1366 | Gallipoli

The Savoyard [1] crusade (1366–67) was born out of the same planning that led to the Alexandrian Crusade. It was the brainchild of Pope Urban V and was led by Amadeus VI, Count of Savoy, against the Ottoman Empire in eastern Europe. Although originally intended as a collaboration with the Kingdom of Hungary and the Byzantine Empire, the crusade was diverted to attack the Second Bulgarian Empire, where it made small gains that it handed over to the Byzantines. 

It made small gains against the Ottomans in the vicinity of Constantinople and on Gallipoli. Noting the greater attention paid to Bulgaria than to the Turks, historian Nicolae Iorga argued "it was not the same thing as a crusade, this expedition that better resembled an escapade."

Yet the taking of Gallipoli, according to Oskar Halecki, was "the first success achieved by the Christians in their struggle for the defense of Europe, and at the same time the last great Christian victory [over the Turks] during all the fourteenth century." 

Mavi Boncuk | 
Detail of a fresco on the walls of a hall in the bishop's palace at Colle Val d'Elsa. Under the knight on the left appears the legend: "C di Savoi" [not visible]. The fresco portrays the departure of barons on a crusade and some of their exploits against the infidel. The artist is unknown.


Although the crusaders were hoping for assistance from John V Palaiologos, Byzantine Emperor, the pope had made it dependent on his bringing the Greek Orthodox Church back into communion with the Roman Catholic Church—and under papal supremacy—even though it was the Byzantine empire that the crusade was seeking to relieve from Turkish pressure.

The crusaders also expected support from Louis of Hungary, although all that was ever received was two royal squire who served Amadeus "in the Bulgarian provinces" (in partibus Burgarie).

In the spring of 1366, John V travelled to the Hungarian court to accept military aid and swear an oath on behalf of himself and his sons to convert to Catholicism. On 1 July Pope Urban had extended to Louis the Crusade indulgence, but on 22 July a letter from the pope suspended the privileges granted earlier that month for one year, postponing assistance to the Greeks until after their return to the Catholic fold and convincing Louis not to assist the "schismatic", although the pope had not expressly forbid him to.

On his return through Bulgaria, so recently attacked by his would-be ally, John found himself trapped, either imprisoned or surrounded by Bulgarian forces, and unable to continue to his own domain, where his son, Andronicus IV, married to Keratsa, daughter of the Bulgarian tsar, had taken control of the government. Amadeus and John V were first cousins, John's mother, Anna, was the sister of Amadeus's father, Aymon.

After being apprised of the situation in Bulgaria and of the Turkish positions in Europe, Amadeus led his fleet into the Dardanelles, where it was joined by a flotilla under Francesco I Gattilusio, Prince of Lesbos, and son-in-law of the trapped emperor. They may also have been met by a detachment of the Byzantine army under the Patriarch of Constantinople, as the Savoyard chronicles record. The combined crusader fleet launched an attack on Gelibolu (Gallipoli), the second city of the European Turks, on 22 August. While the army began the siege with an assault on the walls, during the night the Turks abandoned the city and in the morning the inhabitants opened the gates to the crusaders.

The sources shed limited light on this brief episode. It is known from the count's register that both town and citadel were in Savoyard hands by 26 August, and garrisons and commanders were appointed for each—Giacomo di Luserna for the city and Aimone Michaele for the citadel, with responsibility for not just defending Gelibolu but also for guarding the entrance to the straits. On 27 August a messenger was sent westward with news of the count's "first and most famous victory against the heathen Turks".

The chronicles explain the rapid success by the Turkish retreat, but it is also known that on 12 September, at Beyoğlu (Pera) in Constantinople, the count was preparing the funerals of several of his men who died in the attack on Gelibolu. Simon de Saint-Amour and Roland de Veissy, both knights of the Collar, had been killed, and the count's bursar, Antoine Barbier had purchased eighteen escutcheons bearing the "device of the Collar" (devisa collarium) for their funeral, while eighty-one wax torches and alms were paid for the burial of Girard Mareschal from Savoy and Jean d'Yverdon from the Vaudois.

A large storm in the Sea of Marmora initially prevented the remainder of the crusade from leaving Gelibolu, but by 4 September they had arrived by sea at Constantinople. The fleet landed at Beyoğlu (Pera), the Genoese quarter where most of his men stayed, although some took lodgings in Galata, the borgo de Veneciis (Venetian quarter), and Amadeus himself purchased a house in the city proper, which he had to furnish. Besides the cost of furniture and funerals, the count had to pay his interpreter Paulo three months' wages.

[1] Savoy (/səˈvɔɪ/;[2] Arpitan: Savouè, IPA: [saˈvwɛ]; French: Savoie, IPA: [savwa]; Italian: Savoia) is a region of France. It comprises roughly the territory of the Western Alps between Lake Geneva in the north and Dauphiné in the south. The region occupied by the Allobroges, a Celtic people became part of the Roman Empire. The name Savoy stems from the Late Latin Sapaudia, referring to a fir forest. 

The historical land of Savoy emerged as the feudal territory of the House of Savoy during the 11th to 14th centuries. The historical territory is shared between the modern republics of France, Italy, and Switzerland.

Installed by Rudolph III, King of Burgundy, officially in 1003, the House of Savoy became the longest surviving royal house in Europe.[3] It ruled the County of Savoy to 1416 and then the Duchy of Savoy from 1416 to 1714.


The territory of Savoy was annexed to France in 1792 under the French First Republic, before being returned to the Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia in 1815. Savoy, along with the county of Nice, was finally annexed to France by a plebiscite, under the Second French Empire in 1860, as part of a political agreement (Treaty of Turin) brokered between the French emperor Napoleon III and King Victor Emmanuel II of the Kingdom of Sardinia that began the process of unification of Italy. Victor Emmanuel's dynasty, the House of Savoy, retained its Italian lands of Piedmont and Liguria and became the ruling dynasty of Italy.

Several subdialects of Savoyard exist that exhibit unique features in terms of phonetics and vocabulary. Among them, many words have to do with the weather: bacan (French: temps mauvais); coussie (French: tempête); royé (French: averse); ni[v]ole (French: nuage); ...and, the environment: clapia, perrier (French: éboulis); égra (French: sorte d'escalier de pierre); balme (French: grotte); tova (French: tourbière); and lanche (French: champ en pente).