l It is
one of few extant examples of a contract
of bribe.
The climax came at the Lateran Council
in 1123. Caffaro, again his citys envoy, was
an eyewitness. He narrates the dramatic
scene in some detail, and with an undisguised relish in his own triumph and in
sketch ofAlmetia. the frustrated rage of the Pisans. The committee of twelve archbishops and twelve
I

Figure4. CaRaros Annals. Marbid

Paris: BN MS. latin 101?6,1. tiv.

176

bishops, assigned by Pope Calixtu; to determine the case, returned to the full assembly.
With Caffaros silver jingling under their
cassocks, they announced their opinion that
the Pisan archbishon . should be dismissed
from the Corsican consecrations now and
in the future. Then Pope calixtus asked the
whole assembly if the decision pleased them,
and all four hundred prelates rose and in
unison intoned, Placet, placet, placet! Whereupon the pope solemnly said, And I, on the
part of God and the Blessed Peter and myself, approve and confirm [it] ; and in the
morning in full council with all of you I
shall again confirm and approve [it].
After hearing this, the astonished Pisan
archbishop could no longer contain his
seething outrage and, leaping from his seat,
he hurled his episcopal mitre and ring at the
popes feet, and shouted I shall no longer
be thy archbishop and bishop! At that
indignity
the pope, overcome by that
uniquely intense feeling of self-righteousness
of which 1the corruptible are so often the
victims, rose from his throne and, kicking
the mitre and ring back across the floor,
responded with equal fury Brother, thou
hast done badly, and hence doubt not that I
shall make thee repent of it! (Belgrano
1898:19). The tone of boastful relish and
satisfaction with which Caffaro describes
this dramatic intrigue contains no hint of
remorse concerning his own role in the
affair, nor any sympathy for the compromised position of Pope Calixtus and his
curia; in the mind of the worldly
the end justified the
After-the scandalous scene at the Lateran
Council, Caffaro and his delegation returned
to Genoa in sweet triumph, and before the
consuls and the whole parliament of citizens

Caffaro narrated the story. In his ofhcial

account in the Annals, however, Caffaro
avoids any mention of the underhanded
means by which he had attained his ends,
and contents himself merely with the cynical
observation that he carried out his mission
honestly and wisely (Belgrano 1890:20).
Caffaro participated
in several lesser
diplomatic
missions in the course of hi5
extensive career, bat we shall pass over those
in order to describe his last, and possibly
most difficult, assignment. On two occasions,
in 1154 and again in 1158, Caffaro headed
Genoese embassies to the German king and
emperor, Frederick Barbarossa. Undertaken
when he was truly an elder statesman, tiey
provide a fitting capstone to a long lifi, of
public service. On the occasion of his first
excursion into Italy, the ambitious young
German monarch held an imperial Diet
at Roncaglia in December of 1154. There,
in an atmosphere
of no little ten&on,
Barbarossa graciously reef ived representatives from his Italian subjects. On this
delicate mission to the first Diet of Ron-

Figure 5. Caffaros Ann&

Marginal sketch drhc
peror Fredwick
Barbarossa.
Paris, BN, MS.
lrJl36, I fir.

