Kaffa, or Feodosia, in the Crimea, became one of the finest commercial cities of Europe. Favored by the friendship and indolence of the Byzantines, they carried on the commerce of the East, including India, through the Black and Caspian seas. A new war with Venice broke out in 1346, in which the Genoese were victorious in a sea fight in sight of Constantinople, but were beaten in another near the coast of Sardinia. To escape the consequence of this defeat and the perils of intestine commotions, they subjected themselves to the duke of Milan, Giovanni Visconti, whose yoke, however, they soon shook off. Having recommenced the war (1377), they took Chioggia, besieged Venice, and nearly reduced it, when two of its citizens, Vettor Pisani and Carlo Zeno, revived the spirit of the besieged, created a new fleet, blockaded Chioggia, and compelled the Genoese to surrender. The peace of Turin (1381) terminated the wars of the two greatest maritime republics of the middle ages; it was preserved with slight interruptions during the decline of both, caused particularly by the conquests of the Turks in the East and the maritime discoveries in the West. Giustiniani and his companions strove heroically, but in vain, to save the great bulwark of Christendom, Constantinople, and the interests of Genoa (1453); and Mohammed II. revenged himself by stripping the republic of all its possessions in the East; even the commercial access to the Euxine was soon closed by the Turks,-During all this growth and decline of the republic, its internal commotions, caused by the parties of the plebeians and patricians, and the subdivisions of the latter, had been a source of continual perils and distractions.

Having been governed by consuls till 1190, then by podestas (annual magistrates, who were chosen from foreign cities) till 1270, it fell under the usurpation of Oberto Spinola and Oberto Doria, the "captains of liberty," who reconciled the lower classes and maintained their power till 1291. A new change was the institution of a council consisting of 12 members, subsequently of 24, 12 nobles and 12 plebeians. The feuds and even fights of the democratic and aristocratic parties, the Guelphs and Ghibellines, were meanwhile continuous. The latter faction, whose chiefs were the Dorias and Spino-las, was at last overcome and exiled by their opponents, headed by the Fieschi and Grimal-dis, but afterward found means of returning. These party struggles assumed the worst shape in the first half of the 14th century. To remedy these evils the dogate for life was instituted (1339), with the exclusion of the nobles of both parties. But neither this nor the addition of councils was sufficient to give peace to the distracted state; new contentions arose with new families; there were doges and anti-doges; some were exiled, others forced upon the people. The Viscoutis of Milan, and at a later period the kings of France, availed themselves of these dissensions to take possession of the republic.

Francis I. held it during the first part of his wars with Charles V., but in 1528 the celebrated admiral Andrea Doria delivered the state from the French, and established a new constitution, which lasted to the end of the republic. The new form of government was strictly aristocratic; a roll of families, both plebeian and patrician, was formed, the nobility divided into the old and new; the former comprised the Grimaldis, Fieschi, Dorias, Spino-las, and 24 others distinguished by age, honors, or riches, and the latter 437 houses, to which new families could be added; the doge was elected for two years, and both branches of the nobility could aspire to this dignity. But the power of the state had long since departed; its conquests, colonies, and maritime stations were lost one after another; the last of them, Corsica, revolted in 1730, and was ceded to France in 17G8; the commerce of the seas and of the East passed successively through the hands of the Portuguese, Spaniards, Dutch, and English; the flag of Genoa was insulted with impunity by the Mohammedan pirates of northern Africa, and its naval force was a mere shadow of the ancient fleets which awed all the shores of the Mediterranean and Black seas.

The single bank of St. George (compera di San Giorgio), which had been founded in 1407, still maintained its importance as an institution for loans and deposits, to which even foreign states, and particularly Spain, were greatly indebted. When in 1796 the French had conquered the neighboring territories, Genoa strove in vain to sustain itself by neutrality. A rising of the democratic party was suppressed, after several days of bloodshed, by the nobles, who were assisted by the poorest of the population; but the French directory took the part of the democracy, and demanded a change in the constitution. This demand was supported by an army, and finally agreed to. The French garrison was taken into the city, and the state changed into the republic of Lignria, with a constitution like that of France, and some additional territory. In 1800 Genoa, under Massena, sustained a siege by the Austrians and English, and was compelled to capitulate to the former, who were obliged, however, to give it up after the battle of Marengo. Bonaparte, as first consul, gave it a new and less democratic constitution, which was soon abolished on the establishment of the French empire.

After the coronation of Napoleon at Milan, the last of the doges, Duraz-zo, repaired to that city, and expressed the desire of the people for the change; and the decree of June 4, 1805, merged the republic in the empire, to form the three new departments of Genoa, Montenotte, and the Apennines. The bank of St. George, whose credit had suffered greatly by repeated loans to the state, was abolished, and the debts of the latter were transferred to the account of France. In 1814 Genoa was occupied by the English, with whose permission the ancient constitution was reestablished. But the congress of Vienna gave Genoa as a duchy to Sardinia. In 1821 it joined for a moment the revolutionary movements of Italy. At the end of March, 1849, after the defeat of Charles Albert at Novara, and the conclusion of a truce with the Austrians, a revolutionary outbreak took place, the national guards occupied the forts, and the garrison was compelled to withdraw. A provisional government, under Avezzana, Morchio, and Reta, was formed, and the independence of the republic was proclaimed. But a large body of Sardinian troops, under Gen. Lamarmora, soon appeared before Genoa; a bloody struggle ensued, and the forts and principal points of the city were taken by the royal soldiery.

In the mean while a deputation was sent to Turin, which returned with the amnesty of the king, excluding, however, the chief leaders of the movement, who had withdrawn on board the United States steamer Princeton. On April 10 Genoa was disarmed, and the monarchical government restored. Garibaldi seized two steamships in the port of Genoa in May, 1860, and thence sailed for the liberation of Sicily. Early in 1861 the territory of Genoa was made a province of the kingdom of Italy.