A Brief History of Venice
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When the Roman Empire was
at its height, the Venetian Lagoon was a sparsely populated backwater.
As the Western Empire began its terminable slide into decay, the islands
of the lagoon became an increasingly popular refuge from successive
waves of invading barbarians.
The pace of these migrations rapidly increased after Attila the Hun
sacked the Adriatic port of Aquileia in 452 AD. The Byzantine Empire
subsequently took over the defence of north-eastern Italy, but was
unable to prevent the Lombard invasion of 568. As a result, new
settlements were founded on the lagoon islands of Malamocco and Torcello,
and in 639 AD the Bishop of Altinum transferred his seat to Torcello.
In an attempt to retain his grip on northern Italy the Byzantine
Emperor, Leo III, organised the various island communities into a
coalition sufficiently powerful to withstand the barbarian invaders. The
first Doge, Paoluccio Anafesto, was elected as its leader in 697 AD.
The coalition continued throughout the 8th century, and in 810 AD it won
a decisive victory over a fleet of Frankish invaders commanded by Pepin
the Short. Shortly afterwards the ducal seat at Malamocco was
transferred to the modern day site of Venice.
The peace treaty concluded with the Franks one year later, the Pax
Nicephori, established Venice as a semi-autonomous province of the
Byzantine Empire.
Within a few years work had commenced on the Doges Palace, the Basilica
of Saint Mark, and several other prestigious churches, monuments and
monasteries. In 828 AD Venice acquired the relics of Saint Mark who was
proclaimed as the city's new Patron Saint.
Being an island people, the Venetians were excellent sailors and
enterprising merchants. They brought cargos of spices, silk, rice, sugar
and other valuable commodities from Asia, North Africa and the
Middle-East and distributed them throughout Western Europe. When these
trading routes were threatened by pirates in the year 1000, Doge Pietro
Orseleo achieved a decisive naval victory and secured Venetian control
of Dalmatia (modern day Croatia).
By this time the Byzantine Empire was in terminal decline and many of
its trading routes were taken over by Venice whose new-found wealth and
power established the city as a significant regional power.
In 1177 Doge Sebastiano Ziani arranged the famous meeting in the
Basilica di San Marco between Frederick Barbarossa, the Holy Roman
Emperor, and Pope Alexander III. Venice subsequently brokered the peace
negotiations which brought an end to their war for control of the
Italian mainland.
Venice also played a leading role in equipping and financing the
crusades. In 1204 the blind doge, Enrico Dandolo, persuaded the
crusaders to plunder the rival city of Constantinople en route to
Jerusalem and the Holy Land.
Huge quantities of Byzantine treasure were carried back in triumph to
Venice, including the Four Tetrarchs and the Horses of Saint Marks which
were placed outside the Basilica di San Marco.
The Horses of St. Marks, a modern replica of the original looted from Constantinople during the crusade of 1204. Photo by Errabee, published under a Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike 2.5 Licence
The porphyry statue of the Four Tetrarchs, the four rulers of the Roman Empire following its division by Diocletian, looted from Constantinople in 1204. Photo by Allan Silliphant.
Despite these successes,
other Italian cities attempted to challenge Venetian power. In 1380
Genoa seized Chioggia, an island controlling access to the Venetian
Lagoon, before being decisively beaten in a naval engagement.
Although primarily a naval power, the Venetians were aware that they
could be attacked from the mainland and so consolidated their position
by annexing large areas of northern Italy during the 15th century.
Venetian sovereignty of Padua, Vicenza, Verona, and virtually all the
territory between the River Po and the Alps was recognised by the Peace
of Lodi in 1452. Venice now possessed a sizeable commercial empire which
also included Dalmatia and numerous Greek islands.
Alarmed by this rapid increase in Venetian power, France and Spain
pursued an anti-Venetian policy by forging an alliance known as the
League of Cambrai which enlisted the Pope’s support for a declaration of
war on Venice.
The subsequent conflict lasted from 1508 to 1529. Although the military
action was indecisive, skilful Venetian diplomacy divided the League of
Cambrai. Mindful of the threat from the rapidly expanding Ottoman
Empire, Spain changed its policy and decided that the destruction of
Venice would be counter-productive.
The resulting Treaty of Brescia represents the watershed of Venetian
power. Venice had succeeding in withstanding the combined might of
Europe's most powerful nations. However, the cracks were already
beginning to appear. Twenty years of warfare had wrecked the Venetian
economy. Moreover, Venice faced a new threat from the Ottoman Turks who
were blocking her eastern trade routes.
In 1571 the Turks seized the Venetian stronghold of Cyprus. The Venetian
navy, under the command of Sebastiano Venier, hunted down the Turkish
forces and defeated them at Lepanto. However, the Turks retained a huge
numerical superiority and despite its victory Venice still had to pay
tribute in order to keep its trading routes open.
Sebastian Venier (by Tintoretto) who won the indecisive Battle of Lepanto, could shave the Turk's beard, but could not pluck it.
Five years later the city
suffered another heavy blow when it was devastated by a plague which
wiped out one-third of its population.
These setbacks occurred at a time when new trading routes to India and
China via the Cape of Good Hope enabled the English, Dutch and
Portuguese to undercut Venetian merchants.
Although Venice finally succeeded in defeating the Turks, thanks to the
brilliant generalship of Francesco Morosini, the subsequent Treaty of
Passarowitz did little to stem her decline.
Incessant warfare had exhausted Venice to such an extent that by the
18th century it was necessary to create new aristocratic titles in order
to raise funds for the treasury.
By the time Napoleon invaded in 1797, Venice was too weak to resist.
Many of its great treasures, including those plundered from
Constantinople, were looted by the French before the city was
transferred to Austrian rule.
By courtesy of CNG Coins
A valiant attempt was made
to restore Venetian independence in 1848 but the rebellion, lead by
Danielle Manin, was easily crushed by the Austrians.
Austria lost control of Venice in 1866, but the city did not recover its
independence. Instead it was ceded to the newly created Kingdom of
Italy.
The Venetian economy continued its long decline despite a brief revival
during the late 19th century.
Nowadays Venice is almost entirely dependent on the tourist industry,
and continues to lose population at an increasing rate since many
Venetians can no longer afford to live in the city, or prefer to migrate
to the mainland where the amenities are better.
Venice is now little more than a monument to its own former greatness.
A Brief History
of Venetian Politics
Venice was ruled by a small number of aristocratic families through an
executive committee known as the Council of Ten.
The Doge was elected for life by the Council. Since many doges became
senile in their later years, the doge was often more of a constitutional
figurehead than a powerful ruler. The Venetians also introduced a series
of checks and balances intended to prevent any one person from acquiring
excessive power.
The common people were permitted an illusion of democracy. They were
able to veto the election of the doge and could vote on other minor
issues. However, they could not elect the Council of Ten or replace one
aristocratic family with another. Indeed, the ranks of the nobility were
closed in 1297. Ambitious commoners were unable to climb the social
ladder until the 18th century when aristocratic titles were sold in
order to fund the Turkish wars.
The Venetian Republic preserved political stability by adopting an
oligarchic model. Any individual who attempted to seize absolute power
was either blinded and castrated, or beheaded.
Treacherous intrigues were, however, rare since the system was generally
accepted, and worked surprisingly well. Venetian nobles fostered a
genuine patrician regard for the welfare of their people and considered
themselves bound by notions of “justice” and “fairness”.
Indeed Venice is probably the best historical example of a state
achieving stability through the governance of a benevolent aristocracy.
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