A Brief History of Venice

and the Politics of the Venetian Republic

 

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 8^th 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. Image 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 15^th 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.

 

Portrait by Tintoretto of Sebastian Venier, the victor of the indecisive Battle of Lepanto, who 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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