DOCSLIB.ORG

Venice: a New History Free

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Venice: a New History Free FREE VENICE: A NEW HISTORY PDF Professor Thomas F Madden | 464 pages | 29 Oct 2013 | Penguin Putnam Inc | 9780147509802 | English | United States Venice: A New History In Thomas F. Thomas F. With these credentials it comes as no surprise how dense and informative his history of Venice is. However, the readability and flowing prose that Madden fills the book with Venice: A New History it to remain equally entertaining and easy to follow without sacrificing detail or intellectual depth. He does this similarly when he talks about some of the economic innovations the Venetians brought to the Western world, such as double-entry bookkeeping and the Colleganza. I was able to easily follow the importance and impact of these innovations despite Venice: A New History admittedly rudimentary or perhaps nonexistence understandings of Venice: A New History accounting. As many cities Venice began from humble origins, starting off in the first few centuries C. The city proper was founded around by people from further inland fleeing the Gothic invasion of Rome, realizing the poor soil and mosquito infested waters were enough to dissuade a large invading army from bothering to pursue them. Similar invasions like that of Attila the Hun in and relative instability caused by the fall of the Roman Empire would create successive waves of refugees from areas such as Aquileia, who saw the islands as a relatively peaceful alternative to mainland chaos. As Madden explains it, when Odoacer Venice: A New History germanic tribes into Rome and took the title of Emperor inwhat many consider to be the event marking the fall of the western Roman Empire, it came as no surprise Venice: A New History the citizens of Venice, a city founded on successive waves of Roman citizens who had been violently forced to flee their homes by invading forces, were Venice: A New History cool about this change in regime. In fact when the Byzantine Emperor Justinian launched his campaign to retake Italy in the s, the Venetians would be enthusiastic Venice: A New History active supporters of this effort, eventually becoming Venice: A New History of a Byzantine province ruled from Ravenna. As Madden explains it, the early Venetians saw themselves as Roman citizens who fled an increasingly non-Roman Italy in order to preserve their Roman and Catholic roots. This is what led them to create such strong ties with the Byzantines, and it is those ties with Constantinople that would help them so well as they grew to become a commercial empire and a major player in the Mediterranean. Of course it is yet to be explained why and how Venice became such an economic powerhouse and the only european republic in the early Middle Ages. One primary factor in this was geographic. In the period of time spanning from the fall of the Roman Empire to the early Middle Ages wealth was primarily measured in the amount of land one had. Rich kings and nobles created an aristocracy across Europe whose status and wealth were based on the feudal lands they owned and their ability to tax those who worked on their lands. It created the familiar roles of nobles and serfs, the poor worked the land as farmers, artisans and hunters, giving tribute in money or produce from the land back to the noble lord who offered protection in return. In the case of the Venetian lagoons there was not near enough land to enact such a system, so an aristocracy was formed not on land but on entrepreneurial skill. Merchants traveled to the East to bring back expensive commodities like spices and silks back to Venice, and used the city as a focal point for traveling along the Adriatic Sea and Italian rivers to sell these goods to mainland Europe at a very high profit margin. The system was based on liquid wealth, and made the Venetians some of the first capitalists in Europe. This vastly different economic structure compared to the rest of Europe also led to vastly different ideals being enshrined in Venetian society. Successful Venetians were self made men and women, and as a result they rejected anything resembling the inherited privileges or concentrated powers of nobles in mainland Europe, rather insisting on equality and fierce individualism, the same values that made them rich in the first place. These values translated into their form of government, as Venice Venice: A New History itself as a Republic in with the election of its first Doge Venice: A New History venetian word coming from the latin duxmeaning leadercreating a system of limited democratic engagement that would last years. This system at its inception was far from a direct democracy, with prominent noble families serving as a sort of self appointed electorate and advisory council to the Doge. However, membership in it was decided by invite rather than election, so it still had an aristocratic feel to it. Despite this, invitations to the Great Council were wisely extended, and as the Venetian society grew more members who had close ties to laborers and guildsmen were invited, making the Council much more representative of Venetian society in its totality. This sense of equality and fierce individualism in Venetian society also led to a very strict set of checks and balances in the government, set up so no one Venice: A New History or faction could successfully rule over the rest of the city. One of the practices Venice: A New History best demonstrated this sense of equality and fear of Venice: A New History was the process by which the Doge was elected. In the beginning of the republic the process was little more than the citizens of the city meeting in an open area of the city and shouting names