Venice
From the very start, the history of Venice took on a special character, as a result of the city's location in the islands of the lagoons at the head of the Adriatic Sea. These islands were settled in the fifth century A.D. by refugees from the mainland, fleeing from Hunnish and German invaders. The fate of the city was bound up inextricably with the sea, in which it lived and from which it drew its sustenance in the form of trade.
Venice faced eastward, having close relations with the emperor at Constantinople. The Venetian merchants, from the tenth century, became the intermediaries between East and West. They received trading privileges from the Byzantine and German emperors, and even the Mohammedans. They supplied Italy, France, and Germany with the goods of the East and became rich and powerful in the process. Thus arose the Venetian merchant aristocracy, which in time took over the government of the city. In the sixth century, Venice was governed by tribunes, overseen by a duke, or doge. There was also an assembly of the people, which became powerless long before it was formally abolished in the fifteenth century. Until the eleventh century the doge's power increased, but it weakened until he became only the presiding officer in a state governed by a merchant oligarchy. The oligarchy exercised its power through a Great Council and a Small Council. The Small Council of six was a permanent adviser. The Great Council, which came to have well over two thousand members, was the seat of sovereignty, in which supreme power resided and from which other governmental bodies were formed. One was the Senate, which by the fourteenth century was the center of public administration, handling the day-to-day business of government.
The victory of the aristocracy was sealed by the "closing" of the Great Council in 1297. The essence of this act was to restrict eligibility for the Great Council to the members of about two hundred of the great merchant families. This restriction of political rights caused some discontent, which led, in 1310, to a serious conspiracy against the government. It was successfully repressed, but led to the formation of the Council of Ten, which had the purpose of guarding against further attempts of the same sort. In time the council became a permanent part of the Venetian government and acquired control over all aspects of the administration. The Council of Ten gave to the government of Venice the outlines it has always had in historical imagination: silent, efficient, watching with untiring vigilance over the affairs of the state, and ferreting out and punishing with deadly and ruthless speed all attempted conspiracies. No public hint of its actions would be given until, one morning, passersby would see the bodies of the plotters hanging in the Square of St. Mark. The trials, though secret, were scrupulously fair, and judgment was based on a thorough effort to get the facts.
By 1500 Venice controlled a vast area in northern Italy, and many important cities, formerly independent, were under her rule, including Padua, Verona, and numerous others. The result of her power and aggressive tendencies was, as we shall see later, to unite most of Italy and even some foreign states against her in the effort to break her power. Nevertheless, she remained independent, strong, and prosperous throughout the century. The decline we can observe was much less noticeable at the time. Long after the rest of Italy had been subjugated by Spanish power, Venice remained independent, until finally conquered by Napoleon at the end of the eighteenth century. The final fall of Venice called forth the famous sonnet of Wordsworth. Though the glories of Venice had decayed by then, he wrote, "Men are we, and must grieve when even the Shade / Of that which once was great is passed away."
In his sonnet, Wordsworth refers to Venice as "the eldest Child of Liberty," and indeed the Venetians did not lose sight of the fact that their city was a republic. Professor William J. Bouwsma has shown that the conscious expression of Venetian republicanism, though it has roots in an earlier period, came largely in the sixteenth century, under the impact of political crises which stimulated thought on the meaning of Venetian ideals and values. Here it was following the example of the other great Renaissance republic, Florence.
Venice faced eastward, having close relations with the emperor at Constantinople. The Venetian merchants, from the tenth century, became the intermediaries between East and West. They received trading privileges from the Byzantine and German emperors, and even the Mohammedans. They supplied Italy, France, and Germany with the goods of the East and became rich and powerful in the process. Thus arose the Venetian merchant aristocracy, which in time took over the government of the city. In the sixth century, Venice was governed by tribunes, overseen by a duke, or doge. There was also an assembly of the people, which became powerless long before it was formally abolished in the fifteenth century. Until the eleventh century the doge's power increased, but it weakened until he became only the presiding officer in a state governed by a merchant oligarchy. The oligarchy exercised its power through a Great Council and a Small Council. The Small Council of six was a permanent adviser. The Great Council, which came to have well over two thousand members, was the seat of sovereignty, in which supreme power resided and from which other governmental bodies were formed. One was the Senate, which by the fourteenth century was the center of public administration, handling the day-to-day business of government.
The victory of the aristocracy was sealed by the "closing" of the Great Council in 1297. The essence of this act was to restrict eligibility for the Great Council to the members of about two hundred of the great merchant families. This restriction of political rights caused some discontent, which led, in 1310, to a serious conspiracy against the government. It was successfully repressed, but led to the formation of the Council of Ten, which had the purpose of guarding against further attempts of the same sort. In time the council became a permanent part of the Venetian government and acquired control over all aspects of the administration. The Council of Ten gave to the government of Venice the outlines it has always had in historical imagination: silent, efficient, watching with untiring vigilance over the affairs of the state, and ferreting out and punishing with deadly and ruthless speed all attempted conspiracies. No public hint of its actions would be given until, one morning, passersby would see the bodies of the plotters hanging in the Square of St. Mark. The trials, though secret, were scrupulously fair, and judgment was based on a thorough effort to get the facts.
By 1500 Venice controlled a vast area in northern Italy, and many important cities, formerly independent, were under her rule, including Padua, Verona, and numerous others. The result of her power and aggressive tendencies was, as we shall see later, to unite most of Italy and even some foreign states against her in the effort to break her power. Nevertheless, she remained independent, strong, and prosperous throughout the century. The decline we can observe was much less noticeable at the time. Long after the rest of Italy had been subjugated by Spanish power, Venice remained independent, until finally conquered by Napoleon at the end of the eighteenth century. The final fall of Venice called forth the famous sonnet of Wordsworth. Though the glories of Venice had decayed by then, he wrote, "Men are we, and must grieve when even the Shade / Of that which once was great is passed away."
In his sonnet, Wordsworth refers to Venice as "the eldest Child of Liberty," and indeed the Venetians did not lose sight of the fact that their city was a republic. Professor William J. Bouwsma has shown that the conscious expression of Venetian republicanism, though it has roots in an earlier period, came largely in the sixteenth century, under the impact of political crises which stimulated thought on the meaning of Venetian ideals and values. Here it was following the example of the other great Renaissance republic, Florence.