Venice Republic in 1297-1600 AD - Essay Example

VENICE REPUBLIC FROM 1297 A.D. TO 1600 A.D. Venice is not only the cultural and traditional fascinating of Europe; but also, it has been the centre of art and architecture, paintings and sculpture, poetry and drama and religion and magic. Its glamorous history and wonderful civilization reveal the beauties the city contained even thousand years ago. Its beauties are not confined to the art and culture alone; rather, the political, judicial and trade system the ancient city enjoyed reflects the intellect and wisdom of the Venetians, but also the solidarity and rule of law observed and abided by the inhabitants of Venice. “From the circumstances of its foundation”, Historyworld.net states, “Venice has been from the start unique-a small self-governing community of refugees which grow rich on its own audacious merits.” (History of Venice:2). Venice had managed to sustain its political identity even in the middle ages. The geographical territory of the Venice republic by the end of the 13th century consisted of the Lagoon Island and the strip of Dogado. In addition, the Dalmatian Coast as well as the coasts of Crete and Peloponnese and the islands of Aegean and Corfu were also under the sway of Venice republic of the 13th and 14th centuries. There were two independent republics of Italy that maintained exemplary social, economic and political history and won great fame and popularity in the middle Ages as the independent and prosperous sovereign states are Florence and Venice. “Two principal republics”, Encyclopedia Britannica submits, “established and secured the essentials of their constitutions, which were to last in the case of Florence into the 16th and in the case of Venice even into the late 18th century.” (Italy in the 14th and 15th Centuries) The Republic of Venice is one of the most dominating republics of the world. It contained a long history of elected governments with few monarchs and dictatorships. “The beginnings of Venice”, Hazlitt (1900) views “go back to the flight of the inhabitants of the Venetian state to the islands of the lagoon between Chioggia and Grado, when, in 452 A. D., Attila devastated Northern Italy.” Venice witnessed many ups and downs, and wars were fought with the rival powers in which the republic government of Venice came out successful. With the passage of time, Venice emerged as a great power of Europe. After defeating its rival Genoa in 1380 in the war of Chioggia, Venice turned out as indisputably leading European sea power; its sea consciousness was expressed in the symbolic marriage ceremony of the doges with the Adriatic, celebrated with great pomp on the huge gilded gondola, the Bucentaur. (Renaissance Quarterly) The Venice republic was economically steady and affluent, and the volume of its trade and commerce with neighboring countries was tremendous indeed. The economic prosperity and hub of knowledge supported the republic establishing an independent political system almost on the same patterns as the sovereign states of contemporary world maintain. The political set up of the Venice Republic was one of the finest arrangements all over Europe. The Great Council was the major political body which served as the legislative assembly of the republic. It consisted of the members belonging to the elite class of Venetian society. “The Great Council appointed all public officials and elected a Senate of 200 to 300 individuals. The Senate then chose the Council of Ten, a secretive group which held the utmost power in the administration of the city. One member of the great council was elected doge, or duke, the ceremonial head of the city.” (Italian Renaissance: Venice and Milan) The Council also enjoyed the administrative powers and had influence over the Doge in administrative decisions-making. In addition, the Council also had influence on the internal and external policies of the government under the Doge. February 1297 maintained a great significance in the history of the Republic, when the Great Council observed an imperative expansion. Now there were one thousand members of the Council, which were 300 to 400 in past. The political decisions were taken with the consensus of the Great Council in 14th century Venice, and the members of the Great Council belonged to the privileged class only. But it does not mean that the lower classes had no share in the government. It was the aristocratic government, the Doge and the Council, which looked after the interests of the lower classes. There was no such law like that of contemporary Russia and France, which crushed the will of general public. (Mahajan, 1996). It was the momentous occasion in February 1297, when the Great Council witnessed expansion of the members up to more than one thousand members. From that time onward and in particular from the 1320s, admission to that body became more difficult, and from the 1390s it ceased altogether. (Britannica Encyclopedia) With the passage of time, many changes took place in the political state of government in Venice. The Council of Ten was established on 10th July, 1310. In 1335, the Council of Ten delegated the powers in the hands of few people and laid the foundation of oligarchy in Venice. “The Council of Ten was formally composed of ten members, elected for one-year terms by the Great Council. In practice, its sessions were expended to 17 members by including the Doge and the Signoria.” (Wikipedia Encyclopedia) The Doge was thought to be supreme in the Republic from 7th to twelfth century A.D. and enjoyed the same powers as a prime minister enjoys today in contemporary western political set up. By the beginning of the thirteenth century, the changes were introduced in the political system and the newly introduced oath of the Doge, called as Promissione, reduced his powers by delegating these ones to the Major Council. The Doge could not take decisions anymore without consulting the members of the Major Council. His powers further clipped in 1223 and 1229 by the Rialto Dynasty, which assigned major powers to the Great Council that served as an initial form of present parliament. Throughout its history Venice was governed by a group of about 500 billionaires. These billionaires were called "noblemen", but in those days this meant "billionaire". (Oligarchy: Quoted in students.org) The system of government at Venice flourished for the future years to come. With the passage of time, it witnessed