T H E O L I G A R C H Y F V E N I C E

fi n 455m l:

E B M LELL GEORG . CC AN

BOST ON NE W YOR '

HOUGH ON MIFFLIN AND COMPANY T ,

t ca n minerfiit e p ress, (t am hribge

1904 PY I T 1 BY B C C O R G H 90 4 G E O R G E . M C L E L LA N

ALL R IGH T S R E S E RV E D

Publisb ed F ebr u a r y 1 90 4 WIFE

CONTENTS

C HAPTER VEN IC E

II TH E BE G I I S F R E P B I . NN NG O THE U L C

’ TH E FIR S T COUP D ETAT

I T H E F M Y IV . N A IL O F N ATION S

’ THE S E C OND C OUP D ET AT

I S T P V . C ON TAN INO LE

’ H IR D U P D E VII . THE T C O TAT

UE R IN I- I P C S PIR C Y VIII . THE Q T E OLO ON A

M R I F I R IX . A NO AL E TH E WA R OF C HIOGGIA

O T H E M I D XI . N A NLAN

PE R A L M XII . IM I IS

C S OF E MPIR E XIII . THE O T

TH E M C I E ' IV . A H N

P I ' V . S A N

EN D XVI . THE

THE O LIGAR CHY OF VENICE

CHAPTER I VENICE

o t t a b out S much has been wri en Venice, so th at much that is true, so much is false, so much fiction under the guise of history and history under the guise of fiction, so much poetry in prose and prose in poetry, that in sorting the vast amount of available

of i material, it is a matter no little d fficulty to separate the grain from the ch aff .

For of of the story the beginning Venice, we must depend upon the early chroniclers, foremost among whom stands John the Dea l m con . As they were conte poraneous, or nearly so, with the events which they describe,

r e we must accept their word as law, only j e cti n g it when some outside authority con f ut es them . The chronicles of Andrea Dan

1 He e J Sa or n i n o te was form rly known as ohn g , but qui e e h e e e e e h is u r c ntly has b n d priv d of s rname . 2 THE OLIGARCHY OF VENICE dolo 1 bring the story onward to the begin 1343 ning of his reign as doge, in , and are i n e stIm abl u ur y val able, because of the so ces of information to which he had access . The 2 official historians of the republic are lim i ted in value from the necessity under which they found themselves of writing nothing offen

- sive to an all seeing and paternal oligarchy . Of later historians scarcely any avoided being of influenced by the prejudice nationality, or the mixed condition of European politics . i Moreover, it is only recently that h story has i begun to be an exact science . M s sta tements of li or fact, originally made for po tical reli i ous g reasons, have by constant repetition become incorporated as part of Venetian his ’ 3 tory . So late historians as the Abbe Laugier, 4 i i n writ ng the eighteenth century, and Daru, of i at the beginning the n neteenth, must be B ’ accepted with the greatest caution . aru s hi s open hostility to the Church, constant

1 e Re r . . . . xn . Print d in Muratori , Ital Scrip vol 2 e l 1487 Be 1551 1605 Sab l ico, , mbo, , Paruta, , Morosini,

1623 1680 n i 1534 . , Nani, , Giustinia , ’ 8 e de é e de e se e Histoir la R publiqu V ni , par l abb Lau

e 1759 12 . gi r, Paris, , vols 4 i e de e e le e . 1853 H stoir V nis , par Comt P Daru, Paris, , 7 vols . VENICE 3 e fi or t , as a special pleader, to place her in the wrong whenever possible, makes his de li ghtful history of doubtful value . It was not until the middle of the nine t e e n th century that Romanin published the

first complete, accurate, and unprejudiced 1 history of the republic that had yet appeared . The ten volumes of this work entitle their author to rank among the great historians . Of the more recent works on Venetian history that of Hazlitt 2 is valuable for its fullness 3 of of detail, while that Hodgson is accurate and scholarly . The history of Venice is unlike that of any n other n atio in that it is a completed whole . Extendin g over a period of fourteen hundred e years, its lin s of demarcation are clearly

fixed . There was no shading off of Venetian

or of institutions, Venetian government, into those of any other state . There was no absorption of her ruling caste Into another nationality . She ceased to exist as abruptly

1 e e e . e e Storia docum ntata di V n zia, di S Romanin, V n zia, — 1853 6 1 10 . , vols 2 Th e e e e . e V n tian R public, by W Car w Hazlitt, London,

1900 2 . , vols 3 e e . . N e w Early History of V nic , by F C Hodgson , York

1902 1 . and London, , vol 4 THE OLIGARCHY OF VENICE

Sh e as she began ; she died as was born , like a Sh e conscious, sentient being ; andwhen passed ui away, those who had g ded her fortunes disappeared from human activity as com ple t e ly as though the waters of the lagoons had closed over them . And so the history of Venice may be studied from beginning to end as a tale that is told, as a life that has been lived . But for her there was no hope of r of resur ection , no possibility a life to come . There was never anything commonplace in Venice . Her people solved the pettiest

of - problems every day life, as they managed

ff of e on l the gravest a airs state, in ways p i a r ly their own . She was the product of i n her time and age, but developed upon

dividual lines . She was capable of great

deeds, and infinite wickedness . Sometimes

she was worse than those about her, some

t m i es better, sometimes carried along with of a the tide medi evalism , yet more often

swimming against that tide, with a dash and ’ a vigor worthy of the world s best days . e n And then at last, overcome by the sloth gendered by the forgetfulness of her great Sh e ness, who had defied popes and emperors, VENICE 5 wh o had laughed at coalitions embracing of nearly the whole Europe, succumbed at the word of Napoleon . of The story Venice is a great melodrama, ux li i m a divided into tablea , appea ng to the gination rather than to cold logic . We for get all that has happened between the acts, that while the curtain has been down there has been ceaseless activity behind the scenes . The great events of Venetian history impress themselves upon our minds at the expense of the causes and the results . Yet there is a clearly defined argument running through lei t—m ti the whole story, a o f that is carried by the orchestra from the overture to the of finale, and it is the study this gradual development of the causes of her greatness of and her undoing, that presents the most fascinating phase of Venetian history . The condition of anarchy into whi ch Eur ope had been thrown by the extin cti on of the Roman Empire by the barbarians who swept across from Asia gave place in time to the feudal system . The portable spoils of a successful barbaric horde were di vided . among its members, in accordance with their power or rank . When the barbarians set 6 THE OLIGARCHY OF VENICE tle d of in the country their conquest, the division of the lands presented a di ff erent problem .

The chief had acquired his preeminence, either because of inheritance joined to per

or of sonal fitness, because individual quali ties alone . His power was derived directly

b e from the army, upon whose efficiency de

f r pended o very existence . The work of

conquest required time, and the settlements among the conquered were merely armed

camps pitched, for a greater or lesser period, w bet een campaigns . The division of the

lands was the reward of military service, and, in view of the constantly recurring calls to

arms, could only be granted by the chief in

return for military aid when required . Feu dal tenures were in the nature of reta ining

of . fees, for the services the grantees of As the theory divine right grew, the

of e crown, for services one kind or anoth r,

m i r all originally litary in thei nature, granted

i n f its lands feof to its subjects, who in turn ff regranted feo s, in the same way, to lower

subjects of the crown . Th e feudal system was based upon the theory that the crown possessed lands to VENICE c grant, and that the grantee controlled mili tary resources with which to make return . The inevitable result of the system was that the original grantees of the crown de ve lope d immense strength and power .

In a period of great disorder, when the few roads that existed were almost i m pa ss

i m able, and when rapid communication was t of of possible, the adminis ration a state any

Size presented almost insuperable di fficulties . The crown soon found itself in the anoma lous and embarrassing position of ruling

m i no nally by divine right, really by the suf f e r an ce of its nobles ; of granting feoffs t o of the lords temporal the kingdom, which were in most cases as absolute, and in many of cases more secure, than the tenure the crown itself . A community of interest soon developed vi among the nobles, ha ng for its Object their

independence in all but name, the consolida

of t of tion their power, and the reduc ion the crown to a position of mere dependence upon them . Threatened wi th loss of prerogative and

power, the crown turned to the only ally

available, and, by playing the people against 8 THE OLIGARCHY OF VENICE th eIr I mmediate masters, was able to regain its lost prestige . It thus came about that under the feudal system absolute monarchy f became the champion o the people . As ti me went on the power of the crown and the people combined became great enough to destroy the feudal system . As of of the strength the crown grew, that the ul nobles decreased . At length, when the r e of thi s strange partnership became undis ute d of p , the people awoke to a realization ul their power, and pop ar government came into being . In Italy the history of feudalism was somewhat different . Because of the barrier of Al i the ps, the emperors were obl ged to concede a latitude and independence to the great Italian feudatories which they declined to tolerate nearer home . The Italian cities had preserved the spirit of municipal autonomy which they had inherited from the days of l of the Roman Empire . Before the midd e the t w of elfth century, almost every city Italy had Shaken itself free from the feudal system . They ceased to be mere appanages of the ff of feo some neighboring noble, and early

- became self governing communities . But VENICE 9 the loss of their freedom was merely a ques

of tion time, and the histories of all the

r e mainland cities are very similar . Petty publics at first, the task Of maintaining their independence from the neighboring nobles soon proved beyond their powers . Some one noble was called upon to help them protect i their l berty . After saving them for the mo ment, sometimes suddenly, sometimes gradu i ally, somet mes with their consent, more often without it, the protector invariably ended by a c ui ri n hi q ute power, and establis ng a

1 Ecceli n o tyran sconti in Milan, and Sca li e r s the g in Verona, the Este in Ferrara, and later the Medici in Florence and the Car r a r e si in Padua all followed the same general course . The weaker despots were in turn absorbed t by the stronger, and these fought the bat le

of all of the survival the fittest, until alike gave way before the new barbaric invasion

an d in from Spain , France, Germany the S ixteenth century . The evolution of the scheme of govern ment In Venice was along lines di stinctly her own . sit uatl on Because of her In the lagoons, “ ‘ ‘ ' she was as much 61115 off from the influence 10 THE OLIGARCHY OF VENICE of the feudal system as though a thousand leagues of ocean had separated her from the

m shore . She had no territory upon the ain

n land, and no rights nor claims resulti g from such possessions . Having neither lands to grant nor to be granted, she was absolutely outside the dominant system of Europe . In her early history h e r sole possession was the right to exploit the open sea and t o de rive what wealth she could from fishing and

. AS from petty trade her wealth increased, and as her citizens acqui red property in Italy and the colonies, she still preserved her aloof ness from feudalism . Any rights or privileges possessed abroad by her citizens gave them

e - no influence at home, exc pt that derived 1 from riches .

With no lands to inherit, a landed aristo

f n cracy was an impossibili ty . Being o e ce s sit y a commercial state, the only aristocracy she could develop was that of wealth . And it is this fact which in great measure explains the peculiar form of her evolution . The tendency of a landed aristocracy is toward the concentration of possession by

s . inheritance, marriage, and conque t The

1 Dar n . 372. , i

12 THE OLIGARCHY OF VENICE people f or their masters and the tradition of of holding in its grasp the reins government .

But in an active, vigorous young state, like

Venice, sentiment and tradition were of them selves i n suffi ci e n t props to sustain a perma nent aristocracy . In a community where there was at first an almost absolute equality of poverty, the line of class cleavage necessarily divided the inhabitants in accordance with their success in the race for riches that immedi ately began . In this race the ruling class possessed the inestimable advantage over its fellows of the habit of leadership and initiative, and the of control, through the clergy, what little scholarship the times could boast. The first aristocracy of Venice was a sm all and exclusive body, narrow in its aims, and jealous of its power . In a small community, such as early Venice was, it was a compara tive ly easy matter for it to acquir e the wealth that was essential to its existence . But in a com m e r cIal e state, it was powerless to con en trate in its own members all the riches of the country . From the very beginning members of a c the middle class, and even plebeians, i e quired wealth by trade, and d sput d the VE NIC E 3 x

privileges of the patricians . S the new men e became mor numerous, they became more

In - insistent, so that the old order, self defense,

allied itself with the people, long before such

a coalition had been dreamed of elsewhere . The republican government under the early“ doges may not have been democratic accord ing to modern ideas, but inasmuch as the doge was dependent upon the assembly of

' th e wh ole people for power, and as the as se m bly unquestionably legislated on all i m a portant matters, it was far nearer popul r government than any which Europe could show for a considerable time afterwards . Popular government in the other countries Of Europe required centuries f or develop n i i c ment, Ve ce pract ally began her history as a state with popular institutions . The few ruling families reserved for their own mem di of bers the gnity the crown , and kept in - their hands - the exploitation of its pr e r oga ‘ tive . put the people possessed the power of of ul guiding the policy their r er, and the t o right choose and to depose him, a power and a right they did not hesitate t o use . In other countries of Europe the evolution of government was from above, downward, 14 THE OLIGARCHY OF VENICE

power at first concentrated in the hands of the few gradually passing to those of the

many, in Venice the process was exactly

reversed . While the alliance of crown and people t had been growing stronger, the rend being j constantly toward an hereditary popular mon

archy, a commercial aristocracy was at the same time developing by the side of the r ul

ing class . This new aristocracy, which was founded exclusively upon wealth derived from t rade, without the traditions which were the

of monopoly the old order, was excluded

from the leadership in government, and only permitted to follow by the jealous tolerance f o its betters . Had conditions in the beginning per

m itt e d Sh e m Venice to expand inland, ight perhaps in time have given Europe the first example of an hereditary constituti onal mon

archy . Being restricted in her development Sh e to the sea, was forced to reverse her

growth . The new aristocracy was soon strong

l fi r enough to assert itse f, and with the st ’ cou d eta t of old p Venetian history, the aristocracy of sentiment and h aditi on disap VENICE 15

of pe ar e d forever . The abolition the prin ciple of association and heredity in the se lection of the doges checked the rapidly , increasing tendency toward an hereditary ' l monarchy, and absorbed into the new ru ing

of old class the members the order, as a small and unimportant part of the commercial aris- j t ocr a cy . Flabia n i co The new order, which with as i of ff sumed the d rection a airs, was entirely composed of men engaged in the same oc- x cu a ti on a n d l p , and having a Single ambition

n l a si g e purpose . There were no feudal

i i i ' i i seigneurs in the V e n e tiafi a r i stbéf aéfi i i ola n d

Of or owners, no rulers castles of towns, no All soldiers . were merchants engaged in the

c . For pursuit of wealth, through , ommerce them the acqui siti on of wealth was the sole and necessary path to eminence and power. For the m wealth an d power and wealth and

success became synonymous . They appr e ciat e d the fact that the prosperity of the individual merchant depended upon the we l fare of the commercial class as a whole ; and

of that for the benefit . the class everything i else must be subord nated .

n As wealth increased, class feeli g became 6 THE OLIGARCHY OF VENICE stronger ; influenced not only by the wish to retain what had already been acquired, but by the desire to continue to exploit the unlimited field of possibility throughout the world . ’ The second coup éta t deprived the pe o of ple the right to elect the doge, and lodged that power in the hands of the Great Coun — i n of th e cil other words, in the hands dominant merchant class ; and established the power of the oligarchy of wealth which controlled the state . ’ c u d éta t The third and last o p , by closing the Great Council, made it impossible for any outsider to become a member of the aristo of cracy, except by the consent the aristocracy of itself . The aristocracy Venice, by these

- successive steps, became a great trade guild, or a commercial monopoly trust, from which all outsiders were rigorously excluded . Con

ll n of tro i g the government the republic, holdi ng practically all the wealth of the state , competition against it, in Venice at least, was impossible . The history of V e n l ce from the time Of

Flabi a n i co is the history of its ruling class .

For th e the members of class, class feeling VENICE 17 and class interests took the place of love f of . o country Members the class showed, un se lfi sh n e ss throughout its history, great and devotion ; but the virtues that we are prone to ascribe to patriotism were, in

Venice, inspired by loyalty to the oligarchy .

Venice was the oligarchy, and the oligarchy was Venice . They were inseparably welded together ; the story of on e is the story of both . The inverse evolution of Venice was a o

ui f or complished gradually, as it req red time the oligarchy to attain its full growth . The people were at first supreme their power was l m i b e com i ted little by little, the aristocracy il ing more and more important, unt at the end the evolution was completed suddenly, the people were deprived Of all power, and u the oligarchy r led omnipotent . of The life of the oligarchy, like that any monopoly, depended upon two factors ; first, sound business management, second, favor able natural conditions . Throughout the his tory of the republic , until nearly the end, the devotion of the ruling class to what it con ce i ve d to be its own i rit e r e st s never wavered and never flagged . Looking back through 18 THE OLIGARCHY OF VENICE the vista of the centuries it is easy to detect the mistakes that were made . But if the men in t o r control guided Venice her dest uction, they were at least acting in what they thought to be her best interests . Toward the close She was destined to have at the helm men with u f o t the statesmanship o their predecessors . Perhaps the conquest of Constantinople of was unavoidable, but the policy territorial expansion upon which Venice embarked,

of Foscar i under the lead Francesco , was an i nexcusable blunder, which could only result in her eventual undoing . When to the mis takes of mismanagement was added the loss of her natural monopoly, by the discovery of of the Cape route and America, the ruin of Venice was inevitable . The very wealth upon which her greatness was foun ded became the chief source of her weakness . The luxury of the Renaissance was felt nowhere more directly than in Ven

. of ice The merchant princes the republic, investing their riches in lands in Italy and the colonies, were content to live without exertion upon its proceeds, and to bring up t their sons to lives of idleness and dissipa ion . With luxury came the extremes of wealth

CHAPTER II

THE BEGINNINGS OF THE REPUBLIC

THE of t date of the arrival the Vene i in Italy, where they probably found and di splaced earlier inhabitants, is as uncertain as is the origi n of the people themselves . Authorities differ as to whether they were a wandering

of or tribe Slavs, whether they were Gallic, 1 whether they came from Paphlagonia . When this migration may have taken place is purely conjectural . It is certain, however, that the t city of Padua is of great an iquity, and that Aqui leia was a place of m uch importance as early as the second century before our era . During the reign of Augustus a large p opu lation surrounded the marshy lagoon form ed

- by the sand bars, or lidi , thrown up by the action of the Po and the Adige, and extend ing with but little interruption from Ravenna on the south to Aquileia, and its port Grado, on the north .

1 . 7 . 37 7. Romanin, i ; Daru, i ; Hodgson, THE BEGINNINGS OF THE REPUBLIC 21 There had probably been a few scattered fishermen living on the islands of the lagoon from the time of the earliest settlement of il the mainland, but it was not unt the inva

of 452 A . D . sion Attila, in , that some thou l sands of refugees sought, in the shal ows, temporary protection from the Huns . It is more than a mere figure of speech, therefore, 1 to say that Attila founded Venice .

The danger disappeared, and while many of the refugees returned to their homes to rebuild the cities that had been destroyed by 2 of . the Scourge God, large numbers remained on Paduans Rivo Alto, and Malamocco, pea of e o sants Belluno and Feltre at Heraclea, p of ple Oderzo and Asolo at Jesolo, and of Alti n um l at Torcel o, Murano, and Burano, having found their new homes preferable to a li those they had deserted, est b shed them

m selves per anently . The earliest chronicles of the settlement of the lagoon speak of the people of each

r un village as governed by t ib es, annually elected by the people themselves . The only government the people knew was that of th e

1 17 . 5. Hodgson , ; Hazlitt, i xx, and Brown, 2 . 30 . Romanin, i 22 THE OLIGARCHY OF VENICE

of empire, and the election tribunes, depend ent upon the central government at Ravenna, was but a survival of the Old municipal life 1 of Rome . It was to these tribunes that Cassio a dorus, pr etorian prefect under Theodoric, addressed the somewhat grandiloquent letter, 2 that has been so much quoted . 568 In , Alboin and his Lombard hordes crossed the Alps into Italy . Once more the inhabitants of Venetia felt th e horrors of barbaric invasion . Again the people of the mainland cities took refuge in the marshes .

After the tide of invasion had receded, many returned, but more remained than when

Attila had put the people to fire and sword . It is from the time of Alboin that the 3 of real foundation Venice may be dated . Attila had spared little of the once important of city Aquileia, but what he had left Alboin

destroyed . Dandolo tells, however, of two

churches founded by the eunuch Narses,

5 5 . or 6 A D . while still exarch, about , and of a church built about the same time by Pad 4 uan s t . se tled in the lagoon Paulus, patriarch

1 33 . Hodgson, 2 M . A a ssi odor om a i 16 9 . . C i e m Rot 7 , Op ra O nia, g , , lib

12 e . 24 . . 198 . , p , tom i 3 4 . x u. 94 et se . l b . 92. And Dandolo, Apud Muratori , q THE BEGINNINGS OF THE REPUBLIC 23 of Aquileia, flying before the conqueror, took refuge, with the relics of his church, at Grado, the seaport of the city,where he remained, continuing to call himself patriarch of New

Aquileia . The schism of the Three Chapters 1 pro duce d t a rival at the older ci y, who flourished

t 715 . un il , when Pope Gregory II granted the pallium to both bishops . After that date the patriarch of New Aquileia took his title from

Grado, where he lived, and was subject to the of ui Eastern emperor, while the patriarch Aq leia li ved at Cormons and afterwards at Civi dale, and was subject to the Lombard king . As the people of the infant republic were of all classes of the communities from which of they had come, the formation an aristo cracy, in such an age, was a mere question of time . It was a necessary consequence that the tribunal authority should ere long fall into the hands of certain families, and, he of as it happened, misused in the interests the few and against the many . The govern ment was weak, and authority was divided . 1 So calle d from th e anathe mas pronounce d by th e e m e r or Ju 543 th e i e e p stinian in against wr tings of thr bishops, e e Mo sue st i a The odor e t e Th odor of p , and Ibas of Ed ssa, as

e e e N e st om am sm . d 44 . b ing inf ct d with Ho gson, 24 THE OLIGARCHY OF VENICE

Conditions on the mainland were far from reassuring, and all classes felt the need of a closer union , and a stronger government with A which to defend the state . general assem bly of the people was held at Heraclea in 697 , when, under the leadership of Cristo of foro, the patriarch Grado, Paoluccio Ana

or festo of Heraclea was elected doge, duke, 1 of the little confederacy . The election of her fir st doge marks the first step in the evo f f l luti on o the life o Venice . She was sti l a very weak and petty state, but she had begun to develop a national spirit and a unity of wants and purposes . The jealousy of the tribunal families f or each other, their constant quarrels, and their of oppression the people, caused the latter to assert themselves, and, aided by the fear Of i foreign enemies entertained by all al ke, to anticipate by cent uries the evolution of the northern races in taking refuge from the nobles under the might of a crown . k r e de ce s The early doges were, li e their p t sors, the ribunes, subject to the Byzantine power . It has even been suggested that they were as much Byzantine officers as were the

1 . x u. 127. And Dandolo, Apud Muratori, THE BEGINNINGS OF THE REPUBLIC 25

1 of dukes Rome and Naples, and it seems cer tain that the electoral assembly of Heraclea

im i of only tated the larger cities Rome, f or Genoa, and Naples, in electing life a doge ? to rule their destinies Dependence on the empire did not preclude a large measure of wlOCEtl - l self government, amounting actual y, if

not nominally, to independence . While nomi nal as well as actual independen ce came in

time, the closest relations existed between Venice and Constantinople until the fall of

the empire . Within the confederacy the power of the

n ot early doges, while clearly defined, was

really supreme . The doge was answerable

only to the Arengo, or popular assembly, which consisted of every male adult in the

republic who chose to attend, and was very old - similar to the Saxon Folk Mote, or the