till consensus was reached. This developed into an election committee of 41 Venice: A New History established inhowever fears that one powerful family would be able to stack the committee led to a new, much more intricate system in the s. This new process began with the Great Council being assembled. Once assembled a boy was randomly plucked from the streets to pull wax balls out of an urn at random for each Great Council member. These 30 electors were then reduced to nine by another round of picking wax balls out of an urn. These nine electors then elected a separate group of 40, reduced by wax balls to 12 again. Those 12 cast ballots for another 25, who were again reduced by wax balls to 9. These nine elected a council of 45, reduced to 11 and then these men elected, not the Doge, Venice: A New History the final electoral committee of These 41 electors then met in complete isolation, with each nominating a person for Doge by secret ballot. The electors would discuss the merits and faults of each nominee, summon them one by one to give a speech and refute criticisms, and then vote. If the first nominee received 25 out of 41 votes by secret ballot of course he would become Doge, but if not the process was repeated again with another nominee. As Madden explains, the process was designed to be cumbersome mission accomplishedso cumbersome in fact, that only God could influence it. This clearly demonstrates how careful Venetians were to ensure a fair electoral system that allowed no one faction or family to manipulate the rules in their own favor. However, despite these checks and balances there were still occasional excesses of power, and certain practices by the Venetian government led its opponents and impartial observers to see it as a republic in name only, despotically ruled by an aristocratic elite. One of these practices was the event known as the Serrata, when membership in the Great Council was closed again. Another was the council known as The Ten, which was a group of ten individuals elected from the Great Council and given a wide berth to conduct intelligence gathering and investigate and prosecute treason. This led to the Venetians growing an overseas empire that including at varying times the Dalmatian coast, the islands of Corfu, Crete and Cyprus and the mainlands of present day Greece. They would also have a prosperous trading relationship with the Crusader States after the first Crusade, and this economic stake in the Holy Land, combined with genuine religious fervor, would make Venice one of the most fervent and active powers to take up the Crusade throughout the Middle Ages. Constantinople would occasionally resent the power and trading privileges of the Venetian sailors, which would lead to the seizure of property and kidnapping of all Venetians living in the city inbut the Venetians in truth almost always had the upper hand in the relationship until the Ottomans began to assert their power in the Mediterranean. The stans would provide money upfront to fund the voyage, and the tractans had the responsibility to maximize profits on the trip to the best of his Venice: A New History. This innovation was an important element of sea trading Venice: A New History key to Venetian prosperity because it allowed the risk of sea voyages to be spread out amongst multiple parties, which ensured both merchants and investors would not be financially ruined from one failed voyage. As the practice grew there became multiple stans in Venice: A New History voyage, Venice: A New History allowed people to buy shares in a voyage like investing in a corporation on the stock market. The benefit of this system was to expand capital for voyages while minimizing individual risk. If a person invested small in multiple voyages profits on a successful one mitigated the losses on a failed one.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Education in the Republic of Venice Paul F. Grendler Three Key Moments
    EDUCATION IN THE REPUBLIC OF VENICE Paul F. Grendler Three key moments defined pre-university education in the Republic of Venice between 1400 and 1797. In the Renaissance, Venice created new state schools that lasted to the end of the Republic. Moreover, all Latin schools, whether state, independent, or clerical, adopted the humanistic curriculum, as humanism became the culture of the Latin-educated. Second, Venice did not participate fully in Catholic Reformation education, the pre-university schooling of the new religious orders that dominated Latin education in Italy from the late 16th century to 1773. Venice expelled the Society of Jesus, the most important order of the Catholic Reformation, in 1606 and did not permit it to return until 1657. Although the Somaschans (Clerics Regular of Somasca, who took their name from their motherhouse at Somasca, a tiny hamlet near Bergamo) operated schools in the Venetian Republic, the schools of the religious orders of the Catholic Reformation had less influence than in other Italian states. Third, in the late 18th century the Venetian government imposed major educational changes that reflected Enlightenment values. It expelled the regular clergy from the classroom and implemented a more utilitarian curriculum to be taught in the vernacular. Nevertheless, the changes were less radical than anticipated.1 Medieval Background Schools can be categorized according to their sponsors and financial support as state or communal, church, and independent. State schools were schools founded, financially supported, and supervised by the government, which appointed the teachers. For small cities and towns, 1 I wish to thank Benjamin Ravid for his advice and careful reading and Howard Adelman and Konrad Eisenbichler for sending me publications.
