Republic of Venice

Come abbiamo visto citando Marx, ciò che è dato per un paese è dato per il mondo intero, è solo una questione di tempi. Va da sé che bisogna tener conto del grado di sviluppo di una società per spiegare analogie e differenze. Essendo l'Italia il più antico paese capitalistico, la sua borghesia era già decrepita quando riuscì finalmente a contrastare le forze internazionali che impedivano l'unificazione nazionale. Quest'ultima non era ancora completata che già si manifestavano in pieno le peculiarità di questa classe dominante trafficona, corrotta, politicantesca e completamente succuba del capitale. Tenendo conto del ripetersi storico da tragedia in farsa, questo retaggio storico è ben rappresentato dal quindicennio del partito berlusconiano con i suoi presunti nemici, in realtà simbiotici rappresentanti di un governo unico del capitale. Specie fuori d'Italia, sembra che sia difficile capire la genesi di questo fenomeno sociale. I commenti sono per lo più improntati a stupore che possa accadere. Eppure non solo accade, ma si generalizza, dato che non si contano i casi di governi che, in modo più o meno sbracato o clownesco, si dimostrano stupidi strumenti del capitale. Devono essere stupidi per svolgere la loro funzione.

This book is dedicated to the curious traveller. Taking
up the work of Quadri and Moretti (1830) and observing the new,
modern perspective in which it is reflected we wanted
to tell the history and stories of the mansions lining the
main water course of the Dominante. Not all of them:
we have chosen 106 among the most important and
those richest in events. So we offer the reader not only
their beauty, majesty and wealth, but also the very personal
stories of the men and women who lived their
lives, be them long or short, in Venice during her greatness
and grandeur and after she fell. From men and
women of power and glory in the Venetian Republic
to its many international fans. Doges and artists, noblewomen
and singers, leaders and poets. People who
chose those dwellings as homes. People who lived their
lives behind those stunning facades, century after century.
These are the stories we’d like to tell you. With
the images of the past and of the present, and words
that will open the doors of many splendid dwellings.
In the hope that this book will make you, dear readers,
a bit more Venetian.

Venice and Austria were once powerful European empires.  While both still exist today, they are not nearly as large or powerful as they once were.  In comparing these two empires, there are quite a few similarities in their downfalls.  Both had nobles and rulers that resisted change, and both were weakened by wars with their neighbors.  In addition, they both did not decline and fall overnight; it was a slow and gradual process that lasted at least a century.  Both empires also were at one point connected, as Austria ruled over Venice for just over fifty years.  When comparing these two empires, one can find many similarities and also some striking differences in their decline as centers of power within the European continent.

The Rivista Militare 4 (2006) article, briefly explains the political, diplomatic and military aspects of this little-know conflict, originated from the commercial damage inflicted on the Republic of Venice by the Uscoks pirates. These people, starting from the Adriatic ports located in territories subject to their protector, the Archduke Ferdinand II of Austria, used to cause serious harassment to the Venetian naval traffic. The conflict, also know as war of Gradisca or war of Friuli, was fought for almost two years.On September 26, 1617 the peace was signed in Madrid. The peace forced the Venetians to withdraw from the lands conquered in Friuli and in Istria and forced the Archduke to burn the boats of the Uskoks and deport the populations far from the coasts.

Il libro "Naturalmente divisi" è nato a seguito di un convegno che aveva il proposito di fornire una panoramica sufficientemente completa e criticamente aggiornata sulla storia sociale delle antiche comunità delle Alpi. La prospettiva nella quale si è operato è stata l'analisi storica e politica di singole valli attraverso lo studio delle autonomie da loro guadagnate nel corso dei secoli: aree montane privilegiate che hanno più volte rimarcato la "naturale divisione" dalle grandi città della pianura attorno alle quali gravitavano. La complessità di questo rapporto è stato sintetizzato nel presente volume che si propone come una valida guida per chi volesse avvicinarsi con curiosità all'argomento. Particolare attenzione è stata rivolta alle vallate centrali delle Alpi (dalla Valle Camonica alla Valsassina), per quanto i contributi spazino dalle Alpi Cozie fino alla Carnia, con un excursus riservato alle antiche comunità alpine in epoca romana.

