Basically, cities developed as a means of protection of its inhabitants. “In certain respects, the…town had succeeded as no previous urban culture had done. For the first time, the majority of its in habitants of a city were free men: except for special groups like the Jews, city dweller and citizen were now synonymous terms” (Mumford 315). No wonder Mumford calls the emergence of this city as “Christianopolis.” There was a certain safety in numbers, so to speak in the growing urban centers of the Middle Ages and into the Renaissance. “In no previous urban culture was there anything like the large-scale provision for the sick, the aged, the suffering, the poor that there was in the medieval town” (Mumford 317). But, while some historical urban critics like Mumford sees Christianity as a sort of unifying urban force, the fact opf the domination of the Church was lessened as the Middle Ages (the so-called “dark” Ages) ended and the rebirth of culture began. Italian city-states, alone, were now dominated by princes and their families- the D’Estes, the doges of Venice, the Borgias of Tuscany and beyond, the Florentine Medici clan, the Viscontis of Genoa and the Sforzas of Milan.
Yet, among the cities of this period, Venice tends to stand out. At the end of the Middle Ages, as Mumford explains, “one city stood out above every other because of its beauty and wealth. Red Siena, black and white Genoa, gray Paris, variegated Florence might all put in their claims….but Venice has a special claim on our attention (Mumford 321). This, seemingly despite Florence’s art, architecture and literature achievements. So, we focus on Venice in four of its most important areas- trade, religion, art and artisans, and its government. Research on the following pages is based on the aspects of life during this time-period that makes Venice different from its neighboring city-states, friendly or enemy. What sets Venice apart from, say, Florence or Milan, Genoa or Siena? It is really a combination of strengths- especially as a bridge between West and East that gave Venice a power, commercially, that its rivals did not possess. As will be demonstrated, Venice set itself apart from competing city-states, by reason of its trade priorities, its commercialism of art and its practitioners as well as patrons, in its stable Doge-and-Council government and in some flicker of religious freedom (on occasion) and even anti-Roman sentiment.
Venice was founded in the 6th century by refugees escaping invaders of their native Padua. The waters of the Adriatic gave them some sort of protection- al most like a moat, to keep outsiders out (and insiders safely within).
Venice’s center is the Piazza San Marco, which is a large square in front of St. Mark’s church, but which originally was an orchard. It was in the Twelfth century when this plaza became a marketplace for selling fruits and vegetables, and offering inns for traveling pilgrims. By 1300, there was the church, a library, and a Ducal palace in place. What is interesting about the original Venice, which is still true today, is that its location, being hemmed in by water, eliminates the sort of growth and “suburbanization” that has happened to most other cities, medieval and modern.
“Just as with Florence, Venice was a Republic during the Renaissance. Actually, Venice was an empire that controlled land in modern day Italy, a whole lot of sea coast down the Adriatic and countless islands. It enjoyed a stable political climate and thriving trade economy, both of which survived outbreaks of the Black Death and the fall of Constantinople (a major trading partner). Venice was, in fact, so prosperous and healthy that it took someone named Napoleon to undo its empire status…” (Esaak 1).
Venice was a rich city: “Secure in her many-moated citadel, she seemed immune to the political vicissitudes of the Italian mainland” (Durant 281). A traveler from Milan, in the later Fifteenth Century saw Venice as “the most triumphant city I have ever seen….(it is) impossible to describe the beauty, magnificence and wealth of this unique assemblage of 117 islands. 150- canals, (and
The Venetian government was steadfast, a sort of oligarchy handed down from one generation to the next within certain wealthy families. The Council chose a leader, called Doge. He and six counselors more or less ruled Venice without real problems with the population, most of which were not permitted to vote. “Like many European nations of the time, Venice too had a sharply contrasting social system, with aristocrats, merchants, common men and the poor. However the Republic’s ruler, the Doge, was elected from the ranks of the aristocracy and could only rule with the support of the aristocrats and the common man. While the average citizen had little say in the election process they still had the right to dethrone the Doge” (Anon 3).
Interestingly enough, while Italian city-states often waged war using mercenaries, Venice had its own militia- no outsiders allowed. It had a navy of more than 400 ships. Compared with most other cities of the period, the Venetian justice system was more fair. There was even a Bureau of Sanitation which was established in 1385 with its principal purpose to ensure pure drinking water.