further developments and got the status of most successful republic in 15th century A. D. There was neither democracy nor monarchy in the Middle Ages Venice. During the early years of the Venice republic, there existed an autocratic system of government. The island communities of Venice had formed a united sovereign republic state in the beginning of eleventh century A.D. That political system was the outcome of the election under the political traditions of Venice, where the Doge used to be elected to administer the state under an autocratic monarchy. A Doge was stated as the political authority that was responsible for the internal and external affairs of the republic. The Venetian government selected and imitated Roman system of government for their sovereign state. As the social system of a country resembled political system too, the social characteristics of the Venetian society also reflected Roman traditional mores, norms, taboos, folkways and even laws. Like Romans, the Venice also observed three social classes and the privileged class had its share in the governments, like nobility in France and other European countries ruled over the peasantry and other lower classes. Only the leisure or privileged class had the right to vote and elect the Doge. The Great Council existed only in Venice and other neighboring cities and states including Florence, Switzerland, France and others observed despotism. It gave way to the same patterns of political structure in Venice too, and oligarchic political form got its way in Venice too by the beginning of 15th century, which prevailed till French Revolution of 1789. There was an exemplary judicial system during the 14th and 17th centuries in Venice, where everyone was equal in the eye of law. Byzantine code of law prevailed in the republic of that time. The Republic also imitated the Roman and English laws. There was no discrimination on the base of class, caste, culture, community or gender. The Venice government followed the Roman laws in the courts. The Catholic laws had got their way in the judicial system too. The Doge Renier Zeno (1253-68) had a code of navigation and commerce compiled. The future Doges not only followed these laws, but also made necessary amendments for the future years to come. One important branch of commerce was the supply of the African Muslim princes with tools and timber for building, a practice forbidden under excommunication by the popes because it tended to the perpetuation of piracy. Printing was an important industry. Venice was also a thriving centre of the slave trade. Trade was brisk in Venice in 14th and 15th centuries and Venice was thought to be not only the most prosperous city of whole Europe, but the naval giant of the Renaissance Europe too. Venice had strong trade relations with the neighboring Byzantine Empire and the Muslim countries. “At the peak of its power and wealth, it had 36,000 sailors operating 3,300 ships, dominating the Mediterranean commerce.” (Italian Renaissance: Venice and Milan). The population of the Venice Republic enjoyed the status of well-to-do family set up. One member of almost every family had been engaged in domestic or foreign trade activity. The standard of living as well as per capita income of the Venetians was higher than adjacent republics of Florence and Milan. It is therefore the inhabitants and traders from the Venice republic were honored and respected all over the world with great admiration and reverence. “Throughout the late fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries, Venice was assailed at sea by the Ottoman Turks and on land by the so-called Holy League against Venice, which sought to knock Venice from its pedestal of arrogance. The city survived the onslaught, however, by relying on its strength in sea trade.” (Italian Renaissance: Venice and Milan) Venetian art and culture was also at its climax under the republic and one of the sources of income from the trade. The paintings of artists and the works of poets and writers observed popularity and fame. Dante’s work “Commedia” was also the product of 14th century, which won applause with religious enthusiasm. Large scale banking was first developed in the Italian cities of Venice and Florence in 14th century, because they had been the first to profit from the expansion of commerce after the crusade between the Christians and the Muslims. (Wallbank & Taylor, 1942:19). Furthermore, the artisans from all corners of the world reached Venice in order to build palaces, mansions, churches and forts for the rich Venetian families and affluent clergy and nobility. Every institution under the Republic of Venice worked excellently and had been the best possible example of a successful government system. Somehow, Venice was far more advance in comparison with Florence and other cities of Middle Ages Italy. Wherever Venetian merchants took their wares, their financial practices went with them. The trade was at its boom and was mostly done via sea. The brave Venetian merchants displayed their valor during their voyages for trade. REFERENCES Hazlitt, Caren. The Venetian Republic New York (1900) Renaissance Quarterly. Venice Reconsidered: The History and Civilization of an Italian City-State, 1297-1797. (Book Review) Oxford English Dictionary Venice in the 14th Century: Quoted in Encyclopedia Britannica Finlay, Robert. Politics in Renaissance Venice. New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 1980. History of Venice: Quoted in historyworld.net. Lane, Frederic. Venice: A Maritime Republic. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1973. Martines, Lauro. Power and Imagination: City States in Renaissance Italy. JHP ed. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1988. Muir, Frederic. Venice: A maritime Republic. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1973. Italian Renaissance From 1330 to 1510 quoted in http://www.sparknotes.com/history/european/renaissance1/section5.rhtml http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-27672/Italy http://www.historyworld.net/wrldhis/PlainTextHistories.asp?groupid=429&HistoryID=aa43 http://www.britannica.com/eb/topic-243093/Great-Council http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Council_of_Ten E:\JULY\Venice\CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA Venice.htm http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/15333a.htm http://www.students.org.au/oligarchy/ Read More