- New England Town Meeting of our own day . At first the tribunes s urvived under the authority of the doge in a subordinate ? magisterial capacity As the power of the

latter increased, the authority of the tribunes

1 e d e 3 62 Finlay, quot d by Ho gson, not , . 2 . 93 . Romanin , i 3 . 93 . Romanin, i ‘ 26 THE OLIGARCHY OP VENICE was restricted, and they finally disappear from history at the beginning of the ninth 1 i century . The m litary authority of the state was lodged in an annually elected master of di the soldiers, who was subor nate to the doge ? of o Little is known the administrations f, of the first three doges . The quarrels the nobles and their followers continued to divide 737 the state, until in the third doge, Orso, H a tus t the yp , was killed in a pet y civil war between Heraclea and Je solo. Condi tions having reached a stage bordering on anarchy, 3 the Byzantine government interfered, and suspended the ducal authority for five years, conferring the supreme power upon the mas

di . 742 ter of the sol ers In , with the election of son of Deodato , the the doge Orso , the ducal office was revived, destined in name at least to continue until the fall of the repub of lic, and the seat government was removed from Heraclea to Malamocco . During the first three hundred and fif ty years of her history Venice was occupied in consolidating herself . Internal strife and

1 z 79. n . 97. Hodgson, Romani , i 3 Gf r Ore r e d 135 . , quot d by Ho gson,

28 THE OLIGARCHY OF VENICE awaited the worst . Fortunately for her, Pepin underesti mated the strength of her position . The shallows of the lagoon prevented the effective use of his fleet, and after a repulse

Albi ola . at , he concluded to make peace Tradition exaggerates the battle of Albi ola into a splendid victory by the Venetians over

of . h ow the might Charlemagne History, of ever, reduces it to the dimensions a Skir mish, in which Pepin was checked but by no

. of means defeated By the terms the peace, Pepin recognized the ancient commercial of privileges Venice, and restored her terri

hi r e tory, w ch he had occupied, while the public agreed to pay, and continued long afterwards to pay, an annual tribute to her 1 enemy . The check given to Pepin was of far more importance to the development of Venice than the extent of the so- called victory would

' imply . Had the Frankish army con que r e dth e ul confederacy, its future co d at best have been little more than that of a provincial of town the Empire . Venice had received a

severe lesson, and at once profited by it . The on - capital at Malamocco, situated a sand bar

1 m . 147. Ro anin, i THE BEGINNINGS OF THE REPUBLIC 29

lying between the lagoon and the open sea, had proved too vul nerable to attack for the f security of the state . The first o ficial act of the republic after the conclusion of the 1 peace was the removal of the seat of gov e r n m e n t Al to Rivo to, a group of islands in of ui di the centre the lagoon, about eq stant between the mainland and th e sea . And so the permanent capital was established ? Mal a m occo was destroyed, and the site of Hera clea has been forgotten ; b ut Rivo Alto exists

- as the Venice that we know to day . It was the consequence of her geographical t posi ion that Venice, from the first, should have engaged in commerce . The lagoon was a natural highway be t ween Ravenna and

Al ti n um PO , while the and Adige, with their

di com m u tributaries, brought her into rect n i ca ti on with almost the entire north of

Italy . She was at one extremity of the easi

est route into Germany, and but a short

distance from the Brenner, the most traveled pass over the eastern Alps . Pavia was the di - of great stributing point northern Italy, and to thi s metropolis Venice had a quick waterway up the Po and Ticino . As early

1 2 A . D . 813 . . 150 . Romanin, i 30 THE OLIGARCHY OF VENICE

of th e f as the beginning fi th century, Cas 1 si odor us in his letter to the tribunes directs f or them to provide transport wine and oil, from Istria to Ravenna, and speaks of the dwellers of the lagoon as a mariti me people engaging in many journeys both upon the sea and on the neighboring rivers . When the cities of the mainland were

destroyed by Alboin, Venice inherited a large

of . part their trade It was, however, to her close connection with the Byzantine Empire that Venice owed the first growth of her

commerce . Constantinople was the centre of

the civilized world, the largest and the

richest city of Europe . of Her enormous consumption, not only

necessaries but of luxuries, required the ser vices of a merchant fle et proportionate in

size to her needs . Her imports com i ng over the Alps found their way to her by the

shortest and cheapest route, through Venice . The carrying- trade with the East was at first n s of i the hand the Greeks, but after the

triumph of the crescent, it gradually fell to e of the Italians, who, unlike the memb rs the

n o ti Eastern Church, had conscien ous scruples

1 Se e e 22 su r a . pag , p THE BEGINNINGS OF THE REPUBLIC 31 against trading with the Moslem . Of this most lucrative trade Venice obtained her full share, and even derived considerable revenue from selling Christian European slaves to ? the Infidel That her comm erce soon reached large proportions is evident from the fact that at the C lose of the ninth century Louis

II . , the emperor, visited Venice for the pur of di p ose scussing with her, as the chief naval of power in Italy, the defense the country ? against the Saracens and the Norm ans The chief outlet from Venice being the i Adriatic, it was essential to her prosper ty that her great highway should be absolutely secure . Upon the Opposite shore of Dalmatia of there dwelt a race Croatian pirates, who s t had con tantly harassed Vene ian shipping, and had only been appeased by the payment bl km 99 of ac dl . 8 In the doge, Pietro m i lf ffi Orseolo IL, dee ng himse su ciently

strong, refused to pay the annual tribute . The l pirates at once renewed hosti ities, a Venetian

fleet was sent to Dalmatia, and burned the f town o Lissa . The pirates in revenge murdered hundreds of the defenseless pea

1 n . 130 . Romani , i 2 . 179 s 93 . Romanin , i and Hodg on, 32 THE OLIGARCHY OF VENICE

of santry the coast, who turned to Venice for protecti on . The doge now headed an e xpe

r dition in person, and after taking Cu zola, in the year 1000 captured and destroyed the pirate stronghold of Lagosta . The Arengo upon his triumphant return conferred upon the doge the ti tle of Duke of Dalm Mia ? The event was commemorated annually on e Ascension Day by a stat voyage to the Lido,

on e which hundred and eighty years later,

under the auspices of Alexander III ., became ? the wedding of the Adriati c The conquest of Dalmatia marks for the republic the beginning of that empire which increased by leaps and bounds as the b of years went y, which was the source much of of her strength and her greatness, but was destined eventually to be the chi ef cause h e of her weakness and of her fall . Ne vert less the acquisition of Dalmatia was alto

gether to the advantage of Venice . It was i t practically contiguous terr tory, the con in

uati on of the littoral of the mother state . ui It req red no armies for its defense, and

could be sufficiently protected by the navy . In later years its people furnished troopers

1 2 . 281 . d 184 . Romanin, i Ho gson, THE BEGINNINGS OF THE REPUBLIC 33 to the Venetian cavalry, and, from almost f or the beginning, sailors for the fleet . Its ests and its fields gave an inexhaustible sup of fi r e - ply ship timber, wood, and grain ,

- which continues to be drawn on to day . Its harbors furnished safe refuge to Venetian , of merchantmen and men war, while its possession made the Adr iatic to all intents and purposes a Venetian lake . Its acquisi ti on was the natural and healthy expansion of ll a people sti free and independent, and was far di fferent from the artificial impe ri a li sm of later days . While still recognizing the suzerainty of t of Constan inople, the conquered cities Dal matia swore allegiance to Venice, after that

- i they owed their over lord, and Venet an e sti pod were appointed to govern them . It was not until long afterwards that the sway Of the republic over her Dalmatian A possessions became complete . th ough the 1085 i Emperor Alexius had, in , sanct oned the authority of Venice over Dalmatia and t 1 di d Croa ia, his successors not hesitate to dispute with her the soy e r e ign ty of the east of ern coast the Adriatic . The constant r e

1 An d. x11 249. Dandolo, Apud Muratori, . 34 THE OLIGARCHY OF VENICE bellion of her Dalmatian subjects necessi t ate d more than once a r e - conquest of their

r M count y . The e came when Dalmatia was lost to the republic . But Venice never de s air e d of p recovering her loss, and eventually

si . did so, to retain posses on until the end

36 THE OLIGARCHY OF VENICE

old The aristocracy of tradition, composed

so- b e of the called Tribunal families, had

e f or come the governing caste, depend nt existence upon a complete and satisfactory understanding with the people . of The three estates Venice, the Magori, 1 the Mediocri, and the Minori, corresponded roughly to the upper, middle, and lower of classes eighteenth century England . Mem of r bers the middle c ass sometimes, by ex t ra or din ar y good fortune, rose to the grade above, but were more often swallowed up by that below. While the aristocracy had been successful in retaining as its monopoly the govern of ment the republic, and in excluding the middle class from any participation in mat of ters state, it had been unable to prevent the advance in material prosperity of those whom it watched so jealously . Many of the i m ddle class, and even some plebeians, had acquired large fortunes through the same commercial channels that had enriched the

n Tr a don i co n e e e e Giovan i , and Giova ni Ors olo di d b for

e e . Galb a o Galb a o r igning alon Giovanni j , Maurizio j , and

Par t e ci azi o . e e e e e C an dian o Giovanni p I w r d pos d, and Pi tro

e e . IV . was murd r d 1 . 95. Romanin, i THE FIRST COUP D ’ETAT 37

of patricians . The members this new aristo cracy of wealth were in much the same posi tion as the London city fam i lies before the

first reform bill . Their wealth was as great of as that the ruling class, they possessed as

or much as little education as their betters, and man f or man they were undoubtedly as f able to govern the country e fectively . Yet because they lacked the tradition, through which the aristocracy by a poli te fiction was of descended from that Rome, they were of as little moment as the very beggars in the t s reets . Until the b egm n l n g of the eleventh cen t u l ry, seven families contro led the destinies Par i z of . of t e c a w the republic The house p , or Ba doe r , as it was afterwards called, , fur n i sh e d of no fewer than eight doges, that

Can di an o ur . or Sanudo seven , and Orseolo fo di of A con tion society in which , with the ex ce ti on li p of half a dozen fami es, there was absolute political equality between the rich est merchant and the humblest gondolier, was intolerable to a class which had begun to realize that it was the principal financial support of the state . The unrest of the middle class was n ot the 38 THE OLIGARCHY OF VENIC E

of of growth a moment, but the development 1033 years, culminating at last in , when the first struggle took place bet ween wealth on the on e hand and the alliance of the crown and the people on the other . But the allies were outgeneraled, and wealth triumphed, accomplishing the first step in the inverse evolution of Veneti an government . ’ The success of the first coup d éta t was chiefly due to its author, Domenico Flabi 1 m anico, and if his was the i mediate reward, he certainly deserved it . Little has come down to us of the person ali ty of Flabi an i co. He belonged to the new a n d h e commercial aristocracy, we know that ? d was a merchant Loyal to his frien s, by whom he seems to have been held in high ul esteem, unscrup ous in the means he em ployed to gain his ends, he was an ideal leader in a movement which had f or its object the manipulation of the masses for the restriction Of their own liberty and the li mitation of to their power . He was the first grasp the vast possibilities latent in the ominous di s

f own content o his class . That his aims were more or less selfish is probable ; yet such

1 2 . 300 . 202 e 2. Romanin, i Hodgson, , not THE FIRST COUP D ’ETAT 39 was the intensity which class feeling had already developed that it is only fair to as sume that his loyalty to class out weighed his love of self . i Flabi a Using his talents as a polit cian, nico began his campaign by sti rring up popu lar di ssa tisfaction against the doge Ottone of Orseolo, the third that dynasty, who was Fl i a elected in 1008 . So successful was ab n 1025 on e of ico, that in the most capable and moderate of her absolute rulers was forced to fly from Venice to Dalmatia . The prize for which Flabi a n i co had struggled so long was destined for the moment to slip from his grasp . He did not dare to face the Arengo in the then disturbed state of popular feeling . One of his partisans, Pietro Bar b olan o of of Ce n tr a n i co , the house , was 1026 of elected in as the successor Orseolo, 1 Flabi an i co t o and withdrew Treviso, to per

mit his tool to face the storm . ’ The wisdom of Flabia n i co s course was c made manifest when, within a year, a p pu

lar reaction occurred in favor of Orseolo . Bar b ola n o was deposed and forced to take ] the cow , and Ottone Orseolo was recalled .

I . 124 127. Hazlitt, i , 40 THE OLIGARCHY OF VENICE

’ Otton e s of brother Orso, patriarch Grado, was appointed acting doge, pending the for ’

. t l mer s return But Ot one had died in exi e, f without receiving the news o his restoration . Orso continued for nearly fourteen months to fill both the dogeship and the primacy, when , declining a suggestion from his friends that he should occupy both offices perma n e n tl ur y, he s rendered the corno and with

drew to Grado . It i s not difficult to recognize the work of i Flabia n co in the retirement of Orso Orseolo . Living quietly at Treviso he had through his agents made conditions intolerable for

' th e la st Or se oli of the , so that the latter was confronted with a choice of resignation or

revolution, and chose what he regarded as

the lesser of two evi ls .

His younger brother, Domenico, who was a the head of a small but influenti l party, ‘ usurped the throne without waiting for the of t s formality an elec ion, and thu played directly into the hands of the enemies of his Flabi a house . The psychological moment in ’ nico s career had come, and, seizing it, he was e declared elect d by the Arengo, before that body had fully awakened to the fact that THE FIRST COUP D ’ETAT 1 ffi there was a vacancy in the ducal o ce to fill . ’ Domenico Or se olo s action was declared un constitutional, and he was driven into ban

h n i s m e t .

Flabia n i co of n ow , as the champion the dominant merchant class, at once proceeded to carry out its programme . Taking advantage of the carefully fostered popular suspicion i n hi w ch the late dynasty was held, he rushed through the Arengo three propositions . The first abolished the principle of association

n and hereditary succession, maki g it unlaw f ul for the doge to associate any on e with

ffi m him in the ducal o ce, and aking any son of the doge ineligible to the immediate suc cession . The second provided for the ap t of poin ment, by the doge, two councilors, whose concurrence was decreed essential to the validity of all public acts . The third recommended the doge to summon a giunta or zonta for consultation on all matters of great importance to the state . of The third these propositions, being merely in the nature of good advice, amounted i to very l ttle, for the doge was free to accept

or . d decline it It containe , however, the germ of the consiglio dei pregadi, or senate, which 42 THE OLIGARCHY OF VENICE began to assume importance in the reign of Ja copo Tiepolo in 1229? The second propo siti on was also unimportant, as the doge, having the nomination of his two council or s on e , was unlikely to appoint any whom l he could not easily control . The real y revo luti on ar of y part the proceedings, which con ’ of cou d éta t stituted the crux the p , lay in the first propositi on . It has been justly said that Flabia n i co was able to earn a reputation for patriotism and un selfi sh n e ss at the cheapest possible rate,

n or for he had neither sons near relatives, and his apparent self- denial aff ected him not ? a particle Be this as it may, it did not de vi tract from the tal importance of the change .

By abolishing association and h e r e dita r y ‘suc cession it forever did away with the possibil t ity of dynas ic rule, under which Venice had

been governed for centuries . It took the ffi of f e w ducal o ce from the hands a families, and transferred it to the keeping of an entire

class . It increased vastly the power of the

new aristocracy, and proportionally decreased a that of the people . It was a fat l blow to

1 301 . Romanin, i . 2 . 129. Hazlitt, i

CHAPTER IV

IN THE FAMILY OF NATIONS

LO O' ING back eight hundred years we are apt to think of the Venice of 1095 as a small and petty state . And so she was, measured

of of 1492 or of by the standard the Venice ,

of - the nations to day . But, in fairness, she must be measured by the height and breadth f o her contemporaries . In comparison Sh e was certainly as gr eat as the France of I Philip . , the Germany of Henry IV . , or the

England of Willi am Rufus . If up to the b e ginning of the twelfth century she had n ot made more stir in the world’ s history it was of b e because lack of opportunity, and not li cause Of lack of abi ty . She was powerful in the might that comes from wealth, and rich in resources derived from trade . While il her government, in name at least, was st l ff of a popular, the a airs st te were in the hands of a commercial aristocracy that was essen ll For tia y modern in its point of view . them everything was subordinated to the material IN THE FAMILY OF NATIONS 45

of prosperity Venice, and, in consequence, to com that of their class . The fostering of merce and the commercial expansion of the republic were the chief articles of their creed . The story of their efforts to obtain new mar kets, and to maintain an Open door in the

East, reads like the records of the diplomacy of the twentieth century . ul of The pec iar position Venice, midway between the East and the West, her com of t mand the Adria ic, and her possession of the largest existing merchant marine, afforded her in the Crusades an opportunity equally consonant to her interests and her inclina tions . With the First Crusade she entered the family of nations as a great world power . Had the pious zeal of Christendom been by chance directed to driving the In

fi de l n from Spai , rather than to rescuing the l of V Holy Sepu chre, the development enice w ul l o d certainly have been material y delayed . Venetian merchants had long before ob tai n e d Al a foothold in the Levant, exius had granted them the right of free trade in all 1 of i the principal ports Asia M nor, and Alex andria and Antioch had contained flourishin g

1 234 . Hodgson, 46 THE OLIGARCHY OF VENICE

Venetian colonies . It was from the former city that the body of Saint Mark was stolen a 2 by Venetian merchants as e rly as 8 7 . Venice h a d no scruples against tradi ng with the Infidel . In her economy, a ducat gained was always a ducat, whether it was stamped with the sym bol of the star and cres Or of cent, with the effigy the pope, whether it was earn ed by selling holy relics to her neighbors or Christian slaves to the Turk . In her commerce with the East Sh e had not t been without serious rivals . The mari ime cities of Italy had all competed f or a share of of the Levantine trade . As the power Pisa and Genoa grew, Venice saw in the future possibili ties of far more dangerous rivalry se a upon the , an element she was beginning to regard as her own monopoly . di The sol ers of the First Crusade, with few exceptions, traveled to Constantinople, the

of . place rendezvous, overland The expedi

on afi or de d tion, once its way, , none the less, a most profita ble investment in the transport of v t of by sea recruits, pro isions, and ma erial ? v ul n ot f war Moreo er, Venice co d a ford to

1 A th e e J. . . de History of Italian R public, by C L Sis

1832 1 . 29. mondi, London, , vol IN THE FAMILY OF NATIONS 47 permit Pisa or Genoa to obtain any com m e r ci al i priv leges in the Holy Land, to her exclusion . She allowed her piety to have full sway, and embarked, somewhat late in the

on . day it is true, the First Crusade

Let us give Venice her due, and concede t hat her piety was as sincere as that of her allies ; she, none the less, was the only power of Christendom so to combine piety with profit as to come out of the Holy Wars far 1099 richer than she had gone in . When in the news of the capture of Jerusalem reached l the agoon, the republic at once dispatched 207 1 l to the Holy Land a fleet of sai , under of the joint command Giovanni Michiel, son

Of the reigning doge, Vitali Michiel, and of

Arrigo Contarini, bishop of Castello, under whom the name of the see was changed from ? that of Oli volo This first expedition to the Holy Land partook more of the nature of a ui of il r h a e piratical cr se than a p g g , the di rect participati on of Venice in the objects of the Crusaders being limited to coOpe r ati n g with Tancred in the Siege of Caifa?

n Two events, however, of great importa ce 0 1 N a va i e r o e . 145. g , quot d by Hazlitt, i 2 3 m . 14. 241 . Ro anin, ii Hodgson, 48 THE OLIGARCHY OF VENICE in Venetian history occurred during the First

Crusade . It was a pious age, and Venice was not unwilling to turn the devotion of the world to her own advantage . The possession of holy relics meant pilgrimages for their worship, and pilgrims in the city meant a

f n source o profit ot t o be despised . The b of odies of Saint Theodore the martyr, Saint

Nicholas the great, and of Saint Nicholas the lesser were therefore taken by force from the people of Myra at the outset of the Crusade? The second event was of more serious con sequence . The Emperor Alexius had done all in his power to dissuade Venice from tak ing part in the Holy War . He very rightly regarded her as his principal commercial and

li n political rival, and was not b d to the fact that any advantage gained by Venice in the

own Levant must necessarily be to his injury . di Fin ng his arguments useless, he induced the Pisans to take up his cause ? A naval war off followed . The two fleets met Rhodes, and the Pisans were utterly defeated ? The effect of the victory was to intensify the rapidly developing ill feeli ng between the two cities . The results of the First Crusade to Venice

1 3 3 15 1 n . 1 n u . . . 46 . 5. Roma in, Hazlitt, i Romanin, IN THE FAMILY OF NATIONS 49 were an increase in the wealth of her mer of of chants, the acquisition the bodies three

of s . saints, and the undying hatred the Pi ans For several years the republic took no part 11 1 in the affairs of the Holy Land . In 0 she helped the Countess Matilda reduce Ferrara, and in return was allowed to maintain a ul cons in that city, and to build a church, di which, as was her custom , she de cated to

San Marco . Meanwhile recovery from the i of 1106 d sastrous fires , in which large and of t important sections the ci y were consumed, and the destruction by inundation and earth quake Of the town of Malamocco gave her ample employment at home . Her position in the world steadily a d

n 11 va ce d. By the treaty of 11 the Western

V . emperor, Henry , while increasing the trade il of priv eges Venice, acknowledged her sov e r e i n t of g y over certain parts Dalmatia,

Istria, and Croatia, and clearly defined the ? boundaries of Padua During the years that Venice had r e mained inactive in the East her merchants had continued to maintain a profitable trans port and supply service with the seat of war .

1 Ii . 27. Romanin, 0 THE OLIGARCHY OF VENICE 1111 In the year , under the doge Ordel afo Falier, Venice was induced to send a fleet of on e hundred sail to the aid of Bald

i n of . e x win I . the reduction Sidon The pe di tion arrived only in time to be present at the capitulation of the city . But such was the influence of the republic that her future help was purchased by the grant of a part of ’

. i S Jean d Acre, and the promise of a mag s l trate, a church, a street, a mi l, a bakery, of a bath, and the use her own weights and measures in every city under the dominion of the king of Jerusalem? In 1116 the doge Falier was killed before of ul t the walls Zara, in a successf expedi ion undertaken with the help of the two emper or s for the recovery of Dalmatia from the ’ Fa li e r s Hungarians . Under successor, Do menico Michiel, Venice took part in the Cru of 1123 sade , which culminated in the Siege

of 7 1124 . and capture Tyre on July , D uring this memorable Siege the Venetians contributed largely t o the success of the Cru sade r s , and claimed and received a propor ti on at e reward . They were not only granted the same privileges they had received in

1 x11 . 264 . And . Dandolo, Apud Muratori,

52 THE OLIGARCHY OF VENICE only from the Saracens, but from the subjects of l in the Greek emperor as well , whi e directly the republic gained much prestige by the part she played in European politics of th e i n twelfth century, and her commerce creased to such an extent that the monopoly of the sea became a not altogether remote l possibi ity . Constantinople realized clearly that her hi therto undisputed supremacy was seriously menaced, and that it could only be a question of time when the danger would become acute . She had been worsted in the

first skirmishes, and waited expectantly the

- death struggle that was bound to come . The relations of Venice wi th Frederick

Barbarossa, extending from the accession of the latter to the imperial throne in 1152 to of of 1177 the conclusion the Peace Venice in , gave her a wide field for the di splay of her genius for diplomacy . During this period she brought to perfection her policy of carry

on of ing water both shoulders, playing on both sides of international complications, that

she might be in a position to profit, no matter

m i what ght be the outcome . Fr e de r Ick From the beginning of his rule,

on e - was absorbed by all consuming ambition, IN THE FAMILY OF NATIONS 53

the restoration of the head of the empire to

the place held by his ancestor, Charlemagne . During the thirty- eight years of his eventful reign this policy occupied him to the exclu h sion of all else . The task to w ich he had devoted himself necessitated the subjugation

of Italy and the rescue of the Holy Sepulchre . Venice not only shared with Frederick the e u e him mies his dual policy had forced upon ,

m the pope , the Eastern emperor, the Nor ans,

and the Saracens, but from secular as well as religi ous motives was in hearty accord with

hi s his purposes in the East . From Italian

aspirations she as heartily dissented . It was for her interest that the Holy Places shoul d

be in Christian hands, provided the Open door

was maintained, while it was equally to her interest that no on e strong power should ul r e over a united Lombardy . A Lombardy under the absolute contr ol of the emperor woul d be but a step in the direction of the absorption of Venice herself in the scheme

m hi of empire . The sy pat es of Venice were therefore divided between the emperor and the Lombard cities? i The Guelphic cit es, which included Crema,

1 266 et se . Hodgson, q 54 THE OLIGARCHY OF VENICE

Piacenza, Asti, Rosate, and Tortona, con ce n t r at e d their power at Milan, the strongest

of il lli city Lombardy, wh e the Ghibe ne cities of Rome, Lucca, Cremona, Treviso, Verona, ? Padua, and Aquileia formed upon Pavia 1154 Al In Frederick crossed the ps, and hi after reducing C eri, Asti, Rosate, and Tor tona, but without capturing Milan, was crowned by Hadrian in the Leonine city, and returned to Germany .

