Medieval Kingdoms Total War: Republic of Genoa

[Locus_Devium]

Wow looks pretty accurate now.

I think this millita units could be used in other italian factions aswell
in different colours for sure.

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[Påsan]

Any plans to include the full italian plate?

[Ltd.]

Technically we already have almost every single piece of this armour already in the game. It is just a bit (more than a bit actually ) tricky to get the unit look this smooth, i.e for the armour to work this flawlessly without clipping

[Ianuensis Mercator]

Hello everybody! It's so much time I've been waiting this thread... First of all I want to thank you for the fantastic work you're doing with this mod!

I feel I could be of help with the faction of Genoa: I'm a Genoese, passionate with the history of my city. But, also more important, I am an Archivist, and to be it I studied four years at the Archivio di Stato di Genova (Genoa State Archive), in which there are conserved, between other things, the most part of the documents of the Republic of Genoa, the notarial funds of the city and the funds of the Bank of Saint George.
Since I could touch and read the primary sources I'm sure I could give you some advice.
I could particularly help with:

-the heraldry of Genoa and the Genoese (I saw you did already a great job, but it could also be improved further)
-names and terminology for the units (and I could help in general also with the other Italian states)
-clarifications on the history of Genoa,which is, sadly, often overlooked

True the communal militias were well equipped but I really don't think they all wore heavy plate armour. Happy to accept any sources which state that they did but as far as I know full plate armour was only really used by men at arms and professional soldiers. I mean even the re-enactors that you posted do not all wear breastplates but a mix of chainmail, brigantines and plate (I know they are XIVth century ones but still).

The probem is, here that is very difficult to tell a "standard" for the communal militia as you intend it. It depends from century, cetus and also the city. For example as I red from the regulations of Genoa of XIII-XIV centuries, the Compagna Communis provided the basic equipment to the militia, and it consisted in a steel helmet and... a sturdy wooden club. That's all, exclunding the food provisions. I'm not joking. Of course we are not speaking of the professionals, here, like the top crossbowmen. There were huge differences of equipment between poor and rich, and even the same corporations were drastically different for the wealth of their members; for example the corporation of Pollaiuoli (chicken vendors) was so poor that was the only in which ex-slaves were admitted.
As the time passed the poorer began to congregate in groups able to pay better equipment for just one of them. Therefore, during the XIV-XV centuries the "militia" slowly became a more semi-professional thing.

Also, question for you, when did the Ghibelline/Guelph conflict become irrelevant? Was it still relevant in the XVth century? Or is it more of a XII-XIIIth century thing?

We could say that in the XV century the conflict was pretty much over, with the victory of the Church, and the French. But was still relevant as idea, or a tradition if you prefer. Something to use in a more political sense within the cities more than outside.
I would add a couple of things about the Genoese and the entire Ghibelline/Guelph thing: at the end, they really didn't bothered that much. Yes you could say that the Genoese fought against Frederick II and supported often the Pope, so Genoa is Guelph. But in truth the Genoese simply welcame every occasion to fight within each other, it didn't matter the "ideology" or the party. It's complicated to explain, but what really matter for the Genoese are the money and the business: the great families were in fact holdings ready to anything to overcome the competition, and for this during the century the Genoese became more and more individualistic and divided, until the pure chaos of the XV cenury. We are talking of people literally ready to kill each others on a military ship shortly before a battle against a enemy fleet. We are talking about admirals that didn't go in relief of sieged troops for their own profit; what happened in Chioggia. Didn't really matter the party, at the end.

Anyway, for the mod, in principle we could say that were Ghibellines the Doria, Spinola, Lomellini and lately Adorno; were Guelph the Fieschi (they gave two popes), Grimaldi and lately Fregoso.

[You_Guess_Who]

I feel I could be of help with the faction of Genoa: I'm a Genoese, passionate with the history of my city. But, also more important, I am an Archivist, and to be it I studied four years at the Archivio di Stato di Genova (Genoa State Archive), in which there are conserved, between other things, the most part of the documents of the Republic of Genoa, the notarial funds of the city and the funds of the Bank of Saint George.
Since I could touch and read the primary sources I'm sure I could give you some advice.
I could particularly help with:

-the heraldry of Genoa and the Genoese (I saw you did already a great job, but it could also be improved further)
-names and terminology for the units (and I could help in general also with the other Italian states)
-clarifications on the history of Genoa,which is, sadly, often overlooked

Every help would be very helpful, of course. Contemporarenous historical accounts is sorely needed to keep historical accuracy to the maximum.

I'm interested in any information about Genoese maritime aspects would be great - The organization of the navy, the specific technical specifications of the vessels used, the equipments the seamen used, and such.
Personally, I am wondering about the usage of armour by marines - how much would it endanger a person thrown offboard, hence how would a marine of that era select the ideal protection?

[Slytacular]

Yeeeeeeeessss! This mod has even the professional history nerds looking at our stuff! Please help us with research! We need to give the Genoese some justice!

[warman222]

Hey there,

Awesome to see someone like you chime in here! I am American but my family was from Italy(Napoli and Sicily) so I wanted to make sure the Italian factions I was a part of were given the love they deserve. So my questions are as follows:

1. You mentioned this divide between rich and poor in terms of equipment. Can you elaborate on that? It sounds like you can be really specific in what corporation had how much money and what they could provide. I've noticed from further research as well as my work on Venice that perhaps having this dynamic in the rosters where you have the rich/mercenary types of troops that are very clearly defined and then you have local troops being less specialized and not as well armed and noticeably lighter.

2. This is a slightly more general Italian question I suppose but do you have any insight on what Italian armies looked like in the 1200s? It harder to find references during that century compared to the ones after.

3. Please clarify some Genoese history, that will be very useful especially if it's applicable to our mod.

[Ianuensis Mercator]

Thankyou everybody for the warm welcome! I'll try to answer all thequestion but some of them require a litte bit of actual research frommy part. Also I didn't say that, but I hope you'll forgive me ifsometimes I write in a weird manner or with mistakes in english; Iwill try hard to not butcher it too much. That say, let'sbegin...

Weneed to give the Genoese some justice!

Totallyagree . The problem with the history of the Genoese is that'scomplicated, a lot. And, differently from Venice, is much lessvisible, altough their heritage is still present today.

I'minterested in any information about Genoese maritime aspects would begreat - The organization of the navy, the specific technicalspecifications of the vessels used, the equipments the seamen used,and such.

?

Toanswer to this well I'll need to do a little research on my own. Butyou are lucky, because I know exactly where to look for: in thepapers of the Officium Robarie, the office that deal with piracy. Whynot in the office for war? Well, this is mind blowing: even if theCompagna Communis Ianuensis organized at least one militaryexpedition on sea every year for pretty much all the Middle Ages itwas never estabilished a stable institution for war or for the navy:every expedition, or fight, required the creation of a temporaryextraordinary committee. This is due to the fact that the Comunecould prepare with his own resources only a dozen of galleys, or alittle more, when some fleets are in order of hundreds. Unlike fromVenice, the most part of a genoese fleet was in fact composed byprivate ships of the wealthy Genoese.
Ithink this could give you an idea of how much this people wereindividualistic and divided (and also how much they were pirates, asyou will see). I could tell you more, but I'd prefer to do a littleresearch before.

Personally,I am wondering about the usage of armour by marines - how much wouldit endanger a person thrown offboard, hence how would a marine ofthat era select the ideal protection?

Ican give you a partial answer for this, before the research. Iremember I red a rulement of 1300 for the weapons and armors to bekept on board of a galley (not military) which said that the bestcuirass (excellent quality) was reserved for the captain, goodquality armors were reserved for the other officials, the scribe andthe soldiers, and the medium quaity were reserved for sailors androwers, but not in suficient quantity for everyone of them.Unfortunately the rulements didn't tell if the quality was alsoindicative of how much of body the armor covered. From some images Ihave in mind and actual facts I'm persuaded to think that a fullarmor and a better protection was preferible, if you were a soldier.Think about it: in the middle ages the medical art was pretty bad;the european doctors were expert to cure broken bones, but theirtecniques in the treatment of wounds were terrible, to say the least.(This is also why the church forbid to spill blood but not to breakbones). The choice of death in a naval battle was between a slow,painful death due to infection, or a more rapid one for drowning.Also consider this: in the most naval battle only a small percentageof ships were sunk, usually, so even when the battle was lost, youhad more chance to survive with an armor, even if you were captured.
Fora sailor or a rower an armor is much more tiring to use, so theywouldn't really use that much. But if you are a captain or a soldier,your work is give orders or fight, and for this you should use a goodarmour. This, of course, is just my opinion, don't know if it makessense for you.

