The siege of Genoa of 1331 was one of the episodes of the

Aragonese–Genoese War The Aragonese–Genoese War, also called Catalan–Genoese War was an armed conflict between the Crown of Aragon and the Republic of Genoa that lasted from 1330 to 1336 Background The Aragonese conquest of Sardinia by James II of Aragon in 1323 ...

Background

The

Aragonese conquest of Sardinia The Aragonese conquest of Sardinia took place between 1323 and 1326. The island of Sardinia was at the time subject to the influence of the Republic of Pisa, the Pisan della Gherardesca family, Genoa and of the Genoese families of Doria (family) ...

James II of Aragon James II (Catalan: ''Jaume II''; Aragonese: ''Chaime II;'' 10 April 1267 – 2 or 5 November 1327), called the Just, was the King of Aragon and Valencia and Count of Barcelona from 1291 to 1327. He was also the King of Sicily (as James I) f ...

in 1323 turned the commercial rivalry between the

Crown of Aragon The Crown of Aragon (, ) ;, ; ; . was a composite monarchy ruled by one king, originated by the dynastic union of the Kingdom of Aragon and the County of Barcelona (later Principality of Catalonia) and ended as a consequence of the War of the Sp ...

and 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 ...

into an open war, and the councilors of Barcelona asked

Alfonso IV of Aragon Alfonso IV (2 November 1299 – 24 January 1336), called the Kind (also ''the Gentle'' or ''the Nice'', ), was King of Aragon and Count of Barcelona (as Alfons III) from 1327 to his death. His reign saw the incorporation of the County of Urgell ...

to organize an army against the Genoese. commanded an armada in 1331, with and as vice admirals, who attacked Monaco and Mentone, defended by Antonio Grimaldi and besieged Savona.

The siege

After Guillem de Cervelló plundered the

Italian Riviera The Italian Riviera or Ligurian Riviera ( ; ) is the narrow coastal strip in Italy which lies between the Ligurian Sea and the mountain chain formed by the Maritime Alps and the Apennines. Longitudinally it extends from the border with F ...

, the fleet blocked the port of

Genoa Genoa ( ; ; ) is a city in and the capital of the Italian region of Liguria, and the sixth-largest city in Italy. As of 2025, 563,947 people live within the city's administrative limits. While its metropolitan city has 818,651 inhabitan ...

and sent a messenger to the senate, asking for redress of grievances or offering battle, which were not accepted, and the fleet plundered the surroundings of the city

Consequences

After

, the fleet retreated to

Sardinia Sardinia ( ; ; ) is the Mediterranean islands#By area, second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, and one of the Regions of Italy, twenty regions of Italy. It is located west of the Italian Peninsula, north of Tunisia an ...

, while Antonio Grimaldi assembled a fleet to defend his coasts. Faced with the escalation of hostilities,

John XXII Pope John XXII (, , ; 1244 – 4 December 1334), born Jacques Duèze (or d'Euse), was head of the Catholic Church from 7 August 1316 to his death, in December 1334. He was the second and longest-reigning Avignon Pope, elected by the Conclave of ...

tried without success to achieve peace between the contenders, and in 1332 the admirals of the fleet were the Veguer of Barcelona in spring, and and Arnau Oliver in winter.

References

Bibliography

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Genoa 1331 Sieges involving the Republic of Genoa Sieges involving Aragon 1331 in Europe Conflicts in 1331 14th century in the Republic of Genoa Sieges of Genoa Naval battles involving Aragon Naval battles involving the Republic of Genoa