Trinity College Trinity College Digital Repository Senior Theses and Projects Student Scholarship Spring 2015 Enduring City-States: The Struggle for Power and Security in the Mediterranean Sea Zachary B. Topkis Trinity College, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalrepository.trincoll.edu/theses Part of the Diplomatic History Commons, European History Commons, Medieval History Commons, Military History Commons, and the Political History Commons Recommended Citation Topkis, Zachary B., "Enduring City-States: The Struggle for Power and Security in the Mediterranean Sea". Senior Theses, Trinity College, Hartford, CT 2015. Trinity College Digital Repository, https://digitalrepository.trincoll.edu/theses/467 Enduring City-States: The Struggle for Power and Security in the Mediterranean Sea Zachary B. Topkis History Senior Thesis Advisor: Sean Cocco Spring, 2015 1 Acknowledgements: I wish to express my sincere thanks and appreciation to several individuals and groups, who without which this project would not have been possible. First and foremost, my advisor, Professor Cocco, not only helped me chose my topic, but has also been a continuous source of never ending help and aid throughout. In addition, I would also like to name and thank those individuals or groups who have either helped contribute to this thesis or have inspired me throughout various phases of this process: Mom Professor Gary Reger Professor Dario Euraque Gigi St. Peter My fellow spring 2015 History thesis writers Again, thank you to all who have helped me and to the entire History department for your knowledge, encouragement, and support. 2 Table of Contents Chapter 1(Introduction): “The Origin of Two Maritime City-States” ………………………….…………………………1 i. “City-State as Polity” …………………………………………………….………………….6 ii. “City-States in the Mediterranean Sea” ……...…………………………………………..16 Chapter 2: “Venice and Genoa, A Struggle for Foundation: Their Routes to Empire”...............29 i. Geography and Myth …………………........…………………………………………........32 ii. Creating a Government .………..…………………………………………………………...37 iii. Economy of a City-State …………………………………………………………………… 46 iv. Military Institutions and Responses ……………………………………………………….49 v. Changes In Military Institutions and Responses (After 1200 AD) ………………….. ..57 vi. Changes In Government (After 1200 AD) …………………...…………………………...67 Chapter 3: “A Clash of City-States: Rivals Confronted” …………………………………………………75 i. The War of 1294: The Beginning of a New Era ………………………………………....87 ii. The New Century and “The Black Death” ………………………………………...……..92 iii. War of 1350 ………………………………………………………....................................103 iv. War of Chioggia ……………………….................................…………………………...109 v. Conflict: Tactics and Diplomacy ………………………………………..……………….115 Chapter 4: “The City-State That Withstood a Millennia: Venice’s Adaptive and Resilient Course” ………………………………………………………………………………………………… .. 125 i. The Emergence of the Ottomans and the War for Negroponte ……………………….129 ii. Otranto and the Venetian-Ottoman War of 1499 ……………….....…………………..135 iii. The Italian Mainland Wars: The Leagues of Cambrai and Cognac ……..………….138 iv. The Rise of Corsairs and the Holy League of 1537 ……………………….........……..150 v. The Siege of Malta, Ottoman Conquest of Cyprus, and the Battle of Lepanto….….153 vi. Negotiating Borders: The Venetian Nation in Constantinople …………….....……..160 vii. The Mingling of Venetian and Ottoman People in the 16th and 17th Centuries…..173 Conclusion : ......……………………………….……………………………………………………… 188 3 1 “The Origin of Two Maritime City-States” The world is an ever changing place that has witnessed the rise and fall of a multitude of vast empires, the formation and break-up of alliances, and the invention of institutions and specializations that people have endeavored to create. Most of history focuses on the bigger picture, the so called “Big Players” or superpowers that are thought to control and be the main avenue for change. Past historians have concentrated on national histories, which in turn have dominated the narrative. However, this will never add up to be a complete history as small nations or cities have proven to play pivotal roles in historical events. These important moments in history are where the City-State, or ancient Polis, come into play as serious political, military, and commercial actors. The question is, not that of national histories, but instead a manner of scale and understanding the fact that national boundaries were not distinct and were fairly permeable which helps explain the massive cultural contacts that occur within this region of the world. This thesis will examine medieval and early modern city-states in the Mediterranean as illustrative of political, commercial and military