Battle of Curzola (1298)


@warman222 sorry if I didn't reply to you, unfortunately I'm slow writing on the keyboard... but it's coming!

[Ghibellino]

Maybe there should be a unit of targhieri or pavesari also in early rosters of the italian communal factions.

[chleader]

Genoa is looking much better now, good work guys
Ps: looking forward to the navy already

[AndreOnFire]

@warman222 First of all, as a Genoese, I must congratulate you for the amazing work and the effort you put into it.
That said, I couldn't help to notice that soldiers facial features, both here and on Venice roster, are way too off from the typical Northern Italian man. I think a model similar to the one you guys used for the County of Toulouse faction for example, or something somewhat similar, would be more appropriate for every Northern Italian faction (I would say all Italian factions above Rome). This mistake is probably due to the fact that we all tend to consider people of each current country as a whole. I remind you that in this case for exampe, Northern Italy is the same land that Romans called Cisalpine Gaul and although they were among the first barbaric tribes who had been conquered and romanized, it's not that even people swapped ethnicity to the typical Roman/Greek Mediterranean look.
It's just a minor aspect but it's something that immediately caught my eye at first glance and I thought to report it for the sake of accuracy.

[warman222]

I'll look into it.

But regarding Genoa(and Venice), I'm getting the impression I should have the units largely divided into two types:


Communal Units; glass cannon units, light armor save for the helms and leg(s?) but good shields and weapons.

Commercial Units; professional or specialized units that are can go toe to toe with knightly units in terms of quality. As an example For Genoa it would be the Genoese Pavise Crossbowmen, for Venice the Fanti di Mar and the Execustai Guard. Also various naval related units whether on the ships or land could fall under this to a lesser degree.

This will give these Republics a unique play style where you have lots of light communal units and berrovieri/zaffones units supplemented by these heavier but less numerous commercial units.

Thoughts?

[AndreOnFire]

I'll look into it.

Thanks, they look totally off. That kind of look isrestricted to some part of southern Italy like Sicily, Calabria and Naples. It could still be an excusable neglect, evenif completely inaccurate, for Venice or Genoa that are factions named aftercities, but it would turn into a joke if it’s gonna be used for ones named after apopulation such as Lombardy, Longobards looking like greeks...meh. And even beforetheir arrival that region had always been called Insubria times since ancienttimes, Insubres were a celtic-gaulish tribe.

But regarding Genoa(and Venice), I'm getting the impression I should have the units largely divided into two types:


Communal Units; glass cannon units, light armor save for the helms and leg(s?) but good shields and weapons.

Commercial Units; professional or specialized units that are can go toe to toe with knightly units in terms of quality. As an example For Genoa it would be the Genoese Pavise Crossbowmen, for Venice the Fanti di Mar and the Execustai Guard. Also various naval related units whether on the ships or land could fall under this to a lesser degree.

This will give these Republics a unique play style where you have lots of light communal units and berrovieri/zaffones units supplemented by these heavier but less numerous commercial units.

Thoughts?

That depends which direction you guys want to follow: favoringhistorically accuracy or gameplay. Truth be told all northern italian factionrosters were quite similar to each other but make them and their mechanics abit diverse would definetly make the game much more enjoyable while evenincreasing its replayability.

2. This is a slightly more general Italian question I suppose but do you have any insight on what Italian armies looked like in the 1200s? It harder to find references during that century compared to the ones after.

I am gonna take as reference the units composition of tuscan communes, because it’s the only structure of communal army well described by original sources. XIII century central-northern italian army was called oste comunale, the army was divided in schiere which in turn were divided in gruppi or squadre made up but a certain amount of men under the orders of a capitaneus (captain).

The two main groups that made up the army were the Cavalleria (Feditori, Cavalleria Pesante, Comandanti) and the Fanteria (Pavesari, Arcieri, Balestrieri, Fanti).

- Feditori are the ranks made up by those Cavalieri who voluntarily choose to start the combat in a leading position as vanguard: they are the bravest ones who withstand the first impact with the enemy.

- Cavalleria Pesante is made up by cavaliers from the city, by exiles from opposing factions and by other members from allied cities.

- Pavesari (or Palvesari) are foot soldiers with a huge rectangular shield, the pavese ( almost as tall as a person), fixed to the ground and supported by stakes, that protect the Pavesario armed with a long spear; usually he is stationed close to a shooter, an Arciere or a Balestriere, with covering tasks.

- Fanteria is made up by all the able-bodied men recruitable, everyone aged between 15 to 70. They are divided into smaller formations called squadre, each of them led by a captain (capitaneus) appointed among the most worthy citizens of the commune; a group of units is rapresented by the gonfaloniere under the same flag.

- Riserva is made up by a contingent of Cavalieri and Fanti hidden in the rear, with the task of backing the weakest ranks up. They are often the ones who determine the outcome of the battle.


Going into details about the Fateria we know that squadre were made up by:

- 21 fanti arranged on 3 ranks
- 2 sergeants
- 1 standard bearer
- 1 capitaneus


- fanti are equipped with civilian clothes, while torso protection is granted by a coat reinforced with leather or iron plates and by a chain mail in some cases. Head protections could have been: padded cap, aventail, carvelliere, kettle hat, bascinet: hands and neck protections (gorgets and mail or plate collars) are optionals.
-1^st rank with tavolaccio da fante (a 4 feet huge trapezoid shield wider on the upper side), hip short secondary weapon (dagger, baselard, butcher knife), thrusting only polearm (spear, spetum, quadrellone);
-2^nd rank with hip secondary weapon (sword, dagger, falchion, short battle axe), optional small buckler as shield, multiple action polearm for scratching, fracturing, lacerating (bill, pennato, guisarme, bardiche, alighiero, halberd, glaive, pole-knife);
-3^rd rank with hip secondary weapon (sword, dagger, falchion, short battle axe), optional small buckler as shield, thrusting only polearm (mandatorily the lanzalonga, no less than 10+ feet long).

serragenti (or serragentes), being more wealthy, are equipped with a havier amor: chain mail, plate reinforced coat, aventail and helmet. Their equipment is made up by a hip secondary weapon (sword of falchion), a polearm to which is applied a banderole with the unit banner colors, a surcoat worn over the chain mail and a shield with the colors of their unit.

standard-bearer is equipped as the fanti and due to his position can just be equipped with a hip weapon (sword, falchion dagger). He is usually protected by the sergeants and the capitaneus when he is not busy with giving orders to his men.

capitaneus was coming from a medium to high-end social class. It’s the kind of person who can afford the really best accessories as a plate reinforced coat, a hauberk or a torso mail with lamellar reinforcements, an aventail, the helmet (kettle hat, carvelliere, painted helmet with visor: according to practical experience we can exclude a complete close helmet, it doesn’t allow to shout clear and audible orders), mail gauntlet and a colorfull surcoat that reproduce the ones of their unit). The armament consisted in a sword, a triangular shield and, as a symbol of command, a 1 feet long baton reinforced on its top with metal tips, heritage of the Roman centurions’ baculum. A dagger or a baselard were optional.


You can’t reproduce this ranks in the game as a single unit how it should be but you can still split them up into many ones. Your tier 1 Leavy Spearman perfectly describe the first line of the formation for example. Take into account that tavolaccio shield usage has been protracted untill all the XV century all around Italy while it had already become obsolete in the rest of Europe since the XIII century.
What puts me instead totally off is your tier 1 Lanceri. It’s physically impossible for a man to wield a 7/8 feet long spear with one hand while holding up a 3/4 feet long shield with the other... com'on this is not Warhammer Total War.
As you red above 2^nd and 3^rd line infantry units were holding longer polearms than the first line but they didn’t use any shield or just a small buckler in order to do so. Unfortunately you can’t have a shield wielder first line to protect them in the game but I would still suggest you to completely remove the tavolaccio shield and considerably reduce the size of the other ones.


