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The Savoyard crusade was a crusading expedition to the Balkans in 1366–67. It was born out of the same planning that led to the Alexandrian Crusade and was the brainchild of Pope Urban V. It was led by Count Amadeus VI of Savoy and directed against the growing Ottoman Empire in eastern Europe. Although intended as a collaboration with the Kingdom of Hungary and the Byzantine Empire, the crusade was diverted from its main purpose to attack the Second Bulgarian Empire. There the crusaders made small gains that they handed over to the Byzantines. It did take back some territory from the Ottomans in the vicinity of Constantinople and on Gallipoli but all these conquests were reversed within less than five years by the Turks.
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." Still, 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 during all the fourteenth century."
In May 1363, Urban had made an appeal to Louis I of Hungary for a crusade against the Turks, and the king spent the winter of 1364–65 preparing an army for a major offensive designed to push the Turks out of Europe. In January 1365, as reported at Venice, ten galleys were being gathered in Provence for Louis's use, and Louis had issued a call for support in Zadar (Zara) and Dalmatia. In the spring he invaded, not Turkish Europe (Rumelia), but rather the north of Bulgaria, then ruled by the tsar's second son, Sratsimir. He conquered and occupied Vidin, and took Sratsimir captive back to Hungary. His expedition was thus completed in time for him to cooperate with Amadeus in a joint attack on the Turks in the spring of 1366.
Seeing that the Alexandrian Crusade had harmed its commercial relations with the Islamic powers, the Republic of Venice was disinclined to participate in the projected crusade or to provide it transportation east. A letter from Pope Urban in March 1365 did not convince them otherwise, but an embassy from Amadeus procured a promise of two in light of the count's request for five (and two ). Urban, the architect of the crusade, negotiated with Genoa and Marseille to procure ships, but the promise of transportation from the Holy Roman Emperor Charles IV was never fulfilled. A large number of mercenaries from the free companies had joined the crusade and assembled at Tournus under Arnaud de Cervole, but when he was assassinated on 25 May 1366 near Mâcon, they abandoned the expedition.
Amadeus had reached Rivoli by 15 February, and Pavia, where his brother-in-law Galeazzo II Visconti ruled, by mid-March. He then turned around and visited Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne before returning to Pavia by late May, there to be godfather at the baptism of his nephew Giangaleazzo's infant son Giangaleazzo II. His sister, the elder Giangaleazzo's mother, Bianca, made a donation to his war chest at this time, and his brother-in-law made loans of both money and men: 25,000 florins and twenty-five men-at-arms, six hundred brigandi (mercenaries) and sixteen conestabiles under his bastard son Cesare, to be paid at Galeazzo's expense for the first six months. Half of the crusading host under Étienne de la Baume went from there to Genoa to embark on the fleet awaiting it and take it to Venice. On 1 June the rest of the army under Amadeus left for Padua, where the ruling family, the Carraresi, offered him the use of their palace in Venice. On 8 June Amadeus and the main army arrived at Venice, where the Venetians, informed that the crusade was not directed at the Holy Land, offered more assistance, including ships and men if the crusaders would take Ancient Tenedos from the Genoese (which they would not). The departure of the fleet took place around 21 June.
At Koroni, the Venetian fleet, which was being led by Antelme d'Urtières, captain of the count's galley, rendezvoused with the Genoese to form a fleet of fifteen ships under the overall command of the admiral Étienne de la Baume. The army was divided between the galleys on the basis of geography: there was one ship for the men of Bresse ( Breysse), another for "the men of Faucigny" ( des gens de Foucignie), another for those of Savoy proper ( Savoye), etc. All the ships were to sail within sight of each other and none to sail ahead of the count's, fines being prescribed for violations of these commands. Flag signals by day and lanterns by night were used to communicated between ships; attack signals were given by trumpeters on the count's ship. The entire voyage was strictly controlled by the count of Savoy. From Koroni the fleet proceeded to Agios Georgios (San Giorgio d'Albora) on Hydra, thence to Chalcis (Negroponte), and finally Evripos, the last stop before they entered Turkish territory. There they bought clean water, and the count's physician, Gui Albin, purchased saculi pro stomaco, some kind of disinfectant for the stomach.
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. The Savoyard chronicles record that they met a detachment of the Byzantine army under the Patriarch of Constantinople. On 22 August, the combined crusader fleet launched an attack on Gelibolu (Gallipoli), the second city of the European Turks. While the army assaulted the walls, the Turks abandoned the city during the night and in the morning the inhabitants opened the gates to the crusaders. The sources shed limited light on this brief episode. According to the count's register, both town and citadel were in Savoyard hands by 26 August. 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 killed in the attack on Gelibolu, including Simon de Saint-Amour and Roland de Veissy, both knights of the Collar. The count's bursar, Antoine Barbier, purchased eighteen escutcheons bearing the "device of the Collar" ( devisa collarium) for their funeral. Eighty-one wax torches and alms were paid for the burial of Girard Mareschal from Savoy and Jean d'Yverdon from the Vaudois. A storm in the Sea of Marmora 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). Amadeus himself purchased an unfurnished house in the city proper. Besides the cost of furniture and funerals, the count paid his interpreter Paulo three months' wages.