In 115 8 . Pope Hadrian IV died, and the of disputed election the rival popes, Alex ander III . and Victor IV . , followed . Fred erick promptly acknowledged Victor, and

A of placed lexander under the ban the empire, who replied by excommunicating Frederick . 1159 In Frederick again crossed the Alps, 1161 and in (August) besieged Milan, which after a heroic defense of seven months capit u of lated . The fall Milan was followed by the

of of conquest a large part Lombardy, after which Frederick retired to Germany . 11 4 In 6 Victor IV . died and the Ghibelline cardinals elected as his successor Pascal III . , i who, l ke his rival, Alexander, was soon 29 1167 obliged to fly from Italy . On May , ,

1 32 Sismondi, . IN THE FAMILY OF NATIONS 55 was signed the treaty of Pon ti ta which organ i ze d in the Lombard League, consist g at first of nine cities, afterwards increased to nine on teen . From this time the war went with t o varying fortune the opponents, until the defeat of Legnano inclined Frederick to consider seriously the abandonment of those pretensions which the Lombards resisted so vigorously? th e Venice had, from first, adhered to her

of . 1162 lri policy neutrality In U ch, patri of uil of arch Aq eia, and the bishop Adria, with the aid of Ferrara and Vicenza, and probably inspired by Frederick, had attacked

Cavarzere . Venice revenged herself upon the two prelates, and let the matter rest . On the of organization the Lombard League, and dur 2 ing its life, she subsidized it with large sums ’ of 1 174 money, while in she joined Frederick s t of lieutenan , the archbishop Mainz, in the ul of unsuccessf siege Ancona, the last strong ? hold Of the Byzantine emperor in Italy She had followed her policy SO well that she retained th e good will of both Frederick and the league, while incurring the enmity

of . 1176 neither Accordingly when in , ex

1 2 8 51 . 11 . 79. 99. Sismondi, Romanin , Romanin , II . 56 THE OLIGARCHY OF VENICE han sted by eighteen years of constant and undecisive warfare, Italy at last sought peace, Venice was chosen by common consent as the most available seat for the peace con gress . The Peace of Venice was sworn to on 1 1177 August , by the representatives of

of the pope, the emperor, the king Sicily, and thirteen Lombard cities, who promised that their principals should in due th e add of their oaths . The selection Venice as the place of the signing of the peace was of special importa nce to her as a recognition of her independence from both pope and em per or . It has been said that she was chosen ” 1 God as being subject to alone . Tradition has made Venice take a far more prominent part than history concedes her, in behalf of the pope against the em

e r or lli of p , even te ng a victory over the impe ? rial fleet a t Salvore Her position at the peace was important enough to need no ex aggerati on .

1 R e la ti o de e e e e 317. Pac , V n ta, quot d by Hodgson , 2 . . 116 e e e n e Romanin , ii p , finds som vid c in support of th e tradition that a naval e ngage m e nt took place be twe e n th e fle e ts of Fre de rick and th e re public . IN THE FAMILY OF NATIONS

The Peace of Venice was the first com pact in Europe between a monarch and his subjects ? The emperor acknowledged Alex ander as canonical pope without the h um i li 2 ating ceremonies that legend has described ; while Alexander restored Frederick to the

ur pale of the ch ch . Truces were arranged hi with Sicily and the Lombard cities, w ch a eventually became permanent ; and Italy, fter the expenditure of vast tr easure and much of useless bloodshed, found at last the peace which she stood so much in need .

1 51 . Sismondi, 2 . 174 th e r O Although Daru , i , holds contra y pinion,

. 115 e e e t he th e h u Romanin, ii , absolut ly r j cts story of m ili ati on th e e e e the e of mp ror, as w ll as that of pr vious fl h o ight of t e pope t Ve nice . CHAPTER V

THE SECOND COUP D ’ ETAT

WHI LE the state gained much offi cially from

m the early Crusades, the chief aterial gain was derived by those who had financed the

di . various expe tions The aristocracy, con li of trol ng as it did the commerce the nation, naturally profited by the increase of mercan l ti e prosperity . With increased wealth came i of t ncreased power, all which was u ilized for the further consolidation and development of the class . ’ The coup d éta t of 1033 had a ccom pli sh e d the primary Object for which it was undertaken . It had rendered impossible dynastic rule, and had greatly increased the number of famili es from whom the doge might be chosen . During the first three hundred and fifty years of her history Venice h a d been gov erned by seven families, and during two hun dred and twenty - fi ve years of that period the

60 THE OLIGARCHY OF VENICE b in no way personally responsi le , had brought the crown into great disrepute with the peo ple . He had commanded the fleet in a disas trous cam paign against the Byzantine em

t pe or, and had been obliged to stand sponsor f or a forced loan which, although it resulted in the organization of the first national bank 1 in Europe, was received with the execra tion that Similar financial proceedings have always incurred . As the outcome of the popular misery and discontent, the doge was murdered on his way to mass at San Zac caria . That the aristocracy took any part in fomenting the outbreak Of which Michiel

or was the victim, that it was in any way responsible for his death, has never been even remotely suggested . It was, however, willing to ta ke advantage of the Oppor t u n ity his death offered . The consent of the Arengo was obtained for a revision of the

or t Promissione, corona ion oath, and six months later the commission to which the duty had been intrusted reported, under

of e n the guise of a revision . the oath, an tir el of y new scheme government, amount

1 11 . 85. Romanin, THE SECOND COUP D ’ ETAT 61 ing to a complete change in t h e con stit u w a tion , which , ith that infinite politic l dexter of m ity which the aristocracy was the aster, was put through the Arengo despite the loudly expressed disapproval of some of the people? For th e purpose of collecting the forced of 1171 di loan , the city had been vided into 2 or un six sections sestieri, which exist ? changed to- day The new law requi red each on sestiero to elect once a year, Septem 29 ber , two electors, each of whom in turn of should choose forty representatives, four ’ whom might belong to the elector s own dr family, the four hun ed and eighty thus chosen to constitute the Great Council, or

Gran Consiglio, wherein were lodged the f powers o legislation and appointment . of In matters great importance, especially in those involving the foreign policy of the state, the custom was continued of calling di together a council of prega , to prepare matter for submission to the Great Coun of cil . In the reign the doge Giacomo Tie

1 2 . 93 . 84 . Romanin, II Romanin, II . 3 e C an ar e i o P0 10 Cast llo , San Marco, gg , Dorsoduro, San , and Santa Croce . 62 THE OLIGARCHY OF VENICE polo (1229— 1249) this council of pregadi took stable form under the name of the sen ate? Each of the sestieri nominated a member ’ l of the doge s council . These six counci ors were chosen at the time of the doge ’ s elec ffi of tion, and held O ce until the installation his successor, administering the government during the interregnum . They were inde of pendent the doge, and without their con currence no act of the crown was valid ? The election of the doge was transferred from the Arengo to the Great Council . On

of l the death the crown , the Great Counci was required to elect, from its membership,

t - thir y four electors, who in turn chose eleven

n of their ow number . These eleven balloted t for the doge, nine vo es being required to elect . On the election of a doge he was pro claimed to the Arengo by the procurator from the altar of San Marco, in the words, ” 3 é il . Questo vostro doge, se vi piace In

1 . 92 . 186 . 214 Romanin, II but Daru, i , and Hazlitt , i , e th e f of th e e e m dat ormal organization s nat , as such, fro this tim e . 2 11 . 352. Romanin, 3 ” e Muazzo e e e . This is your dog , if it pl as s you quot d

. 93 . by Romanin , ii THE SECOND COUP D ’ETAT 63 1178 the method of election was changed, the Great Council choosing four electors, who chose forty, by not less than three

on e votes, and not more than from the same ? family, who in turn elected the doge At the close of the twelfth century was

or ua r a n tia . instituted the Council of Forty, Q The judicial power of the state had been lodged in the doge and his councilors ; but i as the city grew and lit gation increased, it was found that the doge and his council were unable to deal with the rapidly gr owing press of business . Besides the duties of deciding civil appeals, and pronouncing sentence in

m ult cri inal cases, the Forty became the cons a t l ive counci , while the Great Council remained i the legislative . The Forty were charged w th the duty of preparing all matters for sub m i s

a m sion to the Great Council, and of receiving b a ssa dor s. They became before long the chief ? executives of the republic About the same time were created the Magistrato del Proprio and the Magistrato del Forestier, courts of first instance in cases; respectively between

or citizens, and between foreigners, between citizens and foreigners, and the avogadori del

1 2 m a . 123 . 11. 137 . Ro nin , II Romanin , THE OLIGARCHY OF VENICE comun , corresponding roughly to the French ? procureurs généraux of the a n ci en r égi m e ’ Of the three coup s d éta t in the history Of

or 1172 un Venice, the second, that of , was t l ques ionably the most revolutionary . Whi e the Arengo was still permitted to exist in name, and was in fact called together to have subm i tted for it s approval the name of a of newly elected doge, and the questions ’ cou d éta t peace and war, the second p marks t its actual extinc ion as a power in the state .

old - The town meeting had passed away, and a government nominally representative had

taken its place . The choice of the electors of of members the Great Council was, it is true,

still left to the people, but in a community

such as Venice, the aristocracy could have fi i n had, and did have, but little dif culty in di suring the success of its own can dates . An occasional plebeian might find his way into

the council, but such accidents were rare, and their very occurrence served to delude the people with the fiction that they were the

masters and the Great Council their servant . The Great Council was the fountain head of n ot power, for only was it the legislative

1 344 . Hodgson , THE SECOND COUP D ’ETAT and appointing body but it was also the creator of the doge . The aristocracy first took concrete form as a class by the revolution of 1033 by the revolution of 1172 it became the governing oligarchy of the state . It was destined to grow in strength and might before the end, as the crown was destin ed to become in time little more than a fi g ur e - head in the scheme of government . Officially the doge was still of declared to govern by the grace God, yet m i henceforth, in fact, he was only per tted to ul m i b r e within circumscribed li tations, y the of i of i grace the ol garchy, wh ch he was a member . CHAPTER VI

CONSTANTINOPLE

THE year 1172 brought to a close the first period of Venetian history . During that period she had developed from a democracy into an oligarchy ; she had grown from a loose confederacy of a few scatt ered and wretched villages into on e of the most cen t r ali ze d and on e of the richest countries of

m Europe . Fro direct dependence, first upon on e emperor, then upon the other, from a petty colony often following the wishes of the imperial praefect in matters of the most trivial of detail, she had become the peer the might iest kingdoms, her independence recognized by all . Her ships covered the Mediterranean and her influence followed her flag . From ff the ponti himself she had received the ring, with which she solemnly declared her domin ion of the seas and the undisputed fact that the A driatic had become m a r e cla usum . The next century was to see her advance

68 THE OLIGARCHY OF VENICE

The simple- minded chivalry who appealed to Venice in the first year of the thirteenth century were as free from gui le as the trees of their ancestral forests . What they asked ’ of Venice was help in God s name and for ’ God s honor . They were treated courteously, and assured that Venice was as anxious to serve the Master as they . They should have all the help they wanted, and more, for Ven ice was ready to fur nish at her own cost fifty armed galleons . In return the pilgrims were to pay before departure standard marks of Cologne (about francs of 1 our own day) f or the transport and keep 4500 9000 for one year, of knights, squires, i and foot soldiers, and in addit on were to divide all conquests equally with ? of Venice Surely a hard bargain, worthy a community where prosperity was founded upon trade and in which the governing class was grounded upon wealth . The Crusaders, having no option, signed the contract, and the Fourth Crusade began under the nominal leadership of Bonif azio di Monferrato ? But

1 Da r n . 194 . , i 2 Th e e e ff e i e h a e Chronicl of G o r y V ll ardouin, tr nslat d

. . l e 1829 13 . by T Smith Wi liam Pick ring, London, , 3 I have followe d th e spe lling of Morosini and Romanin . CONSTANTINOPLE 69 the master mind of the expedition was the doge, Enrico Dandolo, who was chosen to command the fleet . His was the hand that guided the movement, his was the brain that brought it through despair to triumph . An

old hi s infirm man upon accession, ninety at i the beg nning of the Crusade, with failing eyesight, poetically intensified by tradition into total blindness infli cted by the treacher 1 ous out Emperor Manuel, he stands in Vene tian history as the first really great man the republic had produced . That he sympathized with the objects of the Crusade cannot be

f or son of . doubted, he was a loyal the Church But he was a Venetia n first and a Catholic afterwards, and did not hold it inconsistent with the duty he owed the pope to serve his country before he served Rome .

t H . Af er its recovery by Vitale Michiel , in 1166 l , the Da matian city of Zara had again revolted and placed itself under the king of 1 Hungary . In 187 an expedition f or its con of quest was recalled, because the pendency of 1202 ill the Third Crusade , and in it st held out against the republic . During the spring

1 ’ Th e story of Dan dolo s total blindne ss is re je cte d by

. 97 . 233 298 . Romanin, ii Hazlitt, i , and Hodgson, 70 THE OLIGARCHY OF VENICE

Of that year, the pilgrims began to come to V of enice, but scarcely a third the expected number arrived . Money was as scarce with d the Crusa ers as were recruits, and, to make matters worse, Venice pressed incessantly for of the payment the marks due her . It is uncertain whether Dandolo had from the fir st foreseen the impossibility of the pil out grims carrying their part of the contract, and had originally intended to use them f or

own or his purposes, whether, acting in good a d faith in the beginning, he merely took vantage of their unexpected financial difli

culti e s. Be this as it may, when the barons confessed their insolvency, he used their extremity to cajole them into j oIn In g him of ff in the recovery Zara, o ering to permit them to pay their debt with their share of

f n e the spoil o the city . The Crusaders of e c s sit Ofi e r e d y agreed to the terms by the doge, and the siege and reduction of Zara followed .

Shortly after the capture of Zara, there of arrived at the camp the Crusaders Alexius, the son of the emperor, Isaac Angelus, who had been deposed and blinded by his brother, the usurper, Alexius III . The young Alexius asked the aid of the pilgrims in the r e st or a C ONSTAN TINOPLE 71

of the e tion his father to thron , and fortified his request with the support of his brother i n - of ff law Philip Swabia, who o ered own marks in silver, men at his cost f or 500 a year, and forever after, in return

r f o their help . 1 Dandolo it was again who, with infinite ln tact and masterfu ess, deflected the course of s the Cru ade , from the Holy Land and the of rescue the sepulchre, to Constantinople and the conquest of a Christian people . The weapon of which Dandolo made use in bring ing his allies to the siege of Zara was the debt they owed his country in standard marks of Cologne . But the spoil of Zara dis charged the debt, and the only power he held over them In forcing them to brave the wrath of the pontiff, and risk their own damnation, of t was the moral force a s rong man, infirm old of and in body, but that true greatness which knows no failure and insures success . The libel that Venice betrayed Christen dom, in the interests of the Infidel, as the

1 d 437 e e th e e e Ho gson , , is inclin d to giv chi f cr dit, or e th e e fle th e e th e discr dit, for d ction of Crusad from Holy

e e . Land to Constantinopl , to Bonifazio di Monf rrato Haz

l . 253 e th e e e to . itt, i , giv s chi f cr dit Dandolo 72 THE OLIGARCHY OF VENICE

of outcome a treaty with the sultan of Egypt, has long since been disproved? Venice needed no secret inducements to desire the humiliation of the Byzantine Empire . Con st an ti n ople from being almost her parent city had become her greatest rival and a consta nt menace to her sea power . The arguments that appealed to her allies appealed with double force to her, for it seemed to her rulers that whatever temporary benefit the Crusaders might derive from the subjugation of Constantinople woul d be permanent in the case of the republi c . Constantinople had from the first viewed with ever growing disfavor the eff orts of Western Europe to take the holy places from f the Infidel . The presence o a Western power in the Levant was necessarily a challenge to of her authority, and the permanence such a government meant that sooner or later it would become a menace to her very existence . The Byzantine emperors had done all in their power to di scourage the successive expedi di tions to the East . They had sowed scord among the Crusaders, and had more than

1 e e e . 74 Hanotaux, R vu Historiqu , iv , and Hodgson,

428 et seq. CONSTANTINOPLE 73 once fomented internal warfare among them by both the power of persuasion and of the purse . As the nearest and most natural mili tary base fr om which to descend upon Pales

a n tine, friendly power at Constanti ople was of the first importance . The strategical advantage of capturing Constantinople appealed to some of the lead

of l ers, the offer Phi ip appealed to others, while many were influenced by the promise of ul Alexius, that his father, if restored, wo d bring the Greek Church under the authority of of Rome . Dandolo secured the adhesion Mon f err ato and of Baldwin of Flanders to of his plan . Despite the opposition the pope, the request of Alexius was granted, and the

Crusade turned aside from the Holy Land .

Constantinople was invested, and after a pro tracted siege, surrendered at discretion , Dan dolo in person leading the last assault upon ? l his its wal s Isaac was restored, son being crowned as joint emperor with him . The relations between the Greeks and the

Crusaders soon became strained . The em pe r or s failed to carry out the agreement made by Philip Of Swabia and Alexius, with their

1 e 76. Vill hardouin, 74 THE OLIGARCHY OF VENICE ll allies, and shortly afterwards fo owed up their breach of faith by attacking the pil grims, by whom they were worsted . Nego ti ati on s were begun, having for their Object a d usM e n t di ul an j of the ffic ty, but before any conclusion was reached, Alexius Ducas, called

Mur tzu hlos or p , from his heavy eyebrows, an ize d g a palace conspiracy, which resulted of in the murder both emperors, and his of usurpation the throne . The Crusaders once more besieged Con sta n ti n o le u 12 p , which they capt red on April , 1204 of , and Venice became the partitioner of the Empire of the East . The crown em pire might have been hers ; but had Dandolo been elected emperor Sh e woul d have at once entered the feudal system, from which she had always succeeded in remaining free? She preferred the substance of authority to its shadow, and, conferring the purple upon

Baldwin of Flanders, was content to be the power behind the throne . of At the partition the Greek Empire, of t b e Venice, under the terms a trea y made

fore the capture of Constantinople, received C cla the Ionian Islands, the Sporades, the y

1 II . 180 . Romanin,

76 THE OLIGARCHY OF VENICE

fi ll t to beautify the city, and its reasury, but added vastly to the wealth of its citizens . As long as the Latin Empire of the Ea st lasted its real ruler was the Venetian podesta . In stead of a treacherous enemy at her very f threshold, she now had her own O ficial and her own subjects . Her merchants were given the advantage over their rivals of trading with Venetian colonies that occupied the principal points of the Levant . t As long as the Byzan ine power existed, whatever may have been its inconveniences, it served as a buffer between Christendom and the Infidel . Its very nature doomed the

Latin Empire from its inception . AS soon as

u . it fell, Venice in her turn became the b ffer

It was a task, as history proves, with which

- single handed Sh e was unable to C ope . The conquest of Constantinople marks the begin of of i t ning the glory Venice, but was the

first step toward her destructi on . As the outcome of her triumphs in the ul East, Venice reaped the inevitable res ts of of greatness, the envy and jealousy her l col eagues in the Crusade, the hatred espe

ll - ci a y of her great trade rival Genoa . 1218 War became unavoidable, and in CONSTANTINOPLE 77 the Genoese fleet was completely routed . In 1256 war was again declared against Genoa and once more, for the time at least, Venice humbled her rival . But Genoa never forgot and never forgave her humiliation, and as long as she remained a nation devoted h e r energies to revenge . CHAPTER VII

THE THIRD COUP D ’ETAT

THE fall of the Byzantine Empire had opened an era Of unexampled prosperity for the r e

t n public . Every hi g to which she had turned her hand had prospered . Victory had suc ce e de d victory, triumph had followed tri of umph . Wealth beyond the dreams earlier days had flowed into the coffers of the n obil ity . She had become not only the carrier

- of and the sales agent Europe, but the banker and the pawnbroker as well . Monarchs com pe t e d for th e ° pr i vile g e of investing in her funds, and an emperor had pawned the crown ? of thorns wi th the house of Morosini During this period the aristocracy had constantly cared for the interests of its order . In 1229 had been instituted two commi s sions, one, consisting of five members, for t of t the correc ion the corona ion oath, the other, consisting of three members, for an

1 Tille m on t Vi e de i i 1846 . 336. , Sa nt Lou s, Paris, , ii THE THIRD COUP D ’ETAT 79 inquisition into the conduct of the doge on his decease . The correctors had three times radi cally modified the ducal authority ? They had forbidden him to engage in commerce, or to own property outside the state ; they had required him to Open all dispatches in the presence of the ducal councilors ; and his rel atives were not permitted to hold publi c offi ce . of The election the doge had, moreover, been made more and more complicated, the final choice being in the hands of a college of

-on e forty electors, selected by a long series of electi ons and drawings by lot . The oligarchy was confident of its control when it received a rude awakening in the of administration Giovanni Dandolo, who 1 was elected in 280 . Dandolo belonged to on e of l l the oldest fami ies in the repub ic, he 2 of was the leader the popular party, and during the nine years Of his reign proved to of t the oligarchy that, in the hands a s rong and fearless man, the ducal authority was t ll s i capable of great development . Strictly i of comply ng with the letter the constitution,

1 th e e J e 1229 e On acc ssion of acopo Ti polo in , Lor nzo

e 1268 Ja cO o i n 1275. Ti polo in , and p Contarini 2 . 376 . Daru, i 80 THE OLIGARCHY OF VENICE he was able by the force Of his personality s of to ignore its spirit, and, to the disgu t the oligarchy, governed almost autocratically . That the people Should have found a champion in the duke caused the nobility no t f little anxie y, but during his lifetime ef orts to limit his authority proved unavailing . ’ Had Da n dolo s successor as leader of the plebeians, Giacomo Tiepolo, possessed the of courage his predecessor, it is more than likely that he might have forced his own 1 election as doge . Popular clamor was for

r li him, and popula fee ng ran so high that Tiepolo would have been swept into office had not his courage failed him, and had he not been persuaded by his aristocratic friends to retire from the field and leave Venice . With the Piazza crowded by a turbulent f or mob, clamoring their favorite Tiepolo , with popular excitement at fever heat, almost of at the point boiling over into open revolt, it is not surprising that the oligarchy was con tent to elect its candidate, Pietro Gradenigo, without any alterations in the terms of the coronation oath . It was a dangerous situation,

n requiring careful handli g . The crown once

1 . 323 . Romanin , II THE THIRD COUP D ’ETAT 81

of again in the hands the nobles, they could afford to move slowly in taking the last step of l toward absolute power . As a question ife t and death to the class, it was essen ial that the powers of the crown should be so r e st r i ct e d that the recurrence upon the throne of a w . strong man ith popular leanings would not imperil the existence Of the oligarchy . Gradenigo was an instrument admirably suited to the designs of the aristocracy . A t of brilliant man with grea tenacity purpose, his breeding and his associations had made him the devoted servant of hi s class . It is no exaggeration to say that if the people as a whole were Venetians first and Catholics ” of afterwards, for the members the oligarchy love of class took the place of lo ve of coun try . The rule of the cross came to an end in the Holy Land at the beginning of Grade ’ n igo s reign? The disaster to the Christian arms was viewed with philosophical e quan im ity by Venice, for as a business venture the Crusades had ceased to be a paying invest

m ment, and the Moham edan rulers of the

1 e e e e e e 25 1289 l e Grad nigo was l ct d Nov mb r , ; Tripo i f ll 26 1289 e 1291 April , , and Acr in May, . 82 THE OLIGARCHY OF VENICE holy places gave promise of proving better customers than their predecessors . Genoa also realized the trade possibilities of the new t w rule in the Levant, and hostilities be een the 1294 two republics broke out in . The war dragged on with varying success to the two combatants, until the overwhelming defeat of 1298 Curzola left Venice, in , thankful to accept the ofi e r of Matteo Visconti to medi ate between the Opponents . That the war was prolonged beyond all reason and all necessity by th e ruling class of

Venice, for a selfish and a sinister purpose, admits of but li ttle doubt? While the people were distracted wi th the horrors of a bloody war, the oligarchy was quietly accomplishing a revolution in government that fixed the ? keystone of the fabric of its power During the reign of Giovanni Dandolo no less than three efforts were made to exclude plebeians from the Great Council . But the supporters of the autocrat upon the throne were too well organized, and on each occasion the aristocracy suff ered humiliating defeat .

