Guglielmo Embriaco was a Genoese

Genoa

Genoa |Ligurian]] Zena ; Latin and, archaically, English Genua) is a city and an important seaport in northern Italy, the capital of the Province of Genoa and of the region of Liguria....

 merchant and military leader who came to the assistance of the Crusader States

Crusader states

The Crusader states were a number of mostly 12th- and 13th-century feudal states created by Western European crusaders in Asia Minor, Greece and the Holy Land , and during the Northern Crusades in the eastern Baltic area...

 in the aftermath of the First Crusade

First Crusade

The First Crusade was a military expedition by Western Christianity to regain the Holy Lands taken in the Muslim conquest of the Levant, ultimately resulting in the recapture of Jerusalem...

.

Embriaco was probably born in the late 1030s, but did not gain fame until he and his brother Primo di Castello landed at Jaffa

Jaffa

Jaffa is an ancient port city believed to be one of the oldest in the world. Jaffa was incorporated with Tel Aviv creating the city of Tel Aviv-Yafo, Israel. Jaffa is famous for its association with the biblical story of the prophet Jonah.-Etymology:...

 in June 1099 with a squadron of galleys: two, according to the Annales of Caffaro di Rustico

Caffaro di Rustico da Caschifellone

Caffaro di Rustico da Caschifellone was an Italian crusader and chronicler. He is an important source of information on the careers of the early Embriachi....

, and six or nine according to Raymond of Aguilers

Raymond of Aguilers

Raymond of Aguilers was a chronicler of the First Crusade . He followed the Provençal army of crusaders, guided by count Raymond IV of Toulouse, to Jerusalem....

. The expedition was a private undertaking. He and Primo initially marched south towards Ascalon

Ashkelon

Ashkelon is a coastal city in the South District of Israel on the Mediterranean coast, south of Tel Aviv, and north of the border with the Gaza Strip. The ancient seaport of Ashkelon dates back to the Neolithic Age...

, but an Egyptian

Fatimid

The Fatimid Islamic Caliphate or al-Fāṭimiyyūn was a Berber Shia Muslim caliphate first centered in Tunisia and later in Egypt that ruled over varying areas of the Maghreb, Sudan, Sicily, the Levant, and Hijaz from 5 January 909 to 1171.The caliphate was ruled by the Fatimids, who established the...

 army forced them to march inland towards the Siege of Jerusalem

Siege of Jerusalem (1099)

The Siege of Jerusalem took place from June 7 to July 15, 1099 during the First Crusade. The Crusaders stormed and captured the city from Fatimid Egypt.-Background:...

, then in progress. The lumber from their dismantled ships was converted into siege tower

Siege tower

A siege tower is a specialized siege engine, constructed to protect assailants and ladders while approaching the defensive walls of a fortification. The tower was often rectangular with four wheels with its height roughly equal to that of the wall or sometimes higher to allow archers to stand on...

s which were instrumental in the successful taking of the city on 15 July. It was there that Embriaco earned his sobriquet Caputmallei or Testadimaglio, meaning "mallet head".

Embriaco assisted in the capture of Jaffa and then, with 200 to 300 men, at the Battle of Ascalon

Battle of Ascalon

The Battle of Ascalon took place on August 12, 1099, and is often considered the last action of the First Crusade.-Background:The crusaders had negotiated with the Fatimids of Egypt during their march to Jerusalem, but no satisfactory compromise could be reached — the Fatimids were willing to give...

 on 12 August, where he commanded a naval contingent offshore. Embriaco and his brother returned to Genoa with letters from Godfrey of Bouillon

Godfrey of Bouillon

Godfrey of Bouillon was a medieval Frankish knight who was one of the leaders of the First Crusade from 1096 until his death. He was the Lord of Bouillon, from which he took his byname, from 1076 and the Duke of Lower Lorraine from 1087...

 and Daimbert of Pisa, the Defender of the Holy Sepulchre and Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem

Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem

The Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem is the title possessed by the Latin Rite Catholic Archbishop of Jerusalem. The Archdiocese of Jerusalem has jurisdiction for all Latin Rite Catholics in Israel, the Palestinian Territories, Jordan and Cyprus...