Emlatin

177

caglia ihe Genoese elected to send the

experienced and wily Caffaro (then seventyfour years of age) along with the archdeacon
Ugo della Volta. They felt it expedient to
face the young monarch armed not merely
with a facade of benevolent good will, but
with an array of exotic gifts as well. Otto
of Freisine informs us that the Genoese
emoys presented Frederick with lions,
ostriches, parrots, andothervaluablegifts.l
One may conjecture that the zoological
display was Caffaros idea; though such
presentations
were not uncommon,
they
were calculated for effect. Whether or not
the bizarre gifts actually turned Barbarossas
head is open to question, but Caflaro relates
how he and his colleague were received
with great honor by the king, who opened
his mind to the Genoese delegates and
revealed certain secret designs he had for
himself and for the commune of Genoa,
which city he vowed to honor above every
other in Italy. I2 The flattery was more
ominous than reassuring, and CaffarL and
his colleague returned home uneasy and
perplexed.
There can be little doubt that the secret
design with which King Frederick disquieted Caffaro and his companion
at
Roncaglia was his intention to attack the
Norman kingdom of Sicily - an enterprise
for which he must have nav.?1 power at
his side. Only Genoa and her Pisan enemy
could lOgidly
provide it. That was a
sobering thought for the Genoese; for on th J
one hand, stood their long and profitable
friendship with the Norman kingdom, while
on the other hand, stood the unknown
quantity of the German king, soon to be
emperor, who seemed unlikely to tolerate
opposition to his schemes. Caffaro appear2

178

to have ad+ed
his government
to do
nothing for the moment but assume a
prudent attitude of neutrality toward the
Empire, lshile quietly pursuing its own
course in foreign affairs.
Me;nwhile, as a favor to Pope Hadrian
IV, King Frederick ended the threatening
career of the radical Arnold of Brescia. In
return the pope bestowed the imperial
crown upon Frederick, after which the new
emperor returned for the time being to his
concerns in Germany. However, in June
of 1158, at the head of a large and welldisciplined army, Frederick descended into
Italy again, this time determined to subdue
the cities of upper Italy and particuiarly to
make an example of recalcitrant
Mi!an.
After he had attacked and humiliated the
Milanese, the young emperor held the
famed second Diet of Roncaglia in the fall
of 1158. With the cooperation
of the
Bolognese jurists, he asserted full regalian
rights over &,I the northern Italian cities.
Tllough badly shaken by these portentous
events, the Genoese held to their course.
They refused the emperors demands for
obedience, hostages, and tribute, claiming
that from ancienttimes the Roman empe rors

Fi~~rc 6. C;lffarci\ Ann& hlarginal 5krtrh rtl lbrb.~ro:;sa\destructic I of Terdona (1155). Paris, BN, MS.
latin 10136, I. 7r.

had conceded that the Genoese were in

perpetuity free from every tribute 2nd owed
the Empire only their fidelity and the
obligation of defending the seas from the
attacks of barbarians (Belgrano 1890:58-l).
While negotiations continued, tensions in
Genoa mounted. Caffaro describes the near
frantic preparations as the whole population
of the city, both men and women, by r?y
and night carried rock and sand to complete
the construction of new walls within just
eight days. But so strong were they,
says Caffaro, that, except for the intervention of the Almighty, they could withstand unharmed the onslaught of all Italy
and Tuscany and the Germans. Whistling
in the dark perhaps, but the Genoese then
manned the new fortifications with so many
soldiers, slingers and archers that the daily
cost of their food alone, boasts the annalist,
was one hundred marks of silver (Belgrano
1890:51).
One may doubt Caffaros intimation
that this sword-ranting was itself enough to
cause Barbarossa to back down, but negotiations continued in a more amicable vein.ra
The importance of Genoese sea power to
the emperors plans was the decisive factor,
and he now summoned the Genoese to
attend him at his armys encampment. At
seventy-nine years of age, Caffaro was the
senior member of a delegation
of distinguished envoys. As swiftly as possible he
and his colleagues reached an accord with
the now more tractable emperor. For the
present Barbarossa would rest content with
a general affirmation of Genoas fidelity to
the Empire (subsequently such an oath
was sworn by forty representative Genoese
before Rainald of Dassel, the imperial
chancellor, in the archiepiscopal palace at