About the Cavalleria Pesante and Feditori equipment instead:
chain mail armour, chain mail gauntlet, chain mail boots, aventail attached to the armour through a mail coif, a kettle hat with nasal protection or visor, a surcoat worn over the chain mail with their house or faction colours. They were wielding a 15 to 16 feet long spear, a kite shield and a sword as hip secondary weapon. They also have other secondary weapons like daggers and maces, as effective as the more expensive sword in melee combat.


Now let’s talk about the pavese shield because people were, and they are still making confusion about it and this led to a huge historical innacuracy. The shield used by the balestrieri was not the pavese (or palvese) but the foot soldier above mentioned tavolaccio, even called as abulacium, taramacio, tabolatum magnum (Bologna 1296), talavacio (Padova 1277). In another bolognese document dated 1296 it’s written that among the balestriere personal equipment the tabellatio magno was the actual shield in use (from Il sabato di San Barnaba, page 55); so it couldn’t be the pavese, a shield of such poor manoeuvrability that it had to be carried on a mule’s back and overseen by a special operator… guess who: the pavesario (already mentioned above when I talk about the communal army composition). The pavesario was not a ranged unit as the arceri and balestrieri, but his task was purely logistic: getting the pavese shield in position and protect with his polearm all the arceri and balestrieri who were taking cover behind it.
Instead the tavolaccio, in spite of its remarkable size, it can be comfortably carried on the back by fanti and balestrieri tanks to the specific leather straps.
So, yeah… m2tw made it all wrong about pavise and genoese crossbowmen as they are kind of misrepresented. But at the same time I don’t actually know if you should take these fixes into account, cause then people will probably ask where them pavise crossbowmen at.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Sources:
- AA.VV., Guerre e Assoldati in Toscana: 1260-1364 - catalogo omonima mostra a cura di Lionello G.Boccia Studio Per Edizioni Scelte, Firenze 1982;
- ALDO A. SETTIA, Comuni in Guerra. Armi ed Eserciti nell'Italia delle Città - Editrice Clueb, Bologna 1993;
- UGO BARLOZZETTI, L'Arte della guerra nell'età della Francigena - Edizioni Regione Toscana, Firenze 1998;
- ALDO A. SETTIA, Rapine, Assedi, Battaglie - La guerra nel Medioevo - Editori Laterza, Roma-Bari 2002.
- REMO BUOSI - Delle fanterie comunali italiane nel XIII secolo
- Wikipedia

[Ianuensis Mercator]

Hey there,

Awesome to see someone like you chime in here! I am American but my family was from Italy(Napoli and Sicily)so I wanted to make sure the Italian factions I was a part of were given the love they deserve.

Thank you very much! Nice to meet you as well. I trust you/we will do a good job

1. You mentioned this divide between rich and poor in terms of equipment. Can you elaborate on that? It sounds like you can be really specific in what corporation had how much money and what they could provide. I've noticed from further research as well as my work on Venice that perhaps having this dynamic in the rosters where you have the rich/mercenary types of troops that are very clearly defined and then you have local troops being less specialized and not as well armed and noticeably lighter.

Well, this is a though one! If I understand well, you'd like to adapt the rosters basing on the social classes?
I think I could give some advice, but the argoment is quite complex; I'd like to focus on five points:
1. Cities and loyalties: a complex society
2. Land powers and sea powers
3. The influence of guilds/corporations
4. Times change
5. An example: Genoese and Ligurian crossbowmen

Note: As much as I want to be precise, I don't know how far I can be specific... in a reasonable time, at least.

2. This is a slightly more general Italian question I suppose but do you have any insight on what Italian armies looked like in the 1200s? It harder to find references during that century compared to the ones after.

I will try to be helpful. Regarding general images, the battles of Montaperti (1260) and Campaldino (1289) are the most represented fights of the period. A site I would recommend is this, if you didn't know it before: http://www.parvimilites.it/03_02medioevoita.html
The miniatures are quite amazing: not only for their quality, but also because are very historically accurate; armors and coats of arms, and in somewhat manner also the tactics, are realistic and taken from actual sources; the author was a restorer and sculptor for the Ministry of Cultural Heritage here in Italy.
In general we can say that in 1200's there is a great influence from France, particularly from the south, Occitany and Linguedoc, and in a measure from Germany. The influence is due to the fact that the Italians considered the central european weapons and armors effective - and in all the history of military the effectiveness is quite important. Also, consider that the italian maritime Republics are important transporters of the european crusaders, so they are quite in contact with people from all over the Europe.
This influence is more in the first half of the century; so for this period you can get ideas from the german and french sources.
On the other hand the influence from France and Germany is more than a fact of arms: there is also a strong cultural influence, in paticular from the movement of the french Troubadours.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Mario Venturi, Florentine Crusaders at the siege of Damietta of 1219

Battle of Montaperti (from the Chronicles of Giovanni Villani)

By the way, the "central european" armors and weapons descended in fact from the Norman weapons. But think about it: one of the most powerful kingdoms founded by the Normans is in Italy, the Kingdom of Sicily. Sicily in 1200's is the most advanced and refined kingdom of all over Europe, which is actually different from today: the most advanced countries where in the south, while in the north are less. The Normans created in Sicily the best administration of the time, efficient and with a strong central power that controlled cery well the barons of the provinces. The Kingdom of Sicily would be so powerful until the Wars of the Vespro, the "Mediterranean Hundreds Year War" (1282-1372). After this terrible war the Kingdom will never arise as powerful again.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Battle of Benevento (1266) (from the Chronicles of Villani)

Siege of Messina (1282)

Since we are speaking of the Kingdom of Sicily and of the south France and German culture, it is useful talk about one of the most central charachters of the 1200's in Italy, and also in Europe: the Emperor Frederick II. This extraordinary man, called Stupor Mundi is probalbly the best example of the central european influences on Italy: Frederick was King of Sicily, later Emperor of the Romans and also became King of Jerusalem. He was also King of Italy, but most Italian Communes never accepted that, and he had to fight many political wars with his Ghibelline allies. He loved Italy more than Germany, but he was very open to know other cultures.
Under his reign in his capital of Palermo the first important movements of the italian literature born; the sicilian poets were in fact directly influenced by the french troubadours and poetry. From the south the inluence spread to north, and it become the base for the Tuscan, and in particular Florentine literature of the Dolce Stil Novo. The great poet Dante is actually the product of all of this movements.
The influences to the north Italy came from France also more directly, actually, like we can see in the poem of, where a french knight, that speaks in language d'Oc, try, failing, to seduce a Genoese woman, who speaks in Genoese.
Why I did this digression on literature? Well, because cultural ideas came with military ideas, and this story shows how much there is a French influence in this period.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Battle of Cortenuova (1237) (from the Chronicles of Villani)

Battle of Giglio (1241) (from the Chronicles of Villani)

Battle of Victoria (or Battle of Parma) (1248) (from the Chronicles of Villani) and King Enzo, son of Frederick II, prisoner in Bologna

The tpical (full) armour is the so called armor "of transition" common in all europe, that consist in the mail armour reinforced with plates in the vital points of the body, specificlly the torso. The plates are usually kept in place by a vest, the coat of arms. Gambesons and more simple cuirasses of mail were mostly used by people who can't afford a full set of armor, but what can't really miss from the equipment of a soldier of 1200 is at least a robust shield of good quality and a steel helmet for the protection of the head.
There are two aspects of the armies that are very typical of italian in this period though: first, the Italians seems to like more than other europeans open faced helmets (like the steel cap), even if they usa also the typical closed helmets. We don't know exactly why, if there is an economical reason or not. And we can't trust completely the art of the period. But, still, this could be an idea for the mod.
Second feature is that the Italians seem to develop leg protections towards plates quite early (1250's or even before for somebody). The plates are made of steel usually, but it seems that in some representations there are things that seems leather protections, often with decorations. Now, the historians are very weary when there there are hypotesis concerning the leather, and with reasons. So we cannot say that this is completely true: even in the written documents, they refer to the armours with very generic terms, like "cuirass", or "hauberk". But for the mod, I would risk to use some leather pieces, mostly for the legs. Maybe also something for the torsos or the arms, because there are representations also for those, but in a very limited number, anyway.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Scene from the Communal Palace of San Gimignano: notice how much modern are the legs protections. Also notice specially that the knight on the right seems to have leg protections made of leather.