 respectively, describing the success of the Crusaders and the urgent need of reinforcements. They arrived in Genoa on 24 December. Embriaco was granted the title of consul exercitus Ianuensium — "consul of the Genoese army" — by the Compagna and sent back with a fleet of twenty six or seven galleys, four to six cargo ships, and three to four thousand men. He embarked, carrying the new papal legate

Papal legate

A papal legate – from the Latin, authentic Roman title Legatus – is a personal representative of the pope to foreign nations, or to some part of the Catholic Church. He is empowered on matters of Catholic Faith and for the settlement of ecclesiastical matters....

, the cardinal-bishop of Ostia, on 1 August 1100.

Upon his second arrival in the Holy Land

Holy Land

The Holy Land is a term which in Judaism refers to the Kingdom of Israel as defined in the Tanakh. For Jews, the Land's identifiction of being Holy is defined in Judaism by its differentiation from other lands by virtue of the practice of Judaism often possible only in the Land of Israel...

, he met King Baldwin I

Baldwin I of Jerusalem

Baldwin I of Jerusalem, formerly Baldwin I of Edessa, born Baldwin of Boulogne , 1058? – 2 April 1118, was one of the leaders of the First Crusade, who became the first Count of Edessa and then the second ruler and first titled King of Jerusalem...

 at Laodicea

Latakia

Latakia, or Latakiyah , is the principal port city of Syria, as well as the capital of the Latakia Governorate. In addition to serving as a port, the city is a manufacturing center for surrounding agricultural towns and villages...

 and together they planned a campaign against for the next spring. At Laodicea, he wintered and fought many skirmishes with the Saracen corsairs. In March 1101, he set out from Laodicea, evading a large Egyptian fleet near Haifa

Haifa

Haifa is the largest city in northern Israel, and the third-largest city in the country, with a population of over 268,000. Another 300,000 people live in towns directly adjacent to the city including the cities of the Krayot, as well as, Tirat Carmel, Daliyat al-Karmel and Nesher...

, and landed at Jaffa on Easter Monday. He accompanied Baldwin from there to Jerusalem to celebrate Easter and visit the River Jordan. The Genoese were promised a third of the booty of the campaign and they set out for Arsuf

Arsuf

Arsuf also known as Arsur or Apollonia, was an ancient city and fortress located in Israel, about 15 kilometres north of modern Tel Aviv, on a cliff above the Mediterranean Sea. The city site, Tel Arsuf, was intensively excavated from 1994...

, which fell after three days on 9 May. Caesarea held out until 17 May. A thousand Arab merchants who had taken refuge in the mosque paid the Genoese for their release and safety.

In July, Embriaco returned to Genoa after making a treaty with Tancred, Prince of Galilee

Tancred, Prince of Galilee

Tancred was a Norman leader of the First Crusade who later became Prince of Galilee and regent of the Principality of Antioch...

. He met a Byzantine fleet

Byzantine navy

The Byzantine navy was the naval force of the East Roman or Byzantine Empire. Like the empire it served, it was a direct continuation from its imperial Roman predecessor, but played a far greater role in the defense and survival of the state then its earlier iterations...

 in the Ionian Islands

Ionian Islands

The Ionian Islands are a group of islands in Greece. They are traditionally called the Heptanese, i.e...

 and landed at Corfu

Corfu

Corfu is a Greek island in the Ionian Sea. It is the second largest of the Ionian Islands, and, including its small satellite islands, forms the edge of the northwestern frontier of Greece. The island is part of the Corfu regional unit, and is administered as a single municipality. The...

 to send ambassadors to Constantinople

Constantinople

Constantinople was the capital of the Roman, Eastern Roman, Byzantine, Latin, and Ottoman Empires. Throughout most of the Middle Ages, Constantinople was Europe's largest and wealthiest city.-Names:...

. He entered Genoa in triumph in October.

In February 1102 he was elected Consul, but that is the last recorded trace of him.