    [Show full text]
  • Antonio Possevino's Nuova Risposta
    Nuova Risposta Andreas Mazetti Petersson Antonio Possevino’s Nuova Risposta Papal Power, Historiography and the Venetian Interdict Crisis, 1606–1607 UPPSALA STUDIES IN CHURCH HISTORY 4 About the Series Uppsala Studies in Church History is a series that is published in the Department of Theology, Uppsala University. The series includes both works in English and in Swedish. The volumes are available open-access and only published in digital form. For information on the individual titles, see last page of this book. About the Author Andreas Mazetti Petersson is a PhD candidate in Church History in the Department of Theology, Uppsala University. Email: [email protected] Uppsala Studies in Church History 4 Andreas Mazetti Petersson Antonio Possevino’s Nuova Risposta Papal Power, Historiography and the Venetian Interdict Crisis, 1606–1607 Mazetti Petersson, Andreas. Antonio Possevino’s Nuova Risposta Papal Power, Historiography and the Venetian Interdict Crisis, 1606–1607. Uppsala Studies in Church History 4. Uppsala: Uppsala University, Department of Theology, 2017. ISBN 978-91-984129-3-2 Editorial Address: Uppsala Studies in Church History, Teologiska institutionen, Box 511, 751 20 UPPSALA. Email: [email protected] ContentsAns Mazetti Petersson 1. Introduction 4 1.1. The Interdict Crisis of 1606–1607 5 1.2. The Nuova Risposta 8 1.3. Purpose and Question 10 1.4. Sources, Prior Research, and Method 11 1.5. Central Concepts 14 1.6. Outline 18 2. The Myth of Venice 20 2.1. The Dual Role of the Doge of Venice 21 2.2. Definitions of the Myth of Venice 23 3.
    [Show full text]
  • Small and Very Small States in Italy That Lasted Beyond 1700
    Small and Very Small States in Italy that PROCEEDINGS Lasted Beyond 1700 - A Vexillological Survey Roberto Breschi FFIAV Noli, Senarica, Cospaia, Seborga, Piombino, Massa, Tor- Examples of both types will be considered here. Some riglia and Masserano, were small residual principalities of these states are now forgotten, by history as well as by from the old feudal system, or free republics under the geography. Nevertheless, they did in fact exist and do not protection of a larger state. They lasted until 18th or 19th belong to the category of the suppositious or conjectural century. Their history is briefly described and several sym- states. They are shown on the map of Fig. 1. Let us start bols and flags are discussed and illustrated in 24 figures. with a small maritime republic. Most of these flags have been little-known until now. Introduction During several centuries a wide belt in the middle of Europe, from Denmark to Sicily, was divided into a mol- titude of small self-governing states. Two high authori- ties - the Pope and the Emperor - ruled over them from a distance. Germany and Italy, today’s major states in this region, achieved national unity in the second half of 19th century (Italy in 1861, Germany in 1870), much later than Spain, France, United Kingdom, or Russia. This fragmentation of Italy stimulated the appetite of greater powers and attracted foreign conquerors. As a result, through the 16th and 17th centuries the number of the separate states in Italy was dramatically reduced. The smaller (and weaker) ones were rubbed off the map so that around 1700 there were about 20 of them left in Italy while in Germany there were 300 or 400.
    [Show full text]
  • At the Helm of the Republic: the Origins of Venetian Decline in the Renaissance
    At the Helm of the Republic: The Origins of Venetian Decline in the Renaissance Sean Lee Honors Thesis Submitted to the Department of History, Georgetown University Advisor(s): Professor Jo Ann Moran Cruz Honors Program Chair: Professor Alison Games May 4, 2020 Lee 1 Contents List of Illustrations 2 Acknowledgements 3 Terminology 4 Place Names 5 List of Doges of Venice (1192-1538) 5 Introduction 7 Chapter 1: Constantinople, The Crossroads of Empire 17 Chapter 2: In Times of Peace, Prepare for War 47 Chapter 3: The Blinding of the Lion 74 Conclusion 91 Bibliography 95 Lee 2 List of Illustrations Figure 0.1. Map of the Venetian Terraferma 8 Figure 1.1. Map of the Venetian and Ottoman Empires 20 Figure 1.2. Tomb of the Tiepolo Doges 23 Figure 1.3. Map of the Maritime Empires of Venice and Genoa (1453) 27 Figure 1.4. Map of the Siege of Constantinople (1453) 31 Figure 2.1. Map of the Morea 62 Figure 2.2. Maps of Negroponte 65 Figure 3.1. Positions of Modone and Corone 82 Lee 3 Acknowledgements If brevity is the soul of wit, then I’m afraid you’re in for a long eighty-some page thesis. In all seriousness, I would like to offer a few, quick words of thanks to everybody in the history department who has helped my peers and me through this year long research project. In particular I’d like to thank Professor Ágoston for introducing me to this remarkably rich and complex period of history, of which I have only scratched the surface.
