Pic: The Capture of Constantinople in 1204, oil painting by Tintoretto (1580).
Professor Nicholas Morton returns to tell us about developments on the sea during the Crusading era. We discuss why Venice, Genoa, Pisa and Amalfi were able to dominate the waves. And talk about the ships they used and how they fought.
Dr Morton is Associate Professor in Middle Eastern and Global history at Nottingham Trent University in the UK. His new book The Mongol Storm: Making and Breaking Empires in the Medieval Near East is available now.
Stream: The Mediterranean with Nicholas Morton
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The History of Byzantium 
Hey Robin, thanks for another great episode! A note on the ships carved in the Hagia Sophia with St. Nicholas: There are some famous stories in the Orthodox/Catholic Hagiography of St. Nicholas appearing during a storm and saving a bunch of sailors; there’s a paticular one I’ve heard in Orthodox churches about him saving a group of three ships, but I can’t find a good reference to it online. He is traditionally considered the patron saint of sailors and fishermen.
That would be very interesting to hear about since there are 3 ships in the carving in the Hagia Sophia