Various reconstructions of Mario Venturi (I strongly recommend his site) of Italian soldiers of the second half of XIII century. Note how much the author uses pieces of leather for the protections, specially of the legs.

Note that some images here are maybe a little bit later than the actual facts, the images from Chronicles of Villani are actually from the first half of XIV century, but they are quite reliable to give a general idea, and an image to work on.
I hope this could help!

3. Please clarify some Genoese history, that will be very useful especially if it's applicable to our mod.

I will, I will, but everything at the right time, as we say here in Italy. Before I would like to make two posts, one about italian names, and another one about the Genoese Heraldry and colours.

[Ianuensis Mercator]

The influences to the north Italy came from France also more directly, actually, like we can see in the poem of, where a french knight, that speaks in language d'Oc, try, failing, to seduce a Genoese woman, who speaks in Genoese.

If you are asking yourself of which poem I was talking about, it's the Contrast to a Genoese woman of the troubadour Raimbaut de Vaqueiras, of 1190. Please Lord Moderator, could you add this little information to the post gratia et amore, so people don't have to search missing info around the world?

By the way reading my last post I saw how much I butchered English. But it's time to redeem myself regarding the languages, because today I'm going to talk about...Names of Genoese units so far (and in somewhat manner Italians')First of all a declaration of intent: I will try, to the maximum extent, to eliminate the words in English. But, at the same time I'm not going to use modern italian names. The Italian language is a quite recent thing, in the Middle Ages it didn't exist, but existed Florentine, Aretine, Senese, Genoese, Savonese, Bolognese, Venetian, Milanese, Roman, Neapolitan, Palermitan and we could go on for half an hour.
I'm going to use two primary sources: firstly I'll use latin, the one you find in documents, but since in the middle age latin is very corrupted and with germanic influences,I'm going to use a wrong latin on purpose, very close to an italian language (mainly for the desinences). I'm not using too much classical terms either, because things like sagittarius for archer are out of place. I will also use as a source the genoese, mostly based on the ancient genoese of the Genoese Anonymous, a poet of XIII-XIV century, but also modern genoese is used for my personal reference. When there is a too big difference between genoese and corrupted latin, or a discrepancy of the sources, I will write both names, and you can choose between them. In general the corrupted latin names have a more official vibe, while the genoese ones have more popular and informal flavour. Also, I'm going to use more italianized names for the later units of XV century, because in latin they would be a little silly.
-Balestrieri/Crossbowen->In the genoese documents these guys are called mostly Balistari. On the other hand, the Anonymous call them Barestrei.

-Arceri/Archers -> While in modern italian it's arcieri,Arceri should work better in this period. Basing on the Anonymous word of crossbowmen and on modern genoese, the genoese name could be Arcei.

-Lanceri/Spearmen-> While in modern italian it's lancieri, and in latin lancearii,Lanceri should work better in this period. Basing on the Anonymous word of crossbowmen and on modern genoese, the genoese name could be Lancei, but I have mixed feelings about it.
-Spadaccini/Swordmen -> I confess that when I saw Spadaccini I smiled a little. I know that sounds nice. But actually it would be better to change it, Spadaccinoin Italian has a different connotation than Swordman. It means not only a person, or a soldier, who use a sword, but a person very skilled with a sword, practically a duelist. I would use a more neutral term, that is more suitable for the middle ages: one option could be Fanti, based mostly on the name of the florentine militias. I also like a very generic name: Armati(armed (men)), which fit very well IMO, probably better.

-Pavise Crossbowmen-> Since the Pavesari were a more specific unit, as AndreOnFire said, we could use a more generic name: Balistari Scudati.Genoese: Barestrei Scudati.

-Mounted Crossbowmen-> Balistari Equitati Genoese: Barestrei a Cavallo(By the way: I suggest that this unit can dismount and fight on foot, for Genoa and the other european factions).

-Picchieri-> No problem. Picchieri is fine. The genoese name we could desume is actually awkward (Picchiei), and frankly I'm not too sure.

-Berrovieri-> This is actually a funny, interesting name. Sold.

-Dismounted Berrovieri-> Berrovieri Pediti

-Zaffones-> Here we have a problem. I like it as much as Berrovieri, but in fact Zaffonesis a name typical of Venice. I'm not sure here: also consider that cavalry wasn't really a genoese thing - on the other hand the idea of the plunderers is appropriate. Based on the meaning of Zaffones I can try to make up some names, but keep in mind that I'm inventing here: Vessatoresshould work.
Alternatively we could consider this unit as a retinue, and we could call them Servienti.

-Dismounted Zaffones-> Vessatores Pediti/Servienti Peditidepending on the previous choice.

-Shiopettari-> Schioppettierior Scoppettieri

-Levy Units->For Levy, which has a difficult translation, I can give two different options: Conscriptiis closer to the meaning of Levies,but the adjective Populariprobably would work better. Regarding genoese, in Genoa the militias were reunited in the Compagne, but I've got mixed feelings about calling these unit "de a Compagna":because the Compagnewere something more than a simple militia, and those men were far more skilled than you could think when you read the word "levies": in fact they were skilled seamen, more than land militias. On the other hand, de a Compagnais the perfect term for these units. When I will write that long post about the militias and the social classes I will explain this better, and maybe you would want decide to change something in the italian rosters. But for now I wanted at least to have some names and heraldry done, so you can at least release something solid. So:...
---> Levy Swordsmen-> Armati Populari/Fanti Populari/Armati Conscripti/Fanti ConscriptiGenoese: Armati de a Compagna/Fanti de a Compagna/Armati de Popolo/Fanti de Popolo
---> Levy Spearmen-> Lanceri Populari/ Lanceri ConscriptiGenoese: Lancei de a Compagna/Lancei de Popolo
---> Levy Archers-> Arceri Populari/Arceri ConscriptiGenoese: Arcei de a Compagna/Arcei de Popolo
---> Levy Crossbowmen-> Balistari Populari/Balistari ConscriptiGenoese: Barestrei de a Compagna/Barestrei de Popolo

-Targhieri-> Since they are carrying pavesiwhy not calling simply Pavesari? (When you will dot tuscan factions would be better Palvesari). Or for a more Genovese vibe you can call them Pavesai. Anyway, if you are thinking to change their shields with the Tavolaccio, after reading AndreOnFire's post, Targhiericould be fine.

-Equitatores-> This term actually doesn't exist in latin, but is very similar to Latin and for that I find it funny: it is really in line with the middle ages. From what source did you find it? Anyway, I think it could be good (a little more actual term is Equitati, just to say). Since it is a unit of the retinue of the late period I feel you could also use Scudieri, (squires) but it's up to you.

-Dismounted Guelph Men at Arms-> Armati Guelfi

-Guelph Men at Arms-> Militi Guelfior Cavalieri Guelfibut personally I would use Militi.
-Condottieri-> This term need a little clarification, I think: condottieromeans leaderor commander,from the verb condurrethat means to lead. The condottieri were the leaders of the italian mercenary companies in the XV XVI centuries. These companies were called Compagnie di Ventura, which can be translated as Companies of Fortune. So, the best name for these mounted soldiers is Cavalieri de Ventura

-Foot Condotta-> Soldati de Ventura

-Genoese Nobles-> Nobiles Ianuenses EquitatiGenoese: Nobili Zenoeisi a Cavallo

-Dismounted Genoese Nobles-> Nobiles IanuensesGenoese: Nobili Zenoeisi

-General's Bodyguard-> This is the unit on which I have most doubts. The Duke of Milan in the XV century has the formidable Famiglia Ducale, but, aside this, leader's bodyguards haven't specific names in the middle ages in Italy. So I will tell you a couple of generic ones: if you don't like them, General's Bodiguardis fine. Militi Propinqui - Militi Fideli - Militi de lo Segnor - Familia de lo Segnor


Appendix I: Ideas for other units and strategic gameplay mechanics
-Balistari Communis Ianuensis-> This should be a unit of crossbowmen, a very elite one. We could make a paralelism with the English Archers of the Retinue. I will talk later better of this guys, but, just for you to know something about them, their training comprise, between other things, a sea combat training in which they were on the mast of a galley, while on some masts on another galley were fixed the targets, big as a coin; the crossbowmen had to hit them up the maximum range of their weapons. Hand down, these guys were snipers. Also, they were trained to fire in teams, reducing at minimum the time between a volle and another.
They shouldn't be better equipped than the regular Balistari Scudati, but they should be faster, with better precision, morale and a little better in melee. They should also have an option for the tipes of bolts used: in addition of the regular Veretoni,they should also have the Quadrelli Perfecti, the bolts produced directly by the Zecca of Genoa, which, in accord with the ordinance rulements of the Officio Gazarie,should be the best quality of all of the bolts around. The Balistari should have with them at least 20 Quadrelli Perfecti. In a gameplay mechanic, you could change the regular bolts with the ones more deadly, without range or velocity penalties, but reducing the number of disponible shots (in other terms: a Quadrello"consume" more shots than a Veretone).