    [Show full text]
  • The Role of the Thirteenth‐Century Mosaics of San Marco in Reforming the Venetian Past
    PSU McNair Scholars Online Journal Volume 2 Issue 1 Challenging Paradigms: New Frontiers Article 27 in Graduate Research 2006 Molding the History of a Maritime Empire: The Role of the Thirteenth‐century Mosaics of San Marco in Reforming the Venetian Past Heather McCambly Portland State University Follow this and additional works at: https://pdxscholar.library.pdx.edu/mcnair Let us know how access to this document benefits ou.y Recommended Citation McCambly, Heather (2006) "Molding the History of a Maritime Empire: The Role of the Thirteenth‐century Mosaics of San Marco in Reforming the Venetian Past," PSU McNair Scholars Online Journal: Vol. 2: Iss. 1, Article 27. https://doi.org/10.15760/mcnair.2006.206 This open access Article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial- ShareAlike 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0). All documents in PDXScholar should meet accessibility standards. If we can make this document more accessible to you, contact our team. Portland State University McNair Research Journal 2006‐2008 Molding the History of a Maritime Empire: The role of the thirteenth‐century mosaics of San Marco in reforming the Venetian past by Heather McCambly Faculty Mentor: Anne McClanan Citation: McCambly, Heather. Molding the History of a Maritime Empire: The role of the thirteenth‐century mosaics of San Marco in reforming the Venetian past. Portland State University McNair Scholars Online Journal, Vol. 2, 2006‐2008: pages [206‐308]. McNair Scholars Program Page 1 of 103 Molding the History of a Maritime Empire: The role of the thirteenth-century mosaics of San Marco in reforming the Venetian past Heather McCambly Anne McClanan, Faculty Mentor The mosaics of the Venetian Church of San Marco embody how this empire used imagery for political and ecclesiastical purposes.
    [Show full text]
  • Byzantine and Islamic Influences on the Art and Architecture of the Basilica Di San Marco in Venice
    Lindenwood University Digital Commons@Lindenwood University Student Research Papers Research, Scholarship, and Resources Summer 7-2021 Byzantine and Islamic Influences on the Art and Architecture of the Basilica di San Marco in Venice Suzie Hanny Lindenwood University Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.lindenwood.edu/student-research-papers Part of the Classical Archaeology and Art History Commons Recommended Citation Hanny, Suzie, "Byzantine and Islamic Influences on the Art and Architecture of the Basilica di San Marco in Venice" (2021). Student Research Papers. 7. https://digitalcommons.lindenwood.edu/student-research-papers/7 This Research Paper is brought to you for free and open access by the Research, Scholarship, and Resources at Digital Commons@Lindenwood University. It has been accepted for inclusion in Student Research Papers by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons@Lindenwood University. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Byzantine and Islamic Influences on the Art and Architecture of the Basilica di San Marco in Venice Suzie Hanny ARTH 55800: Medieval Art Instructor: Dr. James Hutson July 7, 2021 1 More than any other building in Venice, the Basilica di San Marco (figure 1) incorporates many Byzantine and Islamic architectural, artistic, and design elements. These stylistic elements were not only intended to glorify God but to promote the Venetian Republic’s political and religious ideologies. The Venetian Republic held the belief that it was divinely ordained to be the rulers of the Adriatic. It was no coincidence that the founding of Venice is said to have occurred on March 25th, the feast day of the Annunciation of the Virgin Mary.
