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Europe's Smallest Countries: - MONACO

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Bianca
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« Reply #15 on: April 20, 2008, 02:53:33 pm »



THE REPUBLIC OF GENOA






THE REPUBLIC OF GENOA COAT OF ARMS






                                                            The Republic of Genoa:


                                                           The Roots of the Grimaldi





Despite their bloody infighting — not unlike the Capulet and Montague depicted by Shakespeare — the Genoese were of a single mind in the area of exploiting commerce and banking opportunities. The power of their fleet and the safety of their harbor allowed them to negotiate generally favorable terms with the medieval rulers active in the Mediterranean Basin.

Genoa had few rivals in the Mediterranean and rarely missed an opportunity to consolidate that position whenever possible. Genoa's power crushed the maritime ambitions of Pisa (1284) and confronted the fleet of its twin rival, Venice, in four wars, which were as brutal as they were inconclusive.

Genoa's initial commercial empire stretched to the Western end of the Silk Road and came to spread across most of Europe. Genoese merchants could be seen in Byzantium, in Syria and in Africa, in London, and across to China and the New World, always seeking a business opportunity. Their regular sea routes stretched from the Black Sea to the North Sea, from Caffa and Cyprus to Bruges and Antwerp.

The sheer number of colorful characters and defining events — political, military and economic — makes the epic of the Grimaldi family remarkable. It provides an unusual, sometimes surprising view of European history in the perspective of an entire millennium.
« Last Edit: April 20, 2008, 03:15:29 pm by Bianca » Report Spam   Logged

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