-Rotulari-> They should be added as a late light infantry (XV century) for the italian factions, or at least for the land powers (which Genoa isn't). Armed for melee. The Rotulais a round shield of medium size.

-Predoni Zenoeisi-> In the middle ages, the differences between a sailor, a merchant or a pirates was little. But some seamen were better than others. Some peoples were more pirates than others. So were the Genoese: excellent sailors, and great pirates. No joking here: they were s. They were some of the greatest s of the Mediterranean Sea, probably the greatest s of the Black Sea, they were also s in the Atlantic Ocean, and, sometimes, when there was the right occasion, were s in the Northern Sea. And they were pretty proud of it. They were s so big, that still today the other Italians consider the Ligurians s, while they normally use as paragon between themselves the culture, or the food.
In fact as pirates, the Genoese didn't spare anyone, sometimes they attacked also other Genoese, or with their attacks sometimes ruined the efforts of the Communis Ianuensis, going against the interests of other Genoese merchant: in 1164 the Emperor of Costantinople Hemmanuel Comnenos Porfirogenitos revoked the commercial license to the Comune of Genoa, until the Genoese would have clean the greek sea, infested by genoese pirates; it wouldn't be the last time. As they were pirates, by reflex, they were also excellent pirate hunters. The arab knew it, and for almost 350 years, from XII century until the fall of Costantinople, the Genoese were almost never attacked on sea by muslim pirates.
This unit/s and the related gameplay mechanics bring on all of these concepts on the table. By the way, you could use similar units with the same mechanic for other factions well know for piracy - come to my mind Aragon, the north african factions, maybe Pisa.
First of all, the armament would be composed by crossbow for the ranged combat, spear and shield (medium size, maybe the tavolaccio) for melee. They would be armed also with a steel armour (not a full armor, chain mail and later variants) a steel helmet, maybe also steel gauntlets.
Second thing: they would be a unit deployed mostly on a ship, of course. The special thing of this unit is actually about the strategic layer: the Predonicome cheaper than other units, and with a low mainteinance cost. on the strategic mapWhen one or more of them are part of a fleet, this fleet can steal from the sea commercial routes, even from factions with which you are not at war. Of course this come to a price: first, the owner of the Predoniwill obtain diplomatic maluses with all the factions from which he is stealing. Second, every fleet that contains the Predoni will have a very low integrity, will be difficult to control, and when the integrity will be too low the entire fleet will become a pirate (rebel) fleet.

-Armati Ghibellini and Militi Ghibellini-> In my humble opinion you should make Guelf and Ghibellines for all the Italian factions, with the exception of Venice. This would be realistic.
The fight within the italian Comuni of the Guelph and Ghibellines could also bring to some interesting gameplay mechanics on the strategic map: for example you could introduce three traits for the charachters of the italian factions: "Guelfo", "Ghibellino","Fidele" (loyalist). All the charachters of the faction have got only oneof these three traits: if the faction leader is Ghibelline there will be a big diplomatic bonuses in the relations with the Holy Roman Empire and with all the other factions with a leader with the trait Ghibellino; but there will also be great diplomatic maluses with the Catholic Church faction, with all the other Guelph factions, and a minor malus with the Kingdom of France. When there is a Guelph leader the bonuses and maluses are the opposite. When there is a Fidele leader there are none of either.
But it's not over: when the power of the faction leader, or the discontent of the faction, becomes too low, the charachters of the other parties rise in rebellion, and at least one army of Guelph/Ghibellines appear in one of the provinces of the faction - only in the italian provinces, or, at most on south of France, in Dalmatia or Switzerland if conquered. The army/ies will go towards the capital and will try to conquer it: if they're destroyed nothing changes, but if they conquer the capital the new leader become the leader of the rebels, with all the malus and bonus changes. In all of this the Fideles remain loyal to the faction no matter who rules. If there is a Fideleas leader he will gain only one of four traits: Righteous, Tyrant, Unbalanced, and Too Righteus. Righteousprevents any of the Guelph/Ghibellines rebellion. With Unbalancedin case of rebellion only one casual faction of the Guelph/Ghibellines will arise. With Too Righteus both Guelph and Ghibellines will rise in rebellion, and both their armies will march on the capital, but after the conquer by one of them, the other on will continue to be in rebellion until a new conquer or if it will be dealed with.
Of course, with a ghibelline leader you are allowed to recruit only the ghibelline troops, guelph troops with a guelph leader, and none of them with a Fidele leader. Or maybe you can't never recruit these troops, but they come free in a determined number after a leader or another. Or, also, the troops come to you free in case of a rebellion, in a determined number, only when rise an actual rebellion, and they are of the opposite party or the rebels. All of these are interesting options.
In general after the XIV century this mechanic should be less important, and most charachters should become Fideliat least for the land powers. Actually for Genoa should be quite the opposite. Another option is that between the XIII and the XIV centuries there is a change of names: the Guelph become Bianchi (whites) and the Ghibellines Neri (Blacks).
I think these mechanics could also work out of the italian factions, with other themes and parties, in other context and nations included in the mod.

-Fuoriusciti or Factiosi Zenoeisi-> This is more a strategic gameplay idea for all the italian factions, more than an actual unit; but this idea could also be used with the other factions of the mod, with different names and contexts.
In the italian Comuni, after the fights of the various parties (Guelph and Ghibellines primarely), the loser were exiled and becameFuoriusciti. A lot of times, these exiled tried hard to return to home, in forces, but with the help of a foreign power.
So the idea is this: let's say that I'm playing with Genoa. At a certain point (we will talk about the triggers later) my neighbour Lombardy receive a message: to accomodate a certain number of Genoese unit, and also some charachters from my faction (at least the general for these units). These units are in all and for all identical to some of my units (maybe not the elite units) but they have an adjective: they are Furiusciti, or Factiosi Zenoeisi, they are exiled from my faction. They come for free, and they have also a small manteinance cost. But if Lombardy accept them two things will happen: first, as long as Lombardy will host the Fuoriuscitiwe will have massive diplomatic maluses, second, Lombardy will receive a mission, to go on war on Genoa, before a certain number of turns. If the war is not declared, all the FuoriuscitiZenoeisi units will simply disappear, but not the charachters, and the diplomatic malus will be gradually reduced to zero within some turns. If Lombardy and Genoa begin a war, however, Lombardy will receive another mission: to conquer a certain settlement within my territory, most probably my very own capital, or they could also be more than just one settlement. Anyway, the setllement/s must be conquered before the end of our war. If it not happen, again the fuoriuscitiunits disappear, the charachters not, and the malus will gradually disappear. But if Lombardy conquer the settlements and complete the mission, it will receive as prize all the Fuoriusciti Zenoeisiunits forever (but noe without the adjective Furiusciti), and moreover, all the objective provinces, now conquered, will receive a boost to happiness, compensing the classical discontent.
Now, think this also at the contrary: I could receive the Fuoriusciti Lombardi. Who could receive the offer of the Fuoriusciti of the italian Comuni? I would suggest all the factions that have a border in common with the original faction, and maybe also some pre-determined factions, maye the Holy Roman Empire, the Kingdom of France, the Church, Aragon, Provence, the Kingdom of Sicily.
The fuoriusciti would request hspitality to everyone of the allowed factions, in order of turn, until they find someone that give them asylum - so 1 fuoriusciti group=only1 faction that gives asylum.
The Fuoriuscitiunits could be in a land army, but they could be also navy units, if they are from a sea power like Genoa or Pisa.
On countrary of the previous mechanic of the internal fights, this should continue to happen also in the XV century, maybe also with a increasing degree.
Now about the triggers: the first one is pretty simple, and is based on the family tree: Fuoriusciticharachters could be the ones with low loyalty, the classic rebel ones, that, instead of an open rebellion, they flee to another faction. It would be also cool if you could directly exile some unwanted charachters (instead of assassinate them) before they do an actual rebellion.
Another trigger could be if you'd use and include the previous mechanic of the within fights between Guelph and Ghibellines; the Fuoriusciti could totally be the losers: they are triggered when the rebellion
ends, in a manner or another.
The two mechanics could also be integrated even more, you could send one fuoriuscitocharachter, that you are hosting, back to his land, to provoke a Guelph/Ghibellines rebellion in the territory of the faction of the fuoriuscito. And it would be cool to have a diplomatic option to trade exiled charachters, to pardon them, or to execute them.