Venice, of course, was a harbor for seagoing exploration- not as much as Genoa (Columbus’ home port, of course) but the place from which Marco Polo ventured to China. Venice, perhaps more than most cities of the Renaissance, was home to artisans, not just sailors. The city boasted of over 16,000 craftsmen working in various fields that enhanced Venice’s trade opportunities. “Next to Milan, Venice was the richest and strongest state in Italy, and without exception, the most ably governed, Its craftsmen were famous for the elegance of their products, mostly made for the luxury trade” (Durant 39). More than any other city of its time, Venice went well beyond Italy’s borders for trade: “Venetian merchants invaded every market from Jerusalem to Antwerp; they traded impartially with Christians and Mohammedans” (Durant 39). Of course, the contacts made by Marco Polo and his father at the end of the Fourteenth Century certainly helped not merely the prestige of Venice but also its trade opportunities in the Middle and Far East.
Perhaps this familiarity with the Middle East was responsible for Venice being one of the chief ports for the Crusaders, heading to the Holy Land.
It is interesting to note that Shakespeare’s Merchant of Venice is not the feat of imagination. Venice was among the first to secure private funding for various activities. In fact the word “bank” which stems from “Banco” was taken from the benches moneylenders sat on to ply their trade. Some of these investments were made to expand Venice beyond its city borders. By 1405, Venice had defeated its chief rival, Genoa, and added the cities of Verona, Vicensa and Padua. Once easier routes to Asia and the New World were discovered, Venice faded and much of her possessions, including Cyprus (taken by the Turks) and other Italian lands were no longer under Venetian rule. Strangely enough, Venice, always seen as “Italian” actually became part of the Austrian Empire in 1797 under the Treaty of Campoformio, but then became part of Napoleon’s empire at the beginning of the 1800s.
Except for the Polo family in the 14th century, Venice did not boast the sort of memorable “personalities” which infested much of Italy. Venice had no Medici, no Borgia. But, what is worth concentrating on here is the anti-Church views that much of Venice held in the 15th and 16th centuries. “(T)he same Senate which Petrarch likened to an assembly of the gods, repeatedly flouted the authority of the Church, ignored the most terrible papal decrees of excommunication and interdict, offered asylum to…skeptics….sharply reproved a friar for attacking the Jews, and sought to make the Church of Venice an appendage of the state” (Durant 291). The church in Venice seemed apart from Rome. The Senate, not the Pope, appointed Venetian bishops, and even if Rome did not approve, they served in Venice regardless.
However, if this gives the idea that religion in Venice was liberal, compared to other cities, this is far from fact. In fact, the Church and the city government tended to look upon sex crimes as perhaps the most severe. And there seemed to be many of them “Sex crimes against God…involved a mix of clergy and lay people, holy places, or a mix of Christians and Jews and were thought to injure God himself. Prosecution of such crimes was seen as a form of prayer… Sex with nuns (the brides of Christ) and sex with Jews received greatest attention in the fifteenth century. Sentences for fornication with nuns were more severe than penalties for rape” (Muscalino 2).
It is interesting to note that Venice (as well as Florence) was a center of extreme homophobia: “One of the reasons for the persecutions was eschatological: people feared the wrath of God for such a horrible sin as homosexuality. But there were other reasons too. Homosexuals were accused of diminishing the city population as they did not take part in family life and procreation. Homosexuals also became scapegoats when economic depression threatened the cities and political and social crises appeared and were blamed for the collapse of morality and Church authority. The repression of homosexuals was also a useful instrument in political games to eliminate rivals” (WyroOne of the reasons for the persecutions was eschatological: people feared the wrath of God for such a horrible sin as homosexuality. But there were other reasons too. Homosexuals were accused of diminishing the city population as they did not take part in family life and procreation. Homosexuals also became scapegoats when economic depression threatened the cities and political and social crises appeared and were blamed for the collapse of morality and Church authority. The repression of homosexuals was also a useful instrument in political games to eliminate rivals.One of the reasons for the persecutions was eschatological: people feared the wrath of God for such a horrible sin as homosexuality. But there were other reasons too. Homosexuals were accused of diminishing the city population as they did not take part in family life and procreation. Homosexuals also became scapegoats when economic depression threatened the cities and political and social crises appeared and were blamed for the collapse of morality and Church authority. The repression of homosexuals was also a useful instrument in political games to eliminate rivals.One of the reasons for the persecutions was eschatological: people feared the wrath of God for such a horrible sin as homosexuality. But there were other reasons too. Homosexuals were accused of diminishing the city population as they did not take part in family life and procreation. Homosexuals also became scapegoats when economic