ABSTRACT
In 1152 an imposing figure appeared before the consuls of the commune of Genoa. Seventy-two years old and full of honours Caffaro di Rustico, lord of Caschifellone, was one of the most prominent members of the civic aristocracy.1 He had held the highest offices of the city many times and had commanded fleets and armies of the commune. On this occasion, he presented his Annales to be read to the assembled notables of Genoa. The work’s introductory paragraph describes the event this way:
This work began not with the creation of the world as was common in medieval chronicles, nor with some claim of a classical foundation, as was frequently the case in later histories. It began, as is well known, with the matter of fact assertion that, “In the City of Genoa, at the time of the expedition to Caesarea, or shortly before, an association was formed with six consuls for three years.”3 Then, immediately, begins a rather lengthy account of that “expedition to Caesarea”, the story of the second Genoese fleet4 to participate in the First Crusade. This expedition sailed out in 1100 with 20-year-old Caffaro, himself, as one of the participants. The experience, apparently, affected him so deeply that he began to keep a written record of events that affected his city from that point on. The question to be addressed here is why he chose to make a public presentation of his writings when he did, and in the way he did. I will suggest that there are clear and discernable reasons why Caffaro chose to throw his considerable political weight behind the presentation of his work at the moment that he did and, also, for his choice to begin his tale of Genoa’s past with its involvement in the First Crusade. These choices were rooted in Genoese politics in the mid-twelfth century and with his own part in a developing crisis at that time. The establishment of an official history that would be carried on for another century and a half was, in some respects, an incidental and unforeseen result.
