202 Bontea

Chapter 9 The Theory of the Passagium Particulare: A Commercial Blockade of the Mediterranean in the Early Fourteenth Century?*

Cornel Bontea

The crusading theory between the Council of Lyon (1274) and the 1330s distin­ guishes two approaches: the passagium generale and the passagium particu­ lare. The latter was an operation of limited size and scope, seeking to strengthen and support the positions held by the Latins in the East. In the papal bull Exsurgat deus (August 11, 1308) pope Clement V defines the 1308 Hospitallers expedition’s objectives as “pontes et vias ad idem generale passagium pre­ parando”.1 The main goal of the passagium particulare was to conquer a bridge­ head and from there harass the enemy and prepare a large scale invasion. The first step was a commercial blockade of the Mediterranean in order to prevent trade with the Mamluks and at the same time raid enemy shores. The passa­ gium generale was a broader undertaking that required the collaboration of all Christendom and vowed to recover the Holy Land. The preparation was longer and took place according to the following scheme: the papacy required taxes to finance such a project and diplomatic preparation was needed to get the help of the sovereigns who would be interested in fighting the Sultan of Egypt. Preaching then ensued by the pope and his legates which could have lasted several years followed by the preparation of a war fleet, etc. The fall of Acre (1291) demonstrated that the Mamluks were a worthy adversary, with impres­ sive military power and presented a serious obstacle to the recovery of the Holy Land. The strategic military thinking in the early fourteenth century favoured a minimal military confrontation during the initial phase of the ­campaign since the goal was to damage the enemy’s economy and hence their military power. This paper examines the tactical and conceptual ideas of the crusade theorists of the early fourteenth century, concerning preliminary pas­

* I would like to thank the staff of Fatih University for the excellent organised Conference and the Department of History of the University of Montreal for their support. Also, I much appreciate the help and guidance of Professor Philippe Genequand and Zorian Stech, who made this contribution possible. 1 Kedar/Schein, “Un projet de ‘passage particulier’ ”, p. 217.

© koninklijke brill nv, leiden, 2018 | doi 10.1163/9789004362048_011 The Theory of the Passagium Particulare 203 sage in the Mediterranean Sea. It will then proceed to argue that no matter how fourteenth century theorists conceptualized their actions, their approach was highly optimistic and hardly feasible considering the logistics of the era. For the majority of the crusade theorists in the fourteenth century, the main goal was to weaken Egypt prior to undertaking a new campaign. They believed that the Westerners should exploit their naval power and take advantage of the weaknesses of the Mamluks, who were vulnerable to coastal raids due to the enormous extent of their territories. Equally, the theorists were aware of the enemy’s dependence of certain vital goods and the majority of them favoured a commercial blockade of the Mediterranean Sea to prevent trade. Generally, the suggestions given by them covered the same issues: imports of wood, iron and slaves, denying the sultan revenues from tariffs collected from merchants, and the role of Christians in carrying out this trade.2 During this period, popes maintained an embargo on trade with all Muslims as well as with other enemies. But the total blockade in this period is more of a legal theory than a practical reality. Typically, papal licenses made the block­ ade selective in practice. These licenses may have undermined the embargoes’ ability to inflict economic damage on their enemies. Hence papal embargoes, even if they were undermined functionally, could still serve a symbolic pur­ pose to the papacy – they helped uphold the idea of a papally-led Christendom. The language of papal embargoes, moreover, remained concerned largely with moral issues, rather than with the effects of trade on the military strength of infidels.3 The most original aspect of the theory of the passagium particulare was the use of economic warfare against the Mamluks. After the fall of Acre, crusading needed a revitalisation and a new approach. Henceforth, to recover the Holy Land, the Westerners needed to start all over again as in the times of the First Crusade. Therefore, the authors favoured an organised naval blockade of the Mediterranean as a preliminary passage, which should also carry out military strikes on Egyptian shores. The first theorist who advocated this idea was Fidenzio de Padoue in his treaty Liber recuperationis Terrae Sanctae, written before the fall of Acre.4 Fidenzio composed his work in response to a request for advice by Pope Gregory X, made on the occasion of the Second Council of Lyon (1274). His

2 Leopold, How to recover the Holy Land, pp 199-126. 3 Stantchev, Spiritual Rationality, pp 119-133. 4 Fidenzio de Padoue, Liber recuperationis Terrae Sanctae, ed. Paviot, pp 53-171. On Fidenzio’s treaty see Leopold, How to Recover the Holy Land, p. 16 and passim; Schein, Fideles Crucis, pp 93-102; Stanchev, Spiritual Rationality, pp 175-183; Evangelisti, Fidenzio da Padova, pp 1-169.