By the beginning of the sixteenth Venice was an established maritime empire having achieved, not only the methodical restraint of the Ottomans’ expansive aspirations towards European lands, but also solid control over the Adriatic and Mediterranean Seas and the trade routes to the Levant. Internally Venice was a metropolis bustling with merchants, craftsmen, travellers and visitors, amongst whom a great number of established foreigners. Nearly eighty per cent of the city’s population was made up of these labouring poor, who contributed significantly to the economic stability and prosperity of the Republic, as they provided the workforce for many of its industries.


Venice was home to the world renowned Arsenale, the biggest ‘factory’ in medieval and early modern period. It was there where the great Venetian galleys were built, armed, and launched into water, contributing to the Republic’s economic prosperity, commercial and territorial expansion, as well as its defensive purposes. This thesis focuses on two of the most distinct working class communities in the city, the shipbuilding craftsmen, commonly known as Arsenalotti, and the seafaring Greek community. Both these groups, the former in charge of building these vessels, and the latter serving in them as sailors and captains, or similarly employed in the shipbuilding industry, were two of the most prominent working class clusters in late Renaissance Venice.

This study will attempt to look into the way of life of the maritime folk outside their workplace, in order to assess their financial and social standing  taking into consideration the places in which they lived, their households, their finances, the social networks which they formed, and their religious and charitable activities   at a time of considerable demographic, economic, and social adjustments for the city. The examination of the two groups, established in the same neighbourhoods and united under the same occupational activities, will show that despite any linguistic, cultural, and religious diversity, their situation in life was very similar, and demonstrative of the circumstances of the Venetian working classes as a whole. Keeping in mind that early modern Venice’s popolani have been considerably neglected by contemporary scholarship, the ultimate objective of this thesis is to initiate a basic study on the socio-economic life of the lower classes in one of the most populous and celebrated cities in medieval and early modern Europe.

Some documents from the Friuli area, dating back to 1336, attesting the use of firearms in Venzone and the preparation of black powder, were quickly forgotten immediately after their publication, not finding feedback, even today, even in local publications.
Their rediscovery and contextualization, considered also the recent discoveries on the subject occurred for the neighboring Veneto area, confirms their importance for the history of the hoplology offering a more secure and documented datum of the famous quotation referring to the year 1331 reported in the Chronicle of Cividale («ballistabant cum sclopo versus terram») whose oldest specimens, as known, do not go beyond the XV century.

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Alcuni documenti di ambito friulano attestanti l’uso di armi da fuoco a Venzone e la preparazione della polvere nera risalenti al 1336, furono rapidamente dimenticati subito dopo la loro pubblicazione, non trovando, a tutt’oggi, riscontro neppure nelle pubblicazioni di argomento locale.
La loro riscoperta e contestualizzazione, alla luce anche dei risultati avuti dalle recenti indagini sull’argomento avvenute per la confinante area veneta, conferma la loro importanza per la storia dell’oplologia offrendo un dato più sicuro e documentato della famosa citazione riferita all’anno 1331 riportata nella Cronaca di Cividale («ballistabant cum sclopo versus terram») che, come noto da tempo, è giunta solamente in copie del secolo XV.

This volume in the series Lives of the Artists collects the major writings about Titian (c. 1488-1576) by his contemporaries and near contemporaries. The centrepiece is the biography by Vasari and includes the marginal annotations to Vasari by Annibale Carracci, which had never before published in English. The volume also presents for the full English translation of a selection of letters and poems by Pietro Aretino; Carlo Priscianese's full account of a dinner party with Titian, and the contributions by Speroni Speroni and Ludovico Dolce, round out the picture of this hugely thoughtful, intellectual artist, whose paintings remain some of the most sensual and affecting in all of Western art.
Mostly unavailable in any form for many years, these writings have been newly edited for this edition, including the identification of works and people mentioned in each text.

A partir du XIIIe siècle, l'élection du Doge de Venise procède d'un système complexe impliquant différents niveaux de désignation, augmentant et réduisant successivement le nombre des personnes concernées par la procédure et organisant l’alternance de l’élection et du tirage au sort. Cette organisation complexe rendait impossible le contrôle de la procédure par telle faction ou famille. L’intervention régulière du tirage au sort réduisait considérablement les risques de corruption électorale, au moins en ce qui concerne les tentatives d’achat de votes, qu’un tel dispositif rendait vaines et donc inutiles.

