Byzantine Battles <>

doublehead eagle
<<<< Battle-Home >>>>
      4 th   century
      5 th   century
      6 th   century
      7 th   century
      8 th   century
      9 th   century
    10 th   century
    11 th   century
    12 th   century
    13 th   century
    14 th   century
    15 th   century

1352 Naval Battle of Bosporus ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
Outcome: Indecisive battle between the Genoese and the Venetians in Bosporus 13 February 1352
War  &  Enemy: Enemy:
Venetian-Genoese Wars
Battle Type:
Naval Battle
The Battlefield Bosporus Location:
Modern Country:
  The Byzantines(emperor:  John VI Kantakouzenos) The Enemies
Commander: General Niccolò Pisani Admiral Peganino Doria
Forces: Unknown 62 ships
Losses: Heavy Heavy
Background story: The Venetian–Genoese Wars were a long-standing conflict between the Republic of Genoa and the Republic of Venice for dominance in the eastern Mediterranean Sea between 1256 and 1381 and it occurred in 4 phases.
Since the conflict took place mostly in the Aegean, the Byzantines were inevitably involved.
In 1348–1349 the Genoese fought a short war with the Byzantine Emperor John VI Kantakouzenos in Galata (in Bosporus) and Chios. Kantakouzenos had attempted to control custom duties in the Bosporus. This was a financial blow for the Genoese based in Galata and declared war (literally). In early 1349, the Genoese burned a small Byzantine fleet of 9 ships that Kantakouzenos had just built with great financial sacrifices. The dispute was finally settled with the Genoese paying a generous compensation but keeping their financial privileges in Bosporus.
In the meantime, Genoa was at war with Venice. Under their general Niccolò Pisani, the Venetians burned Galata in the early summer of 1351 and forced the Byzantine emperor to join the alliance against Genoa.
The Battle:
Shortly after the incident in Galata, a Genoese armada of 62 ships under the command of Paganino Doria sailed into the Aegean and besieged the Venetian fortress of Oreos in Euboea, where Pisani was staying. The siege lasted until 20 October 1351, when Doria was forced to lift the siege by the arrival of a Catalan fleet .
On 13 February, a Venetian-Aragonese fleet, assisted by 12 Byzantine ships under Constantine Tarchaniotes, met the Genoese armada in Bosporus. The ensuing battle was indecisive; both sides suffered heavy losses, but in the end Venice had to abandon the Bosporus and the Aragonese fleet was hardest hit. The emperor had no choice but to come to terms of peace with the Genoese. Venice responded by paying his son-in-law (and next emperor) John V Palaiologos, to enter the war against him and the Genoese.