Why Almería? An Islamic port in the compass of Genoa

Abstract

Almería was a significant seaport both before and after the Genoese and their allies attacked it in 1147. In the early Middle Ages it achieved a symbiosis with the partly Jewish city of Granada. Stagnation was visible around the mid-twelfth century, as a result of wider changes in the Islamic world, including transformations in the trade routes tying the port to the Iberian interior. This bond was reinforced in the thirteenth century when Granada re-emerged as the capital of the Nasrid state. The Genoese made use of Almería because it gave access to the interior. In the mid-fourteenth century, Málaga assumed many of its functions and Almería retained a particular importance as a centre of piracy. The article lays emphasis on the role of Almería as part of a dual city, combining the port itself with the inland capital at Granada.