Charlemagne, A.D. 771-814.
Protection against pirates.
The extensive conquests of Charlemagne, unlike those of but too many of more ancient times, tended to spread far and wide the benign influence of civilization, and to secure by all possible means the peaceful operations of trade. The security of property once re-established, the enterprise and cupidity of mankind discovered with alacrity cheap and expeditious modes for exchanging the products of labour with distant as well as with neighbouring nations. To encourage the people under his rule to enter upon commercial transactions, Charlemagne concluded treaties of commerce with various foreign princes, including the Saxon kings of the Heptarchy, to which reference has been already made. He repaired the lighthouse built by Caligula at Boulogne, erecting fresh ones at those points where the greatest danger was to be apprehended, provided effectual means of defence against the pirates and the Saracens, and encouraged those of his people who were willing to embark in over-sea occupations.
A.D. 838.
This new commercial energy, which first showed itself under the kings of Lombardy, rapidly bore fruit, when Charlemagne resolved that the trading rights of Amalfi, Venice, Marseilles, and of other cities should be rigorously respected. His son, Louis le Débonnaire, followed the bright example of his illustrious father; but the destruction of Marseilles by the Saracens shortly after his death put an end for a while to the progress of commerce in the south of France. Nor, indeed, was Charles the Bold successful in recovering the losses sustained by the capture of Marseilles, while the invasion and piracies of the Normans on the north side of France, and the repeated attacks of the Saracens on the south, well nigh destroyed the seeds of progress sown by Charlemagne, so that the preservation of any form of civilization for some time seemed almost hopeless.
Efforts of Venice to suppress piracy.
But the exiles from other nations, who had, three centuries before, planted their future homes on a few barren isles in the Adriatic, now, A.D. 997, raised a fleet to suppress the Istrians and Dalmatians, who had made descents upon their city by sea as well as by land. Sailing in pursuit of their enemies, they destroyed or captured many of their vessels, compelling them to sue for peace, by these means proving to the neighbouring nations that they were strong enough to vindicate their rights and to protect their commerce. From that period the power and influence of Venice steadily advanced. The natural advantages of the city, in point of security, more than counterbalanced the inconveniences attending her situation; while the character of her constitution and laws afforded a guarantee that industrious and intelligent citizens would reap the full reward of their labour. Gradually rising by her industry, daring,[647] frugality, and above all by her prudence in keeping aloof from the dissensions of other peoples, and confining herself as much as possible to commerce, she obtained extensive privileges from the Greek emperors, and became not only the commercial emporium of Italy but also of Greece.
Rise of Marseilles.
We have already referred to the extensive trade carried on by Marseilles at a very early period, and pointed out the many advantages which the situation of that port conferred upon its possessors with regard to the trade of the Mediterranean; advantages which might now be extended and materially developed by the passage for large vessels across the Isthmus of Suez, if the rulers of France would only adopt a more liberal and enlightened policy. We have likewise attempted to describe the commerce of Marseilles under the Roman Empire, which, so far as can now be traced, must have been of considerable importance; but, like other commercial towns, its early history, in connection with the business of shipping, is shrouded in doubt and in the mystery of romance.
Various writers, however, confirm the prevailing opinion that the shipping belonging to or frequenting Marseilles was very considerable during the dark and early part of the middle ages, as great numbers of pilgrims took their departure from that port to the Holy Land, although it is not until the time of the Crusades that we have any authentic records of the extent of the intercourse between the two places: however, from these records, it is manifest that trade attracted pilgrims to Jerusalem quite as much as devotion, or, at least, that one speculation by no means excluded the other. Though ready to mingle commerce with their devotion, there is no doubt that when the fervour for the Crusades rose to enthusiasm, the people of Marseilles were among the foremost in this infatuation. They not merely conveyed numbers of crusaders and pilgrims in their ships, but the noble families of Marseilles entered freely into these fanatical expeditions, while the city itself advanced large sums of money and was liberal in its presents to the Frank lords who obtained oriental principalities.[648]