Republic of Genoa (Byzantine Khazaria)

The Most Serene Republic of Genoa (Italian: Repubblica di Genova, Ligurian: Repúbrica de Zêna) was an independent state in Liguria on the northwestern Italian coast from 1005 onwards, throughout the Middle Ages. The Republic was established in the early 11th century, when Genoa became a self-governing commune within the Regnum Italicum. It depended mainly on vast trade resources and succeeded in monopolizing business with the neighboring Byzantine Empire.

History
Around the time Genoa was established as an independent state, Muslim raiders were attacking coastal cities on the Tyrrhenian Sea. Pisa was raided in 1004 and the attacks were escalated in 1015 when Luni was raided and Mujahid al-Siqlabi, Emir of the Taifa of Denia attacked Sardinia with a fleet consisting of 125 ships. In 1016 the allied troops of Genoa and Pisa defended Sardinia. In 1066 war erupted between Genoa and Pisa, possibly for control of Sardinia.

In 1087, Genoese and Pisan fleets led by Hugh of Pisa and accompanied by troops from Pantaleone of Amalfi, Salerno and Gaeta, attacked the North African city of Mahdia, which was the capital of the Fatimid Caliphate. The attack, which was supported by Pope Victor III, became known as the Mahdia campaign. The attackers captured the city, but couldn't hold it against Arab forces. After the burning of the Arab fleet at the city's harbor, the Genoese and Pisan troops retreated. However, the destruction of the Arab fleet gave control of the Western Mediterranean to Genoa, Venice, and Pisa. This enabled the Genoese to seize and monopolize trade in the western Mediterranean Sea.

By 1100, the Genoese had won the war against Pisa and seized most of its territory. They also managed to conquer Sardinia. In its early centuries, Genoa was already becoming an important trading city and its power began to increase. Genoa started expanding during the First Crusade, launched by the Holy Roman Empire. Taking advantage of the temporary weakness that overtook the Germans when the Holy Roman emperor was killed in battle against the Turkish Sultanate, the Genoese pushed northwards and defeated a large German force near Savoy. This allowed for a swift Genoese advance that drove opposing forces as far as Switzerland, conquering all territory around. These Genoese expansions alarmed the other Italian states forming under the nominal rule of the Holy Roman Empire in Italy, and they formed a Coalition of Tuscanny to oppose more Genoese conquests.

In 1123, the Genoese Doge Vilhent Boccoli fought and defeated the Venetian Republic in a war over northeastern Italy. This would lead to a future of rivalry with the Republic of Venice well into the 1300's. From 1130-1164, the Genoese fought and subdued the Tuscanny Coalition, as many Italians were hoping for a unified state to prevent direct occupation and control by the Holy Roman Empire. The German emperors themselves recognized Genoa as an independent and sovereign state in 1204.

Throughout the 1200's, the Genoese were the closest to a united Italy as could be achieved. All territory north of the Papal States had fallen into the hands of the republic, as well as all Italian lands west of Venice. The Genoese also exercised control over Corsica and Sardinia. By 1298, however, the Republic of Genoa had experienced serious decline. The Venetians had taken most of the trade, and the old central Italian states longed to be free from Genoese rule. A series of greedy and foolish doges also corrupted the republic, emptied the national treasury, and weakened it further.

To the praise of many Italians, the Genoese had stood up to the political monsters of the Holy Roman Empire and had achieved the status of a symbol for Italian patriotism. When the Genoese had conquered northern Italy, many Italians had hoped this would be a step closer to Italian unification. To their delight, the Genoese had also declared them liberated and free from German claims and influences.