depression threatened the cities and political and social crises appeared and were blamed for the collapse of morality and Church authority. The repression of homosexuals was also a useful instrument in political games to eliminate rivalsOne of the reasons for the persecutions was eschatological: people feared the wrath of God for such a horrible sin as homosexuality. But there were other reasons too. Homosexuals were accused of diminishing the city population as they did not take part in family life and procreation. Homosexuals also became scapegoats when economic depression threatened the cities and political and social crises appeared and were blamed for the collapse of morality and Church authority. The repression of homosexuals was also a useful instrument in political games to eliminate rivalsVenice and Florence both witnessed a “great fear” (grande paura) during the 15th century; an explosion of homophobia – an irrational fear and hate of homosexuals – produced a series of persecutions. About three thousand men were sentenced for sodomy in Florence in the 15th century and 464 in Venice.Venice and Florence both witnessed a “great fear” (grande paura) during the 15th century; an explosion of homophobia – an irrational fear and hate of homosexuals – produced a series of persecutions. About three thousand men were sentenced for sodomy in Florence in the 15th century and 464 in Venice.Venice and Florence both witnessed a “great fear” (grande paura) during the 15th century; an explosion of homophobia – an irrational fear and hate of homosexuals – produced a series of persecutions. About three thousand men were sentenced for sodomy in Florence in the 15th century and 464 in Venice.Venice and Florence both witnessed a “great fear” (grande paura) during the 15th century; an explosion of homophobia – an irrational fear and hate of homosexuals – produced a series of persecutions. About three thousand men were sentenced for sodomy in Florence in the 15th century and 464 in Venice.bisz 457). He also states that nearly 500 men were executed in Venice in the 1600s for sodomy.
The councils became greatly concerned with sex between Jews and Christians and by the middle of the fifteenth century, perhaps a forerunner of what happened in Nazi Germany in the 1930s, Jews were required to wear yellow armbands.
Unlike most other major cities of this period, Venice- from a religious point of view became a center for so-called “dissenters”, which many call “Venice’s hidden enemies.” “The ‘h idden enemies,’ Venice’s religious dissenters, threatened not only the religious views of the ma jority but also the political stability of the state. (There were) three heretical movements in Venice — Evangelism, Anabaptism, and Millenarianism. The evangelicals shared many fundamental tenets of Protestantis, but they believed that they could achieve their goals by remaining within the Church of Rome” (Martin 2).
When this became impossible after the 1540s, a new group came to the fore, the anabaptists. Both Italian trends were quite different from similar movements in northern Europe. This was also true of the third movement, the millenarians, who could find inspiration within Italy either from the recent past, for example, Girolamo Savonarola, or from the Middle Ages, for example, Joachim of Fiore. Martin considers that these dissenters soon became victims of an Inquisition: “it was only in 1565-1574, after the closing of the Council of Trent in 1563 and the elevation of Pius V to the pontificate in 1566, that (there was) an increase in the work of the Venetian Inquisition. By the late 1570s'”neither household nor shop was the haven for heretics that it had been at mid century'” (Martin 214).
Venice made art a priority- not just painting, but all sorts of art. “The whole Republic was crawling with ceramists, glassworkers, woodworkers, lace makers and sculptors (in addition to painters), all of whom made entirely satisfactory livings…Artisan guilds – and there were lots of these (wood carvers, stone carvers, painters, etc.) – helped ensure that artists and craftsmen were properly compensated. When we speak of the Venetian “School” of painting, it’s not just a handy descriptive phrase. There were actual schools (“scuola”) and they were highly selective about who could (or couldn’t) belong to each” (Esaak 3). Venetians were not only selective in who could belong to the schools, but were literally prone to purchase art only from acceptable schools and not from outside Venice. As Esaak explains, In the mid to late 15th century. Pioneers of the Venetian School were the Bellini and Vivarini (descendants of those marvelous Murano glassworkers) families. The Bellini were of particular importance, for it is they who are credited with bringing the Renaissance “style” to Venetian painting. “Giovanni Bellini (c.1430-1516) is one of the greatest of all painters. His output was probably larger than that of any other fifteenth-century painter, and much of it survives. His work illustrates an important development in the patronage of art: He painted small pictures for private collectors on an unprecedented scale, as distinguished from the customary type of commissions from church and state, though, of course, he had many of these also” (Lindsay 6).
When it comes to Venetian art during this period, one name stands out: Titian. “Recognised by his contemporaries as “the sun amidst small stars” (recalling the famous final line of Dante’sParadiso), Titian was one of the most versatile of Italian painters, equally adept with portraits and landscapes (two genres that first brought him fame), mythological and religious subjects” (Wikepedia 1).