    [Show full text]
  • Sabaudian States
    Habent sua fata libelli EARLY MODERN STUDIES SERIES GENEraL EDITOR MICHAEL WOLFE St. John’s University EDITORIAL BOARD OF EARLY MODERN STUDIES ELAINE BEILIN raYMOND A. MENTZER Framingham State College University of Iowa ChRISTOPHER CELENZA ChARLES G. NAUERT Johns Hopkins University University of Missouri, Emeritus BARBAra B. DIEFENDORF ROBERT V. SCHNUCKER Boston University Truman State University, Emeritus PAULA FINDLEN NICHOLAS TERPSTra Stanford University University of Toronto SCOtt H. HENDRIX MARGO TODD Princeton Theological Seminary University of Pennsylvania JANE CAMPBELL HUTCHISON JAMES TraCY University of Wisconsin–Madison University of Minnesota MARY B. MCKINLEY MERRY WIESNER-HANKS University of Virginia University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee Sabaudian Studies Political Culture, Dynasty, & Territory 1400–1700 Edited by Matthew Vester Early Modern Studies 12 Truman State University Press Kirksville, Missouri Copyright © 2013 Truman State University Press, Kirksville, Missouri, 63501 All rights reserved tsup.truman.edu Cover art: Sabaudia Ducatus—La Savoie, copper engraving with watercolor highlights, 17th century, Paris. Photo by Matthew Vester. Cover design: Teresa Wheeler Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Sabaudian Studies : Political Culture, Dynasty, and Territory (1400–1700) / [compiled by] Matthew Vester. p. cm. — (Early Modern Studies Series) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-1-61248-094-7 (pbk. : alk. paper) — ISBN 978-1-61248-095-4 (ebook) 1. Savoy, House of. 2. Savoy (France and Italy)—History. 3. Political culture—Savoy (France and Italy)—History. I. Vester, Matthew A. (Matthew Allen), author, editor of compilation. DG611.5.S24 2013 944'.58503—dc23 2012039361 No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any format by any means without writ- ten permission from the publisher.
    [Show full text]
  • Unification of Italy.Indd
    CHAPTER 1 KEY TERMS Risorgimento Translated, Italy in the early nineteenth century the word means ‘reawakening’. As a historical term it has been used to describe the development of a INTRODUCTION national identity, a national sentiment, an awareness In September 1870, the troops of King Victor Emmanuel among Italians of a common II of Italy entered Rome. Italian unifi cation, the bringing culture. It should not be used together diff erent states of the Italian peninsula under one to describe any movement for national unifi cation, because government, was complete. Th e Risorgimento, the there wasn’t one. reawakening of Italy, had reached its climax. However, the creation of the new Italian state was neither inevitable nor had it been planned. Although Italian unifi cation had KEY PEOPLE taken place, there was little enthusiasm for the new state Victor Emmanuel II among the Italian people. In 1861, an Italian politician (1820–78) was the king of named Massimo d’Azeglio remarked to Victor Emmanuel: Piedmont from 1849 to 1861 ‘Sir, we have made Italy. Now we must make Italians.’ Th e and fi rst king of Italy from story of what follows is of how Italy was made, but it is 1861 to his death in 1878. He reigned as a constitutional also a story of division and the failure to ‘make Italians’. monarch, bound by the Statuto which was granted by his father Charles Albert in THE STATES OF THE PENINSULA 1848. He made a number of important decisions in his Towards the end of the eighteenth century the peninsula of reign, such as the appointment of Count Camillo Cavour as Italy was home to a number of states.
    [Show full text]
  • The Myth and Anti-Myth of Venice
    Appendix A The Myth and Anti-myth of Venice The word “myth” generally is loaded with pejorative or unverifiable con- notations, but this understanding is not always found among historians of Venice for a complex set of reasons. Like most other Italian cities in the Renaissance, Venice had an official historian charged with promot- ing the memory of the city’s past and its good name (Cozzi 1963–4). Gina Fasoli, the historian who fashioned the expression “the myth of Venice,” notes that “no other modern state possessed like Venice a sense of the practical value of history in the educational and civic formation of citizens and in the shaping of public opinion abroad” (1958, 450; see also Gaeta 1961, 1981). Modern historians have followed Fasoli in using the expression to draw attention to the historical reputation enjoyed by the Republic of Venice over the centuries. The myth of Venice as a good republic encompasses multiple positive dimensions: Venice’s distinctive origins, its place in geography and history, the longevity of its republi- can government and institutions, its cultural activities, the spiritual and moral association of the republic with St Mark the Evangelist, and the symbols, rituals, and ceremonies that characterized public life and in- stilled the civic patriotism that reached down to the common people and that described what patricians were expected to wear and how to behave in public and in transacting government business. The myth of Venice thus derives from multiple sources, but its various dimensions sought to create, maintain, and regenerate solidarity and trust among the population, while offering lessons and images of city life that awed visiting foreign observers.