Appendix II: A few genoese general names explained (under spoiler)

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

-Janua/Zenoa:Today, in italian the name is Genova, and in english Genoa. The first, original name of the city, according to the Roman sources, is Genua. According to the interpretations, the name refers to the harbour or means "new city". As time passed, the language changed, and in the medieval genoese the name became Zenoa, while in modern genoese is simply Zena. Also the name of the hinabitants changed, from the ancient Genuatito Zenoisito the modern Zeneizi.
What is important is that in the middle ages the Genoese decided to call their city Janua, or Ianua:it should be indicated with this name on the strategic map. Using a more latin term the genoese wanted to underline the heritage from the Romans - because the first leaders of the Commune were the Consules, like in the Roman Republic. Also, ianuain latin means "gate": Genoa is the city that stands as a gate, between east and west, between the land and sea as a port, between past and future - also because of Janus Bifrons, roman god of the time and passages - and the city between the peoples, in which all of them can meet and commerce. But Ianua is also the strong gate that, between mighty walls, defended by proud men, stands against the enemy. And also this is surprisingly correct, because, until the XIX century, Genoa was one of the most fortified cities of Europe. I would say, if you agree with me, that never a more poetic and at the same time truthful name was chosen for a commercial city.
Genoa has been called with various nicknames from the middle ages: The Dominant, The Dominant of the Seas, The Lady of the Seas. After the XVI century has been called also the Republic of the Magnificents. But the most famous nickname is La Superba, The Proud One, which comes from a important italian poet, Francesco Petrarca who wrote in 1358:"You will see a regal city, leaning on a mountainous hill proud for men and walls, whose only appearence tell her the lady of the sea".

-Compagna Communis Ianuensis:The name of the genoese "state"; the Compagna Communiswas founded in 1097 as association of the nobles, the imperial Viscounts, and the citizens, riunited in the original eight Compagne Rionali, under the supervision of the bishop Arialdo. The first known Consuls are in 1099, year of the first crusade (the first Consul being in fact Guglielmo Embriaco). We don't have much clues of how was the public power in the previous three centuries, even if we know that there was a substantial and growing autonomy, confirmed by a concession of the king Berengar II of 958. The Compagne, or Companies, were association of citizens, usually formed to reach limited objectives, like a commercial expedition: the Compagne were formed by multiple strates of the society. After the association, the first compagne were reorganized in other eight, four in the city and four out of the walls.
Compagna Communis Ianuensis in latin means Company of the Community of the Genoese. We know it today as Republic of Genoa, but, as official term, is not completely right: the actual Serenissima Repubrica de Zena, or Serenissima Repubblica di Genovain italian, was formed after the Commune in 1528 thanks to Andrea Doria.

Ianuinus/Libra Ianuinorum: The Libra Ianuinorum, or Ianuinus, or Genovinoin Italian, was the official currency of the Compagna Communis. Genoa was the first city in Italy that began to coin gold (in 1252) after the fall of the Roman Empire, followed by Florence and Venice. The gold Genovino had the value of a pound of silver, as was estabilished in the system institued by Charlemagne. The Genovino had as partition the Denaro and the Soldo.

Beatus Giorgius/San Zorzo:Saint George, has been a very important Saint for Genoa, even before the creation of the Communis. According to legend, of greek or anatolic origin, Saint George was a holy warrior who killed a fiery dragon. The presence of Saint George can be tracked up from the VI century, at least, when the Saint was worsfipped by the Bizantine garrison present in the town. As we will see, this would have a deep and long influence on the heraldry of Genoa, and not only. The Vexilli Beati Giorgiiwas the official flag officially adopted by the Genoese before the famous Saint George Cross. Still today, the official Gonfalone (banner) of the modern Comunehas Saint George Represented on it.
Even if Saint George had been the first patron saint of Genoa, for some centuries, in 1327 Saint John the Baptist become the new patron. Still, Saint George continued to have a high valor for the Genoese, as protector of the Commune - and later patron of the Repubrica.The Saint had a considerable importance especially for the military: San Zorzowas one of the principal genoese battle cry, along with De naj'e Santa Croxe. Also, the Armiraj,the Admirals of Genoa used to swear allegiance on a bibbia atlantica(great bible) and to receive here the Vexillum Beati Giorgii in the Church of Saint George before an expedition.
Beatus Johannes Baptista/San Gio Batta:The importance of Saint John the Baptist is linked with the period around the first crusade. More than the actual life of the Saint, what are really important are the stories behind his relics, and the miracles that they provided.
Like most the beginnings of something great, this period, even if is documented quite well, is sorrounded by an aura of legend. Maybe the respect and fascination for the stories of the first 50-70 years of the Comune by the later Genoese come from the fact that this is one of the few moments of their history in which they managed to collaborate seriously, and together - for sure the longest time.
According to the documents, and a good dose of legend, in 1098 Guglielmo Embriaco, called Testadimaglio (hammerhead), shortly before becoming the first Consul of Genoa, sailed his galleys to the city of Mira to find the relics of Saint Nicholas. Unfortunately int Nicholas were taken a little before by citizen from Bari, because in those days everyone was in relic-hunting, it seems.
But Guglielmo didn't give up and, in short, the Genoese found the relics of Saint John the Baptist, almost casually. They decided to split the remains between the ships, thinking the worst. On the way to home, occurred a storm: legend says that the ships went closer to each other, and only when all the relics were reunited on the Capitana the flagship galley, a miracle a heppened and the storm suddenly ended.
Embriaco ordered that from that moment the relics should have never split again. The fleet then managed to reach Genoa with no problem, where Guglielmo was welcomed as a hero. From that day, until today, every June 24th the relics of Saint John are brought in front of the sea from the Cathedral, to pray for those who are on sea, far from land, between the dangers.
Now let's talk a little about Guglielmo Embriaco Testadimaglio. His name is actually a little awkward, and I don't know if you would have like to know him. Hammerhead can be an ambigous adjective, moreover becuse Embriaco means in fact drunk. But this man is probably the prototype and the model of a Genoese. A man that don't give up after a problem, a merchant that search the right business. But also a seaman, a navigator through the storm, and an explorer of new possibilities. But there is more: after this expedition, Embriaco led the Genoese to the first crusade. If you were told that the Crusades of Goffrey de Builon took the walls of Jerusalem, this is only half of the story: the Genoese were the only that brought the wood of their ships to build the siege engines. So Guglielmo was also a engineer and a soldier: all of this and previous things were what the Genoese were known to be in the middle ages. And for that, the Embriaci family became one of the most respected of the city, altough it wasn't so powerful after Testadimaglio.
And now about Saint John the Baptist: why it became so popular that replaced Saint George as patron saint of the city in 1327? Because, for the life of everyday, a Holy warrior wasn't really useful. Better someone that with his miracles appease the sea and protect the dear ones far away from exotic dangers. The Genoese were so much around the world, and for so long times, that the hopes that gives this Saint are more reassuring than a warrior.
And because the Genoese have been forever weary of the Sea: a Sea that sometimes brings new opportunities, a Sea that sometimes takes lives without asking.

A few notes about pronunciation:Keepin mind that I'm linguist in no way, but from I hear daily so much mispronunciation of some words that I have to do this. If you are intersted in this type of things, enjoy. If not, don't read it.
In italian and latin "e" is pronounced like an "a". The "i",so often badly spoken, sounds like an "e". The "a"is pronunced open like in piano.In italian the "g"in "gi""ge"is pronounced like a "j". There are differences between italian and genoese pronunciation: in general we can say that genoese vocal are more nasal, in similar to some extent to modern french, or, better, the provencial. In modern genoese there are some muted diphtongs, but I don't know how they were spoken in the past. An actual difference between italian and genoese is the use of "c"of "ci"and "ce": in italian it is spoken like the "c" of "choose", while in genoese is spoken lika an "s".So arceri is pronounced archare while arceiin genoese is like arsa(e). In classical latin the"c" was pronounced like a "k", but in the XIII century this pronunciation is definetly lost, and it is pronounced probably similar to the modern italian one.
Lastly, in genoese the "z"is quite similar to english, while in italian and latin is more similar to a "tz"sound.