Titian lived almost into his nineties, and his later work was far different: “In his last years there are signs of a more tragic sense, especially in some of his religious paintings, such as the Mocking of Christ of about 1570. The colors have become subdued, and an intense religious feeling manifests itself as Titian approaches the end. His late works show the coming of the style known as Mannerism. The figures are sometimes seen from unusual angles, in twisted and agitated postures, and in an unearthly and flickering light. The resulting atmosphere of unease and discomfort is distinctly Mannerist, in contrast to the serene and balanced quality of the High Renaissance”(Nelson 4).
“The work of another great Venetian artist of the sixteenth century, Tintoretto), can also be better described as Mannerist, and even as early Baroque, the next phase in artistic style. His vigor and productivity were enormous. One of his greatest achievements was the decoration of the rooms of the Scuola di San Rocco in Venice. It is a large building, with many splendid rooms, and Tintoretto worked on its walls and ceilings for about forty years” (Nelson 4).
Compared to other centers of art in this period of world history, there is one thing to be said for Venice and Venetians: They considered art- whether painting, sculpture, woodworking, glass, silk and other crafts as professions for which the creators are to be paid. Unlike many other areas, where, as mentioned earlier, artists were funded in part by the Church, and often commissioned merely for the honor (without remuneration) Venice insisted that is art patrons pay for the works they commissioned and/or received. In other words, Venice was perhaps the most “commercial” of Renaissance art centers.
Durant (307) explains some of the commercialism by explaining a “broker’s patent” (sensaria) which was a formal appointment as a sort of trade intermediary between “official” Venetian court-appointed painters and foreign buyers and merchants. Whoever held this patent, in one case it was Titian, received a handsome salary for the time 300 crowns- which, by today’s standards would be as much as $12,000. For that annual stipend, the painter was to paint whoever the Venetian government wanted portraits of.
Venetians liked to “own” things, it is clear. Perhaps this is one reason why the city and surrounding territories under its control was not noted for any famous writers of the period, but rather book printers and publishers. “Venetian printers were producing the finest printed books of the age, perhaps of all time…” (Durant 315).
Venice may well have been the original source of printed information. It may not be correct to call these manuscripts “newspapers.” But, the idea originated in Venice. As one of the major capitals in Europe, Venice pioneered the national and international exchange of manuscript news in the 16th and 17th centuries and held a central place in European information exchange even during its economic decline during that period. In the second half of the 16th century, the increase in the number of avvisi, or professional newswriters in the city, was such that Venice became one of the largest providers of news to foreign printed periodicals, including gazettes in France, the Netherlands, and BritainIn the second half of the 16th century, the increase in the number of avvisi, or professional ‘newswriters’ in the city, was such that Venice became one of the largest providers of news to foreign printed periodicals, including gazettes in France, the Netherlands, and Britain” (DeVivo 37). DeVivo (2005) points to Paolo Sarpo as the leading protagonist for wider dissemination of information, something that often brought him into conflict with Venetian aristocrats which wanted to keep information more secret.
As one of the major capitals in Europe, Venice pioneered the national and international exchange of manuscript news in the 16th and 17th centuries and held a central place in European information exchange even during its economic decline during that period. As one of the major capitals in Europe, Venice pioneered the national and international exchange of manuscript news in the 16th and 17th centuries and held a central place in European information exchange even during its economic decline during that period. In the second half of the 16th century, the increase in the number of avvisi, or professional newswriters in the city, was such that Venice became one of the largest providers of news to foreign printed periodicals, including gazettes in France, the Netherlands, and Britain.As one of the major capitals in Europe, Venice pioneered the national and international exchange of manuscript news in the 16th and 17th centuries and held a central place in European information exchange even during its economic decline during that period. In the second half of the 16th century, the increase in the number of avvisi, or professional newswriters in the city, was such that Venice became one of the largest providers of news to foreign printed periodicals, including gazettes in France, the Netherlands, and Britain.Venetians were especially determined to translate and print Greek classics. In fact, in a society called The New Academy, according to Durant (317) members gathered to read and/or translate all of Greek literature, and spoke only Greek at their meetings. What this Academy and its members actually did was to create a greater public demand for Greek classics, by more or less “rescuing” them from the libraries of rich private collectors and making the available to a larger and interested public. Of course, education was basically limited to men, although some women did run “salons”. Durant (314) mentions Irene of Spilimbergo who opened a salon for “men of letters”. She actually studied painting under Titian and was an accomplished musician. But, it is rare finding relevant women in Renaissance Venice who contributed to life, other than bearing children and as nuns, educating them.