responses to threats and opportunities in the pre- modern period instead of focusing on larger states and empires that seemingly dominate the Mediterranean world. When discussing state powers such as Venice, it is not enough to simply enough to acknowledge how they conduct wars, but the manner in which city-states are able to successfully negotiate with larger states and its ability to establish multi-layered relationships. This relationship creates an air of complexity that could see a city like Venice, go to war with the Ottoman Empire for example, and yet still conduct regular trade and commercial expeditions with them in Istanbul, so as not to allow political disturbances to ruin the overall trade economy. In order for a city-state to survive, that city must have shrew negotiation skills, skills that can 1 create creative outcomes such as this, when the alternative, all-out war, is extremely risky and could end in the military domination of the capital city. In order to accomplish this goal, this thesis will attempt to identify and understand the institutions in which city-states, such as Venice and Genoa-- seemingly fragile and weak-- employ to counter significant internal and external threats in the form of rivalries with other city- states, the environment in relation to disease and commercial risk within the Mediterranean Sea, and finally, larger states or empires whose presence simply and utterly dwarf that of the respective city-state, both politically and militarily. The dynamics and institutions that comprise states are imperative in understanding how a specific state will act in a situation that they deem to be threatening. According to Hui, who wrote War and State Formation in Ancient China and Early Modern Europe, states whose rulers “wish to maintain survival, recover losses, or establish hegemony would have to strive to increase their military and economic capabilities” by not only creating “larger armies, but also [establishing] a range of administrative, fiscal, and policing organizations.” 1 In order to view this process and understand the mechanisms used and employed by city-states, this thesis will focus mainly on Venice as our chief example and will, on occasion, branch out to other city-states in the region for comparative purposes. The time period that this paper will deal with will roughly cover between 1100 AD and 1600 AD. In addition to this, it is important also to take into consideration the mechanisms that enabled city-states to survive, which this paper will accomplish by examining not only the city-states that endured and prospered, but also those that failed establish themselves and which were ultimately conquered by a neighboring forces or states. 1 Hui, Victoria Tin-bor, War and State Formation in Ancient China and Early Modern Europe , Cambridge University Press, 2005. pg 38-39 2 This thesis will also stand as a comparative study of two main city-states, Venice and Genoa. In addition to this, other city-states will be discussed in varying lengths in order to achieve a broader and more accurate understanding of their responses and reactions to threats. This will in part occur naturally with the application of the “survivor bias theory,” which takes into account (for the purposes of this thesis) those city-states that survived in addition to those that failed to establish themselves and lost power. Most historians, according to John Gaddis, “trace process from a knowledge of outcomes” whereas political scientists use “process tracking” “which suggests a rediscovery of narrative, and the technique does employ narratives in constructing comparative case studies.” 2 One primary goal of this thesis is to accomplish both tasks that historians and political scientists employ in an attempt to discover other key significant players within the Mediterranean region while at the same time analyzing their institutions which have allowed these states to react and respond to events. One of the goals of this examination is to identify those traits which help city-states and potentially more importantly, those characteristics that caused it fail. This comparative study will help determine the nature of city- states in the terms of what sorts of areas these entities tend to form in and the conditions that contextualize their rise to power. In addition, this will help identify each city-states distinct culture as well as how their foundings have influenced the institutions and mechanisms that their citizenry create. One might ask: Why is it important to study city-states? Or perhaps what possible benefit can one receive from studying a city-state that they can’t receive from studying a larger country in the same context? In short, it’s important to study city-states as they have either