tween Genoa and Venice
brought them to a state of bitter jealousy which led to
furious wars. In the second half of the twelfth century
Genoa established her power on the Black Sea, and aimed at a
commercial monopoly in that region. This aroused the
Venetians to anger and led to open hostilities. The first
war growing out of these antagonisms between the two
republics began in 1257, and throughout the rest of the
thirteenth century hostilities were almost continuous.

In 1351 the Venetians formed an alliance against Genoa with
the Greeks and Aragonese, and, in the ensuing war, the
advantage gained by Genoa was confirmed by a treaty of peace
in 1355. But this peace lasted only until 1378, when a
dispute arose between Genoa and Venice in relation to the
island of Tenedos, in the AEgean Sea, of which the Venetians
had taken possession.

The Venetians, having denounced Genoa as false to all its
oaths and obligations, formally declared war in April, after
several acts of hostility had occurred in the Levant. Of all
the wars between the rival states, this was the most
remarkable and led to the most important consequences.

Genoa did not stand alone in this war. A formidable confederacy was
raised against Venice, which had given provocation to many enemies. Of
this Francis Carrara, seignior of Padua, and the King of Hungary were
the leaders. But the principal struggle was, as usual, upon the waves.
During the winter of 1378 a Genoese fleet kept the sea, and ravaged the
shores of Dalmatia. The Venetian armament had been weakened by an
epidemic disease, and when Vittor Pisani, their admiral, gave battle to
the enemy, he was compelled to fight with a hasty conscription of
landsmen against the best sailors in the world.

Entirely defeated, and taking refuge at Venice with only seven galleys,
Pisani was cast into prison, as if his ill-fortune had been his crime.
Meanwhile the Genoese fleet, augmented by a strong reenforcement, rode
before the long natural ramparts that separate the lagunes of Venice
from the Adriatic. Six passages intersect the islands which constitute
this barrier, besides the broader outlets of Brondolo and Fossone,
through which the waters of the Brenta and the Adige are discharged. The
Lagoon itself, as is well known, consists of extremely shallow water,
unnavigable for any vessel except along the course of artificial and
intricate passages.

Notwithstanding the ap