Next: the colours of Genoa.

[Knight2708]

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

By the way reading my last post I saw how much I butchered English. But it's time to redeem myself regarding the languages, because today I'm going to talk about...Names of Genoese units so far (and in somewhat manner Italians')First of all a declaration of intent: I will try, to the maximum extent, to eliminate the words in English. But, at the same time I'm not going to use modern italian names. The Italian language is a quite recent thing, in the Middle Ages it didn't exist, but existed Florentine, Aretine, Senese, Genoese, Savonese, Bolognese, Venetian, Milanese, Roman, Neapolitan, Palermitan and we could go on for half an hour.
I'm going to use two primary sources: firstly I'll use latin, the one you find in documents, but since in the middle age latin is very corrupted and with germanic influences,I'm going to use a wrong latin on purpose, very close to an italian language (mainly for the desinences). I'm not using too much classical terms either, because things like sagittarius for archer are out of place. I will also use as a source the genoese, mostly based on the ancient genoese of the Genoese Anonymous, a poet of XIII-XIV century, but also modern genoese is used for my personal reference. When there is a too big difference between genoese and corrupted latin, or a discrepancy of the sources, I will write both names, and you can choose between them. In general the corrupted latin names have a more official vibe, while the genoese ones have more popular and informal flavour. Also, I'm going to use more italianized names for the later units of XV century, because in latin they would be a little silly.
-Balestrieri/Crossbowen->In the genoese documents these guys are called mostly Balistari. On the other hand, the Anonymous call them Barestrei.

-Arceri/Archers -> While in modern italian it's arcieri,Arceri should work better in this period. Basing on the Anonymous word of crossbowmen and on modern genoese, the genoese name could be Arcei.

-Lanceri/Spearmen-> While in modern italian it's lancieri, and in latin lancearii,Lanceri should work better in this period. Basing on the Anonymous word of crossbowmen and on modern genoese, the genoese name could be Lancei, but I have mixed feelings about it.
-Spadaccini/Swordmen -> I confess that when I saw Spadaccini I smiled a little. I know that sounds nice. But actually it would be better to change it, Spadaccinoin Italian has a different connotation than Swordman. It means not only a person, or a soldier, who use a sword, but a person very skilled with a sword, practically a duelist. I would use a more neutral term, that is more suitable for the middle ages: one option could be Fanti, based mostly on the name of the florentine militias. I also like a very generic name: Armati(armed (men)), which fit very well IMO, probably better.

-Pavise Crossbowmen-> Since the Pavesari were a more specific unit, as AndreOnFire said, we could use a more generic name: Balistari Scudati.Genoese: Barestrei Scudati.

-Mounted Crossbowmen-> Balistari Equitati Genoese: Barestrei a Cavallo(By the way: I suggest that this unit can dismount and fight on foot, for Genoa and the other european factions).

-Picchieri-> No problem. Picchieri is fine. The genoese name we could desume is actually awkward (Picchiei), and frankly I'm not too sure.

-Berrovieri-> This is actually a funny, interesting name. Sold.

-Dismounted Berrovieri-> Berrovieri Pediti

-Zaffones-> Here we have a problem. I like it as much as Berrovieri, but in fact Zaffonesis a name typical of Venice. I'm not sure here: also consider that cavalry wasn't really a genoese thing - on the other hand the idea of the plunderers is appropriate. Based on the meaning of Zaffones I can try to make up some names, but keep in mind that I'm inventing here: Vessatoresshould work.
Alternatively we could consider this unit as a retinue, and we could call them Servienti.

-Dismounted Zaffones-> Vessatores Pediti/Servienti Peditidepending on the previous choice.

-Shiopettari-> Schioppettierior Scoppettieri

-Levy Units->For Levy, which has a difficult translation, I can give two different options: Conscriptiis closer to the meaning of Levies,but the adjective Populariprobably would work better. Regarding genoese, in Genoa the militias were reunited in the Compagne, but I've got mixed feelings about calling these unit "de a Compagna":because the Compagnewere something more than a simple militia, and those men were far more skilled than you could think when you read the word "levies": in fact they were skilled seamen, more than land militias. On the other hand, de a Compagnais the perfect term for these units. When I will write that long post about the militias and the social classes I will explain this better, and maybe you would want decide to change something in the italian rosters. But for now I wanted at least to have some names and heraldry done, so you can at least release something solid. So:...
---> Levy Swordsmen-> Armati Populari/Fanti Populari/Armati Conscripti/Fanti ConscriptiGenoese: Armati de a Compagna/Fanti de a Compagna/Armati de Popolo/Fanti de Popolo
---> Levy Spearmen-> Lanceri Populari/ Lanceri ConscriptiGenoese: Lancei de a Compagna/Lancei de Popolo
---> Levy Archers-> Arceri Populari/Arceri ConscriptiGenoese: Arcei de a Compagna/Arcei de Popolo
---> Levy Crossbowmen-> Balistari Populari/Balistari ConscriptiGenoese: Barestrei de a Compagna/Barestrei de Popolo

-Targhieri-> Since they are carrying pavesiwhy not calling simply Pavesari? (When you will dot tuscan factions would be better Palvesari). Or for a more Genovese vibe you can call them Pavesai. Anyway, if you are thinking to change their shields with the Tavolaccio, after reading AndreOnFire's post, Targhiericould be fine.

-Equitatores-> This term actually doesn't exist in latin, but is very similar to Latin and for that I find it funny: it is really in line with the middle ages. From what source did you find it? Anyway, I think it could be good (a little more actual term is Equitati, just to say). Since it is a unit of the retinue of the late period I feel you could also use Scudieri, (squires) but it's up to you.

-Dismounted Guelph Men at Arms-> Armati Guelfi

-Guelph Men at Arms-> Militi Guelfior Cavalieri Guelfibut personally I would use Militi.
-Condottieri-> This term need a little clarification, I think: condottieromeans leaderor commander,from the verb condurrethat means to lead. The condottieri were the leaders of the italian mercenary companies in the XV XVI centuries. These companies were called Compagnie di Ventura, which can be translated as Companies of Fortune. So, the best name for these mounted soldiers is Cavalieri de Ventura

-Foot Condotta-> Soldati de Ventura

-Genoese Nobles-> Nobiles Ianuenses EquitatiGenoese: Nobili Zenoeisi a Cavallo

-Dismounted Genoese Nobles-> Nobiles IanuensesGenoese: Nobili Zenoeisi

-General's Bodyguard-> This is the unit on which I have most doubts. The Duke of Milan in the XV century has the formidable Famiglia Ducale, but, aside this, leader's bodyguards haven't specific names in the middle ages in Italy. So I will tell you a couple of generic ones: if you don't like them, General's Bodiguardis fine. Militi Propinqui - Militi Fideli - Militi de lo Segnor - Familia de lo Segnor


Appendix I: Ideas for other units and strategic gameplay mechanics
-Balistari Communis Ianuensis-> This should be a unit of crossbowmen, a very elite one. We could make a paralelism with the English Archers of the Retinue. I will talk later better of this guys, but, just for you to know something about them, their training comprise, between other things, a sea combat training in which they were on the mast of a galley, while on some masts on another galley were fixed the targets, big as a coin; the crossbowmen had to hit them up the maximum range of their weapons. Hand down, these guys were snipers. Also, they were trained to fire in teams, reducing at minimum the time between a volle and another.
They shouldn't be better equipped than the regular Balistari Scudati, but they should be faster, with better precision, morale and a little better in melee. They should also have an option for the tipes of bolts used: in addition of the regular Veretoni,they should also have the Quadrelli Perfecti, the bolts produced directly by the Zecca of Genoa, which, in accord with the ordinance rulements of the Officio Gazarie,should be the best quality of all of the bolts around. The Balistari should have with them at least 20 Quadrelli Perfecti. In a gameplay mechanic, you could change the regular bolts with the ones more deadly, without range or velocity penalties, but reducing the number of disponible shots (in other terms: a Quadrello"consume" more shots than a Veretone).