1 . 474 . Hazlitt, i 2 For t h e de taile d history of th e Se rrata de l Gran Con

si li o se e . 341 et se . g , Romanin, ii q

84 THE OLIGARCHY OF VENICE on e r e year by the Forty , twelve votes being quired to elect, only those who had served in the Great Council during the four preced ing years being eli gible ; f or the choice of

n om three electors each year, with power to in at e t dir e c to the For y, in conformity with t t o l ions be given them by the col ege, others who might not have served in the Great

Council during the four preceding years, such nominations to be voted upon by the

Forty, twelve votes being required to elect . The resolutions were not to be annulled ex of of cept by the vote five the Ducal Council,

- fi ve of twenty of the Forty, and two thirds the

Great Council . They were, moreover, to be submi tt ed at the beginning of the year on fif teen consecutive days to the Great Coun

cil for approval . They were avowedly pro

VISIOIl al e x e r Im e n t al and p , the Great Council having the right to annul them after a year

of trial .

The year passed away, and the govern

ment, with the disingenuousness that had characterized it during the entire pendency of i the proposit on, brought it unexpectedly

on 11 before the Great Council September , of 29 instead September , as the resolutions THE THIRD COUP D ’ETAT 85 themselves provided ? The news of the de

of feat Curzola had just been received, Ven ice was thoroughly demoralized, and in a thinly attended meeting of the packed coun cil the resolutions were agreed to . They

on 29 1299 were again submitted September , , and again agreed to . The citizens found themselves divided by the law of 1299 into three classes : (1) those who had not been themselves, nor had had ancestors members of the Great Council ; (2) th ose whose ancestors had been members ; and (3) those who had been members them selves, and whose ancestors had been mem ? bers The first were called new men, and were not admitted to the council except by favor, the second were included from time to time, while the third possessed the absolute

. on right to be elected As time went , admis si On to the Great Council by favor became more and more di fficult . It was enacted by 28 1307 the law of October , , that every new candidate for the Great Council, to be elected

- five must receive twenty votes of the Forty, and five of the six ducal councilors ; and

1 . 155 e . 481 . Marin, v quot d by Hazlitt, i 2 i . 346 . Roman n, ii 86 THE OLIGARCHY OF VENICE 16 1316 by the law of March , , his election required thirty votes of the Forty and a ma jor ity of the Great Council itself . The law of 1315 established a list upon which was inscribed the name of every citizen who had h reac ed the age of eighteen, and who was u eligible to the Great Council . S bsequent to 1319 these became members of the council without election on reaching the age of

- fi ve . twenty Bastards, even if subsequently legitimized, and ecclesiastics were declared 1 ’ . 506 ineligible Finally, in the Libro d Oro

t ll of n obil was ins ituted, the official ro the ity . Thus by little short of fraud and chi ca n e ry was accomplished what was known as the Serrata del Gran Consiglio, or the closing of the Great Council . The government was now restricted e u tir el y to the upper class, and the oligarchy was finally and absolutely established . The last step in the inverse evolution of the Vene tian government had been taken, and its spirit had been irrevocably fixed for all time . Whatever change was destined to take place in the future was only in its external form . Henceforth the history of the republic is of i i merely that a set and r g d government, THE THIRD COUP D ’ETAT 87

of complete in its growth, incapable further ili t internal variation, with little possib y of change except in the directi on of decay an d disintegration . of The history Venice, until the beginning of of the fourteenth century, is that her growth ; from then until the end of the eighteenth it is that Of her decline . At the close of the thirteenth century the government of Venice was ad m inistered by four councils ; the Great Council, the Lesser

n t . Council, the Se ate, and the For y The Great Council consisted at first of 480 members ; after its closing, its membership increased 1510 rapidly, until in , when it included practically the entire nobility, it reached its maximum of 1671 members? It was the legi slative body of the republic and the base of the oligarchic structure . It appointed ffi almost every O cial, and exercised a general di ff r f juris ction over the a ai s o the state . ’ The Lesser or Doge s Council consisted of six members elected by the Great Council, on e from each sestiero . The presidency of the senate was lodged in commission in this council and in the doge . With the doge

1 . 347. Romanin, II 88 THE OLIGARCHY OF VENICE and the three chiefs of the Forty it con of stituted the Signoria, the official head the state . It received all petitions addressed to the doge, proposed legislation to the Great

Council, prepared propositions for submission to, and, with the doge, was charged with the f execution o the decrees of the Forty . The Council of Pregadi or Senate became 12 0 finally established in 3 . It originally con sisted of sixty members chosen by four

sub se electors from the Great Council, and O quently by the Great Council itself . N family could be represented in the senate by f more than one member . Senators held o fice

r e éle cti on . for one year, but were eligible for The senate was charged especially with mat f i ters a fecting commerce, both domest c and foreign, with the care of the merchant ma rine, the army and the navy, peace and war,

and the naming of ambassadors . It was soon increased by the addition of a gi unta or zonta of twenty nobles, nominated by itself, and

confirmed by the Forty . The number of the zonta was afterwards increased to forty and

later to sixty, and other officials were added, so that the senate was at last composed of

nearly three hundred members . THE THIRD COUP D ’ETAT

of or ua r an ti a The Council Forty, Q , held appellate j urisdiction in civil and criminal l cases . It proposed legislation, and control ed r the mint and the cu rency, and received foreign ambassadors . On occasions of grave moment as f or of In 1277 example during the war Ancona , when prompt action was imperative, the Great Council elected a special commission or col

S O- savii lege of called (literally, wise men) as a sort of temporary dictatorship?

The four councils, of which the doge was

of of chairman, formed the base the scheme government . From them were derived all the officials of the republic .

II . 351 . Romanin, CHAPTER VIII

THE QUERINI—TIEPOLO CONSPIRACY

THE oligarchy was at last firm ly established in power, but its members were aware that that power coul d only be retained by the exercise of the greatest tact, the utmost

i . vig lance, and uncompromising firmness As long as the aristocracy was true to itself, it was unconquerable ; the moment it became false to its own interests, its power, and

of V e n Ice with it that its asset, , began to decline . It required more than a century of the iron rule of the nobles to stifle the aspira ti ons of the people . The resentment of their betrayal lasted until the end, and found ex f pression more than once . The families o old l u the nobi ity, which had f rnished the early doges to the republic, required time to accustom themselves to the triumph of a

of comparatively new order, which , it is true, but they were members, which consisted for

92 THE OLIGARCHY OF VENICE

The election of Gradenigo h a d been brought about in no very creditable manner of for the accomplishment a single purpose . That purpose he had carried out loyally and thoroughly . In so far as he had not di sap of hi s pointed the expectations friends, his reign had been successful, but otherwise it had been singularly unfortunate . Reverse

m i sf or had followed reverse, and misfortune

' '

. t at AIa s tune The defea s and in Candia, the massacre at Constantinople, and the rout at Cur zola were sufficiently humiliatin g . But the cup of Venetian abasement ran over in the unfortunate war of Ferrara, which was brought home to every citizen by the hull of excommunication launched against the r e public by Clement V ? The opportunity afforded the old nobility by the culminating disaster of the reign was

be . t too propitious to ignored The opposi ion, which had been quiescent for some years, h became aggressive toward t e close of 1309. The great majority of the opponents of the doge were content to use strictly con stit u ti on al methods, and to confine their activity to a parliamentary campaign in the Great 1 March THE QUERINI—TIEPOLO CONSPIRACY 93

of Council . Whatever chances success they may have had in using the un popularity of the government as an issue were destroyed by the precipitancy of certain of their more extreme members, who by resorting to vio lence unintentionally played into the hands of Gradenigo . — The Que r i n i Tiepolo conspiracy was the u ri n i work of two men . Marco Q e was one of the leaders of the parliamentary Opposition .

He was a headstrong man of great ambition , the di sappointment of which had embittered hi m and caused him to disregard what few

- - . i n scruples he may have had His son law,

Ba am on t e - j Tiepolo, the great grandson and of the grandson of a doge, was the son that Giacomo Tiepolo who had lost the crown to Gradenigo because of the weakness of his character? The younger Tiepolo inherited ’ ’ li th e his father s instabi ty, without latter s

- self sa cr ifi cin g nature . u lli He was yo ng, bri ant, and fickle, some of what a demagogue, worshiped by the ” him Il people, who called Gran Cavalier, ’ and thoroughly distrusted by his equals . He was reckless and extravagant in expenditure,

1 iii 28 e 1 . Romanin , . , not 94 THE OLIGARCHY OF VENICE and had been convicted of the m i sa ppr o pr i ati on of public money whi le podesta of Modon and Coron? The justice of his con vi cti on , added to his aspirations for high ofli ce , served to make him a fit companion

ue r i n i -i n - for Q , his father law, in the desperate enterprise that he contemplated . Associated of with the two leaders, in addition to one ’ ue r i n i s Ba doe r Q brothers and his son , was Ba doe r , who has no claim to notice but the possession of a great and historic name .

m Their plans being atured, the conspira tors determined to strike on the night of

15 1310 Ba doe r June , . had been sent to Padua to enlist recruits from that disaff ected

ue r in i city . Q and Tiepolo with their retain ers were to seize the Piazza San Marco, con

difi e r e n t verging upon it from directions, Que r in i by the Calle dei Fabbri and Tiepolo by the Merceria, where they were to be met by Ba doe r a n d his contingent ; Gradenigo was then to be deposed and Que ri n i pro claimed in his stead .

Marco Donato, a plebeian , who had been i n dube d to join the plot, presumably with h O e of u the p ennoblement, so ght a safer, if

1 . 28 . Romanin , iii

96 THE OLIGARCHY OF VENICE

l m mi itia fro Chioggia, and at nearly the same time Ba doe r at last appeared . He was defeated with great loss and made a pris oner . The position which Tiepolo occupied was ul almost impregnable from assa t . The doge was confronted with the alternative of the of humiliating delay a prolonged siege, with the necessity at its termination of beheading the most popular man in Venice or of off er ing terms to the rebels . He wisely chose the latter course . The terms, which were accepted 1 and ratified by the Great Council, provided that Tiepolo and such of his associates as were eligible to the Great Council Should be banished to Dalmatia for four years and that all his plebeian followers should be par do ued . The unfortunate Ba doe r did not fare so

. 18 well On June he was tried by the Forty, put to the torture, confessed, and was sen

n d t e ce . 22 to death On June , the Great

Council confirmed the sentence, and that

n eveni g he was beheaded . The next day almost all of his Paduan followers suff ered a

1 Th e e wa s 361 i n t h e f e 6 i n th e e e vot a firmativ , n gativ ,

10 . m 35 . not voting Ro anin , iii . THE QUERINI—TIEPOLO CONSPIRACY 97

? ue r ini like fate The Q had been killed, and Tiepolo was the sole survivor among the leaders . on hi s il The Gran Cavalier, way to ex e, hi s stopped at Padua . Here he began old game of plotting . An urgent message from the signoria determined h Im to accept his fate, and go to Dalmatia . He appears to have spent his life in unsuccessful eff orts to organize conspiracies against Venice . He made several visits to Italy, but as often as he did so he was sent back to Dalmatia, where his exile was at least made endurable by the presence of many of the friends and support

of . 1328 ers his house At last, in , he died, — murdered, it was hinted, by some agent of the republic .

ue r i n i — Taken by itself, the Q Tiepolo con

Spi r a cy was absolutely barren of eff ect . Yet

- ul i it had one far reaching res t, l ttle contem plated by its authors, which was destined to gi ve them immortality as the unwitting cause of a new and powerful instrument in the government of the oligarchy .

1 ’ e uff e e Ba doe r e e e e Thos who s r d with w r Gugli lmo d Est , Ja co o de i C or r e li a n o e p g , Acco, Giovanni, and G rardo of

e n e e . C on t i n uat io Est , and Giova ni Candidi of Flor nc chron

i cor um . A xii 491 , And Dandolo, pud Muratori, . . 98 THE OLIGARCHY OF VENIC E

The aristocracy had been thrown, by recent

di on . events, into a con tion bordering panic It was generally suspected that the rebelli on was far more deeply rooted than it really was . The Forty felt that until the whole matter had been thoroughly probed the rul ing class could have neither peace nor quiet . di f Accor ngly, after several tentative ef orts

on ul 10 1310 and some debate, J y , , a com m itt e e of i publ c safety was created, consist ing of ten members elected by the Great of Council, and which, with the chiefs the “ Forty, was empowered for the purposes indicated (the inquiry into the rebellion), to spend and provide, order and act, as they may think proper, and all that may be done by them shall be considered approved, as ” 1 though done by the Grea t Council . The existence of the committee was limited 1 1 29 3 0 . to September , When that day

m arrived, its life was prolonged to Nove ber 30 w u , when its po ers were still f rther ex 30 1311 tended to January , , and it was then confirmed for five years ; after which,

20 1335 . on July , , it was declared permanent Thus from small beginnings was evolved

1 R . 40 . omanin, iii

100 THE OLIGARCHY OF VENICE

ul of Ten was the timate triumph oligarchy,

of a n d the elimination the individual, the of t recognition a class, as such, dis inguished from the people as a whole . That the Ten ruled ably in the interest of their class, is conceded . That the class showed wisdom in u government is beyond dispute . But d ring the centuries of its power it never for a mo ment forgot that it was a distinct order in di d the body public, nor it ever fail to sacri fi ce the interests of the many for the benefit of the few . The first official act of the Ten was the 1 t of ffi organiza ion a most e cient police force, which so well served its masters that for the future open disorder in the city was almost f ol unknown . The latest disturbance was lowed by nearly half a century of domestic 1313 peace . In , under the doge Giovanni

or an zo S , the papal interdict was removed, ’ and on Sor a n zo s death i n 1328 the corona tion oath was modified to forbid the crown to summon the Arengo WIth out the concurrence of of the college , except in matters purely ? ecclesiastical cognizance

1 2 . 41 . . 107. Romanin , iii Romanin, iii CHAPTER IX

MARINO FALIE R

N 11 1354 O September , , Marino Falier was elected doge as the successor of Andrea

Dandolo . Although much has been written about Falier and the aborti ve conspiracy that bears his name, so little is really known of the motives that actuated him in his efforts to i ill overthrow the ol garchy, that it w always remain to some extent one of the mysteries of history . At the time of his election Falier was

- seventy six years of age . He belonged to the old nobility, his house having already gi ven two doges to Venice . It traced its pedigree in an unbroken line to the mari time tribunes of the sixth century . As early as 1312 Falier had been on e of

' a n z the electors of the doge Sor o . Since then he had filled almost every magisterial and diplomatic office in the gift of the govern ment . His victory over the Hungarians near 102 THE OLIGARCHY OF VENICE 1346 Zara in , entitled him to rank as one of the greatest soldi ers the republic had p r o duce d. He had received knighthood from

Charles IV . , and he held the title of count by Virtue of the f e ofi of Valde m ar i n o which had been conferred upon him by the bishop of Ceneda . The story that has come down to us of his seven months’ reign has been transmitted by hands that were inimical and of necessity prejudiced . That he was arrogant and fiery ffi is not a su cient explanation of what he did .

Arrogance and fire he doubtless possessed, for he belonged to the oldest aristocracy, and moreover he was an Italian . The facts, as history tells them, are meagre enough . At a ball given by the dogaressa on Carnival

2 1355 m i s Thursday, April , , Michele Steno

of behaved himself, much to the indignation the doge, who ordered him from the palace . Steno always claimed that he had been un justly treated . Be that as it may, the future doge was without justification for his sub se quent conduct . ’ As he was passing through one of Falier s private apartments, he pinned to the ducal chair a paper on which were written ce rtain

104 THE OLIGARCHY OF VE NIC E established between the patrician and the plebeian, ways and means for binding the wild beasts were at once concerted .

Falier induced his nephew, Bertucci, to

Ghi a zza join him, while secured the adherence of - i n - Isra e llo his son law, Bertucci , a sailor ;

Filippo Calendario, the superintendent and architect of the ducal palace ; Beltrame di

Bergamo , a furrier and about a dozen more . Each of the conspirators agreed to produce

on forty others, and it was decided that the 15 th the blow shoul d be struck . The doge undertook that the great bell in the Cam

a n ile p should be rung at the agreed hour, and that a report should be spread that the

Genoese were approaching the city . The conspirators were to be in readiness, and as the nobles appeared to learn the cause of the excitement they were to be stabbed by the of wh o supporters the doge, was thereupon to proclaim a new constitution gi ving him autocratic power . Unfortun ately for the success of the ven t o ture Beltrame had a noble pa ron , Nicol

Lioni, whose life he was anxious to save . ’ u Lioni, not being satisfied with the f rrier s

difli cult n vague hints, had no y in obtaini g MARINO FALIER 105 from him a complete confession . The Coun cil of Ten was at once called together and the minor conspirators were arrested . On the same day, the architect, Calendario, his son i n - law, and seven others were hanged from of the windows the palace, Bertucci Falier was imprisoned, and Nicoletto Calendario ban i sh e d for life .

On 16 1355 April , , the doge was tried by

f or the Ten , and a zonta added the occasion .

Concealment was useless, and Falier made a complete confession . The next morning he was beheaded on the landing of what is now ’ known as the Scala d Oro, having, according i of to his enem es, first conceded the justice his punishment ? He was buried in the chapel of Santa Maria della Pace, at the Scuola San ot Marco . N many years ago his tomb was opened and was found to contain a skeleton with the severed head between its knees . But the bones of Marino Falier were n ot permitted l to rest in peace . They were literal y thrown away, and his sarcophagus, the inscription Off having first been chiseled , was turned into a kitchen sink ?

1 Iii . 190 . Romanin, 2 e e e e r . a Guida artistica Storica di V n zia , p P S lvatico e . e e 1852 118. V Lazari, V n zia, , 106 THE OLIGARCHY OF VENICE If the chroniclers of the day are to be of of believed, a doge Venice the highest lineage and spotless fame, with at best only a few more years before him, with everything to lose if he failed, was willing to risk all, name,

f or fortune, fame, and life itself, the grati fi cati on of a spite that was almost childish ’ Fa li e r s in its pet ulance . Marino record as a of it man, as a soldier, and as a statesman, self stamps such a contention as absurd . As it was not for a moment claimed that he was otherwise than in full possession of his w great intellectual po ers, another explanation must be sought for his apparently desperate undertaking . Although the new nobili ty was in control of of the government, such as remained the old houses considered themselves made of

finer clay than the new men, who had by the

of of mere force numbers and wealth, and by superior finesse relegated them to compar ’ Fali e r s hi m ative obscurity . origin made despise the ruli ng class to which he belonged . He was in much the same position as a mem ber of the a n ci en ue n oblesse of France who has rallied to the republic, and has accepted public office .

108 THE OLIGARCHY OF VENICE

of remedy for the oppression the nobles, a benevolent despotism founded upon the sup port of the people . When at length the longed- for opportunity presented itself in his election to the throne, he was too old to profit personally by any constitutional changes . As he had everything to lose by revolution, he had absolutely no “ thing selfish to gain . The subordinates with whom he had surrounded himself would cer t ai n ly suggest premeditation in his method

of . procedure It is incredible that, during a first interview, he should have thrown him self unreservedly into the power of an un i known man , as trad tion describes the fore

hi zz m an of the arsenal to have been . G a a and Calendario were the two men in all Ven ’ F l r s hia zz ice most useful to a i e purpose . G a te n of commanded some thousand laborers, l all kinds, employed at the arsenal, en isted 1 ldi a n d O u and organized as so ers, was most p p 2 l lar with the people whi e Calendario, as of superintendent the ducal palace, had under

n him the laborers employed o public works .

1 ’ Vi e e de e e e Yr i ar te La d un Patrici n V nis , par Charl s ,

1874 304 . Paris, , 2 ” in e e iI . . Uomo grand cr dito tra popolo Romanin, iii

183 . MARINO FALIER 109

t di These two men, in shor , controlled rectly almost all the laborers in the public service . Their adhesion meant the support of nearly a ll the plebeians of Venice . Whether the incident of the carnival ball had any influence on the course of the con spir a cy we have no means of knowing . It may have forced the doge ’ s hand and hastened i f the consummat on o his scheme . Had Falier

r e succeeded, he would without doubt have stored the Old nobility to power at the expense of the newer aristocracy, but the power so regained could only have been main t ai n e d by restoring the people to their for mer share in government and by supporting them in their aspirations for liberty . The conspiracy of Marino Falier was th e last organized from within Venice that was destined to disturb the tranqui llity of the rul f of ing class, for the ef ort Francesco Bal 1412 duino in was a mere flash in the pan .

Falier was beheaded, and with him died the

fi n ul al hope of pop ar government in Venice . His portrait in the hall of the Great Council out was painted , and across the black sur face of the empty space were written the “ - words which all may read to day, Hic est 110 THE OLIGARCHY OF VENICE

Fale t r o locus Marini , decapitato pro cri ” minibus . Of all the efforts that were made to over of throw the oligarchy, that Falier was the most important . It was led by the ablest V enetian of his day, and had behind it the great mass of the Venetian people . As it was suppressed in embryo, it has never received the attention given the more spectacular

uer i n i - Q Tiepolo fiasco, but had Falier been a fi or de d the Opportunity of the Gran Cava lier, there can be little question but that he would have succeeded . The date of his death marks the apogee of the power of the oligarchy . But f e w changes were made thereafter in the con

sti tuti on . 1423 In the Arengo, which had long since ceased to exist except in name, was formally abolished? and with it di sappeared f the last vestige o popular government . The death of Falier marked the passing of the generation that had closed the Great

Council . The men who were now in power had never known a time when the present

constitution had not been in force . To them

it was the only possible form of government .

1 . 66 . Romanin, iv

CHAPTER X THE WAR OF CHIOGGIA

THE growth of Venice in power and in

m wealth, the necessity of finding new arkets for her merchants and new outlets for her t activi y, had embarked her almost unwit

on tingly, and perhaps unwillingly, a policy of territorial expansion whi ch was destined eventually to be a factor in her undoing . Because of her situation Venice was well nigh impregnable . With modern artillery of ll undreamed , as long as she contro ed the hi Adriatic she had not ng to fear from Italy . The intricacies of lagoon navigation rendered her immune from assault from the mainland, while, thanks to the inexhaustible supplies she could draw from her Dalmatian and Is of trian possessions, all the armies Christen dom encamped upon her shores could not

starve her into submission . She was mighty in her isolation , and unconquerable as long a s she could and did place her reliance upon THE WAR OF CHIOGGIA 1 13 her sea power, as long as she was content with a compact and contiguous territory within her reach and within her power to to defend, as long as she was willing steer clear of the entanglements of Italian politics . The suzerainty that she had acquired over Fano in 1141? while in a sense her first acquisition of power upon the mainland, was more in the nature of an exclusive com mer cial treaty than of act ual possession . It was not until the begi nning of th e fourteenth century that she was first seized with the

- land lust of the other states of Europe . 1308 In , the doge Pietro Gradenigo , in urging the war with Ferrara, voiced the cant of expansionists and land- robbers of all of ages, when he said, It is the duty a good prince and a good citizen to increase the state and to enlarge the republic, and by every way and in every manner -to increase the welfare and the authority and the glory of the Fatherland ; favorable opportunities occur rarely, and wise men know how to take advantage of them even before they are fully

developed, while only imprudent men and

n ot fools fail to see them, or seeing, do know

1 . x11. 279. And Dandolo, Apud Muratori, 114 THE OLIGARCHY OF VENIC E how to use them children are frightened by words, but valiant and spirited men ought ’ ” 1 not to fear even the sword s point . The result of his speech was the disastrous second war of Ferrara, when Venice, vainly f or opposing the pope, was forced to sue peace, and to recover her commercial privi leges with the Ferrarese by the payment of ? 1329 th e an indemnity to the Holy See In , ll n e w i republic, sti following her ambit on, declared war against Can Grande della Scala, lord of Verona . Fortunately for her purposes, she was not obliged to fight the Great Dog

- single handed, for Florence, and the lords of i Parma, M lan, and Mantua came to her aid . li Marsi o di Carrara, who had been deposed of a from the lordship Padu by Can Grande, had entered into the service of his conqueror as governor of that city, and was sent by of Scala , who realized that the defeat the league was beyond his powers, to negotiate a peace with Venice . Carrara at once pro ce e de d his to betray master, and the republic

1 xcn . . 7 e Iii . Barbaro Cronaca, cl , quot d by Romanin,

15 an d 16 . 2 1312. Car oldo e i ii i . 23 . In , quot d by Roman n,

116 THE OLIGARCHY OF VENICE a buffer state between her possessions and the rest of Italy of sufficient strength to of sufli ci e n t defend her frontier, and devotion to her interests to insure loyalty Accord in l g y, in pursuance of the terms made with

Carrara, she placed him as her tool upon the throne of Padua, while to his brother Ubertino were given Bassano and Castel baldo ?

