Caffaro di Rustico da Caschifellone () was a statesman, diplomat, admiral and historian of the

Republic of Genoa The Republic of Genoa ( ; ; ) was a medieval and early modern Maritime republics, maritime republic from the years 1099 to 1797 in Liguria on the northwestern Italy, Italian coast. During the Late Middle Ages, it was a major commercial power in ...

. Between 1122 and 1149 he served eight terms as a

consul Consul (abbrev. ''cos.''; Latin plural ''consules'') was the title of one of the two chief magistrates of the Roman Republic, and subsequently also an important title under the Roman Empire. The title was used in other European city-states thro ...

. His most enduring work was the '' Annales ianuenses'' ("Genoese annals"), the

official history An official history is a work of history which is sponsored, authorised or endorsed by its subject. The term is most commonly used for histories which are produced for a government. The term also applies to commissions from non-state bodies includi ...

of the Genoese republic, which he began and which was continued by successors down to 1294. He also wrote ''Ystoria captionis Almarie et Turtuose'', an account of the siege of Almería (1 August – 17 October 1147) and the siege of Tortosa (1 July – 30 December 1148). Caffaro was born in the village of Caschifellone (now part of Serra Riccò) in either 1080 or 1081. While a teenager, he travelled to the

Holy Land The term "Holy Land" is used to collectively denote areas of the Southern Levant that hold great significance in the Abrahamic religions, primarily because of their association with people and events featured in the Bible. It is traditionall ...

with a Genoese contingent on the

First Crusade The First Crusade (1096–1099) was the first of a series of religious wars, or Crusades, initiated, supported and at times directed by the Latin Church in the Middle Ages. The objective was the recovery of the Holy Land from Muslim conquest ...

from August 1100 until January 1101. He returned to the Holy Land in the 1130s. Some time after that, perhaps in 1155–56, when Genoa was in the midst of a dispute with the

Kingdom of Jerusalem The Kingdom of Jerusalem, also known as the Crusader Kingdom, was one of the Crusader states established in the Levant immediately after the First Crusade. It lasted for almost two hundred years, from the accession of Godfrey of Bouillon in 1 ...

, Caffaro wrote ''De liberatione civitatum orientis'' ("On the Liberation of the Cities of the East"), a work on the First Crusade, the relations between the West and the

Byzantine Empire The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived History of the Roman Empire, the events that caused the ...

and travel distances between the cities of the East. Shortly thereafter he began writing his history of Genoa, titled ''Annales''. Though Caffaro's imperfect

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

prevented the ''Annales'' from achieving greatness as literature, the chronicle was the first of its kind in Genoa and remains an important historical record. It is an important source of information on the careers of the early Embriaco family. On the strength of his fame as crusader, Caffaro became a captain in the Genoese navy, and fought in several battles against the

Republic of Pisa The Republic of Pisa () was an independent state existing from the 11th to the 15th century centered on the Tuscan city of Pisa. It rose to become an economic powerhouse, a commercial center whose merchants dominated Mediterranean and Italian t ...

and other Mediterranean powers. Toward the end of his life he became a

diplomat A diplomat (from ; romanization, romanized ''diploma'') is a person appointed by a state (polity), state, International organization, intergovernmental, or Non-governmental organization, nongovernmental institution to conduct diplomacy with one ...

, and carried out several diplomatic missions on behalf of Genoa to the courts of

Pope Callixtus II Pope Callixtus II or Callistus II ( – 13 December 1124), born Guy of Burgundy, was the head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from February 1119 to his death in 1124. His pontificate was shaped by the Investiture Controversy ...

, the

Emperor Frederick I Frederick Barbarossa (December 1122 – 10 June 1190), also known as Frederick I (; ), was the Holy Roman Emperor from 1155 until his death in 1190. He was elected King of Germany in Frankfurt am Main, Frankfurt on 4 March 1152 and crowned in Aa ...

and King Alfonso VII of León and Castile, and also to Pisa.Day, Gerald W., "Manuel and the Genoese: A Reappraisal of Byzantine Commercial Policy in the Late Twelfth Century" (''The Journal of Economic History'', Vol. 37, No. 2 977 289–301).

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Further reading