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In August 1122 Domenico Michiel led a Venetian fleet of 100 vessels and around 15,000 men for the campaign in the Holy Land . The fleet sailed under the flag of St. Peter, which the Pope had sent to Michiel. Over the winter the fleet set siege to the Byzantine island of Corfu . The siege was cancelled in the spring when news arrived that King Baldwin II of Jerusalem had been captured by the Artuqids , and that the Kingdom of Jerusalem had subsequently been invaded by the Fatimids of Egypt . The Venetian fleet went to the defence of Jerusalem and defeated the Egyptian fleet off of the Syrian coast. The Venetians then landed at Acre ; from there Michiel went to Jerusalem, where the Pactum Warmundi was signed granting Venice privileged trade concessions, tax freedoms, and even partial ownership of some cities within the Kingdom of Jerusalem.

On the return journey to Venice, the fleet looted Rhodes , attacked the islands Samos and Lesbos , and destroyed the city of Modon in the Peloponnese . Domenico Michiel triumphantly returned to Venice in June 1125. He had helped the Christians in the Holy Land and weakened the hostile Greeks. The inscription on Michiel's tomb does not describe him as a religious crusader, but rather as a terror Graecorum...et laus Venetorum ("A horror to the Greeks...and praise from the Venetians"). His dogaressa was Alicia .

In 1122 the Doge of Venice , Domenico Michiel , launched the seaborne crusade. The Venetian fleet of more than 120 ships carrying over 15,000 men left the Venetian Lagoon on 8 August 1122. This seems to have been the first crusade in which the knights brought their horses with them. They invested Corfu , then a possession of the Byzantine Empire, with which Venice had a dispute over privileges. In 1123 Baldwin II was captured by Belek Ghazi , emir of Aleppo , and imprisoned in Kharput . Eustace Graverius became regent of Jerusalem. The Venetians abandoned the siege of Corfu when they heard this news, and reached the Palestinian coast in May 1123.

Battle of Jaffa
The Venetian fleet arrived at Acre at the end of May and was informed about a Fatimid fleet, of around a hundred sail, sailing towards Ascalon in order to assist the Belek Ghazi at his siege. Thus the Venetian fleet sailed south in order to meet it and Doge Michele ordered the division of the fleet into two parts with the weaker force at the helm and the stronger one hiding behind it. With the intent to divert the fleet off Ascalon. The Egyptians fell into the trap assuming an easy victory they were now caught between two Venetian squadrons and outnumbered. Some 4,000 Muslims were killed, including the Fatimid admiral, and 9 vessels captured, with the Venetians adding to their triumph the capture of 10 merchant vessels en route back to Acre. Both Fulcher of Chartres (Book III/20) and William of Tyre (Book XII/22-23) recorded the event.
On this the other ships followed in haste and fell almost all the other enemy ships around. A fierce battle commenced, both sides fought with great bitterness, and there were so many killed, that those who were there, most emphatically assure you as unlikely as it may sound, that the victors waded in the enemy's blood and the surrounding sea was dyed red from the blood that flowed down from the ships, up to a radius of two thousand steps. But the shores, they say, were so thickly covered with the corpses that were ejected from the sea, that the air was tainted and the surrounding region contracted a plague. At lengths the fight continued man against man, and most heatedly one side was trying to advance while the other side tried to resist. Finally, however, the Venetians were with God's help victorious [William of Tyre]

Description

In August 1122 Domenico Michiel led a Venetian fleet of 100 vessels and around 15,000 men for the campaign in the Holy Land . The fleet sailed under the flag of St. Peter, which the Pope had sent to Michiel. Over the winter the fleet set siege to the Byzantine island of Corfu . The siege was cancelled in the spring when news arrived that King Baldwin II of Jerusalem had been captured by the Artuqids , and that the Kingdom of Jerusalem had subsequently been invaded by the Fatimids of Egypt . The Venetian fleet went to the defence of Jerusalem and defeated the Egyptian fleet off of the Syrian coast. The Venetians then landed at Acre ; from there Michiel went to Jerusalem, where the Pactum Warmundi was signed granting Venice privileged trade concessions, tax freedoms, and even partial ownership of some cities within the Kingdom of Jerusalem.

On the return journey to Venice, the fleet looted Rhodes , attacked the islands Samos and Lesbos , and destroyed the city of Modon in the Peloponnese . Domenico Michiel triumphantly returned to Venice in June 1125. He had helped the Christians in the Holy Land and weakened the hostile Greeks. The inscription on Michiel's tomb does not describe him as a religious crusader, but rather as a terror Graecorum...et laus Venetorum ("A horror to the Greeks...and praise from the Venetians"). His dogaressa was Alicia .

In 1122 the Doge of Venice , Domenico Michiel , launched the seaborne crusade. The Venetian fleet of more than 120 ships carrying over 15,000 men left the Venetian Lagoon on 8 August 1122. This seems to have been the first crusade in which the knights brought their horses with them. They invested Corfu , then a possession of the Byzantine Empire, with which Venice had a dispute over privileges. In 1123 Baldwin II was captured by Belek Ghazi , emir of Aleppo , and imprisoned in Kharput . Eustace Graverius became regent of Jerusalem. The Venetians abandoned the siege of Corfu when they heard this news, and reached the Palestinian coast in May 1123.

Battle of Jaffa
The Venetian fleet arrived at Acre at the end of May and was informed about a Fatimid fleet, of around a hundred sail, sailing towards Ascalon in order to assist the Belek Ghazi at his siege. Thus the Venetian fleet sailed south in order to meet it and Doge Michele ordered the division of the fleet into two parts with the weaker force at the helm and the stronger one hiding behind it. With the intent to divert the fleet off Ascalon. The Egyptians fell into the trap assuming an easy victory they were now caught between two Venetian squadrons and outnumbered. Some 4,000 Muslims were killed, including the Fatimid admiral, and 9 vessels captured, with the Venetians adding to their triumph the capture of 10 merchant vessels en route back to Acre. Both Fulcher of Chartres (Book III/20) and William of Tyre (Book XII/22-23) recorded the event.
On this the other ships followed in haste and fell almost all the other enemy ships around. A fierce battle commenced, both sides fought with great bitterness, and there were so many killed, that those who were there, most emphatically assure you as unlikely as it may sound, that the victors waded in the enemy's blood and the surrounding sea was dyed red from the blood that flowed down from the ships, up to a radius of two thousand steps. But the shores, they say, were so thickly covered with the corpses that were ejected from the sea, that the air was tainted and the surrounding region contracted a plague. At lengths the fight continued man against man, and most heatedly one side was trying to advance while the other side tried to resist. Finally, however, the Venetians were with God's help victorious [William of Tyre]