Francesco Carrara, who succeeded to the l ordship of Padua on the death of his father,

Marsilio, was, like all his race, unscrupulous,

ul . ungratef , and ambitious He was utterly di sloyal to his benefactress, Venice, and hoped to obtain independence and power by her

i n undoing . Had he been dealing with an dividual, he might have succeeded ; unhap pily for him, he had to contend with a system that never swerved from its purpose and never forgave an attempt to block its am bitions . 1356 of In Louis Hungary, urged on by

Carrara, declared war against the republic, and after a series of brilliant successes was able to dictate his ow n terms of peace . He

on restored Treviso to Venice, but condition

1 iii . 129. Romanin, THE WAR OF CHIOGGIA 117 that she should surrender all right and claim to Dalmatia and almost the entire coast- line

uar n e r o ul from Q to Durazzo, and sho d recall ’ her consuls? The first crop of Gradenigo s planting had indeed been harvested . After t of three hundred and fif y years possession,

Venice lost her most valuable provinces, which had cost her vast treasure and number less lives to retain, in exchange for what amounted to little i n or e than the poor privi lege of fighting for her very existence on the 1 l mainland . In 373 the same al ies again took the field, but this time Venice was more suc ’ ce ssf ul w , and having captured Louis s nephe , ’ the Hungarian king withdrew from Car r a r a s f ’ support as the price o his nephew s liberty . Carr ara unaided was obliged to accept hum ili ating terms upon his surrender . The conquests of Venice in the Adriatic ul and in the Levant, c minating in the Fourth

Crusade, had placed her in nominal possession of an almost unbroken line of colonies, from di Venice to Constantinople, inclu ng Candia of n and many the isla ds of the Archipelago . But her title to these possessions had con l stan t y to be upheld against all comers . Her

1 u xxu . 651 . Marino Sanudo, Apud M ratori, 118 THE OLIGARCHY OF VENICE rivalry with Genoa in the control of the Eastern trade brought about the needless and fratricidal duel which destroyed one of the combatants, and by weakening the other permitted the Turk to obtain a foothold in

Christendom . The Genoese were worsted in 1 1258 12 8 and again in . In 1261 the Latin Empire fell before the t Greeks, and the Vene ian podesta and patri arch were driven from Constantinople . In 1264 i the Venet an admiral, Giacomo Dan dolo, destroyed the Genoese fleet, under Lan

Bor b or i n o . r e st or a franco , at Trapani The tion of Venetian commercial privileges at

Constantinople followe d . When Tripoli and Acre were captured by 1289 the Moslem in , Venice at once nego tiat e d commercial treaties with the all- con quering Turk to the exclusion of Genoa . War with the latter resulted, and Venice was 1353 overwhelmed at Curzola in 1298. In the rivals met once more, and the following year the elder Pisani was defeated at Sapi

enza . The Duke of Milan, who had arranged 1355 the peace of , again offered his ser

u . vices, and was again successf l The peace

which followed lasted for twenty years, when,

120 THE OLIGARCHY OF VENICE with only a remnant of six galleys left from the fleet with which he had sailed a year of before, Pisani was tried for the loss his fleet and sentenced to six months ’ imprison ment and deprivation of the right to hold office for five years .

m i Meanwhile the Genoese ad ral, Pietro wh o off Doria, had been cruising the Lido,

on 16 attacked Chioggia, and August the town surrendered . Venice was now sur rounded by her enemies . Carrara, who had forced Visconti to make a truce? blocked her

on hi . the land side, while Doria held C oggia In their extremity the authorities yielded to the clamor of the sailors of the fleet and r e ? stored Pisani to his command The admiral, al of acting under the nomin orders the doge,

Andrea Contarini, instituted a blockade and i siege of Chiogg a, thus turning the tables ‘ on th e on Genoese, who depended the main land for provisions which were supplied by

Carrara . of Soon after the advent the Genoese, Carlo f or Zeno had been sent , but did not arrive 1 of until January , when the situation the

1 . 266 . Romanin, iii 2 A u xx u. 691 . Marino Sanudo, p d Muratori, THE WAR OF CHIOGGIA 121 republic was growing desperate . Its credit n was almost exhausted, its i habitants were on i the verge of starvat on, and it was only the splendid fortitude of the ruling class that prevented the failure of the siege of i ? 24 1380 Chiogg a On June , , the town sur rendered a t di scretion . The result of the war of Chioggi a was an immediate triumph for ultim m e ff Venice, but the e ect was disastrous to Italy and to the republic herself . Genoa never recovered, and Venice was left to fight

- the Ottoman single handed, a task that even t ually became t oo great for even her vast resources .

While Venice had triumphed over Genoa,

Carrara still remained to be reckoned with . The lord of Padua was only prevented from capturing Treviso by its transfer from Ven ice to Austria . All parties to the war were a c thoroughly exhausted, and were glad to i of cept the mediat on the Duke of Savoy .

1 . 276 et se . Dam u . 76. Romanin, iii q , and , CHAPTER XI ON THE MAINLAND

THE effacement of Genoa left Venice for a h time a free and in the East, where her inter ests prospered . On the mainland conditions were far from propitious . In 1386 Carrara had bought back Tre viso, Ceneda, Feltre, and Belluno from the

Duke of Austria, for a hundred thousand ducats? and by their possession was able to control one of the great commercial routes into Germany . Not satisfied with the rule of all the territory between the Alps and the lagoon, his ambition prompted him, very unfortunately, as it subsequently proved, to join with Visconti in an attempt to partition the possessions of the Scalas . The lord of Milan merely used Carrara as a catspaw to draw his chestnuts from the

fire, and the latter soon found that, having helped to subdue Verona and Vicenza, he

1 . 317. Romanin, iii

124 THE OLIGARCHY OF VENICE were di vi ded among his three sons . The de sire of Gian Galeazzo for the acqui sition of ’ Ca r r ar a s Padua, had served to preserve faith to Venice ; but the strong hand of Visconti off being removed, Francesco Novello threw the mask, and attempted to thwart Venice in her e fi or ts to increase her territory in the

i of . d rection Milan War followed, and in due course Padua fell . Francesco Novello and his two sons were taken to Venice as prisoners . Although they had played fast and loose with the republic, and had Shown themselves i ncapable of gratitude and of honor, although they had never hesitated to betr ay their patroness when it served their purpose, and had even been detected in a plot to murder the members of the Senate who were unfriendly to them, it is unlikely that they would have been trea ted with unusual severity had it not been f or certain discoveries made soon after their cap ture? It was found that a gigantic conspiracy had been organized in the city itself by Car ’ rara s agents for the overthrow of the r e f public . Some of the highest officers o the

1 m . 34 et se . Ro anin, iv q ON THE MAINLAND 125 government were implicated . Two Venetian a co o nobles, Pietro Pisani and J p Gradenigo, were convicted as accessories and sentenced of to terms of imprisonment, a number ple ’ heians were executed for being in Ca r r a r a s of pay, and even Carlo Zeno , the hero Chi o i a gg , was imprisoned for having received money from the same source ? Although it was not proved that Zeno had taken part in

on the conspiracy, it is a curious commentary t the times that a great Vene ian patriot, who 1382 had been a candidate for the corno in , S hould have been willing to correspond with , of and accept money from, the enemy his country . At last when no further doubt existed in the minds of the Ten as to the of guilt the Carraresi, they were tried, found ui 17 1406 g lty, and January , , strangled in prison . The Carraresi died n ot because they h a d i fought the republ c in the field, but because they had undertaken a most despicable con

s i r a c . m a p y for her destruction It y be said, in excuse of their conduct, that they made use of the weapons of the age . Granti ng that so this was , they knew the risk they ran, and

1 e n . 42. Four hundr d ducats, Romani , iv 126 THE OLIGARCHY OF VENICE if i r their l ves paid the fo feit, it was nothing more than the just price of failure ? The extinction of the Carraresi left Venice in possession of the territory between the Alps i and the lagoon . Her policy of maintain ng on her frontier a buffer state had proved im practicable . Henceforth she found herself in i control of large prov nces on the mainland, which she was obliged to defend with her own arms and at her own cost . 26 1413 On December , , died Michele Steno, the doge who had fi f ty- nine years before in advertently brought to its climax the con spir o acy f Marino Falier . Despite the wildness i of his youth , Steno had served the ol garchy ably and faithfully . His reign of thirteen years had been fraught with momentous con sequences for the republic . It had seen the destruction of the Carraresi, the acquisition of

r e cov Padua, Vicenza, and Verona? and the ery of Treviso upon the mainland ; and what

of was far more to the true interests Venice, the restoration of Dalmatia to Venetian rule,

1 D 11 . 172 e aru, , is almost alon among historians in con side r i n g th e e xe cution of th e Carrare si a judicial murde r . The re is gre at unanimity of opin ion that the y re ce ive d no more than the ir just de se rts . 2 1406 .

128 THE OLIGARCHY OF VE NICE with her neighbors and the prosperity of her commerce . He constantly endeavored to enforce his principles as much as he was per m itt e d by the narrow limitations of his authority . He preferred the risk of un pOp ula r ity to the easier r 61e of imperiling the interests of his country for the applause Of the moment .

Yet, by the irony of fate, under his leader ship Venice was almost constantly engaged 141 i n war . In 6 Venice for the first time joined issue with the Turks, whose fleet she almost annihilated in the victory of Gallipoli . 1418 In the emperor Sigismund, who had entered Friuli at the head of his army, was worsted, and Venice acquired that province . In 1420 the republic extended and consoli

i n dated her possessions Dalmatia and Istria, while in 1422 Corinth was ceded to her and she regained her lost domains in Albania . In 1422 Venice entered into a defensive i li all ance, for ten years, with Fi ppo Maria Visconti? who had inherited much of his ’ r e cov father s genius, which he had used in f ering his lost possessions . The house o Vis C onti, under the leadership of its new head,

1 88 . Romanin, iv . ON THE MAINLAND 129 was rapidly regaining its position as one of the most powerful in Italy . Whether rightly or n ot , Florence feared that it would only be a question of time when her turn would come for absorption by the lord of Milan .

s Acting under thi apprehension, she tried to induce Venice to break her alliance with n i a t . 30 1423 com m u c Viscon i On March , , a tion reached the signoria from Florence, in which the latter off ered to mediate between e of Venice and the emp ror, for the purpose

- obviating the Milanese Venetian alliance . The proposition was submi tte d to the senate and advocated by the procurator, Fran

r i cesco Fosca . The doge himself led the Opposition in a Speech which has come down to us in so evidently altered a form as to sug gest that the version which we possess may be entirely apocryphal? Such was the per sonal influence of Mocenigo that the senate agreed with hi m and declined the Florentine l pr Oposa . This was the last political act of u t the doge, who f lly realized at the ime that he was a dying man . A few days before the end, Mocenigo summoned to his bedside ffi the chief o cers of the republic, and read to

1 xxu . 946 . Marino Sanudo, Apud Muratori , 130 THE OLIGARCHY OF VENICE

or them, what is more likely had read to them , a document which was of the nature of a political testa ment . We have it in sev

li a uth e n eral s ghtly different versions, but its ti city is undoubted? It is the pathetic and eloquent plea for peace of a dying patriot who clearly foresaw the dangers which menaced his country . The doge states the commercial and financial 2 of condition Venice, urges his hearers to be ul of S caref in the selection his uccessor, and warns them against the arch jingo, Francesco

Foscar i th e - , and sums up whole anti imperial ist position in on e sentence For my satis ” faction, he says, I desire to recommend to your care this Christian city, to urge you to to love your neighbors, and to act justly them, and to preserve peace, as I have tried ” to do . 4 1423 A few days later, on April , , Tom wi maso Mocenigo died, and th him passed away the old order of conservatism . With ’ Moce n i o s g death his influence ended, for

1 A u xxu . 958 Marino Sanudo , pud M ratori, ; Romanin

9 cl se . f e u e th e e h e (iv. 3 q ) pre rs and s s v rsion which found D in t he archive s of th e ona family. 2 e i n i e , ,Tabulat d Antonio Quadri, Stor a d lla Statistica tavola A.

CHAPTER XII

IMPERIALISM

THE In o j g party, having obtained control of the government, lost no time in accepting an alliance with Florence against Visconti? The senate was chiefly influenced to this course by an interview that the doge had had with ? Francesco Carmagnola This famous con dotti e r e of t had been in the employ Viscon i, and having quarreled with his master, had left the service of Milan, and was seeking ul employment wherever he co d find it . Venice did not understand the trade of di d which Carmagnola was a craftsman, nor

il . the latter, unt too late, understand Venice With her entrance into the fam ily of Ital ian states, Venice had assumed the hitherto unknown necessity of maintaining armies for her defense . A perplexing business she found it ; for in the fif teenth century national armies

1 e e e 3 1425. i . 110 . D c mb r , Roman n, iv 2 . 107 . Romanin, iv IMPERIALISM 33

of were unknown . Fighting was the trade m ercenaries, organized by condottieri, who sold their services to the highest bidder .

As a game played by professionals, war lacked both the ardor and the enthusiasm that come from fighting for flag and coun

of try . As every condottiere repute changed sides as willingly as he changed his coat, it was essential for his future prosperity that if possible a good understanding be con sta n tly maintained with the enemy . Loyalty i of and alleg ance became a mere matter pay, ’ to be thrown off the moment the employer s exchequer was exhausted . Wars were pro tracted as long as pay continued . Strategy was dead, and the tactics employed by these so- called soldiers savored far more of Oper a bouffe than of warfare . It was not until the m i litary Spirit of Juli us Caesar lived again in Gustavus Adolphus that the m a n of science displaced the condottiere . Venice took the game of war far too seri l ous y to suit its professors . That she should require her condottier i to strike swiftly and decisively, that she should demand of them definite results, and protest vigorously against the exchange of prisoners after what the 134 THE OLIGARCHY OF VENICE

of i rules warfare called a V ctory, shocked the f amateurs o the period . But Venice was nothing if not original, as her first great condottiere found to his cost . The republic was the most generous paymaster in Italy, and so soldiers of fortune were always to be found who were willing to serve her, even in humoring what to them were her of eccentricities, as displayed in the case

Carmagnola . of The services Carmagnola were retained, and war was declared against the tyrant of Milan? The history of the war with Vis conti is the usual story of mercenary Opera tions . It dragged on interminably . Occa si on ally the Venetian general obtained some i sl ght success, occasionally he met with slight reverses . When the republic grew impatient, a Victory was gained, almost as though to order, but immediately after a success the prisoners were released and permitted to take t off up arms again, and Venice was no be ter a than before . Whenever the Veneti n army occupied a strategic position that required il of the annih ation the enemy, Carmagnola, on of i the plea old wounds, w thdrew to take

1 e 19 1426 . . 114 . F bruary , Romanin, iv

136 THE OLIGARCHY OF VENICE m a n ola g , but they were able to keep the good will of the republic, for, appreciating of the generosity their patroness, they were at least true to their salt . Francesco Sforza, the greatest of all the free companions of

on the period, served sometimes one Side and sometimes on the other . Having married Bi anca, daughter of Filippo Maria Visconti, he was strong enough on the death of his

- i n - father law to seize the throne of Milan, and become the arbiter of North Italian pol i ti cs? 9 1454 On April , , was concluded the Peace

Of Lodi, by which Brescia and Bergamo were restored to Venice and Crema ceded to her . li A defensive al ance followed between Venice,

Florence, and Sforza, and for the moment northern Italy was at peace . ’ 24 1457 - On October , , the thirty four years Fos ar i reign of Francesco c came to an end .

Under him Venice had grown more splendid, and more vulnerable she had acquired more territory and more weakness . He had found her solvent, and left her with credit impaired . He debauched the nobili ty and bought the throne by bribery and corruption ; when he

1 26 1450 . . 222. March , Romanin, iv IMPERIALISM 137 left it he di d so unregretted and took with him a broken heart . Much sympathy has been wasted upon

- of . the cause his undoing, his son Jacopo In 1444 Ja copo Foscar i was accused of sell of ing his influence with the head the state, and having escaped from Venice, his trial proceeded in his absence . In his apartments was found a box containing presents which he had received and documents which left Th e no doubt of his guilt . Ten banished

m r e him to Nauplia, but he was per itted to

r e main in Triest, where he had taken fuge? Throughout the whole wretched story the Ten seem to have behaved with remarkable lenience to a miscreant who was as sordid and as mean as the lowest pick

of f or pocket, without the excuse want his crimes .

It was discovered that Francesco Sforza, of then in the employ Visconti, had sent Foscar i of Jacopo a chest money and plate, which Jacopo had accepted, and the Ten

. 1447 of ignored the crime In , at the request a co o the doge, J p was pardoned and allowed to return to Venice, where he seems to have

1 . 270. Romanin, iv 138 THE OLIGARCHY OF VENICE passed three years of comparative respect ability? 5 1450 On December , , Ermolao Donato, a chief of the Ten at the tim e of Jacopo Fos ’ cari s first trial, was murdered . The next month JaCOpo was accused of the crime . Although there was no direct evidence a d duce d t at the rial, there was a clear pre of u sumption his g ilt, and again the Ten showed lenience . The prisoner was banished to Crete where he continued to reside at his of villa, at Canea, in the enjoyment personal l ” 2 liberty and many indu gences, provided

F ar i always that he kept his parol . But osc f or 1456 did not keep his parol, in he was

of vi a once more accused, this time ha ng p pealed to Sforza, then Duke of Milan, to intercede in his behalf with the signoria, and of havi ng implored the sultan to rescue hi m

Fosca ri from the place of his banishment . was brought back to Venice , where he made ? a full confession Once again the Ten were f a co o merci ul, J p was sent back to Crete, there to be imprisoned for a year . It is probable that even thi s light punishment would have

1 2 . 273 . 11 . 113 . Romanin, iv Hazlitt, 3 . 284 Foscar i Romanin , iv , according to whom was not h e put to t torture .

140 THE OLIGARCHY OF VENICE

of hi Shorn the romance of story, the story of the t wo Foscar i is sordid enough except f or the capacity of forbearance it reveals in the committee of Ten . The younger was a bribe wh taker and a scoundrel, o, because of the of influence his father, never received his

- just deserts . The elder was a bribe giver and

a dm in i s a corruptionist, who during his long t r ati on di d more to injure his country than any of his predecessors ; and at its close, aban doning himself to his private grief, utterly l forgot the responsibi ities of his office . The opportunity was given him of retiring grace fully from the throne . As he obstinately de clin e d to do so, the interests of the republic, which were superior to the feelings of any individual, left the oligarchy no other course than to depose him . CHAPTER XIII

THE COST OF EMPIRE

ALTHO U GH Venice had in a desultory way

a t ken part, from time to time during the u fourteenth cent ry, in expeditions against 1416 the Turks, it was not until that she seriously tried conclusions with them . In that year the Victory of Pietro Lor e dan at Gallipoli was followed by a treaty of peace with the sultan, which was most advantageous 1453 to the republic and endured until , when

Ozm a n li the entered the Byzantine capital, and the rule of the cross passed from Con l tan ti n ople forever . The attitude of Venice to the Turk had been different from that of any other power . She had never entered into operations against the Infidel with anything but half-hearted ad enthusiasm, for she h found the Moslem on e of her best customers, with quite as much t humani y as, and more business rectitude of t than, many the Chris ian states . She was, 142 THE OLIGARCHY OF VENICE i besides, incl ned to View his growing power f as rather to her advantage, for it a forded a balance in the East to the ever increasing

‘ mi ght of Hungary . If Venice was destined to pay a heavier price for the loss of Constantinople than di d any other nation, it was no more than she deserved for her policy of two hundred years of 1204 earlier . The events , through her t instrumentali y, placed the republic under

i own responsibilities wh ch, in her interests of as well as in those civilization, she should have been willing to assume . Had Venice removed her capital to the Bosphorus, as was 1208 f ol proposed, in , she would only have lowed to their logical conclusions the obliga tions she had incurred . What she tried to do was to profit from the situation she had cre

n ated, without payi g the cost of its creation . Had she substituted for the Greek emperors a strong and Vigorous as well as a compact state , the Latin Empire might have lived and the history of European Turkey never have been written . But the power she erected at ffi Constantinople was weak, ine cient, and torn a B asunder by intern l dissensions . Though y zan ti n e emperors had ruled over a crum bling

144 THE OLIGARCHY OF VE NICE

of was , to the scandal Christendom, the first power to enter into a treaty of am i ty and commerce with the conqueror? The Turk once established at Constantino of di ple, with the evident purpose sputing of with Venice the mastery the sea, there were only two possible courses to safety open to the republic : either to j oIn him in an e f fort to conquer and partition eastern Europe or to fight him unrelenti ngly un til on e or the other succumbed . If she had adopted the ul first alternative, it is doubtf if any combi nation possible a t that day could have pre

. on vented its success If, the other hand, what lingering religious scruples she may have had deterred her from joining hands with the Infidel, then her only possible sal vation lay in a relentless war of extermina tion . She might have been the loser, but

Sh e ul a had lost, she wo d only have ntedated il her destruction by some two centuries, wh e had she won, she would have established her self as the greatest power Of Christendom .

Venice, however, was jealous of the grow of ing power Hungary, and, until too late,

1 18 1454 e h e . April , , Trattato di Pac con Mo amm d II

. . 7 528 248 ci se . Romanin, iv doc , , also q THE COST OF EMPIRE 145 tried to use the Ottoman to check the rising

danger across the Adriatic . She temporized,

and her opportunity escaped her, never to

al all return . Strictly commerci in her Opera tions, she saw no adequate financial return f or the tremendous sacrifices that immediate

. Foscar i warfare would entail Besides, had

on e of left behind him , as of his legacies misfortune, a depleted exchequer . During the nine years that followed the Turks ap plied their military genius to cementing and developin g their land and sea power ; and Venice at length awoke to the fact that while ul of she had been sleeping, the r er Constanti n ople had been busily preparing for her de struction . hi When Pius II . preached s crusade against 1462 the Infidel, in , the republic was only too ready to respond . Hungary and Burgundy di joined in the alliance ; but when Pius ed, two years later, the crusade collapsed, and Venice was left to face the common enemy ? alone Europe Showed throughout a e yn di f li ical in f erence to the fate of the repub c .

n Whe Venice asked for help, she was told that her long- drawn- out wars wi th Tur key

1 i . 321 et se . Roman n, iv q 146 THE OLIGARCHY OF VENICE were her own affair and not that of the rest of Christendom . But if she failed to beat

or hi m back the conqueror, made peace with , Europe charged her with compromising the interests of civili zati on and jeopardizing the f cause o the Church in her selfish interests . 1470 1478 In Negropont was lost, and in

Scutari fell after a heroic defense . Venice, no doubt, made the best fight she could against tremendous odds, and should not have been blamed if she was willi ng to come to terms 1 in 479 . Taking advantage of the a b sorp tion of Venice in warfare on the mainland, the sultan, urged it was said by Ludovico 149 Sforza? resumed hostilities in 8 . The short and disastrous campaign which fol lowed ended in the defeat of Venice at Sa

on 25 1499 pienza August , , and the disgrace

of . the Venetian admiral, Antonio Grimani The Turks followed up their victory by di s patching a flying column by land through Hungary to Friuli ? With the enemy at her wi very doors, and with Europe un lling to help her, there was nothing left for Venice but to accept the humiliating terms off ered

1 S e e e e e e . . 144 l tt r of Alvis Man nti Romanin, v . 2 e 490 . Sab llico ,

148 THE OLIGARCHY OF VENICE with or through any other market but that of the mother country . Her blunder in leading the sack of Con st an tin o le 1204 p , in , was followed by the even more grievous mistake of giving the

Turk time in whi ch to create a sea power .

