Guglielmo Embriaco (Latin ''Guillermus Embriacus'', Genoese ''Ghigærmo de ri Embrieghi'',Gaitan Gallin, Ra Gerusalemme deliverâ, 1755, XVIII-43
/ref> English ''William the Drunkard''; born c. 1040), was a Genoese merchant and military leader who came to the assistance of the

Crusader States The Crusader states, or Outremer, were four Catholic polities established in the Levant region and southeastern Anatolia from 1098 to 1291. Following the principles of feudalism, the foundation for these polities was laid by the First Crusade ...

during 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 ...

. At the end of June 1099, his fleet of 2 to 9 galleys, embarking Genoese sailors, soldiers and crossbowmen, entered the

port city A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Hamburg, Manche ...

Jaffa Jaffa (, ; , ), also called Japho, Joppa or Joppe in English, is an ancient Levantine Sea, Levantine port city which is part of Tel Aviv, Tel Aviv-Yafo, Israel, located in its southern part. The city sits atop a naturally elevated outcrop on ...

. Embriaco ordered to disassemble the ships and brought to the siege of Jerusalem the Genoese men and supplies as well as the dismantled material, which he transformed into war machines and siege devices that he used to capture the city. On 15 July 1099, Jerusalem was taken and Embriaco earned the reputation of a liberator of the Holy Sepulchre. Embriaco is considered one of the founders of what would become 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 ...

Biography

Embriaco was probably born in the late 1030s, but did not gain fame until he and his brother Primo di Castello landed at

in June 1099 with a squadron of galleys: two, according to the ''Annales'' of Caffaro di Rustico, and six or nine according to

Raymond of Aguilers Raymond of Aguilers was a participant in and chronicler of the First Crusade (1096–1099). During the campaign he became the chaplain of Count Raymond IV of Toulouse, the leader of the Provençal army of crusaders., vol. IV, p. 1009. His chroni ...

. The expedition was a private undertaking. He and Primo initially marched south towards

Ascalon Ascalon or Ashkelon was an ancient Near East port city on the Mediterranean coast of the southern Levant of high historical and archaeological significance. Its remains are located in the archaeological site of Tel Ashkelon, within the city limi ...

, but an

Egyptian ''Egyptian'' describes something of, from, or related to Egypt. Egyptian or Egyptians may refer to: Nations and ethnic groups * Egyptians, a national group in North Africa ** Egyptian culture, a complex and stable culture with thousands of year ...

army forced them to march inland towards the Siege of Jerusalem, then in progress. The lumber from their dismantled ships was converted into

siege tower A Roman siege tower or breaching tower (or in the Middle Ages, a belfry''Castle: Stephen Biesty's Cross-Sections''. Dorling Kindersley Pub (T); 1st American edition (September 1994). Siege towers were invented in 300 BC. ) is a specialized siege ...

s which were instrumental in the successful taking of the city on 15 July. It was there that Embriaco earned his sobriquet Caputmallei or Testadimaglio, meaning "mallet head". Embriaco assisted in the capture of Jaffa and then, with 200 to 300 men, at the

Battle of Ascalon The Battle of Ascalon took place on 12 August 1099 shortly after the capture of Jerusalem, and is often considered the last action of the First Crusade. The crusader army led by Godfrey of Bouillon defeated and drove off a Fatimid army. The ...

on 12 August, where he commanded a naval contingent offshore. Embriaco and his brother returned to Genoa with letters from

Godfrey of Bouillon Godfrey of Bouillon (; ; ; ; 1060 – 18 July 1100) was a preeminent leader of the First Crusade, and the first ruler of the Kingdom of Jerusalem from 1099 to 1100. Although initially reluctant to take the title of king, he agreed to rule as pri ...

and Daimbert of Pisa, the Defender of the Holy Sepulchre and

Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem The Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem () is the Latin Catholic ecclesiastical patriarchate in Jerusalem, officially seated in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. The Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem is the archbishop of Latin Church Catholics of th ...

respectively, describing the success of the Crusaders and the urgent need of reinforcements. They arrived in Genoa on 24 December. Embriaco was granted the title of ''consul exercitus Ianuensium'' — "consul of the Genoese army" — by the Compagna and sent back with a fleet of twenty-six or seven galleys, four to six cargo ships, and three to four thousand men. He embarked, carrying the new

papal legate 300px, A woodcut showing Henry II of England greeting the Pope's legate. A papal legate or apostolic legate (from the ancient Roman title '' legatus'') is a personal representative of the Pope to foreign nations, to some other part of the Catho ...

, the cardinal-bishop of Ostia, on 1 August 1100. Upon his second arrival in 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 ...

, he met King Baldwin I at Laodicea and together they planned a campaign against for the next spring. At Laodicea, he wintered and fought many skirmishes with the Saracen corsairs. In March 1101, he set out from Laodicea, evading a large Egyptian fleet near

Haifa Haifa ( ; , ; ) is the List of cities in Israel, third-largest city in Israel—after Jerusalem and Tel Aviv—with a population of in . The city of Haifa forms part of the Haifa metropolitan area, the third-most populous metropolitan area i ...

, and landed at Jaffa on Easter Monday. He accompanied Baldwin from there to

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

to celebrate Easter and visit the River Jordan. The Genoese were promised a third of the booty of the campaign and they set out for Arsuf, which fell after three days on 9 May. Caesarea held out until 17 May. A thousand Arab merchants who had taken refuge in the mosque paid the Genoese for their release and safety. In July 1101, Embriaco returned to Genoa after making a treaty with Tancred, Prince of Galilee. He met a Byzantine fleet in the

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and landed at

Corfu Corfu ( , ) or Kerkyra (, ) is a Greece, Greek island in the Ionian Sea, of the Ionian Islands; including its Greek islands, small satellite islands, it forms the margin of Greece's northwestern frontier. The island is part of the Corfu (regio ...

to send ambassadors to

Constantinople Constantinople (#Names of Constantinople, see other names) was a historical city located on the Bosporus that served as the capital of the Roman Empire, Roman, Byzantine Empire, Byzantine, Latin Empire, Latin, and Ottoman Empire, Ottoman empire ...

. He entered Genoa in triumph in October. In February 1102, he was elected

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 ...

, but that is the last recorded trace of him.

References

Bibliography

* Airaldi, Gabriella. ''Blu come il mare: Guglielmo e la saga degli Embriaci'', ed. Fratelli Frilli. Genoa: 2006. . {{DEFAULTSORT:Embriaco, Guglielmo 1040s births 12th-century deaths Embriaco family Christians of the Crusades Businesspeople from Genoa Christians of the First Crusade Military personnel from Genoa 11th-century Genoese people

Biography

See also

References

Bibliography