-Rotulari-> They should be added as a late light infantry (XV century) for the italian factions, or at least for the land powers (which Genoa isn't). Armed for melee. The Rotulais a round shield of medium size.

-Predoni Zenoeisi-> In the middle ages, the differences between a sailor, a merchant or a pirates was little. But some seamen were better than others. Some peoples were more pirates than others. So were the Genoese: excellent sailors, and great pirates. No joking here: they were s. They were some of the greatest s of the Mediterranean Sea, probably the greatest s of the Black Sea, they were also s in the Atlantic Ocean, and, sometimes, when there was the right occasion, were s in the Northern Sea. And they were pretty proud of it. They were s so big, that still today the other Italians consider the Ligurians s, while they normally use as paragon between themselves the culture, or the food.
In fact as pirates, the Genoese didn't spare anyone, sometimes they attacked also other Genoese, or with their attacks sometimes ruined the efforts of the Communis Ianuensis, going against the interests of other Genoese merchant: in 1164 the Emperor of Costantinople Hemmanuel Comnenos Porfirogenitos revoked the commercial license to the Comune of Genoa, until the Genoese would have clean the greek sea, infested by genoese pirates; it wouldn't be the last time. As they were pirates, by reflex, they were also excellent pirate hunters. The arab knew it, and for almost 350 years, from XII century until the fall of Costantinople, the Genoese were almost never attacked on sea by muslim pirates.
This unit/s and the related gameplay mechanics bring on all of these concepts on the table. By the way, you could use similar units with the same mechanic for other factions well know for piracy - come to my mind Aragon, the north african factions, maybe Pisa.
First of all, the armament would be composed by crossbow for the ranged combat, spear and shield (medium size, maybe the tavolaccio) for melee. They would be armed also with a steel armour (not a full armor, chain mail and later variants) a steel helmet, maybe also steel gauntlets.
Second thing: they would be a unit deployed mostly on a ship, of course. The special thing of this unit is actually about the strategic layer: the Predonicome cheaper than other units, and with a low mainteinance cost. on the strategic mapWhen one or more of them are part of a fleet, this fleet can steal from the sea commercial routes, even from factions with which you are not at war. Of course this come to a price: first, the owner of the Predoniwill obtain diplomatic maluses with all the factions from which he is stealing. Second, every fleet that contains the Predoni will have a very low integrity, will be difficult to control, and when the integrity will be too low the entire fleet will become a pirate (rebel) fleet.

-Armati Ghibellini and Militi Ghibellini->

So will some more of these unit names and suggestions be implemented?

[warman222]

Really cool insight so far. Regarding the Guelph/Ghibelline stuff, have you seen my Sicily preview? I actually fleshed that dynamic out a little more than I did with Genoa. From my research Ghibellism was more popular among lower classes while richer classes were more often Guelph, although given how there were nobles for both sides that is probably relative.

I did 2 Ghibelline units and 2 Guelph units, the latter being similar to the Genoese Guelph units.


Ghibelline:

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Guelph:

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Also from a gameplay perspective we were almost exactly on the same page, yours is just more specific which always helps. However I was thinking a Ghibelline general could recruit Guelph units (or vice versa) but it would effect an armies integrity level(if it gets too low you get deserters and infighting) and/or morale.

Lots of good info guys, I'll definitely take a look at both Genoa and Venice's rosters again to see what should be done.

[Ianuensis Mercator]

Regarding the Guelph/Ghibelline stuff, have you seen my Sicily preview? I actually fleshed that dynamic out a little more than I did with Genoa.

Err. To be true not. My bad. I'm doing it now, and there are only three pages! In my defence I can say that I have things to do.

I'm happy that we came to the similar conclusions regarding the Guelph/Ghibellines gameplay though. It means that it's the right way, I think!

From my research Ghibellism was more popular among lower classes while richer classes were more often Guelph, although given how there were nobles for both sides that is probably relative.

True and true. The relative part comes from the fact that some of the nobles were also rich merchant, while others - mostly the second sons - were not rich and highly dependant on a third part. Similar cases were also between the common people - the difference being the poor were often really poor. And at the end, of one faction or another, in some peoples at the end prevailed the calculation of personal interest.

I did 2 Ghibelline units and 2 Guelph units, the latter being similar to the Genoese Guelph units.

Thank you. I hope that my next post on genoese heraldry can be of help a little bit to render the units more unique, if you will want to use it.

Lots of good info guys, I'll definitely take a look at both Genoa and Venice's rosters again to see what should be done.

It really would be better if you will wait my post about the militias before thinking to reorganize the rosters of the Communal factions: I'm on some infos that could be very, very useful to organize the rosters: for example there could be some very sensible differences between the sea powers (Genoa, Venice, and Ragusa) and the land powers (Lombardy, Verona, Bologna and Florence), with Pisa being in the middle. Maybe, if you want, should I post before the conclusions and leave the argumentations for later?


One thing: the syntax and grammar mistakes are all mine and to remembered for my disgrace, but someone could explain me why at the end my posts are a mess, after I try to edit them in a ordinate manner? That's not my fault! It's becoming quite frustrating...

[You_Guess_Who]

I would use a more neutral term, that is more suitable for the middle ages: one option could be Fanti, based mostly on the name of the florentine militias. I also like a very generic name: Armati(armed (men)), which fit very well IMO, probably better.
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I agree, most of the melee units in the mod have mixed weapons, some might use axes and maces in one unit.

-Balistari Communis Ianuensis->
They shouldn't be better equipped than the regular Balistari Scudati, but they should be faster, with better precision, morale and a little better in melee. They should also have an option for the tipes of bolts used: in addition of the regular Veretoni,they should also have the Quadrelli Perfecti, the bolts produced directly by the Zecca of Genoa, which, in accord with the ordinance rulements of the Officio Gazarie,should be the best quality of all of the bolts around. The Balistari should have with them at least 20 Quadrelli Perfecti. In a gameplay mechanic, you could change the regular bolts with the ones more deadly, without range or velocity penalties, but reducing the number of disponible shots (in other terms: a Quadrello"consume" more shots than a Veretone).

Thats quite hard to mod. How about giving a Precision Shot ability that trades stamina with increased accuracy for a short time? Or a heavy shot with innate accuracy bonus?

First of all, the armament would be composed by crossbow for the ranged combat, spear and shield (medium size, maybe the tavolaccio) for melee. They would be armed also with a steel armour (not a full armor, chain mail and later variants) a steel helmet, maybe also steel gauntlets.
Second thing: they would be a unit deployed mostly on a ship, of course. The special thing of this unit is actually about the strategic layer: the Predonicome cheaper than other units, and with a low mainteinance cost. on the strategic mapWhen one or more of them are part of a fleet, this fleet can steal from the sea commercial routes, even from factions with which you are not at war. Of course this come to a price: first, the owner of the Predoniwill obtain diplomatic maluses with all the factions from which he is stealing. Second, every fleet that contains the Predoni will have a very low integrity, will be difficult to control, and when the integrity will be too low the entire fleet will become a pirate (rebel) fleet.

1. Spears? Those would be very useful at keeping boarders at range, or pin and corner enemy seamen - but aren't falchions and axes coupled with javelin precursor better assault weapons? I mean, boarding pikes and polehooks sounds more defensive, something a merchant marine would use to defend their Nave? Also, would gauntlets decrease their hands dexterity at grabbing things, something I think quite important for seamen?
2. Predoni should be manning light ships, correct? Do they should start in 1212 using Galea with apostis and alla sensile rowing system from the get go, or still using older, dromon-style galleys and only swapped after the player unlock some technology?
That campaign mechanic concept sounds hard to mod to the unit itself - but I can immediately see that it can be applied easily to admiral trait/skill instead. The only marauder-ish thing I know from first glance that can be applied to unit is making them pillage and burn surrounding buildings without order in the battlefield map.

-Armati Ghibellini and Militi Ghibellini->

-Fuoriusciti or Factiosi Zenoeisi->

Needs a very complex scripting, mission,trigger, trait, and effects system, but sounds possible for some part. I have to look further about it.

[Wallachian]

Did the Genoese use any sort of different or special ships or just the standard galleys?