For that error she was fully responsible, but she was in no way to blame for the i n diff e r ence wi th which Europe left her to play the part of buffer sta te against the Moslem ; the result of which was to Venice the loss of of Negropont, the Morea, and most her pos

i n sessions the Archipelago , and to Europe the creation of the never-endi ng Eastern

’ question . In 1486 the Cape of Good Hope was di s

m covered, and as a result the natural com er ci al supremacy of the republic passed fr om her forever . She no longer controlled the easiest and quickest route between the Ea st and the West, for the new route, though longer in distance, was shorter in time and ld far safer than the o . Merchants preferred to buy at Lisbon goods that had been sent through from the Orient without breaking bulk, rather than to patronize Venice, where merchandise could only be received after al THE COST OF EMPIRE 149 most innumerable reshipments, and vexatious, dangerous, and costly exactions in the domin ions of the sultan? Moreover the journey from Lisbon to the north presented many a dva n tages over that through the Alps from Ven “ of ice . The natural distributing centre Europe M

Shif ted from the Adriatic to the Atlantic . 2 Had the Peace of Lodi (1454) lasted for

m any ti e, it might have been possible for

Venice, by consolidating and extending her continental possessions, to survive the ruin of her commerce, and to become eventually a great mainland sta te . But Venice was left no time for internal development . While she was straining her resources beyond her strength in fighting the Turk upon the sea, events were occurring in Italy which forced her to reap the inevitable crop she had planted in the election to the throne of Francesco

Foscar i .

In Italy the kaleidoscope of politics pr o

duce d . endless combinations The emperor,

Spain, and France had all interested them

1 Priuli th e diarist points out that due s we re le vie d at so many points along th e old route that goods costing a ducat at th e point of de parture e nde d by costing from se ve nty to

on e e . . 135. hundr d Hazlitt, ii 2 e u a 13 . Se s p r , 7 150 THE OLIGARCHY OF VENICE

of a t selves in the affairs the peninsula, tracted by its prosperity and wealth, as the earlier barbarians had been drawn to the f most civilized land o Europe . The excuse for their interest was certain more or less well- founded claims they had set up in Na ples and Milan . 1494 Il In Ludovico Sforza, called Moro,

of n lord Milan , made the mistake of inviti g the aid of Charles VIII . of France to make 1] good his claims against Naples . Moro, who was a man of great capacity and strength, having deposed his nephew Gian Galeazzo h is and usurped the throne, expected that ’ n -i n - l of ephew s father law, A fonzo Naples, would espouse the former ’ s cause ? He de sired Charles to crush Alfonzo, and then retire to France . But Charles, having con quered Naples, showed an evident disposition Il b to enlarge his new acquisitions . Moro e came seriously alarmed and turned to Venice for help by which Charles was defeated and driven from Italy .

' II. . Louis , who succeeded Charles VIII of 1498 upon the throne France, in united in his own person all the French claims

1 s 283 . Si mondi,

152 THE OLIGARCHY OF VENIC E Maximilian was not anxious to combine in any undertaking with Louis, and so, before ’ uli us s answering J overtures, offered to enter into an alliance with Venice for the purpose f o expelling the French from Milan . Venice was partially true to her ally, France ; and was only willing to promise Maximilian neu li t r a t . y This did not satisfy the emperor, who forthwith joined the pope and Louis in their coalition against the republic . 10 1508 On December , , was signed the League of Cambrai? the signers being Mar of garet of Austria, in behalf her father, Max ’ im ilia n dAm b oi se of , and Cardinal in behalf

Louis of France . The object of the League o was the destructi n of Venice, and the par tition of her territory . The two monarchs undertook to distribute the possessions of the republic among the pope , Spain , Hun gary, Savoy, the house of Este, and them of selves, thus giving the leading states continental Europe a direct interest in her ? destr uction On 27 1509 April , , the pope launched a bull of excommunication and interdict against the republic . The French under Trivulzio

1 2 . 188 . 308 . Romanin, v Sismondi, THE COST OF EMPIRE 153

on 14 crossed the Adda, and May , at Agua della, nearly annihilated the Venetian army . By June 1 Venice had lost practically all her possessions on the mainland . Fortunately li for the repub c, when her prospects looked blackest help came from an unexpected quar Fa ter . Julius, having recovered Ravenna, enza, and Rimini, had no desire to see Venice destroyed and supplanted by a foreigner . An alli ance was formed bet ween the republic and the Holy See, and France was checked . Maximilian was disgusted ; Spain was suspi

n of of cio s the good faith her ally, and the League of Cambrai collapsed through the jealousy of its members . Spain joined Venice and the pope in what was known as the Holy League, which had the tacit support of the emperor and Eng ? 1512 land By June, , France held scarcely any territory in Italy, and Venice found her

i n of self the hands Julius and Spain . Her f conduct was worthy o the age . She formed - lli a counter a ance with France, but yesterday her enemy, and after the latter had been de 6 1513 feated at Novara, June , , she retreated to the Lagoon . France retired across the

1 . 258 . Romanin, v 154 THE OLIGARCHY OF VENICE Alps and Venice was left at the mercy of her enemies . 1 In 15 5 Louis ' II. died and was suc

ce e de d I. by Francis , who now marched on

Italy, and with the help of Venice occupied

. of 3 Milan The Peace Brussels (December , 1516 ) followed, which restored to Venice her territory on the mainland?

And so , after eight years of perpetual of warfare, eight years heroic sacrifice and unselfish patriotism, Venice came once more f to her own . But the eight years o war which had succeeded the League of Cambrai had been preceded by sixteen years of strug

- gle with the Turk. For twenty four years Venice had been battling against t r e m e n dous odds . From her campanile she had seen the flames kindled by the Ottoman in the wi villages of Friuli . T ce had her fortress of Me gh e r a been occupied by the enemy and her own guns been turned against her . She had known the pinch of want almost to star vation ; she had seen her treasury depleted and he r patricians impoverished . At last when peace came it found a very diff erent Venice from that she had been a quarter of a cen

1 324 . Sismondi ,

156 THE OLIGARCHY OF VENICE the constant acceptance of hum ili ations and insults . The sack of Constantinople in 1204 was the first step in a mistaken foreign policy ; then came the In st of conquest upon the main land the Turks captured Constantinople, and the power of Venice was weakened ; the of Cape Good Hope was discovered, and the structure of her might tottered ; the League of l Cambrai followed, and Venice fel , never i s to rise again . Her subsequent h tory is the recital of the rapid decline of one who was

di d f or doomed to die . The end not come nearly three centuries, but long before the grave closed over her, she had lapsed into a of state political and commercial coma, from whi ch nothing could rouse her . CHAPTER ' IV

THE MACHINE

BY of the beginning the sixteenth century, when Venice entered upon the last period of i her life, the oligarchic mach ne had been completed in all its details . During the last three hundred years of its existence some minor alterations were made, but no sub

n st a ti al changes were again undertaken . When it fell into di srepair and required gen

ul n eral overha i g, it was patched up here and there for the moment only . An adaptation to modern requirements and conditions might if have prolonged its l e, but it was allowed to go creaking and lumbering on its way until

out . it broke down, worn by rust and neglect i While the leg slative, executive, and judi ci al functions of the Venetian government were never sharply . Separated, there was enough system in the distribution of duties and powers to permit of a rough classification under the heads with which we are familiar . 158 THE OLIGARCHY OF VENIC E There was a constant overlapping and inter m i ngling of authority among the several branches of government some of the courts possessed executive authority the executive of had to a certain extent the power initiative, while the legislature could at will alter the

r fundamental law without let o hindrance . The sovereignty of the republic lay neither in the people nor in the crown, but in the oli garchy ; or rather in those members of the ruling caste who belonged to the Great

Council, which was the source of all authority and was the supreme power in the state . It of i consisted all nobles, with the except on of those in holy orders? above the age of

- fi ve h e twenty , who upon reaching that age came members by right . In addition, every Santa Barbara ’ s day (December thirty i young nobles, who had passed their twent eth lot t birthday, were chosen by , and permi ted to sit in the council, with neither vote nor voice . The Great Council was the legislature of the republic ; unrestricted by any written

1 de l e o e e de l n . e La Storia Gov rn di V n zia, Sig or A d lla

Houssa i a 2 . 1681 . 30 . h e e t he , vols Colonia, , i I av us d first e e de s e Italian dition of Am lot la Hous ay .

160 THE OLIGARCHY OF VENICE sat ordinarily every Sunday and holiday, ex ’ cept Lady day and Saint Mark s day, from noon until sunset in winter and from eight in the morning until noon in summer . It might be called together at any time by the ducal councilors . These extraordinary meetings of were frequent occurrence, as the mere

f on election of O ficers consumed, an average, fifty legislative days a year? Legislative propositions could be brought before the Great Council only by the senate, u the doge, the d cal councilors acting as a unit by a majority vote, the chiefs of the Crimi nal Forty, if unanimous, the three avogadori del comun, and in matters affecting their departments by the esecutori alle acque , and ’ ? the provveditori all arsenale, if unanimous The Venetian noble began his career as an offi ce -holder almost immediately on b e coming a member of the Great Council . 3 Romanin gives a list of some 824 offi ce s which could be filled only by patricians ; and this list does not include the rectors of pro

If e e e e th e e e all four groups of l ctors agr d on sam candidat , e h e was d clare d e le cte d without th e formality of a ballot .

e . 12 et se . Houssay , i q 1 Yr i 2 a r t 6 . r . e , 7 Yr ia t e , 64 3 i . 399 . Roman n, viii THE MACHINE 161

i - v nces nor the captains of war vessels, who were all selected from the aristocracy . As at its maximum the membership of the Great 1671 Council never exceeded , in order to find officials it was often necessary that two and sometimes more offices should be filled by the same patrician . The refusal to accept office was punishable by a fine of two thousand zecchini, and by exclusion from the Great Council and the Broglio for two years? AS there was absolute political equality of among the members the ruling class, the tendency was against specialization in offi ce of holdi ng . There was the semblance per m an e n cy in the membership of th e appellate of courts, but with the exception these judges the Venetian nobles were called upon to p e r form the most di verse and contrary duties . No office was beneath the dignity of the i highest patrician, and a retiring ba lo of Constantinople or inquisitor of state thought it no derogation of his position to be elected di to a subor nate and almost humble charge . of of Because the unwieldiness its size, the

Great Council, in the twelfth century, dele gated much of its legi slative authority to the

1 e . 34 . Houssay , i 162 THE OLIGARCHY OF VENIC E

or . council of pregadi, senate The senate 1229 was first elected by the Great Council in , and consisted of sixt y members ; the mi nimum

ir age for membership being th ty, and the of ffi e li term o ce one year, senators being

l l i i n gi b e f or r e é e ct on . Subsequently it was creased by the addition of a giunta or zonta

of . sixty members, elected by the senate itself 1450 of i t In , at the instance the signoria, was still further increased by th e addition of the Criminal Forty, the Council of Ten, and many other officials, some with and some without votes, so that eventually it numbered about three hundred members ?

Its jurisdiction covered nearly all political,

t . administrative, and economic ma ters It had the power to declare war and to conclude of i of com peace, to make treaties all ance and merce . It controlled the armament of the state and the arsenal, taxation and commerce, the mines, the forests and the waters, the mint t and the reasury, and the administration of

. ji am the provinces It elected the sav , the

b a ssa dor s . , envoys, and consuls The chief executive power of the republic was lodged in the various component parts

1 n . 335 Romani , viii .

164 THE OLIGARCHY OF VENICE Surrounded by all the external pomp and of magnificence which Venice was capable, he was left scarcely more personal liberty than the very prisoners in the pozzi . He might not leave Venice without the permis of sion the Great Council, nor was he ex pe cte d to leave the ducal palace except on occasions of ceremony . He was forbidden to hold any communication with foreign princes or ambassadors, nor could he perform of him self a n y executive act . He could not invest of of any part his fortune outside Venice, or nor could his sons, brothers, near relatives hold public office . He could not resign with out Of l the consent the Great Council, whi e the latter had the right to depose him at ffi any time . Besides the selection of the o

of hi s own cers household, his patronage was limited to the appointment of the pr im i ce or of rio ducale, senior canon of the church

S . Marco .

Upon the death of the doge, and before t the selec ion of his successor, the Great Coun a l cil elected three inquisitori doge defunto, and five correttori alla promissione ducale . It was the duty of the inquisitors to m ake a rigid exami nation of the conduct of the dead THE MACHINE 165

SO doge, that, were malfeasance discovered, uff r a his estate might be made to s e . Their p pointment was really in the nature of a warn ing to the crown , for there was no instance of their powers being exerted at the expense of any d ucal family . It was the duty of the correctors to propose to the Great Council changes in the coronation oath . This duty was so vigorously performed that upon the of accession almost every doge, the ducal authority was still further limited by the terms of his oath . The ducal councilors were elected by the u on e Great Co ncil, three at a time, from each sestiero? and held office for on e year . With out of the concurrence his councilors, the ul doge co d perform no political act . The

n dogeship was, so to speak, held in commissio by the ducal council . It was their duty to prepare business for submission to the Great

e xtra or i Council, which they could call in d nary session . They elected from their num

on e of ui of ber the inq sitors state, and wi th the doge were members of the Council

of . i Ten They constituted, w th the doge and C of the three hiefs the Criminal Forty, the

1 n VII. 330. Roma in, 166 THE OLIGARCHY OF VENIC E signoria?the surviving members of which held the regency upon the death of the doge . Of their year of Offi ce the ducal councilors served four months in the Criminal Forty . After 1437 three additional councilors were chosen , called inferiori, or da basso, from their place of residence . When the three of chiefs the Forty served with the signoria, they were replaced by three coun cilors da basso . There was thus a constant interchange of service between the members of the ducal ? council and of the Crim i nal Forty Of the Sixteen savii who composed the col le i o Six u savii g , were sav del consiglio, or grandi, ministers without portfolios ; five were savi i di terraferma, charged with the duties that their name implies ; and five were savii i agli ordini, orig nally charged with the man a e m e n t g of the navy, but ultimately of little importance and without votes in the collegio . sa vii Of the di terraferma, three had specific titles and functions . The Savio Cassier was the Finance Minister, the Savio alla Scrittura

1 . 331 . . 439 e i n th e Romanin, viii Hazlitt, II , includ s th e Te n e signoria Council of , but quot s no authority for his

e e . e . 54 e t h e e stat m nt Houssay , i , mak s it consist of dog and his six councilors only . 2 e . 229 a n d . 331 . Houssay , i , Romanin, viii

168 THE OLIGARCHY OF VENICE a head, received officially foreign mbassadors,

z nuncios, and envoys ; took cogni ance of the most important matters of state, and inter ? vened in all the councils At the head of the judicial hierarchy was

of 1335 . the Council Ten, finally established in Its authority and its duties were never clearly defined ; they were so broad as to include criminal jurisdiction over the security of the of state, the guardianship her citizens, and the public morals . In times of danger to the state the Ten were practically the supreme power in the republic . The Ten tried all nobles accused of crime and all citizens suspected of trea son . They were elected by the Great Coun cil for one year, and were not immediately r li ibl e é g e . With them were joined the doge Te n and his six councilors, so that the really numbered seventeen . Every month they elected from their number three new wh o of ffi chiefs, formed for their term o ce a species of executive committee . The Ten sat in the senate, and had their own police force, called sbirri, and a fund, of which they were required to give no account . 2 In 1539 the inquisitors of state became a

1 2 n . 333 . . 344 . Roma in , viii Romanin, viii THE MACHINE 169

of permanent part of the government . One the inquisitors was chosen by the ducal coun cilor two s from their number, the other by the Ten from their number . The inquisitors were really a committee of the Ten with power to act summarily in cases of treason or h suspected treason . T ey moved secretly and noiselessly, always swiftly, and not always wisely . They were the expression of the fear of its own membership felt by the oligarchy in later days, and did much to bring the

Ten into disfavor and disrepute . Before the establishment of the senate as a permanent and powerful institution, many of its functions were performed by the Coun

ua r an ti a . cil of Forty, or Q Subsequently the

Forty became a purely judicial body, its three chiefs retaining their seats in the signoria, and its members their seats and votes in the senate . As litigation increased, the juris diction Of the Forty was divided among three councils, the original council being called the

uar an ti a Q Criminale, or Criminal Forty, while

uar a n ti a the new bodies were , called the Q ua r a n ti a vi Civile vecchia and the Q Ci le nuova . The Criminal Forty had original jurisdi ction over certain grave crimes and appellate juris 170 THE OLIGARCHY OF VENICE di ction over all criminal cases tried by the lower courts except such as the Council of

Ten reserved to itself . The old Civil Forty had appellate jurisdi ction in cases tried in Venice involving more than fifteen hundred ducats ; while the new Civil Forty had appel late jurisdicti on in cases tried in the pro vin ces involving the same amount . There were also two so- called colleges of

w - fi ve t enty and fifteen members respectively, with appellate jurisdiction in cases involving less than fifteen hundred ducats . Service in the appellate courts was practi cally during good behavi or? the Great Council havi ng adopted the custom of electing the judges for such they were first to the colleges, then old in turn to the new Civil Forty, the Civil

Forty , and the Criminal Forty ; and at the of expiration a term of office in the latter, beginning over again with the colleges . The of i - total term serv ce was thirty two months, of which eight months was passed in each court . In the golden days of the republic there were nine procuratori di S . Marco, of whom i three, called di supra, were charged w th

1 . 337. Romanin, viii

1 72 THE OLIGARCHY OF VENICE property of less than fifty ducats in value ;

i n the court di petizione, which tried cases volving personal property of more than that

i ove o ur i sdi c amount ; and the p g , having j tion in cases of breach of contract, usury, and bills of excha nge . The criminal police power was exercised by the Six signori di notte a l criminale who were elected by the Great Council for the term of Sixteen months . They were responsi of ble for the good order the city, and could arrest without warrant any one caught in the act of committing a crime . The five prov veditori alla pace tried all crimes against ul the person , except those res ting in death or serious wounds . The avogadori del comun were among the m ost important officials of the republic . They

m i were three in number, no nated by the sen ate and confirmed by the Great Council for the term of sixteen months . Like the sena tors , they were required to be at least thirty years of age . Their duties were a combina tion of those of the Rom an tribunes and of the procureurs généraux of monarchical

France . They were members of both the l of Great Counci and the senate, neither THE MACHINE 1 73 which could hold a legal session without the presence of at least one avog a dor o . They exercised a suspensory veto upon the resolu tions, decrees, and sentences of the provincial rectors ; they watched over the morals of children, and could require the payment of alimony to a wife pending her writ for divorce T or separation . hey passed upon the claims of applicants for admission to the nobili ty or cittadinanza and were the custodi ans of ’ the Libro d Oro . It was the duty of the avogadori to bring of crimes to the attention the proper courts, ’ to act as juges d i n st r ucti on in preparing the cases, and as public prosecutors before the Criminal Forty and the Ten ; where if they thought necessary they could arrest judg ment . For eight months after the expiration of their term of ofli ce they continued to sit and vote in the senate . The republic was represented abroad by ambassadors at Rome, Vienna, Madrid, and

n . Paris ; an e voy at St Petersburg, a bailo at

Constantinople, ministers resident at Milan,

Turin, Naples, and London ; and consuls at all the prin cipal cities where Venetian mer Of chants traded . Each head an embassy or 174 THE OLIGARCHY OF VENICE mission was accompanied by one or more secretaries . The entire personnel of the diplo matic and consular services was elected by the senate the term of ofli ce for ambassadors and ministers being usually two, that for

or i m secretaries four five years . The most portant post in the diplomatic service was the bailo, who exercised exclusive jurisdiction over Venetians resident in Constantinople . th e The ambassadors, the envoy, and bailo were always members of the nobility, while the ministers resident, the secretaries, and the consuls were usually members of the citta di n a n za or middle class, taken from the cancel leria ducale which constituted the permanent civil service of the government . The can cell e r i a was composed entirely of members of the middle class, who entered it in youth,

r e after passing through special schools, and main ed in it for life . It was the only official career Open to those who were not of the

of aristocracy, but as some its higher members were paid as much as three thousand dollars of our money a year? it was considered most desirable . At its head and responsible for its disci

1 . 3 90 . Romanin, viii

176 THE OLIGARCHY OF VENICE commerce, health , agriculture, the waters and highways ; and the administration of both civil and crim i nal law . The captain com m a n de d the military forces and was r e spon sible for the defense of the province . With the camerlengo? who was a subordinate Ofli cial l , his authority extended over pub ic works, the lands, taxation, and all fiscal matters . Appeals from the decisions of the rectors ul l co d be taken to the senate, whi e in polit ical decisions appeals lay either i n the senate or the Council of Ten . Crim i nal cases were

m ale fi ci o tried by a judge called , sentence being pronounced by the podesta, who him a self tried certain civil cases . Criminal p peals were carried to the Criminal Forty ; civil appeals to the new Civil Forty . The avogadori could at any time suspend the execution of any decision or sentence of the rectors, and bring the matter to the attention of the proper council . In later years the offices of podesta and captain were often consolidated in one rector ; while the smaller towns and castles were r e always governed by a single noble, who ported directly to the Council of Ten in

1 n 396 . Romani , viii . THE MACHINE 177 political matters . The provinces were allowed to retain their legislatures, with power to legis

ou late all local matters, subject to the veto of the rectors . They imposed taxes for local purposes, and were represented by agents in Venice very much as the British colonies are

- represented to day in London . The jealousy of indi vidual prom i nence which always possessed the oligarchy was perhaps more apparent in its management of the army and navy than in that of any other branch of government . No commander was permitted to have a free hand . Every gen eral and admiral was hampered by the pre

of on e t wo sence and sometimes provveditori, with whom he was obliged to consult on all important questions . The oligarchy preferred di t the risk of defeat, due to vided authori y, to what it considered the greater danger of a successful popular hero . Though the Vene tians never cared for land warfare, prefer ring to hire mercenaries to do their fighting, nevertheless the condottieri of the republic were obliged to have constantly with them the inevitable provvedi tori . In time of war the fleet was commanded

- by a captain general, elected by the Grea t 178 THE OLIGARCHY OF VE NICE

Council ; in time of peace the highest naval ffi o cer was the provveditore generale da mar, residing at Corfu, and governing that island . The powers of the admiralty were distributed among a number of boards . The three pa ’ troni dell arsenale, elected by the Great Coun

- cil and serving for thirty two months, were the governors of the arsenal ; and the three ’ t wo provveditori dell arsenale, elected for

i n s e c years by the senate, were a board of p l tion . The visdomini alla tana regu ated

of n e xt ra or the finances the arse al, while di n ar y inspections were made from ti me to time by inquisitors elected for the purpose . ’ The three provveditori all armamento, elected for three years by the senate, were a board of armament, equipment, and recruit ment ; while the presidenti al collegi o della milizia da mar provided the men to man the oars . Over all these boards the senate exor ci se d a general supervision, and to it reported directly the provveditore generale of Dal matia , the captain of the Gulf, and all the lesser naval commissions and officials .

Besides the principal councils and boards, the machinery of government included a great number of lesser commissions dealing with

180 THE OLIGARCHY OF VENICE

ul of which, with a pop ation in the Dogado about three millions, represented a per capita of about The machine of govern ment in its full development was the perfect of oli tool a master political craftsman , the garchy . The people, to be sure, were deprived of f any voice in the a fairs of state, and were allowed to fill only the minor and less r e

ffi : sponsible o ces they found, however, some compensation for political activity in the man a ge m e n t of their trade - guilds and confrater n iti e s , and in the fact that they were the least taxed people in Europe .

