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 M s sta tements of li or fact, originally made for po tical reli i ous g reasons, have by constant repetition become incorporated as part of Venetian his ’ 3 tory .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 .