Genoa), and with a handsome gift - presented for this one time only, Caffaro is
careful to point out - of twelve hundred
marks of silver.r4 Thus, thanks at least in
part to the diplomatic skills of the aged
Caffaro, and in part also to Fredcrick
Barbarossas
sense of expediency,
the
Genoese came off well and a grave crisis
was for the time being avoided.
The mission was Caffaros last public
act and after its completion he settled into
semi-retirement. However, he did continue
to write the Annals down through the year
1163. Then, at almost eighty-four years of
age, he quit; not becalise of infirmity,
senility, or flagging energy, but rather
because of his annoyance and disgust with
the petty factionalism and quarrels at that
time dominating
the political scene at
Genoa. It is curious that to some degree his
reasons for ceasing to be al: historian reflect
what one would have to de!me as his greatest
shortcoming as an historian. Caffaro was a
patriot, and an obvious pro-Genoese bias
colors all his writings. Occasionally
he
passes over in silence clrents, the narration
of which might be painful to Genoas
pride - such as a naJa1 defeat or similar
humiliation at the hands of the Pisans. As
his editor, Luigi Belgrano, aptly expressed
it, lwmo pubblico la vkce su lo storico (1890:
lxxxiii). Whenever possible - and unfortunately it is not very often possible - it is
well for the modern historian to balance his
reading of Caffaro with an examination of
Piian sources.rL
Aside from this very human flaw of
amor patriae, however, Caffaro is a good
historian; in any comparison with other
writers his presentation
must be judged
accurate and fair in its essentials. The

170

Figure 7. GL was Cathrdral

180

of San Lorenzo, about 1880 (Bent 1881).

sources from which he drew his narrative

were, first and foremost, his own direct
knowledge and experience of events; or,
secondly, the testimony of others whose
authority and integrity he trusted; and
thirdly, the examination of official documents, to which he had ready access and
which he frequently quotes at length.16 In
all his works one repeatedly encounters such
phrases as Caffarus qui inter&t et vidif; or
Caffarus ricul audivif
; or perhaps ut in registro
habetur or ul conlinetur in registro. He was a
careful technician.
Caffaros secular
preoccupations
are
evident throughout his works. He is concerned with wars and politics, civil strife,
natural disasters, the construction of castles,
towers, roads and bridges, commerce, industry, and the bustle and color of urban
life in general : spiritual matters and ecclesiastical affairs are at best only peripheral to
his theme.@ Moreover, one finds Little
evidence to indicate that Caffaro held any
very profound or well-articulated philosophy
of history. There is no suggestion of a grand
Augustinian conception; rather, in his view
of the uses and purpose of history he is also
consistrntly secular. In fact, his view of
history. like his methodology and use of
sources, reminds orre very much of the
views commonly expressed by the historians
of pagan antiquity.*@ Like them, he felt
that the greatest value of historical study
was didactic, and lay in the practical wisdom
which a knowledge of mans past follies
and glories might instill in contemporary
statesmen.
In this kinship between his
historical thought and that of pagan antiquity, Caffaro again displays the temperament characteristic ofa sophisticated urban
environment, which historians too habitu-

ally and exclusively attribute to Renaissance

figures - though, to be sure, in Cafiaro it
assumes a much less self-conscious form
than it does in his fifteenth- and sixtecnthcentury successors.
Only occasionally, particularly
in the
latter portion of :he Annals, did Caffaro
permit himself to philc sophize ahout history
itself and to reflect upon the value and
purpose of his writing. For example, in
1154, the year c,i his first embassy to Barbarossa, he commented that he had determined to present the truth, as he saw it, to
all men both present and future, because
it is of varied and great benefit to have
knowledge of past things [in order] to understand the present and to provide for the
future (Belgrano 189038). Still later on,
when he was a very mellow eighty years of
age, he introduced his account of the year
1160 with this personal reflection :

in Caffaros view, the wise conduct of

present and future affairs required
a
thorough knowledge of the past; history was
relevant,
Perhaps in the finai analysis Caffaros
primary distinction as aa historian must be
said to rest essentially upon the fact that he
stands first in a long line of European
historians
who were also public men,
soldiers, politicians, and statesmen. It is a
line which includes such diverse figures as