1 . 363 . Romanin, viii CHAPTER XV

SPAIN

IN wi her relations th the Church, Venice n ever permitted her religious scruples to i n t e r f e r e with what she considered her material di welfare . Her people, as in viduals, were u always good Catholics, but the rep blic, as f or own a state, cared her interests first, and only bowed to Rome when it suited her con ve n i e n ce or when she was forced to do so . She never willingly tolerated the interference of the Church in temporal matters ; and was always ready to take extreme measures in i maintaining this posit on .

on The papacy, the other hand, always u regarded Venice with dislike and s spicion . From her close association with non-Catholic

countries, the republic was inclined to look upon heresy with altogether t oo much com la ce n c H p y to suit the oly See, while her constant and at times friendly intercourse with the Turk was a source of never ending 182 THE OLIGARCHY OF VENICE vexation to a power among whose Objects in existence was the triumph of the cross over On e of the crescent . the earliest recorded events in Venetian history was a difference 8 . 77 with John VIII , in , over the appoint ? ment to the vacant see of Torcello In this instance Venice had her way, and induced the pope to withhold his threatened ana

i r e thema . From the very beg nning the public insisted ou the right to appoint her di clergy, even inclu ng the patriarch, without the right of revision by Rome . The sieges of Zara and Constantinople in 1202— 4 were undertaken despite the express prohibition of the pope, whose wrath was only appeased by the temporary healing of the 12 2 Greek schism . In 8 occurred the massacre of the French at Palermo, known to history as of the Sicilian Vespers . Charles Anjou, who had conquered Sicily at the invitation of the pope, found his power seriously shaken, and in the war with the Spanish claimant which followed was aided by the spiritual might of

Rome . Venice forbade her clergy to preach the cross in favor of Charles . M edi ately after this act of insubordina

1 . 195. Romanin , i

184 THE OLIGARCHY OF VENICE

of general council, and caused a copy the appeal to be nailed to the door of San Celso in Rome . At the Peace of Lodi the inter dict was removed, but during the existence of the League of Cambrai the republic was again excommunicated, and again appealed to a future council . Thus before the beginning of the sixteenth century Venice had had three serious diffi culti e s with the papacy ; had been e xcom m u n i ca t e d i three t mes, and had been twice placed under an interdict . On each occasion her difficulties with Rome had been political and had been caused by the constantly growing spirit of aggression manifested by the r e

of public . The Peace Brussels had left her but the shadow of her former strength, and yet it had hardly been concluded when she prepared to make her last stand against the claims of the Church . By the terms of the treaty made with the pope in 1510 she had withdrawn her appeal to a future council, acknowledged the justice of the interdict, and yielded all the claims to independence Sh e had formerly made . She agreed that in the future priests charged with crime should be tried by the ecclesias SPAIN 185 l tical courts alone, that the clergy shou d not b e - r e taxed without the papal consent, and n oun ce d the right to nominate the bishops within her territory? In 1560 the republi c accepted the decrees of the Council of Trent only to ignore them .

In 1581 Gregory ' II. asserted his right to visit by proxy the religious houses of Venice .

The republic protested, and yielded . The pope claimed temporal power over Ceneda, and objected to the taxing of the clergy of Brescia and to the presence of heretic churches in Venice . The republic, while of chafing under the demands Rome, saw the necessity of preserving a good understanding . She realized that in the exhausted condition in which the recent war had left her, she could not aff ord an open rupture with the d pope, who would undoubte ly have been supported by Spain . And so she temporized

n on 3 1605 n u til, March , , Cleme t died, and

Paul V . came to the throne as the candi date f o the Spanish party . Paul was a vigorous upholder of the papal

' prerogative, and lost no time after his elec tion in attempting to enforce the decrees of 1 n . 241 et se Romani , v q. 186 THE OLIGARCHY OF VENICE

Trent? His efforts were directe d against every power that had been i n difi e r e n t in their acceptance, but his especial care was reserved for Venice . A strict compliance by the republic with the Trentine decrees was almost impossible . This Spain knew and hoped that should Venice disobey the papal injunction she would be placed in so false a position before the world as to make the organization of a new European coalition against her a matter

or of no great diffi culty . F Spain had become the dominant power in Italy, and the posses sion of the Venetian terraferma would have given her absolute control of the peninsula . Throughout the Spanish machinations against Venice Philip III . played a double O game . fficially he took no active part, leav ing the direction of aff airs to the Duke de of Ossuna, his Viceroy Naples, and to the

Count de Fuentes, his governor of Milan . He was thus in a position t o accept the fruits of success or to disclaim the failure of his i scheme . Shortly after the elevat on of the n e w pope t wo events occurred which gave

1 ’ e th e e . a n d VII. Rank s History of Pop s, iii , Romanin ,

19 et seq.

188 THE OLIGARCHY OF VENICE of the Holy See , Donato was no less firm in of of his support the claims the republic . The election of the new doge was followed by the retention at a salary of two hundred ducats of the Servite monk Paolo Sarpi, as theological and canonical adviser or counsel? Sarpi entered upon his duties with all the ardor of a patriot and the devotion of a loyal

ul l . u and faithf Catho ic The signoria, g ided by Sarpi, replied to the papal briefs, in a general defense of its position . The pope gave Venice twenty-four days in which to r of h e ecede, and on the expiration that launched a b ull of excommunication and in ? t e r di ct The signoria forbade any Venetian priest to receive it or any other notice from u Rome ; declared it n ll and void, and ex

e lle d Te a tin e s r e p the and Capuchins, who of fused to obey . As a matter precaution the fortifications were strengthened and the militia called out . Spain found E urope unwilling to gi ve her

. the encouragement she , had expected She hesitated t o attempt single- handed the task of crushing Venice, for the loss of the Ar

1 vu . 3 7. Romanin, 2 44 et se . Romanin , vii . q SPAIN 189 mada i n 1588 and the rebellion in the Nether lands had seriously weakened her . The republic received the moral support of France, England, and the Grisons, as well as of the Protestant princes of Germany . hi i P lip, real zing that he had overreached i himself, joined the other powers in bring ng about an amicable sol ution of the difficulty . The imprisoned priests were handed over o e use of to Cardinal de J y , the ambassador “ Henry IV . , to gratify his most Christian

a u majesty, and without prejudice to the th ori ty which he (the doge) has to try eccle ” si a sti cs. The cardi nal in turn surrendered the prisoners to the ecclesiastical auth ori

. di ties The papal inter ct was removed, and a Venetian embassy was di spatched to Rome to r e return thanks for the act, while the public recalled its protest and its instructi ons to its subjects and permitted the expelled reli gious orders to return ? The immediate victory certainly lay with the pope, for he had gained his point in everything but the general question of papal

a f or examination of new p triarchs, which, the i t ma was waived . The matter of Ceneda was

1 n VII. 57. Roma in, 190 THE OLIGARCHY OF VENICE settled eventually to the satisfaction of the

con republic, and so far as the Holy See was cerned, Venice was at peace . The moving spirit of the revolt against the Church, Fra Paolo Sarpi, had, however, incurred the hatred of Spain . Not unnatur ally, she considered him the chief obstacle that had prevented the success of her eff orts against the republic . His firmness, his cour tesy, and his moderation in dealing with the papacy had won the admiration of Europe and the respect even of the pontiff himself . 25 1607 at Nevertheless on October , , an tempt was made to murder him, as he was returning to his convent at five o ’ clock in the afternoon . Although he was stabbed three

i r times, he recovered, to surv ve two fu ther attempts against his life and to die in his bed 1 3 in 62 . There seems to be no manner of doubt but that in each case the assassin was

hired with Spanish money .

This plot failed, but Spain was implacable . 18 1618 At dawn on May , , certain labor

ers of San Marco, on going to their work t across the Piazze ta, beheld, hanging head

downward between the red columns, the

bodies of fifteen men . As the ghastly spec

192 THE OLIGARCHY OF VENICE averted was on e of the most dangerous in

Venetian history . The League of Cambrai had not succeeded because of the jealousy of its members and the resulting impossibility of united action for a common cause . Spain had never ceased to regret the failure of the objects of the league and was ready to take advantage of any chance that might occur for the undoing i of . l Venice She had been unable to uti ze, f or of her purpose, the rebellion the repub lic against the papal authority, but in the second decade of the seventeenth century she found another Opportunity to gratify her ambition and in the Duke de Ossuna an ideal instrument . Ossuna had been Spanish governor of Mi lan, but had recently been promoted Viceroy of 1617 z Naples, when in he organi ed what has become known to history as the Spanish t Conspiracy . Ac ing directly under him were l the Duke de Toledo, governor of Mi an, and the Marquis de Bedmar, Spanish ambassador at Venice? It has been suggested that Ossuna acted on his own responsibili ty? but it is hardly possible that the ambassador of his

1 2 VII. 112 e l se . e . Romanin, q Daru, livr xxxi SPAIN 193 most Catholic majesty would have dared to join him without di rect orders from Madrid . l i As the conspiracy fai ed, Spain discla med all responsibility . But she none the less pro t e ct e d and rewarded the chief conspirators, and had it succeeded, would doubtless have accepted the benefits . Ossuna began in 1617 by collecting a fleet i of in the Adriat c, with the purpose making a descent on Venice, to be supported by help from within the city . To organize tr eachery

of a ue s in Venice, he made use a certain J q

of . Pierre, a Norman soldier fortune Pierre and some of his fellows succeeded in obtain ing employment under the republic, through the good will of the Venetian representa tive at Naples . So successful was Pierre in the accomplishment of his design that over fif ty impoverished nobles joined in the eff ort to ruin their country . There was in the city at the tfl e a corps of foreign mercenary troops waiting departure for foreign service . These Pierre succeeded in winning to his cause . All was ready for the final act in the tra ’ e d on e of i i n g y, when Pierre s accompl ces discreetly revealed everything to a young 94 THE OLIGARCHY OF VENICE French gentleman named Juven?who was in Venice seeking employment under the gov e r n m e n t . Juven carried his informant to the

Ten , and that body was soon in possession of all the facts in the case . Pierre and his

- companions, Langlade and Rossetti , had pre i u l v o s y been sent on shipboard . Orders for their death were sent to their commandi ng f o ficer, who, before executing them, obtained complete confessions of their guilt . Of the on conspirators who remained Shore, some

a m fled, some took refuge with the Spanish b a ssa dor , fifteen , as we have mentioned, were strangled and then hanged between the red columns, and fifty Venetian nobles were executed in prison and their bodi es dropped into the canal . The Ten acted, as it always

di d l . , promptly, merci essly, and successfully The Spanish Conspiracy was suppressed b e h fore it even began to live . Venice , owever,

r e was thoroughly frightened, and did not cover from the shock Sh e had received by the discovery of the Spanish Conspiracy until after Sh e had committed on e of the most atrocious judicial murders that ever stained

th e annals of a nation .

1 Real Jaffi e r Saint calls him .

196 THE OLIGARCHY OF VENICE

Fosca ri n i Six tragedy, reached its climax years

m later . The Ten had beco e a law unto them

di sr e selves, and had usurped the power of garding the action of the Great Council and f o . overriding its decisions Reniero Zeno, a descendant of the great Carlo , set himself the task of limiting the Ten to their legal ul sphere, and taking from them their unlawf authority . After a gallant, almost single handed fight of four years against nearly

on 19 the entire oligarchy, Zeno, September , 1628 , induced the Great Council to give to the Ten a new capitulary or set of regula tions in which the Great Council asserted its sovereignty and forbade the Ten to revise its orders . Zeno is entitled to all credi t for the courage and persistency with which he accomplished his object, but the results of his

S -li f reform were hort ved . It was only a e w years before the Ten had again usurped the same unconstitutional powers, which they conti nued to exercise until the end?

1 . 442 e t se . us e th e Z e e a t Hazlitt, II q , disc s s no incid nt

e e n e e e . gr at l gth, and giv s it possibly undu importanc CHAPTER XVI

THE END

WAR with the Turks broke out again in 1644 and Candia was blockaded The republic l was a most bankrupt, and was even obliged to raise money by selli ng the office of pro

of curator San Marco for ducats, and by ennobling seventy plebeian famili es on the payment of ducats each? France sent a handful of troops to the assistance of Ven ice, but they rather hampered than helped ? of 1669 the cause Christendom In , after

- fi ve of twenty years heroic defense, Candia was surrendered to the Turks, and peace was concluded . 1685 In war again broke out, and Fran cesco Morosini, the hero of Candia, was placed in supreme command . For the mo ment the fortunes of Venice revived , and like the afterglow of a gorgeous sunset, the deeds

1 VII. 3 72 92 et se . Romanin , , and Garzoni, q 2 . 455 . Romanin , vii 198 THE OLIGARCHY OF VENICE of Morosini are as brilli ant and as worthy to rank immortal as are those of the admirals M ’ of the heroic days of Venice . But or osi n i s triumphs came too late . He recovered the l Morea, and with it restored Venetian se f respect . When he died, however, matters 1718 went from bad to worse, and in , by Pa ssar owitz the Peace of , the republic was deprived of the Morea and of her interests in the Levant f or all time to come . ’ During the last century of the republic s

of history, the best that can be said her is

. 1769 that she existed In , just before the

end, Angelo Emo, by his Victories over the

corsairs, Showed that there were still men in

Venice . But it was not that Venice ever lacked brave and valiant sons . It was the

system that was at fault, and not the indi vi duals. Her government was rotten to the ’ core, and when at last it suited Napoleon s

purpose to end it, Venice died without a

struggle, unhonored and unmourned . With the republic died the old Venetian

- spirit of nationality . The short lived so called republi c of 1848 had for its ulti m m e object a united Italy rather than the resto ration of Venice to her place among th e

200 THE OLIGARCHY OF VENICE salage to Austria was preferable to a demo cracy . To their shame be it said that almost all of the old families willingly accepted titles from Austria . The oligarchy conferred no titles of nobility, yet many descendants of the early rulers of the republic glory to- day in t h e possession of the lowest grade of n ob il ity conferred by the Holy Roman Empire, purchased by the qui escent treason of their immediate ancestors to Venice . And herein lies the explanation of the decay and fall of

Venice her oligarchy was untrue to itself . s i di Becau e of her pecul ar con tions, her evolution was the reverse of that of other wi ul countries in Europe . Endowed th pop ar t institu ions in the beginning, her aristocracy had early acquired the authority, which it enlarged and consolidated, so that the devel Opm e n t of an all-powerful oligarchy was the natural result of her growth . The very strength of the nobility was its greatest dan ger, and class feeling and momentary class advantage asserted themselves to the de t r i di ment of national interests . Moreover, con tions arose which required prompt decisions and swift action, and, unhappily for Ven ice, the action taken was not always of the THE EN D 201

WIse st n or the decisions of the best . The sack of Constantinople and the resulting of destruction Genoa appeared, at the time, essential to the welfare of the republic .

Perhaps they were, but they opened the way l f or the triumphant fo lowers of the Prophet, of and, by increasing the wealth the aristo cracy, led to that other fatal blunder, the closing of the Great Council . When the ruling class lost responsibility to of all but itself, class interest took the place of national welfare, and love caste was sub f stituted for love o country . Its members suffered from the mistake inevitable to Oli gar chi e s : they failed to r e ahze that what was f or the good of all was for the good of the few, and that without general content the ul tenure of a r ing class is at best precarious .

Marino Falier, great reformer that he was, appreciated the shortcomings of his fellows t and ried to save them from themselves, but l his ife paid the forfeit of his temerity . The poli cy of expansion inaugurated by Fran

Foscar i cesco , with all its tinsel glitter, added t o the evils of the state by inciting in the aristocracy a land- lust that could never be satisfied nor controlled . 202 THE OLIGARCHY OF VENICE As troubles cro wded about the republic

from without, suspicion and distrust ruled

. of supreme within Conscious its weakness, the oligarchy sought to substitute diplomacy for force and a closer internal organizati on for that naval s upremacy which was indis

pensable to her survival . But class union

discouraged individual initiative, and the sac r ifi ce of nationality f or caste sapped the vigor

of citizenship . When Venice needed virile

force, she was only able to control cunning ;

Sh e when needed men, she was obliged to AS place her reliance in diplomatists . long as she was true to the real interests of the republic Sh e prospered ; when she was false

to them she fell .

INDE'

CR E 81 n . 20 e 22 i A , fall of, ; d struction of, ; patr

m e of 22 23 . Ad iralty, boards g ov rning , arch , ,

198 . e a e Ar ngo , or popular ss mbly of e e e 31 e n i e 25 e e e Adriatic , fr d from pirat s , , V c , ; r duc d pow rs

32 e i 32. 62 4 of 110 ; origin of w dd ng of, of, , 6 ; abolition , ,

A ua de lla e e e 131. g , V n tian d fe at at,

153 . Aristocracy, only form of, in a e e an In e e 10 e e Albani , V n ti domains , V nic , ; t nd ncy of a

e n e 128. 11 r gai d, comme rcial , ; rise of a

Alb i ola e 2 . al e i e 12 d , battl of, 8 comme rci , in V n c , ; e Al e e ve l o m e n t 14 15 e boin , ntranc of, into Italy , p of, , ; pow r

22 . 16 42 e e of, , ; gov rnm nt mono

A e e . e e oli ze d 36 e e u l xand r III , Fr d rick Bar p by, ; arly xcl sion e e e al e barossa xcommunicat d by, of comm rci , from pow r, 54 e 6 3 e e e e h ; acknowl dge d pope by 3 . 7 ; struggl b tw n t e

e e ri 57. ac e 38 Fr d ck, two aristocr i s, ; action e E e i s r Al xius , mp ror, authority of of, in upris ngagainst Au t ia,

e e e Dal 199 200 . V nic ov r Croatia and , a ti e 33 m e fi f mati sanc on d by, ; Ar i s , composition of , in e e e n h right of fr trad grante d t e e t ce ntury, 45 e n e e e e f e by, , V ic r gard d as Army, r strictions upon o fic rs

al 48 . e e 177. riv by, of, by V nic , e e e e Em e e e E Al xius , h ir to Gr k pir , Arund l and Surr y, arl and

e a e 70 e 195. asks h lp of Crus d rs , , Count ss of, 71 e e 21 ; promis s of, unfulfill d , Attila, invasion of, . 73 ade e e 73 e e ; m joint mp ror, ; Austria, joins L agu of Cam m lir de r 74 152 e e e e of, brai , ; l ad rs of V n tian‘ M e n 1 e u as al e ur t zu 99. S e e al o Al xi s Duc , c l d r volt agai st, s

s ac 74. m i . phlos , con pir y of, Maxi lian

e e an 173. Al t on om n i al Ambassadors , V n ti , y , mu cip , in Italy, e é e 18. Am rica, discov ry of, A n a f e st o e de l , Paoluccio , first dog Avogadori Comun ,

e e 24 . t 172 173. of V nic , func ions of, , e S e e Ancona , unsucc ssful i g of, Ba doe r Ba doe r , , part of, in e e e e ue r i n i - e c App llat courts, m mb rs of, Q Ti polo conspira y,

70. 94 95 e e e ; d f at and d ath of, e e t e 96 Aquil ia, arly impor anc of, 06 INDEX

Badoe r l . Se e Part e ci C e e ofi i ce r e fami y am rl ng o, of V ne tian

a zi o . i e r ce 176. p family colon al s vi ,

173 e 174. e e e Bailo , ; importanc of, Canc ll ria ducal , composition

i n e 174 . Baldu o, Franc sco , con of,

s i r a c 109. Ca lli e r e p y of, grande , functi ons of, n e ppg Baldwi , of Fland rs , aids e e e ce 75 Dandolo in d fl cting Fourth Candia, sold to V ni , ; u e 73 e E e e e e th e Cr sad , ; mad mp ror surr nd r d to Turks ,

e 74. 197. of Constantinopl ,

a 103 . Ca n di an o e Barb ro , Marco , family, dog s from,

Ba r b olan o e r e e e 35 n . 37. , Pi t o, l ct d ,

e 39 e e 39. Ca i di dog , ; d pos d , , Giovanni , conspirator,

Bar n a b ot ti e e 19. pp11. , paup r nobl s ,

e m ui de e e . Se e e B d ar , Marq s , part of, in Cap rout Good Hop ,

192. e . Spanish Conspiracy, Cap of e ffi ce e e i B lluno , bought by Carrara, Captain , o r of V n t an

122 e e c 123. e e 175 s ; c d d to Vis onti , colonial s rvic , ; juri e an e 2 f 1 B mbo, histori of V nice , n . diction o , 76. e e r am e di e e e B rgamo , B lt , con Capuchins , xp ll d from

s i r a t or 104 . e 1 p , Ve nic , 88 ; allowe d to t e

e e e u 1 9. B rgamo, r store d to Ve nic t rn , 8

136. e Carmagnola , Franc sco, con Boccon i o n e dotti e r e 132 e i e , Marino, a sw r to , ; r ta n d by

e 91 . e e 134 e e e 135. prot st of, V nic , ; b h ad d, Bor b or i n o r e e e e e e , Lanf anco , d f at d Carrara , Franc sco , succ ds

118. i u 115 at Trapani , to lordsh p of Pad a, ; i e e e e e 115 116 Borg a , C sar , br aking up tr ach ry of, , ; sur

i 151. e e of 116 n e of k ngdom of, r nd r , ; joi s G noa I e e e e e e e 119 Br scia, r stor d to V nic , against V nic , ; block 136 e e e e e ; taxation of cl rgy in, ad s V nic on land sid ,

1 . 120 85 ; purchase s of, from e e e 154 184 e t ri 122 b e Bruss ls , P ac of, , . Duk of Aus a, ; ade e of 122 Burgundy, joins crus of com s ally Visconti , ;

H . 12 . i 145. 3 P us , abdication of ,

e E e . Se e E li e Byzantin mpir ast Carrara, Marsi o di , b trays

e r n E e . 114 e 115. mpir Scala , ; r ward of, a U e Carrar , b rtino , Bassano and e i e al i e Cal ndario, F lippo , con Cast lb do g v n to , by

i r a r 1 11 . sp t o , 04 ; conde mne d to Ve ni ce , 6

e 105 e e e t h e 9. d ath , ; r asons for choic Carrar si, ,

e 108 109. e e r E e of, as accomplic , , Carrying trad , a ly ast rn , e e r 30 Cal ndario , Nicol tto , consp i a

n i e 105. u e e tor, ba sh d , Cassiodor s , l tt r of, to tri

Cal o oa n n e s m e e 22 30. j , co m rcial privi bun s , ,

e e e 51 . e e 55. l g s grant d by, Cavarz r , attack upon , m e e 184 e e Ca brai , L agu of, ; for C n da, bought by Carrara, 1 22 e ti 123 mation of, 13 ; dire cte d 1 ; c de d to Viscon , ; e e 152 e e e e e against V nic , collaps t mporal pow r ov r, claim d

153 192. e 185. of, , by pop ,

208 INDEX

’ ce e th e C . S e e e Cyp rus , d d to Turks , Ducal ouncil Dog s

15 . 5. Council

e i Eas te E e e V e n Dalmatia, invasion of, by P p n , rn mpir , dog s of 27 e e e i ce e 24 i n t e rf e r ; advantag s to V nic of subj ct to , ; 32 33 a u e e in e e f acquisition of, , nc of, V n tian a fairs , t h or i t e i e e 26 e e e y of V n c ov r, sanc ; shar of V nic at par ti on e d 33 49 e ve e i 74 e e n , , r co r d from t tion of , ; failur of V

50 117 i ce e 143 . S e e Hungarians , ; loss of , ; to support lat r,

e 126. E e . r storation of, also Latin mpir e e East e r n es e Dandolo, Andr a, chronicl s of, qu tion, cr ation of ,

1 2. l 48 ,

E r e e e E cce li n o 9. Dandolo , n ico , r al l ad r of , e 69 C r usa d Em o e t e e Fourth Crusad , ; , Ang lo , vic ori s of, ov r

e rs 1. th e 198. use d by, 70, 7 corsairs , e En l n d su ort s e e Dandolo , Giacomo , d stroys g , pp HolyL agu , 1 15g e oe e e e 1 8. G n s fl t , e e E te 9 e e Dandolo , Giovanni , l ction and s family, ; m mb rs of, - e 79 80 82. e e ue r i n i e rul of, , , ngag d in Q Ti polo