    [Show full text]
  • The Political, Economic, and Military Decline of Venice Leading up to 1797
    THE POLITICAL, ECONOMIC, AND MILITARY DECLINE OF VENICE LEADING UP TO 1797 Anna Katelin FitzSimons, B.S. Thesis Prepared for the Degree of MASTER OF ARTS UNIVERSITY OF NORTH TEXAS December 2013 APPROVED: Laura Stern, Committee Chair Richard Golden, Committee Member Geoffrey Wawro, Committee Member Richard McCaslin, Chair of the Department of History Art Govern, Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences Mark Wardell, Dean of the Toulouse Graduate School FitzSimons, Anna Katelin. The Political, Economic, and Military Decline of Venice Leading Up to 1797. Master of Arts (History), December 2013, 110 pp., 1 map, 6 images, bibliography, 69 titles. This thesis discusses the decline of the Venetian nobility, the collapse of the Venetian economy, and the political results of the surrender of the Venetian Republic to Napoleon Bonaparte in 1797. Topics include the formation of Venice, Venetian domination of trade, the class system in Venice prior to 1797, the collapse of the aristocracy, feudalism in Venice, Venice’s presence in the Adriatic and Aegean seas, and the rise of the middle class within the provisional democratic government. Very few historians have attempted to research the provisional democracy of Venice and how the political and class structure of Venice changed as a result of the collapse of the Republic in 1797. Using primary sources, including government documents and contemporary histories, one can see how the once dominant noble class slowly fell victim to economic ruin and finally lost their role in the political leadership of Venice all together. During this same period, the middle class went from only holding secretarial jobs within the government, to leaders of a modern democratic movement.
    [Show full text]
  • The Unification of Italy 1789 – 1896 Handout
    THE UNIFICATION OF ITALY 1789 – 1896 HANDOUT Key Facts & Summary • Also known as Risorgimento, the Italian unification was a political and social movement that consolidated different states of the Italian peninsula into a single state of the Kingdom of Italy in the 19th century. • The process began in 1815, with the Congress of Vienna acting as a detonator, and was completed in 1871 when Rome became the capital. However, the last Italian territories under foreign rule did not join the Kingdom of Italy until 1918, after Italy finally defeated Austria-Hungary in World War I. • As other foreign powers were responsible for the situation of Italy, their very presence motivated Italians to strive for unification, however, Italy’s successful unification, ironically, would not have come to pass without the help of other foreign powers. • The situation of Italy after unification can best be described after the statement of professor Serge Hughes: “Now that we have made Italy, we must make Italians.” • Giuseppe Garibaldi, Giuseppe Mazzini, Count Cavour and Victor Emmanuel II are considered to be “the fathers of the fatherland”. Prologue Italy was first united by Rome in the third century B.C. It remained for over 700 years the de facto extension of the capital of the Roman Republic and Empire. It experienced a privileged status and avoided being converted into a province. Even with the fall of the Western Roman Empire, Italy remained united under the Ostrogothic Kingdom. However, this would later be disputed between the Kingdom of the Lombards and the Eastern Roman Empire. Following the conquest of the Frankish Empire, the title of King of Italy merged with the office of Holy Roman Emperor.
    [Show full text]
  • Venice's Imperial Past And
    Empire, city, nation: Venice’s imperial past and the ‘making of Italians’ from unification to fascism David Laven and Elsa Damien In the aftermath of the 1848-9 revolutions, even amongst those political commentators most deeply sympathetic to the cause of Italian unification, it remained a commonplace to decry not only the politically fragmented nature of the peninsula but the deep internal divisions within the Italian people. Thus, for example, the French historian François-Tommy Perrens, writing in a work completed shortly after New Year 1857, reflected that, Agreement is no more than a dream. Everywhere division rules, between subjects as much as between princes, between one province of city and another, even within the very heart of an individual city. Nothing can be done that requires collective effort. Much has been spoken of federations and leagues, without a single one ever having been formed. In vain has it been desired to unite Rome with Florence, Lombardy with Piedmont, Sicily with Naples; but no one can agree on anything, even on the battle field. […] These suspicions, these universal jealousies have made Italy fail in favourable circumstances that perhaps will not be seen again for many years. L’accord n’est qu’une vague aspiration. Partout règne la division, et entre les sujets comme entre les princes, d’une province d’une ville à l’autre et jusqu’au sein d’une même cité. Rien ne s’y fait de ce qui demande des efforts collectifs. On a beaucoup parlé de fédérations et de ligues sans en former une seule. Vainement on a voulu
    [Show full text]