181

his contemporary Marangone of Pisa, and

in the sixteenth century Niccolo Machiavelli,
the earl of Clarendon in the seventeenth
century, Franqois Guizot in the nineteenth,
and in our own time Winston Churchill.
Caffaro is a worth/ member of that distinguished company and therefore deserving
of our closer attention.
NOteS
1
In singling out these areas of study I consciously
omit mention of the old and accomalished American
school ofthe history ofthe crusades whose practitioners
art well acquainted with southern European and
Mediterranean sources.
0
Few discussions of these sources are available in
English, but an excellent article by Fisher (1966:143219) concerning Pisan materials r.>ay serve as a model
ofsuch historiographical analysis.
3
It has been my contention, and that ofseveral of
my colleagues who habitually work in Genoese
materials, that a majority of contemporary medievalists are unaware of Caffaro of Genoa. or at best
react to the name as one among many obscure Italiau
chroniclers. In the one brief survey of my fellow
American medievalists that I was able to carrv out.
this assumption appeared to be correct however, the
reader may balance that imperfect survey against
emphatic opinions to the contrary expressed by one or
two historians of great renown. Like Saint Bernard,
some of us may prefer the weight of authoritative
ypinion to limited and inconclusive statistical. data.
The classic account of Caffaro and hrs age is
Imperiale di SantAngelo (1894). For more recent
discussions of Caffaros works and for additional
bibliographical references, see De Negri (1968) and
Vitale (1955b:21-2).
5
Caffaros continuators are as follows: Oberto
Cancelliere. 1164-73: Ott&bono Scriba. 1174-96:
Ogerio Pane, 1131-12~9; Marchisio Scriba, 1220-.23;
Bartolomeo Scriba, 1224-64; committee effort, 126579; Jacopo Doria, 1280-93.
s
There is also an edition of the De libmfione in
Vol. 5 of Historks occidentaw dcs croisades, edited by
P. Riant and, after Riants death, completed by MasLatrie, and published in 1885. Two abbreviated and
excerpted translations ofcaffaros works also appeared
in the late nineteenth century. Y. Arndt uroduced a
condensed German version df th, Annuls ;p to 1248

182

(Jahrb6Jrr eon &ma, in Dir Geschichlschrcibtv der

dcuischen Vorztit in deutscher Bcarbcitmg, Berlin, 1866
and
and E. Bcnsa an Italian translation of the
De liberatione ar.d the first decade of the Annals (Lu
Cronaca dell< crociata c In prima akade dcgli Ann& di
Ca&o, Gmova, 1881). In this century C. Ceccardi
and G. donlcone made a complete translation of the
Anna/l into Italian (Vol. 9, ponfi de/ /stitu/o S/oriro
Imiano. Geneva. 1924-30). There is to date no
Lnglish translation. This essay will not attempt to
discuss the manuscriprs of Caffaros works, except to
refer interested readers to the lengthy descriptions in
the Belgrano edition (189O:xxii-lxvi).
i
rhe first Genocse expedition of thirteen vessels
set sail in July 1097, and came to the aid of the
crusaders before Antioch. The second, consisting of
two galleys, commanded by Guglielmo Embriaco and
his brother Primo, arrived at J&a in June 1099, and
assisted in the capture of Jerusalem. For CatTaros
fullest account, see the De libera~ionc(Belgrano 1890:
102ff. and IlOff.).
R
Belgrano 1890:5-13. The De libmtione, written
many years after the Ana& indicates only four naoeson
the expedition (Belgrano 1890: 112).
8
CaKaro held the consulship in the years 122,
1125, 1127, 1141, 1146, and 1149. The secondary
sources I have consulted - including Caffaros excellent edi: .r, Belgrano - uniformly state that he held
this highest office only five times; my reading of the
Annols, however, clearly indicates six.
10
1890:20-l, n.1. Since the document is readily
available, I shall not reproduce it here. Modern
accounts of the years 1120-23 may be found in the
article by Fisher (1966:147-g, 154-5), in the book on
medieval Pisa by Hcywood (1921) and in an unpublished thesis by Reinert (1938). Though colored by
pro-Pisan bias, the Heywood book remains the best
treatment of the period in English. The Reinert thesis
is extremely useful, but not easily accessible.
I,
Mierow and Emery 1953:130. Otto implies
that these exotic eifts were aart of the loot derived
from Ge.xoas wcsiern exnedition (verv likelv true).
saying that the Genoese not long before this time
had :aprured Almeria and Lisbon, renowned cities
in Spain.
Belgrano 1890:38-g. A good, recent account
in Eng1i.h of Frederick Barbarossas activities in
Italy may be found in the political biography by
Munz (1969). Also the briefer biography by Pacaut,
first published in 1967 and more recently translated
into Enalish (1970). is useful for Italian affairs.
,a
ithough
OLto of Freisings references to these
events are not as clear as is Caffaros nnrrative in the

