Chapter 1: How Sardonic
At the dawn of the 11th century, Italy seemed doomed to be overrun. Saracen pirates raided it with abandon, capturing vast swaths of land. Norman invaders were advancing in the south, threatening the last Lombard strongholds on the peninsula. The pope quarrelled with the Holy Roman Emperor, threatening the balance of power in the North. 'twas a desperate time.
In the year of our lord 1016, two fleets gathered. Though their cities were commercial rivals, the men of Genoa and Pisa put aside their differences in the name of Christian civilization and to protect their shipping from hated Saracen raiders. The Isle of Sardinia had fallen to Muslim pirates, and the pope had charged the two of them with liberating it.
The naval force of Genoa and Pisa forced the Saracens into a quick and humiliating retreat.
But what do do with Pisa? The two Republics seemed poised for a blood conflict until Papal mediation resolved the conflict. The Pope's proposal was widely known and the embarrassment of rejecting it proved too great.
It was decided that the Giudicati would be reinstated on the Island. Pisa and Genoa were issued a monopoly on the Isle's trade, and assured of its support in future conflicts. In return, they would defend the isle against further Saracen invasion. This treaty was popular among the merchants and the common people, if not the senates of each city.
Thus began the shaky alliance between Pisa and Genoa; the foundation of a new Merchant empire.