The paper is dedicated to Leonardo Donà's tomb, which remained strangely unstudied.
Among Venetian Ducal tombs, it epitomises a special case of self-representation, not for the forms of the monument (realised in fact by his heirs in a different form from his will), but for the conscious use of it as a political tool. The paper investigates the intentions of the Doge and the meaning of his choice in the context of his activity as a politician and in the actual building of the city.
He had a central role in the development of the city, contributing since the late 70’s of 16th century in the most remarkable architectural achievements of the early modern Venetian Republic, those which determined the architectural and urban configuration of the “myth of Venice” as the perfect Republic in the perfect city. He was in fact appointed in the commissions responsible for the church of the Redentore, the urbanization of the Fondamenta Nuove, the palace of the Procuratie Nuove, Rialto Bridge, the basilica of San Giorgio Maggiore, the new town of Palmanova, beside having built his own palace and having planned his own tomb.
In Venice, a Republic, in which the Doge was officially only the first among equals and in which public self-display of individuals was formally not tolerated; in the case of a Doge who continuously affirmed his adherence to this stance, what form can assume his monument?

In the course of 1580, Agostino Valier, a bishop of Verona, conducted an apostolic visitation to Istrian dioceses. The report on the visitation represents an historic source of great importance for the knowledge of late 16th century Istrian history. This paper brings to light information about Pula and its inhabitants  contained in the report on Bishop Valier’s visitation to the Pula Diocese. Descriptions include the very visit and other social, economic and religious circumstance in Pula of the period.

Draft in Italian language of the French text "Venise des origines à l'an 827", in "Venise. Histoire, promenades, anthologie & dictionnaire". Sous la direction de Delphin Gachet et Alessandro Scarsella, Paris, Robert Laffont, 2016 (Bouquins) [ISBN 978-2-221-12874-9], pp. 3-41 ("Venise. Histoire, promenades, anthologie & dictionnaire" has got the  "Prix des Belles Lettres" 2016 of "Académie nationale des sciences, belles-lettres et arts de Bordeaux") Bizantinità di Venezia Il filosofo tedesco Karl Jaspers nel volume Origine e senso della storia ritiene "principe prudent de ne pas se mêler des premiers âges de l'humanité". A proposito della preistoria Jaspers aggiunge: "Ce temps prodigieusement long, où l'homme peuplait déjà la terre, garde son secret. Quoique l'histoire n'y parle pas encore, nous savons qu'il a dû s'y produire quelque chose d'essentiel". Per i primordi di Venezia gli storici hanno poche fonti rispetto a quelle a disposizione della storia della città lagunare nei periodi successivi (e anche rispetto a quelle a disposizione di chi è interessato alla storia di altre località italiane nell'ottavo secolo e nei primi decenni del nono). Per esempio il primo documento veneziano fu scritto nell'anno 819 dal tribuno e notaio ducale Demetrio, qualche anno dopo il costituirsi della cancelleria dei dogi. Eppure, come scrive Jaspers sempre a proposito della preistoria, nei primi e oscuri secoli della storia veneziana "tout y était virtuellement contenu; ce qui s'y passa fut décisif et orienta le cours même de l'histoire" i. Il fattore decisivo di tutta la storia di Venezia fu la sua iniziale appartenenza all'Impero Romano d'Oriente, ovvero a Bisanzio. Nell'imminenza della caduta dell'Impero, una delegazione guidata dall'imperatore Giovanni Paleologo giunse a Venezia per partecipare al Concilio ecumenico di Ferrara-Firenze del 1438-1439 (organizzato per riunire cattolici e ortodossi in una unica Chiesa) ed visitò la città e i suoi monumenti. Uno dei membri di questa delegazione, Bessarione, il metropolita ortodosso di Nicea e futuro fondatore della Biblioteca Marciana (il cui ornato edificio oggi fronteggia Palazzo Ducale), rimase colpito dalla particolare atmosfera della città lagunare tanto che successivamente la definì "come una seconda Bisanzio" (quasi alterum Byzantium). Anche oggi, secondo Jonathan Harris, l'attuale "Istanbul non possiede un corrispettivo bizantino dell'acropoli di Atene o del foro di Roma [.. .] C'è un altro modo, tuttavia, per farsi un'idea della Costantinopoli bizantina: visitare Venezia". In origine Venezia era, in effetti, non una seconda Bisanzio, ma una parte integrante del mondo bizantino e dell'Impero Bizantino, e anche quando di fatto si rese indipendente, restò per generazioni parte integrante di quello che è stato definito con una moderna espressione il "Commonwealth bizantino" oppure koine bizantina ii. La leggenda delle origini selvagge: profughi in un disabitato mondo acquatico