What makes Venice so vital in these four centuries? Because, more than any other city in Europe, Venice was a bridge between East and West. Unlike earlier times when Eastern hordes overran much of the Roman Empire, now Venice was in the lead for trade and political accommodation between East (especially the Ottoman Turks) and West- Renaissance Italy. Florence was a center of art an d literature, Genoa faced seafarers toward the West and the New World, Rome remained under tight control of the Vatican, and then infighting among noble families- the Borgias, D’Estes and others, kept city-states from turning outside their particular areas of interest and control. Only Venice was truly “worldly” in the sense if grasping the importance (and profitability) of international trade.
enice didn’t need the daVincis and Michelangelos. It needed descendants of the Po-lo family and other seafaring traders, its artisans and import and exporters to make Venice not only rich and admired, but important in the expansion of views well beyond the borders of city-states. In a sense, therefore, one can truly say that Venice may have been the first (and perhaps only major) city to establish a world view of commerce and its profitability during this four-century period.
What this overview of Renaissance Venice tends to prove, however, is that while there surely was a “rebirth” of intellectual activities, art, literature, architecture and music, there was little “rebirth” for the common man or woman. This was still an era of elitist families- in politics, in trade, in religion, and in overall power. Venice, of course, as was proved on the past few pages, was a city and state, even a civilization unique among the others, because it brought the idea of commercialism, trade and profit to the era of the Rebirth. While other cities in Italy concentrated on church architecture, art, and (in the case of the Borgias and Medicis) warfare and usurpation of even the Papacy, Venice seemed content to have its eyes focused on the potential of the Middle East and Asia. The very idea that the bancos and their outgrowth, private money lenders created new opportunities, rather than endowments by the Church. All too often, before this research, one tended to think of the Renaissance only in terms of Columbus and his followers discovering a New World, and the various design and art masterpieces which a liberating artistic culture now made possible. But, while one cannot overlook the drive to find new trade routers to India by moving West the fact is that Venice (unlike its commercial sea faring rival, Genoa) look Eastward. In other words, the journeys begun in the 14th century by the Venetian, Marco Polo, would pay off handsomely for Venice, despite conflicts with the Ottoman Turks over areas like Cyprus and other Aegean islands and territories in and around the Adriatic. Historians tend to consider Venetians during this era as becoming a mercantile aristocracy. No wonder. Goods came from over the Alps to be shipped to the Near and Far East, and in return, there arrived spices, rugs, and other items that were sure to turn a profit. Aristocratic, yes. But, these “aristocrats” did not sit idly in castles contemplating their next territorial conquests or building their ambitions to rule Rome. It is this market difference in people, life, art, religion and especially commerce that establishes a position for Renaissance Venice far different from other rival city-states.
It would take reform well into the 1800s (as an outgrowth of the Industrial Age) for aristocracy to ebb and democracy to begin both in the New World and the Old. It bears repeating- because this is the basic premise of this research: Venice was more about commerce, more about developing as a city-state with an eye toward the potential of the East, than many of its contemporary cities.
REFERENCES:
DeVivo, Filippo: “PAOLO SARPI AND THE USES OF INFORMATION IN SEVENTEENTH-CENTURY VENICEPAOLO SARPI AND THE USES OF INFORMATION IN SEVENTEENTH-CENTURY VENICE” Media History, vol. 11, issue 1-2 (2005)
Durant, Will: The Renaissance New York: Simon & Schuster (1953)
Esaak, Shelley”: “Art History 101 – The Renaissance in Venice
arthistory.about.com/cs/arthistory10one/a/ven_ren.htm
Nelson, Lynn H.: “CARRIE: The First Full-Text On-Line Electronic Library:
vlib.iue.it/carrie/texts/carrie_books/gilbert/07.html
Santosuosso, Victor (reviewer of) Martin, John: Early modern Europe — Venice‘s Hidden Enemies: Italian Heretics in a RenaissanceCity (in Canadian Journal of History, Apr 1994
Mumford, Lewis The City in History New York: Harcourt, Brace (1961)
Muscalino, Katherine: “Church-State Relations in Renaissance Italy” thecollege.wlu.edu/research_service/RELee/History2002/ChurchState.asp
Wyrobisz, Andrzej.Wyrobisz, Andrzej.Wyrobisc, Andrej:: “Venice. Social Change. Persecution.Venetian Social Change: Homosexuality” Polish Journal Przeglad Historyczny2004
No author listed:: “Titian” Wikipedia online encyclopedia en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Titian
No author listed: “The City of Venice, its History, its Geography and its People” www.canaan.demon.co.uk/roleplaying/venice/RArsm-VenRAM.html