1881);

12

. . .

Annals, his interpretation

tends to support the Genoese
view. Otto says that Barharosqa
threatened
Genoa
its territories
with punishment
and, approaching
with marvelous
speed and ease, he intimidated
the
Genoex
and forced them to seek peace. But then
Otto immediately
expresws
the opinion
that this
terror and fear must have been divinely
inspired
in the Genoese because their city wan so well situated
and fortified a~ to afford them every hope of safet)
and cause their awailantc
to hesitate
(Mierow
and
Emery 1953:244).
II
Belgrano
1890:51-2.
Otto of Freising says the
emperor
compelled
the Genoc~
to pay a thousand
marks of siher and to de&t from building
the wall
which

they had begun

(Mirrow

and Emery

1953:244).

CafTaro, however,
*ay$ the new wall was completed
in ju(t eight davs: that feat he may well have exaggerated.
hut it i$ unlikrh
that he would inflate the
turn which the Gcnoev
paid the emperor.
1s
The contemporary
&an chronicle. only slightI>
junior IO CM&o,
i5 that of Bemardo
Marangone.
entitled
Ii&r rhronirun hsanum,
rditrd
in the pa*1
century b) F. Bonaini in Arrlrirm Sfurico Nalicmo, writ5
I, vol. 6, part 2, and more reccnrly redone
in the
ncv Muratori,
&run< I/&aorum Scrip/orec, cditcd b)
G. Cardurci.
V. Fiorini.
and P. Fcdcle,
vol. 6.2
(1936).
Like Caffaro.
Marangonr
wa, active in the
a&air5 of hi\ ch?. His chronicle
spans the year% from
1104 to 117.5; hnwexcr,
the cotrrage
ir \potc>. the
prriod I136 to 117.5 being the fuull~t. Unforttmatrl)
the articlr by Fisher (1966) ir concrmcd
with the first
th;rd of thr twelfth ccmu?
and prwidcl
only a peripheral diwue\inn
of Marangonr;
howcvcr.
Fisher\
careful analysis of thr carlier fragmentap
annalistic
works. imcriptiom,
and historical poems of Piaa is an
cxccllent guide to thaw material*.
16
For example,
Cali&]
qunteq in full Iemn from
Pope+ Hadrian
I\, Alexander
Ill,
and from thr
Genocse
consuls
IO the
Pisan ronrub
(Belgrano
1890:44-j,
55-9, and f#-9).
Ii
Sre also hb editors commcntr
on this matter
(Belgrano
189O:lxxxi-lxxxii).
I
War, conquest, and commercial
gain arecventially the themes of the ?i/orio roprronir Almuri> cl 7urfox
and the DP librrolionc. In addition
to lengthy
de+
criptions
of campaigns
in Syria, wars againbc tbr
Pirans, and diplomatic
negotiations
with popes and
emperors,
CalTaros dnnols are scattered
with minor
references
IO such
mattcm
as c-de
building
anJ
buying (Be&an
3890: l5,23,
26, 30, 33, 53.62);
IO
the construction
of city \ralls, roads, bridges (pp, 48,
51.54, WI, 73); to firc*$ in the cily, Dcvre drought and
dry wells (pp. 113,31,39,53);
IO civil strife (pp. 40,41,