The coastal region of Bulgaria, modern Dobrudja, was at this time the semi-independent Principality of Karvuna, ruled by Dobrotitsa as a Marches of the Bulgarian empire. Its chief city, formerly a metropolis, was Varna. On 25 October the crusaders arrived before Varna, and sent an embassy to the citizens asking them to surrender. They refused, but promised to send their own messengers to Tsar Ivan Shishman, whose capital was at Veliko Tarnovo (Tirnovo), requesting him to allow John V to pass, although Shishman did not control Vidin at the time, which was in the hands of his brother, Ivan Sratsimir. In the meantime, the Varnans supplied the crusading army and several embassies were exchanged between Tarnovo and the count of Savoy's camp. In order to strengthen his bargaining position, Amadeus attacked and captured Emona (Lemona, l'Emona), a fortress on Cape Emine, further south along the coast. After their capitulation the Emonans rose in rebellion and had to be crushed. Establishing a garrison there, Amadeus returned to Varna.
As the truce between Varna and the count of Savoy dragged on, a band of youthful crusaders ventured by sea to take the small castle of "Calocastre" by night. They were discovered by the guards as they tried to scale the walls and massacred. Although expressing disapproval of their independent action, Amadeus led a retaliatory expedition which resulted in the slaughter of the population of Calocastre. Negotiations with the Bulgarians continued into mid-November, and, possibly at the insistence of the tsar, Amadeus raised the siege of Varna and withdrew to Nesebar, leaving a garrison in Emona, before 18 November. On 23 December Tsar Shishman sent word to Amadeus that the emperor was being permitted to go from Vidin to Kaliakra, in Dobrotitsa's domain. The count sent a welcoming party to await him there, and passed the winter at Nesebar, where he administered the city thoroughly, extracting taxes of all kinds. Early in January 1367 the count moved his court across the gulf to Sozopolis, where the emperor finally arrived on 28 January, without having stopped at Kaliakra.
Amadeus still intended to wage war against the Turk, but his means to do so had decreased since the capture of Gallipoli. Nevertheless, on 14 May he took the Turkish castle of Eneacossia on the northern shore of the Marmora, which the Greek historian John Kantakouzenos informs us was the "fortress near Rhegium", modern Küçükçekmece. One of the Savoyard soldiers was rewarded for planting the Savoyard banner atop the tower during the fray. In that same month Amadeus had to rush north to defend Sozopolis from a Turkish assault. On or near 24 May, his men set fire to the Turkish fortress called Caloneyro, probably represented by the Byzantine ruins at Büyükçekmece. Throughout April–May the prime concern of the crusade was paying off the shipowners and raising funds for the return voyage.
At Chalcis, many left the crusade to go to Cyprus and fight under King Peter I, promising more opportunities for fighting infidels (and less fighting schismatic brothers in the faith). The returning crusaders stopped at Methoni (Modon) and Glarentza (Clarencia), arriving at Corfu on 10 July. A week later, they stopped at Dubrovnik and on 29 July they landed in Venice. News of their victories preceded them.
Amadeus remained at the palace of the Carraresi in Venice for five weeks: paying off debts, making gifts of thanksgiving to churches, taking out more loans (8,872 ducats from Bartholomeo Michaelis and 10,346 from Federigo Cornaro). He visited Treviso for some festivities, the meaning of which is unclear (23–26 August). To discharge his vows, Amadeus was required to take the ambassadors of John V to Rome. He went by land up to Pavia, where he arrived on 18 September to await his baggage coming up by the waters of the Po and his treasury coming down from Savoy to finance his final pilgrimage to Rome. On 25 September he set out for Pisa, and from there to Viterbo, where he met Pope Urban and presented the Byzantine embassy. He continued with the Papal entourage to Rome, where Pope Urban solemnly entered the city on 12 October, the first pope in Rome since 1305. Amadeus remained at Rome about two weeks before returning to Chambéry by Christmas via Perugia and Florence (early November), through Pavia (mid-November), Parma, Borgo San Donnino and Castel San Giovanni. Throughout his journey from Venice to Rome to Savoy, the count was honoured as a triumphant crusader.
Gallipoli was not lost to Christendom by any action of the Turks. After three years of civil war between John V and his son, Andronicus IV, it was handed over to them by the latter as payment for their support. Thus it was occupied after ten years of Christian occupation in the winter of 1376–77 by Sultan Murad I.
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