Meloria

Meloria: 18th-century tower

Meloria, rocky islet in the Ligurian Sea, off the coast of Tuscany, north central Italy, opposite Livorno. Meloria is known as the site of two 13th-century naval battles, both features of the long-standing rivalry between Pisa and Genoa. In the first battle (1241) the fleets of the Holy Roman emperor Frederick II and of Pisa attacked a Genoese squadron and captured the English, French, and Spanish prelates on their way to the Lateran Council summoned by Pope Gregory IX. In the second battle in August 1284 two Genoese squadrons, commanded by Oberto Doria and Benedetto Zaccaria, crushingly defeated a numerically superior Pisan fleet under Albertino Morosini, Ugolino della Gherardesca, and Andreotto Saraceno. After this Pisa never recovered its naval power.