61, 73, 74); IO comments

finance (pp. 37,60,
73).
IP
The point is borne

on urban

markets,

public

out by some striking resemblances

belween
passages
of
Caffaro
and
Thucydides.
Compare, for example, Caffaros account
of the hasty erection of new city walls against Barbarowa,
with
Thuc!dides
desr;iption
of
the
Athenians
frantic building
of the long walls against
the Persians
at thr urginq of Themistocles
(Smith
1969a:90-1).
Compare
also the similarity
between
Caffaros views of the uses and purposes of history and
those of Thucydides
as expressed
in the familiar
passage: *.
to r!te facts of the occurrences
of the
war, I have thought it m) duty to give them, not as
ascertained
from any chance informant nor as seemed

. . as

to me probable,
but only after investigating
with the
greatn~ powihle accuracy each detail, in the case both
of the events in which I myself participated
and of
those regarding
which
I got my information
from
others.
And it ma! well be that the absence of the
fahulou\ from my narrative
will heem less plea&g
to
the car; but whoever
shall wish to have a clear view
both of the event3 which have happened
and of those
which
will come day, in all human
probability,
happen again in the same or a similar way- for these
IO adjudge
my history profitable
will be enough for
mr. And. indeed.
it that bern composed,
not as a
prize-cxa)
to be heard for the moment,
but as a
pov+&on
lin at1 time (1,969 :L2). C:aflaro\ sl)lr i*
hardly up to that ofThucydide5,
bul the parallel of
trmperamem
and approach
is clear and should not
really clitic surprise.
Dcspitc
the liftem
hundred
year+ which wparated
them. both men were urban
aristocrat*,
both
wcrc
military
commanders
and
ctatevmm,
and h01b were patriots and ccc&r
historians.

..

Literature
Arnaldi.
G. 1966. II no&o-rronista
c le cronachr
rictadinc* in It&a.
SocirlP
ltaliana
di St&a
dcl
Dirnm. C:ongrr**o intrmazionalr.
Anti 293-309.
Brlgrano. L. T. (c*d.) 1890. Annali Gmovni
di Caffaro
e disuoi.
continuatori
dal MXCIX
al MCCXCII
I,
I. Fonti per la stork
dltnlia.
lrtituto
Storict,
Italiano. Gmrtva.
lkn~. J. 7. IW?. Genoa:
how thr rcpuhlir
rose and
Icll. London.
Dr Nrgri, I. 0. 1968. Stnr a di Gcnova. Milan.

183

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of historical interest in a medieval commune,
Studies in medieval and renaissance history 3 143219.
Heywood, W. 1921. A history OJ Pisa, eleventh and
twelfth centuries. Cambridge.
Jmperiale di SantAngelo, C. 1894. Caffaro e i suoi
tempi. Torino.
Krueger, H. C. 1950. Post-war collapse and rehabilitation in Genoa, 1149-1162. Studi in onorc
di Gino Luzzatto 1: 117-28. Milano.
Mierow, C. and R. Emery (trans. and eds.) 1953.
Otto of Freising. Gesta Frederici. New York.
Muna, P. 1969. Frederick Barbarossa: a study in
medieval politics. London.
Pacaut, M. 1970. Frederick Barbarossa. London.
Reincrt, R. 1938. The rivahy between Genoa and
Pisa born 1100 to 1285. Unpublished M.A. thcai\.
University of
Madison.
Smith, C. F. (trans.) 1969. Thucydides.
H&or) 01
the Peloponnesian War 1. Loeb Classical Library.
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Wisconsin-

184