This article uses the strange and marvellous as a heuristic device to study the relationship between emotions, media and politics in early modern Venice. In particular, it examines how printed news about the marvels of the Levant mediated Venice’s encounters with its colonial subjects and imperial rivals, and analyses the role of wonder and imagination in the creation of an imperial community of feelings. The article argues that a focus on the affective politics of the marvellous can shed new light on the emotional dimensions of the early modern Venetian public sphere and its links with war and empire-building.

Relations between the Venetian Republic and the Ottoman Empire during the fifteenth century were based on an ambivalent relationship of mutual necessity, in which conflict and cooperation - where one never totally negated the other - functioned more as formulas of negotiation than real wills of destruction.

Nelle dinamiche formative del patrimonio immobiliare dei Morosini da Santo Stefano, protagoniste sono le donne, che legano la casata a quelle dei Foscari e dei Mocenigo dalle Zogie, con particolari connessioni con l’area di San Lio, nel sestiere di Castello, anche nella sua celebre ed emblematica raffigurazione ideata e dipinta da Giovanni Mansueti, per la Scuola Grande di San Giovanni Evangelista.

In the formative dynamics of the real estate assets of the Morosini da Santo Stefano, the protagonists are women, who link the family to those of the Foscari and Mocenigo dalle Zogie, with particular connections with the San Lio area, in sestiere of Castello, also in its famous and emblematic representation conceived and painted by Giovanni Mansueti, for the Scuola Grande di San Giovanni Evangelista.

La Serenísima República de Venecia durante sus casi mil años de existencia (IX/XIX) se nos presenta como un estado soberano europeo, en forma de república aristocrática de mercaderes, que regía un importante imperio ultramarino. Gobernada por un Dogo con un poder similar al de un monarca, aunque limitado por una serie de consejos mediante los cuales se buscaba el equilibrio de poder entre las principales familias.
En el presente trabajo se estudia tanto su historia, como su organización política y social. Se analiza la figura del patrizio véneto, oligarquía de sangre que controlaba la vida pública.  Para terminar explicando las peculiaridades de su heráldica.

The studies on the history of the Valmareno and its district, were focused on the centuries after the territory was feoffed to the warlords Brandolino Brandolini and Erasmo da Narni in the 1436; this probably due to the shortage of documents in the local archives prior to this event. The object of this article, after a survey on the central sources of the venetian Senate, is the reconstruction of the history and microhistory of the Valmareno district between 1341 and 1436. This research confirm the political experimentation of Venice in the Trevigiano and Cenedese areas during XIV and XV centuries.

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L’attenzione degli storici per il distretto cenedese della Valmareno si è sempre concentrata sui secoli successivi all’infeudazione dei Brandolini da Bagnacavallo, operata dalla Repubblica di Venezia nel 1436; ciò fu probabilmente dovuto alla scarsità, pressoché assoluta, di documenti negli archivi locali antecedenti a quella data. Nel presente contributo si è cercato, tramite lo spoglio di fonti centrali quali delle delibere del Senato veneziano, di ricostruire la storia e microstoria di quel distretto nell’intervallo 1341-1436, vale a dire dall’ultima dominazione caminese all’infeudazione dei condottieri Brandolino Brandolini ed Erasmo da Narni. La ricerca conferma la sperimentazione politica veneziana nel Trevigiano e Cenedese dei secoli XIV e XV. Le notizie, in gran parte inedite, testimoniano che l’attività dei podestà – dei quali si fornisce un elenco nell’ultima parte – si concentrò soprattutto sull’organizzazione militare del distretto, confine della Repubblica sino al 1420, pur non mancando informazioni circa l’amministrazione civile.

Una celebrata fase della stirpe dei Morosini dalla Sbarra, a cavallo tra XIII e XIV secolo, è legata al prestigio assunto dalle donne della casata e alle due parrocchie veneziane di Sant’Angelo e San Zulian, nel sestiere di San Marco, dove antiche dimore possono, almeno in parte, ancora testimoniarla, in particolare il ritrovato palazzo di Albertin el Grando, fratello di Tommasina, regina d’Ungheria.

