Venice

The republic* of Venice, one of the major powers of Renaissance Italy, built an extensive land and sea empire in the eastern Mediterranean. It became known for its distinctive form of government, stable society, and brilliant cultural achievements. When political turmoil and foreign invasions swept across the Italian peninsula during the 1400s and 1500s, Venice was the only state that remained independent.

The Venetian Empire. Venice was settled in the 500s and 600s by refugees from the Italian mainland. They built communities on mudflats and sandbanks in a lagoon off Italy's northeastern coast. By 1000 these communities had united to form a city ruled by an elected official (called a doge) and councils of merchants. Venetian traders sold fish and salt to towns along the coast and, later, to ports around the Mediterranean Sea.

As its commerce expanded, Venice became locked in rivalry with GENOA, another Italian trading city. The two went to war in 1379–1380. The Venetian admirals emerged victorious, and the city continued to dominate commerce in the Mediterranean.

After triumphing over Genoa, the Venetians expanded into northeastern Italy. The move brought Venice into conflict with the duchy* of MILAN. In 1455 Pope NICHOLAS V attempted to avert war by forming the Italian League, an alliance that established a balance of power among Italy's five major states: Venice, Milan, Naples, Florence, and the Papal States.

Venice angered other members of the Italian League with its efforts to expand its territory and its trade routes. In 1508 the other Italian powers joined France, Spain, the Holy Roman Empire*, and the pope in a campaign to seize some of Venice's territories. Despite the forces joined against them, the Venetians resisted the takeover, and Venice emerged with its city and empire intact. By 1530 Venice was the only Italian city-state to remain a great and independent power.

Another challenge to Venice's rule came from the Ottoman Empire*, which had begun seizing Mediterranean lands in the mid-1400s. At first, Venice negotiated with the Ottomans to continue trading. Then, in 1571 the Venetians joined other European states to defeat the Ottoman navy in the Battle of Lepanto. In the late 1500s and early 1600s, Venice's maritime* empire declined in importance. European voyages to the Americas, along with growing demand for products such as sugar and tobacco, shifted the center of trade from the Mediterranean to the Atlantic.

Government. Venice was both a city and a nation. Its unique form of government combined features of monarchy, aristocracy*, and republic. The head of state, the doge, was elected through an elaborate series of committees designed to prevent any particular group from controlling the office. Every year the doge led official processions and performed ceremonies, such as casting a ring into the lagoon to symbolize Venice's marriage to the sea.

Venice's upper class kept a tight rein on the doge's powers through three councils—the Great Council, the Senate, and the Council of Ten—and many lesser councils. The Great Council consisted of the adult male members of the nobility. In 1297 membership on the Great Council was limited to the prosperous merchant families that made up the Venetian nobility. The Great Council elected most officials, including the doge, and made laws. The Senate, a smaller council, supervised ambassadors and city officials and managed the growth of the empire. The Council of Ten was responsible for state security. It became increasingly important in the late 1400s, and by the 1600s some considered its members the real rulers of Venice.

The Venetian government also included many lesser councils and committees. Only nobles could hold government office, but educated members of the middle class could serve as government secretaries. This group gained considerable status and was regarded as second only to the nobles.

Society. The nobility shaped civic life in Venice. Some nobles devoted themselves to political careers, leaving commerce to other family members. The wealthiest noble families built grand palaces and supported the arts.

Within the citizen class, those born in Venice had the highest status. Although citizens could not hold political office, they could freely pursue wealth. Many belonged to confraternities* called scuole, which provided fellowship as well as opportunities to display one's wealth and perform good deeds. The scuole commissioned artists to decorate their meeting halls and appeared in civic processions. They also took the lead in aiding the poor, providing money for orphans, widows, and others in need.

Venice had numerous professional and neighborhood organizations. Many artisans*, such as silkworkers and glassblowers, belonged to craft guilds*. The workers at Venice's immense shipbuilding center also joined guilds. Venice's neighborhood associations centered on the parish churches. Within each parish, special ceremonies strengthened neighborhood ties.

The Venetian government fought crime by closely supervising residents and promptly punishing wrongdoers. Criminals were fined, banished from the city, or executed. Justice was not uniform, however. Crimes against nobles were often punished with extra harshness, while crimes committed by nobles received light punishment.

Venice's many foreign residents formed organizations of their own. In the Greek and Slav communities, the churches served as both spiritual and social centers. German and Turkish merchants lived near the Rialto, the city's commercial center. After 1516 the Jews of Venice had to live within a closed, gated neighborhood called the ghetto, the first such confinement of Jews to a segregated neighborhood. Within the ghetto they followed their own laws and customs.

Religion and Culture. Religion played a major role in Venetian life. The primarily Roman Catholic city was filled with churches and had many priests, friars, and nuns. Venice took particular pride in its relics*, especially the body of St. Mark, the city's patron saint.

At the same time, however, Venice held itself apart from the papacy*. The Venetian Senate, not the pope, appointed the bishops and other major clergy of the city's mainland territories. Venice itself had no bishop. The city's highest-ranking religious officials were the clergy at the church of San Marco, which was attached to the doge's palace. Venice was also home to many heretics*. Individuals who wanted to obtain the writings of reformist thinkers such as Martin LUTHER and Desiderius ERASMUS could do so easily in Venice.

The nobles who governed Venice dominated its intellectual life. Most young nobles attended the nearby University of Padua. Venetian humanists* tended to be members of the upper class or to work for noble patrons. They discussed many popular subjects, but rarely addressed ideas such as political liberty, which might have threatened the ruling class.

Foreign humanists who came to Venice seeking employment could teach or could work in the city's printing industry. By 1500 the city had become Europe's major publishing center. Free-spirited and sophisticated, Venice was a magnet for writers of all sorts. Poetry, drama, and classical* studies flourished. In the 1500s many women writers lived and worked in Venice, including the humanist Cassandra Fedele and the poets Gaspara Stampa and Veronica Franco.

Venice produced many important artists during the Renaissance, including TITIAN, TINTORETTO, and the members of the BELLINI FAMILY. In addition, the city was itself widely regarded as a work of art, shimmering on the waters of the lagoon, adorned with hundreds of churches and palaces. Artists from all over Europe visited Venice to paint the magical cityscape.

Venice

The Myth of Venice