Note 654 — Chapter XIV

Pardessus observes that in reading the history of the period of the Crusades, any one would suppose that the great maritime cities of the Mediterranean imagined that these expeditions were made merely to promote and extend their commerce. In vol. ii. p. 39, he gives a remarkable list of the various privileges conceded to Marseilles, Genoa, Pisa, and Venice, with the view of securing their aid (or at least their neutrality) during these expeditions. See also Smedley, “Sketches of Venet. Hist.,” i. p. 25-45, for details of exactions made by the Venetians from the leaders of the Crusades.