Hello everyone and welcome to the history of Byzantium, Episode 312, The Mediterranean in the

Crusading era with Nicholas Morton.

I am back from Turkey after another wonderful tour with a group of listeners.

It was an absolute joy to see Nica for the first time, and the same goes for Pergamon and Aphrodisias.

If you'd like to go on a tour in the future, then email me and I'll put you on the mailing list.

I'm working on answering your questions about Andronicus II and many other topics.

But in the meantime, I thought we could answer one query, which has come up from time to time,

which is why were Venetian and Genoese ships better than those of other nations, and particularly,

of course, Byzantium? To answer this, I've turned again to our expert in residence, Dr. Nicholas

Morton. He was kind enough to give us a survey of the history of the Mediterranean during

the crusading era. We talk about the expansion of the Italian trading cities, the ships they built and how they

fought, as well as the role of the Crusades in this process.

I have a couple of other interviews ready to share soon, so you should have a nice few episodes

before Christmas. I'll also be hosting Zoom calls for patrons soon.

For now, here's the interview, and I should remind you that Dr. Morton is Associate Professor

in Middle Eastern and Global History at Nottingham Trent University in the UK,

and his new book, The Mongol Storm, Making and Breaking Empires in the Medieval Near

East, is available now.

Dr. Nicholas Morton, welcome back to the history of Byzantium.

Hi, it's good you back on the show.

Well, we're becoming your second home at this point after you've taken us through the

impact of the Mongols on Anatolia and the

...