A celebrated phase of the Morosini dalla Sbarra lineage, at the turn of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, is linked to the prestige assumed by the women of the family and to the two Venetian parishes of Sant'Angelo and San Zulian, in sestiere of San Marco, where ancient residences can , at least in part, still testify to it, in particular the rediscovered palace of Albertin el Grando, brother of Tommasina, queen of Hungary.

The author makes an attempt at comparative study of assemblies of two medieval polities: Novgorod and pre-communal
Venice (veche and arengo, respectively). In this article the first part of the study is presented which deals with qiute a huge
role played by assemblies in both Novgorod and pre-communal Venice. One of the main conсlusions is that those gatherings
despite being arenas for more or less mass participation in politics at the same time constantly created instability.
Keywords: Novgorod, Venice, veche, arengo, comparative approach

Автор предпринимает попытку сравнительного изучения «народных собраний» Новгорода и докоммунальной Венеции (вече и аренго соответственно). Статья представляет собой первую часть исследования и посвящена характеристике той большой роли, которую играли «народные собрания» как в Новгороде, так и в докоммунальной Венеции. Один из главных выводов статьи состоит в том, что, несмотря на то что эти собрания были аренами для довольно массового участия населения в политической жизни, в то же время они постоянно порождали нестабильность. Ключевые слова: Новгород, Венеция, вече, аренго, сравнительно-исторический метод

Free download from Zenodo
https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.4284460

This book investigates the history and decoration of one of the most important churches of Venice in the 16th century: Santa Maria Assunta dei Crociferi. Painters and sculptors of the stature of Titian, Tintoretto, Veronese, Palma il Giovane, Vittoria and Campagna all contributed major works of art, many of which survive in the present-day church of the Gesuiti.

Available in PDF format (e-book), this volume is the legacy of a talented art historian, Allison Sherman, who tragically passed away in 2017.

Includes 2 additional essays:
- 'Titian's Martyrdom of St Lawrence and its Original Location in the Lost Venetian Church of Santa Maria Assunta dei Crociferi'

- Murder and Martyrdom: Titian's Gesuiti St Lawrence as a Family Peace Offering'

465pp. 206 high res illustrations
Published on 20/10/2020

Edited with the help of Peter Humfrey, Rebecca Norris, Danielle Little, Freya Tyrell, Sharon Gregory and Sally Hickson.

This book is for Joan, Bruce and Andrew Sherman in loving memory of Allison Sherman.

Comment vivre au quotidien avec cet Autre que représente l'Étranger ? Par l'étude des " Turcs " musulmans installés à Venise au XVIe siècle, ce mémoire de recherche analyse l'histoire d'une rencontre, celle du citoyen de la République et du sujet de l'Empire... à moins que ce ne soit celle du Chrétien et du Musulman ? Entre échanges et heurts, fascination et peur, la cohabitation semble loin d'être évidente. Et pourtant, elle existe !

How to live everyday with this Other than represents the Foreigner ? By the study of the Muslim " Turks " settled in Venice in the Cinquecento, this Master 2 thesis analyzes the history of a meeting, that of the citizen of the Republic and the subject of the Empire ... unless it is the one among Christian and Muslim ? Between exchanges and conflicts, fascination and fear, the cohabitation seems far from being obvious. And yet, it exists !

A geostrategic history of the Central Mediterranean Peninsula since 1763. An Essay in global history and "longue durée" applied to history of Imperial collisions.  As the "Russia's clash with the Anglo-Saxon world, which spanned large stretches of the past 200 years" (David Schimmelpenninck van der Oye) determined the Italian destiny.

While the subject of the Venetian espionage in the Ottoman empire has received scholarly attention, no attempt has been made to study the baili's intelligence-gathering activities on Safavid issues in a systematic way. Through the close scrutiny of baili dispatches and other relevant materials of the Venetian State archives, this paper examines the role of the Venetian diplomats in Istanbul in information-gathering on the Safavids. It demonstrates that the baili used various techniques, particularly gifting, bribery, and information exchange with the Ottoman officials in order to collect and transmit to Venice a wide range of information on Ottomans' arch-rivals, the Safavids.