Dar n P. e Ve n 97 72. , , Comt , history of conspiracy, i c e 2 t of E e f e e e e by , ; hostili y , to t h e urop , indi f r nc of, to fat

2. e e 145 148 e u Church, of V nic , , ; no e e e e e Ve n c our a e m e n t D odato , l ct d dog of g to Spain by,

i ce 2 e e 188 189. , 6. ag ainst V nic , , e e e e Diplomatic s rvic , V n tian — 173 177. e e e e Fa nza, att mpt of V nic to v e i e 6 e m e e 151 e e e e Di in r ght, th ory of, ; s iz , r cov r d by pop , b ar r assm e n t s 153 of, 7 ’ e 87 88 l e e e e Dog s Council, , ; func Fa i r, B rtucci , nt rs into 1 5 166 tions of , 6 , . conspiracy with his uncle ,

e e e e 104 e 105. Dog s , r publican gov rnm nt ; imprison d , e 13 e e e e e e e of und r, h r dity in s l c Fali r, Marino, dog , arly i e 15 e e fi ce s e 101 102 . t on of, abolish d, ; l c h ld by, , ; dis 16 2 63 163 1 tion of, , 6 , , satisfactions of, 03 plot of, e e e 24 1 4 e e l ction offirst dog , sub 0 cond mnation and d ath e ct e e 24 105 e t h e j to Byzantin pow r, ; of, hatr d of, for oli e e 25 n e w e 106- 108 e pow r of arly, titl garchy, ; probabl e 5 e 108 add d to , 7 modifications r ason of conspiracy of, ; e e e of privil g s and authority d struction of portrait of, 1 109 e c on s ir of, 77 functions of, 63 ; r e ; importanc of p

1 4 110 201. stricti ons upon, 6 . acy of, as re forme r, E e e Or de la f o e e Donato , rmolao , murd r of, Fali r, , h lp giv n

138. 5 e 50 . Baldwin by, 0 ; d ath of, e e 187 u e e e e Donato , L onardo , dog , Fano , s z rainty of V nic ov r, Donato , Marco, part of, in ue r i n i - e e e b 122 Q Ti polo conspiracy, F ltr , bought y Carrara ,

94 95. e e 123 , c d d to Visconti , . D ori e r e e , Pi t o, tak s Chioggia, F rrara, Church of San Marco l 2g e built by V nice in, 49 ; war INDEX 209

2 1 3 F re e e be twe e n Ve nice and , 9 , 8 d rick Barbarossa, r lations

114 183 . e e 52 53 a m se cond war with, , of V nic with , , ; e e e 5 6 r e 53 e F udal syst m , ris of, , bitiou of, crown d by 7 8 e u e x c om m un i sult of, , d str ction of, Hadrian , 8 al 8 l es ca t e d 54 ; ; in It y, ; a oofn s of , Milan and part of

e e 10. e 54 V nic from , Lombardy captur d by, ; Fla b i a n i co e 15 16 e e e e 55 r e , Dom nico , , ; d f at d at L gnano , ; ’ u d e a t 38—42 c c i ve d a t h e co p t of, chara b ck into church , i s 38 e e e 5q t e ri st c of, ; le ct d dog ,

40 e e e u ui e e e 128. h r ditary succ ssion Fri li , acq r d by V nic , e 42 e e e de e abolish d by , ; r ign of, Fu nt s , Count , gov rnor of 43 ; failure of me asure s intro Mil an 186.

duce d 59. by, e e e e Galb a o es Flor nc , aids V nic against j family, dog from,

e 114 a e 35 n . V rona , tt mpt of, to e - e e al e e e bre ak Milane s V n tian Gal azzo , Gian, d pos d by

li an ce 129 e t h e 150. , ; succ ss of Ludovico Sforza, e 132 e e e e i att mpt, ; forms d f u Gallipoli , V n t an victory at,

e al e 128 141. siv lianc with Sforza and ,

e e 136. e e e 135. V nic , Gattam lata , condotti r ,

Th e . Se e i e e e Forty , Counc l of G noa , growing comm rc of, 46 47 e e e e e Forty. , wars b tw n V nic — Foscar i e 18 e 76 77 82 118 119 121 , Franc sco , ; oppos s and , , , , , e e - e e e e e Milan s V n tian allianc , d struction of, a mistak ,

129 e e e 201. ; p opl warn d against,

130 e e e e e . Se e e e ; corruptly l ct d dog , G rmany Fr d rick Bar

131 e f e e 136 e . ; f cts of rul of, ; barossa ; H nry V e e t r e e 1 9 e e forc d r i m nt of, 3 ; Chiazza, St fano, app als to e of 140 e e 103 e e d ath , ; charact r of , Fali r, nt rs into con

140 e 201 . s ir a c i e 104 r e a ; xpansion policy of, p y with Fal r, ; osca r i a co o e F , J p , banishme nt of , sons for choic of, as aecom

137 13 e li c e 1 08 109. ; pardon of, 7 ; s cond p , ,

e 138 e e e e 54. banishm nt of, furth r Ghib llin citi s, 138 Gi 11sti n i an i n accusations against , , histori an of Ve ice ,

1 2 n . third banishme nt of, 38 ; e 139 ar e Gon za o e d ath of, ; ch act r of g , Gian Franc sco, con 4 0 dott i e r e , 135 oscar i n i An ton i o f alse e e e e F , , charg s Good Hop , Cap of, r sult of 195 e e scove r e e 18 against, x cution of, y of, to V nic , ,

195. fié

e e e e e Franc , joins L agu of Cam Grad nigo, Jacopo , implicat d

152 e e 125. brai, ; ch ck d by Holy in conspiracy , e e 153 e e e e e L agu , ; forms allianc Grad nigo , Pi tro , l ction of, w e e 153 e e e 80 81 e ith V nic , ; d f at of , as dog , , ; unfortunat

153. Se e e 92 e at Novara, also r ign of, ; oppon nts of,

e . I. 92 93 e e 94 Charl s VIII , Francis , , ; plan to d pos , ;

H . ui I' . u e e e 95 Louis , Lo s , Lo is conspiracy d f at d by, , ' II 1963 e 113 xpansion policy of, , 4 i I. e n 154. 111 Franc s , occupi s Mila , 210 INDEX

e Ne w e e e Grado , s at of patriarch of sir d by Fr d rick Barba

uil e 23. 53 . S e e e Aq ia, rossa , also Crusad s .

. e e e i n e Gran Consig lio S Gr at Hungary, jo s G noa against

. e i e 119 i e Council V n c , ; grow ng pow r e 16 e 142 e e e Gr at Council, ; stablish of, ; V nic j alous of, e 61 144 a e m nt of, ; functions of, joins crus d of Pius — — 4 15 160 1 0 1 2 . 14 61 6 9 7 7 5. Se e I. , , , ; II , also Louis ; e e e e e e e fforts to xclud pl b ians St ph n II . 2 i from, 8 ; corrupt e le ct ons

83 n e 23 n . to , constitutional cha g s Ibas , bishop of, — e e e 83 85 i n cr e as e . e pr s nt d to , Innoc nt III , Fourth Crusad f t e e e se 6 ing di ficul y of l ction to , spou d by, 7 ; de fle ction 85 86 e e e e t h e e e , st ps in d v lopm nt Crusad oppos d by, 8 158 qg of, 7 ; constitution of, ; e e 159 In uIS it i on me thod of l ction by, q , e sta blishe d in Ve n e e e e i ce 1 fr qu nt m tings of, , 83 160 e e e e S e n e e e e ; pow r d l gat d to Inquisitors of d c as d dog s , a t 62 e 1 1 5 e by, 1 limits pow r of 78 ; functions of, 64, 6 .

t h e Te n 196. e , Inquisitors of stat , functions

e e E e . S e e E e 168 169. Gr k mpir ast rn of, ,

E e . e e e e e mpir Isaac Ang lus , d pos d Gr k

e . e 23 . e e Cr usa d Gr gory II , pop , mp ror, asks aid of

e ' II. e e e r s 70 e e h e Gr gory , pop , d mands , ; r stor d to t ron ,

185. 3 lfi l e e of, 7 ; unfu l d promis s of,

r i a n i 3 e 4 . G , ntonio, disgrace of 7 ; murd r of, 7 rp A , 1 . r a e o e 6 Is , B rtucci cons irator, i , p e i e 53 . 10 Gu lph c citi s, e e e e Istria, sov r ignty of V nic

d . e 54 e 49. Ha rian IV , d ath of, ov r,

W. e o i e 8 9 sub u Hazlitt, Car w, hist r an of Italy, f udalism in , , ; j

e e 3 . a t i on e e b e V nic , g of , d sir d y Fr d

e V . e e e 53 . H nry , of G rmany, tr aty rick Barbarossa , with , e e e e e e solo e e e e H racl a, g n ral ass mbly at J , civil war b tw n H ra

24 e e e e 26. ; civil war b tw n cl a and ,

e solo 26 e t h e e 1. J and , ; s at of gov John D acon,

e r n m e n t e e 26 . e e r mov d from, ; John VIII , pop , quarr l of

e e 29. e e 182. sit of, forgott n, V nic with ,

e e e e e e e e n de 189. H r tics, l ni ncy of V nic to, Joy us , Cardi al ,

l . Ju ius II , asks aid against f e e e e 151 e x com m u n i Historians , o ficial, of V nic , V nic ,

2 e e e 2. e h e r 152 e pr judic s of lat r, cat s , forms allianc

. C . h e r 153 i Hodgson , F , historian of with , ; jo ns Holy

e e 3 . e e 153 . V nic , L agu , e e i e x e e e Holy Land , first V n t an Justinian , mp ror, anath mas

e di t i on 47. n e a s p to, of, agai st N stori ni m ,

e e e 23 n . Holy L agu , form d by Spain ,

e e e 153 . Juve n e e V nic and pop , , xpos s Spanish Con

e r e e e de s ir a c 194. Holy S pulch , r scu of, p y ,

212 INDEX

e 128 e e - e e O e e h rul of, ; Milan s V n rs olo , Dom nico, t rone

e 40. tian alliance de fe nde d by usurp d by,

129 i e 130. e ; dy ng pl a of, Ors olo , Orso , patriarch of

e n e 40. Monarchy, absolut , champion Grado, acti g dog , t h e e e 8 e e O e e of p opl , ; t nd ncy rs olo , Otton , popular dis e e sa ti sf a ctIon of V nic toward he re ditary against, 39 ;

al 15 35. e constitution , , all d to powe r, 39 de ath of g , e 0. Monf rrato , Bonifazio di , nom

e e a e O e e . e inal l ad r of FourthCrus d , rs olo, Pi tro , II , tribut to 68 e e h e e e 3 1 ; part of, in d fl cting t e pirat s r fus d by, made

u e 71 n . 73 e e 32. cr sad , , s lls Can Duk of Dalmatia, e 5 O e 3 dia to V nic e , 7 . rs olo family, doge s from , 5

e e e e n . 37 Mor a, r cov r d, but lost , H 2 198. t h e atus e 6. again , Orso , yp , dog ,

] . S e e e de V e Moro , I Sforza, Ludovico . Ossuna, Duk , ic roy of e e e 186 Morosini , historian of V nic , Napl s , ; Spanish Con

2 n . s i r a c e 192. p y organiz d by, e Morosini , Franc sco , brilliant

e e 198. 20 d ds of, Padua , antiquity of, ; aids - e 78. Que ri n i e Morosini , hous of , Ti polo conspiracy,

e e 127. 94 b e Motta, V n tian victory at, ; conspirators from, M zu hl ur t os . Se e e e e d 96 97 hi p Al xius h ad , , ; lords p of,

. e 114 Ducas tak n from Carrara, ; r e Muscor n o e e e 115 , Giulio , fals charg s stor d to him , atte mpt

Foscar i n i 195. e e u se of, against , of V nic to as buffe r e 116 126 t h e stat , , ; Carrare si

ri e i e 2 n . In 123 Nani , histo an of V n c , control of, ; fall of,

e e 25 e e 124. Napl s , duk s of, ; d sir of

. S e e e t h e . Ludovico Sforza, and Charl s Papacy Church ,

. O 150. m d e e V e VIII , to btain, Par a, ai s V nic against

e e e 114 . Nars s , church s found d by rona,

22. o e e e Par s , captur d by V n tians , e ri ofli ce rs 51 Navy, r st ctions upon 177 e Pa rt e ci azi o e ; boards gov rning, p family, dog sfrom ,

35 n . , 37 14 e 6. e e 2 n . N gropont, loss of, Paruta, historian of V nic ,

Ne w e al . e e e e 54 . Aquil ia, patriarch of Pasc III , l ct d pop , P 23 . assa r owi t z e a e 198. , P c of, Ni ce h or u s Com a c f e e 160 p , attack on Patricians , o fic s fill d by, ,

2 . 161 chio by, 7 obligations of, to hold

St . th e e ofi i ce 179. Nicholas , , Gr at, body , ’ e e e 48. e r e al e 178 . of , tak n by V n tians , Patroni d ll a s n ,

St . th e e e V . e e 185 Nicholas, , L ss r, body Paul , pop , acc ssion of, ;

e 4 . e e of, take n by Ve n tians, 8 d mands of, r fuse d by Ve n e e e e i c e 187 e e e x com m u Novara, Fr nch d f at d at, , V nic

153 . n i ca t e d 188 e i n by, ; r move s

e e e t e r di ct 189. Nov llo , Franc sco , mad lord , 123 e e a e of Padua, tr ach ry of, Paulus , patri rch of Aquil ia,

124 125 e e 125. i 22 23 , x cution of, fl ght of, , . INDEX 213

e i Pon ti ta e 55. Pavia , gr at distributing po nt , tr aty of, t al 29 e e e e e of northe rn I y, ; c ntr Popular gov rnm nt , ris of, e e e 54. E e 8 13 ; e e of Ghib llin citi s , urop , , in V nic ,

a e 13 . Pe e , le d r of uprising against 61 ust r ia 199. e ; e , Pr gadi , council of, for

e e of e t e 62. S e e P pin , invasion of Dalmatia by, runn r s na ,

e n Ic e e e . 27 de cide s to attack V , also S nat

2 e ul t h e 28 . 7 r s ts of attack , ; Procuratori di S Marco , func 1 l 28 . 170 17 e annual tribute to , tions of, , ; s ling of

f e 197 . e e . P t r IV , of Aragon, joins o fic of,

e e e 119 . i s e V nic against G noa, Prom sion (coronation oath) , f e e vi si on s 60 78 100 164 Philip, of Swabia , o f rs of, to of, , , , ,

ade 71 e i 65. Crus rs , ; promis s of,

e 73 . e e f e e Ve n unfulfill d, Prot ctiv tari f , b li f of

. b e e i ce i n 147. Philip III , dou l gam of, ,

1 e 188 189. Pr o ve di tor e e e 86 ; ill succ ss of, , g n ral da mar,

1 8. Se e also Spain . y

e e e ri e 172. Pi n Coll gio , constitution of, Provv dito alla pac , ’ 163 167. S e e e . Pr o ve di t or i e , also Coll gio all armam nto ,

e e a ue s t 1y8. Pi rr , J q , par of , in Span ’ 193 e x e cu e e e e 178. ish Conspiracy, ; Provv ditori d ll ars nal ,

194 . e e e . tion of, Public saf ty, committ of

e e e S e e T e n . Pirat s , V n tian shipping Council of

3 1. harasse d by,

e e 46 . S e e t . Pisa, growing comm rc of, , Quaranta Council of For y 47 e e e e e ue r i n i i i e war b tw n V nic and , Q , Marco, d sappo nt d

ambitions of, 93 ; part of, Ni c olO e e n 94 e e Pisani , , d f at of, at in co spiracy, ; d f at and

e 118. e 5. Sapi nza, d ath of 9 e e Pisani , Pi tro , Implicat d in 125 e e e e conspiracy, . Rav nna , att mpt of V nic to e e e e e e 151 e e e Pisani , V ttor , commands fl t s iz , r cov r d by

e 119 e e 153 . against G noa, ; succ ss pop ,

e e 119 e e e e n a i ssa n ce 18. and d f at of, ; s nt nc , luxury of, s 120 e e e e e 179 again t , ; r storation of, R v nu , sourc s of , ; in

120. 197. to command, war with Turks

Pi u II. a e e e e e e e , crus d pr ach d by, od s , captur d by V n tians , Z n 1 1 5 . e e e e e e Pl b ians , xclusion of, from Rimini, att mpt of V nic to e 82 e e e 151 e e e Gr at Council , ; att ntion s iz , ; r cov r d by

e o e 153 . of aristocracy to mat rial p p , e e 91 e e e e w lfar of, ; comp nsa Rivo Alto , s at of g ov rnm nt

180. e e 29. tions of, r mov d to , Po l t a 175 hi e e , jurisdiction of, , Romanin , storian of V nic , ppg 3 m 2 e . S e e e e e 5. Polic Signori di nott Ro , duk s of, al i cr minale . e m e m e i e n e Political quality, among Sab llico , h storian of V ic ,

e 161 . 11 . b rs of ruling class , 14 INDEX

S a or n i n o n . S e e th e e th e e Col g , Joh John r lation of, to Pi n

e . le i o 167. D acon g ,

e a e e Offi . c e e Salari s, p id to V n tian Sixtus IV , pla s V nice unde r

ci als 1 9. e 183 , 7 an int rdict, . S a n os e e e e , captur d by V n tians , Spain , promis d part of Ve ne é1 e 1 2 tian poss ssions , 5 ; joins ’ a e e e e 153 Sant Barbara s day, a c r Holy L agu , ; dominant

158. e 186 i e mony of, pow r in Italy, ; una d d

. S e e Ca n di a n o E e e e Sanudo family by urop , against V nic , 188 1 9 f , 8 ; conspiracy o e e e m e n t e d 1 —1 2 api nza , d f at of isani at by, 90 9 . S e e S P “ also Phili p III . e e e e Sarpi , Pi tro , r t ntion of, as Spalato , captur d by Hunga e e e 188 a t 51 e e advis r, by V nic , ; rians , ; r captur d by

e ll 190 . e 51. t mpts to ki , V ne tians ,

Sa vi i e e n 167. e e e e l , l ctio of, St no, Mich l , xpu sion of, ’ S a vi i e e 183 . e 1 2 n all r sia, from ducal palac , 0 se e e e e e 103 e 126 Scala , Can Grand d lla, s nds t nc of, ; rul of, , e 114 12 m diator to Ve nice , . 7.

e i 9. e e H . Dal Scalig r fam ly, St ph n , of Hungary, 8 0 11 e e an e , capture d by V n tians , towns captur d by,

233 51. S e e also Hungary . e e e e Scolari , Filippo d gli, d f at d

127. Te a ti n e s e e e Ve n at Motta , , xp ll d from

al 146. i ce 188 e e u Scutari , f l of, , ; allow d to r t rn,

e e 8 e e e 1 9. S nat , 7, 88 ; pow r d l 8

e e Te n . Se e i gat d to, by Gr at Council , Council of Counc l

2 162 T e n . 16 ; con stitution of, ; of 162 e e e e e e jurisdiction of , ; purs T n dos , captur d by V n

e 1 9. S e e 51. strings h ld by, 7 tians ,

e i . e e s also Pr gad Th odor , bishop of Mopsu

e 61 2. 2 n . S stie ri , , 6 stina, 3

e e ze e e e St . th e Sforza , Franc sco, s i s thron Th odor , , Martyr, body

a 136 e e e e e 48. of Mil n , ; forms d f u of, tak n by V n tians , e al e e e Th r e e th e siv lianc with Flor nc Chapt rs , schism of , 1 2pf and Ve nice , 36 ; gifts of, to

Foscar i 137. e Ba a m on t e e Jacopo , Ti polo, j , charact r e e i sti cs 93 a Sforza , Ludovico , ncourag s of, ; p rt of, in con ul e e 146 s ir a c 94 i e S tan against V nic , ; p y , , 95 ; ban shm nt e 96 e te claims of, against Napl s , of, ; furth r at mpts at

150 e ai 97 e 97. ; incit s Turks ag nst conspiracy by, ; d ath ,

e e 151. e 61 ul r V nic , Ti polo, Giacomo, pop a

n e e 182. i e e 80. Sicilia V sp rs , cand dat for dog ,

e e e e a co o 79 n . Sig ismund, army of, d f at d Ti polo, J p ,

a 127 li e e 79 11 . at Mott , ; at Friu , Ti polo, Lor nzo ,

128 . e u e de Tol do , D k , part of, in

t e al m i e 192. Signori di not cri nal , Spanish Conspiracy,

1 2. n e functions of, 7 Tr a do i co family, dog s from,

1 35 n . Signoria, constitution of, 66

216 INDEX

e 118 119 ; e i e e e 56 valry with G noa, , V n c , P ac of , th e e 57 plot of Carrar si against, 124 125 ; e e e r , acquisitions to , dur V ni r, S bastiano, victo y of, ’ i n e e 126 e 155. g St no s r ign , ; dis at L panto , ’ t ur b an ce s Moce n i o s e e e e during g V rona , V nic d clare s war e 128 Mi e e - e e s 114 r ign , ; lan s V n again t , ; subdue d by Vis e 129 e 122 i e tian allianc , ; chang in conti , ; acqu r d by V e n n 131 12 official de sig ation of, ; i ce , 6 e e e e e i allianc of, with Flor nc , Vic nza , subdu d by Viscont , 132 n 134 2 e e e ; war with Mila , ; acquir d by V nic , 136 ; form s de fe nsive alliance 12

e e IV . e e e with Flor nc and Sforza , Victor , acknowl dg d pop ’ 136 e e Fosca r i s e e e a 54 ; ff ct of rul by Fr d rick Barb rossa , ; 136 e 54 in , ; re lations of, with d ath of, . — 141 144 145 147 B a r n ab o V e n Turks , , , ; Visconti , , joins e e i ce e 119 e mistak s of, r garding Con against G noa , ; forc d st a n ti n o le 142 143 148 e e 12 p , , , to mak truc , 0. E e i ff e e e l Ma r i a al li an ce urop ind r nt to fat of, Visconti, Fi ippo , 145 148 s e e e 128 e e , ; lo s of comm rcial of V nic with , ; V nic e 14 e e 1 4 supr macy by, 8 ; aids d clar s war against, 3 .

e . e z Sforza against Charl s VIII , Visconti , Gian Gal az o , sub 150 e e e e ; aids Franc against du s V rona and Vic nza, 151 e e 122 e e e a Sforza , ; de f at d by aid d by V nic , g ainst 151 e 123 e 123 Turks , ; Cr mona cap Carrara, ; d ath of, . tur e d 151 e e e e e b e by, ; citi s s iz d Visconti , Matt o, m diator 151 e e t e e e e e by, ; L agu of Cambrai w n V nic and G noa,

e 152 x 2. dire ct d against , ; e 8

2 9. communicate d, 15 ; forms Visconti family,

al e e 153 i Vi sdorn i n i 178. lianc with pop , jo ns alla tana, e e 153 a l Holy L agu , ; forms lia n ce e 153 e al e e e with Franc , ; W th , sourc of w akn ss to

i . e 154 e f e e 14. Franc s I aid d by, ; V nic , e e e e e f t of P ac of Bruss ls on , 154 e e Z e 69 ; furth r struggl with ara, r volt of, to Hung ary ,

e 155 se r e e 70. Turk y, ; diplomatic r captur d , e of 173- 177 Z e vic , ; admiralty no, Carlo , in command of 178 e e e 179 of, ; r v nu s of, ; flying squadron against e t h e r e 119 e r lations of, with Chu ch, G noa, ; r turn of, to 181—190 ; Spanish conspiracy Ve nic e 120 ; imprisonme nt 190—1 4 e 125 against, 9 ; injustic of, Fosca ri n i 194 195 Z e e e e a t of, to , , ; no , R ni ro , fforts of, g ains

u e e t th e T e n 196 . f rth r troubl wi h Turks , , 197 198 e S i Z e e e e , ; d ath of p rit of orzi , dog , int rdict r mov d — n 198 202. e e 183 . natio ality in, by int rc ssion of,