The Battle of Saseno took place on 14 August 1264 near Saseno Island off the coast of Albania, between a fleet of the Republic of Genoa and a trade convoy of the Republic of Venice, during the War of Saint Sabas. Since the outbreak of the war in 1256, the Genoese had experienced only defeats in direct confrontations with the Venetian navy, and had therefore resorted to raiding the Venetian commerce convoys to the Levant that were critical to the Venetian economy.
In mid-1264, the Genoese commander, Simone Grillo, managed to trick his Venetian counterpart, Andrea Barozzi, as to his intentions: Grillo spread rumours that he intended to head due east to the Levant, but secretly took up station at the island of Malta, south of the usual sea lanes. When Barozzi took the bait and moved east to pursue Grillo with his much larger fleet, the latter was free to attack a Venetian convoy heading out from Venice to the Levant. Confident of the absence of any threat, the convoy commander, Michele Duaro, was caught by surprise when he encountered the Genoese fleet off Saseno.
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