Venetian Stories

Just as Venice gradually grew politically independent as an unintended result of the interactions with, and between the surrounding powers, the church organisation within Venetia also acquired some level of independence both from the papacy, and from the mainland powers. Unsurprisingly, the process which led to a separate Venetian church had very little to do with religion and faith. Read the full...

As the Venetians came into their own, politics within the dogado was turbulent, factional, and often violent. Most of the early doges met a rather sticky end.

The events around the demise of the Exarchate of Ravenna only involved the Venetians marginally. It is nevertheless important to the history of Venice.

Who were the first doges of Venice, and when and why did the Venetians decide to chose their own leaders? TL;DR It wasn't as we've been told it was.

The Venetians fleeing the Lombards migrated into the lagoons along the Adriatic coast. Lagoons in the plural, as there were several, but what kind of environment was that, why was it there, and how did the Venetian settle in?

The invasion of the Lombards in 568 set in motion another migration. A part of the people of the Byzantine province of Venetia fled the Lombards, and headed for the areas which remained under the control of Constantinople.

The Lombard invasion of Byzantine Italy in 568 was a pivotal event in Venetian history, as it kicked off the movement towards a distinct Venetian society, culture and, ultimately, state.

The principal primary sources for the earliest period of Venice are not many, but their history is rather messy.

A letter to the people of the lagoons from the Ostrogoth government, from 537.

A short episode on sewage, faeces, pits, tubes, and that kind of sh*t.

Pigs and bulls lose in the alleyways, wooden castles smashed with maces, human towers and funambulists. The Venetian carnival was quite unlike the modern replica.

A tale of pirates, maidens, box-makers, oranges, and ancient promises being kept for centuries, but others not so much.

Venice produced and exported Theriac, an ancient wonder medicine for just about every ailment imaginable. It was a flourishing business for centuries, and an important part of the Venetian economy.

Happy New Year, even if two months early.

The plague doctor, long black cloak, pointy fingers, beaked mask with empty eyes. A giant black raven, the harbinger of a terrible death. We all know that image. It is part of our culture and mythology. That was how medieval plague doctors looked, right? Well, guess who didn't know about the beaked plague doctor? The plague doctors of the 1500s and 1600s didn't know about the beaked plague doctor....

After the epidemic of 1630, the Venetians had little choice but to keep their guards up and stay alert. Their only defence was prevention. The plague was still be endemic in Europe for another century and a half, and Venice wasn't immune. A city can only lose 40% of its population, so often. Read the full transcript. Images Links Episode 17 — Venice and the plague – part 1 Episode 18 — Venice and...

During the 1400s, Venice had created defensive structures against the recurring outbreaks of the plague, and these measures kept Venice mostly safe for much of the following centuries. Mostly. Read the full transcript. Links Episode 17 — Venice and the plague – part 1 Episode 18 — Venice and the plague – part 2 Episode 20 — Venice and the plague – part 4 Episode 21 — The Plague Doctor History Walk...

Welcome to another episode of death and suffering. Last time we mostly talked about what the plague is, and what people of the time thought the plague was. This time we'll talk about what the Venetians did, based on their knowledge and beliefs of the plague. Read the full transcript. Links Episode 17 — Venice and the plague – part 1 Episode 19 — Venice and the plague – part 3 Episode 20 — Venice a...

In 1348 — or maybe late in 1347 — a ship arrived in Venice with an unexpected — and unwanted — cargo. From the Black Sea, besides the normal goods of hemp, fur, cotton and silk, it brought the plague to Venice. From Venice, the plague moved onwards to all of Western Europe. Millions died in what was probably one of the largest disasters ever to hit the continent. Read the full transcript. Links Th...

Introduction Ball games were popular in the past. While some of them have modern descendants, most of the many ball games of the past are now completely forgotten. In this episode, we'll talk about proper ball games: noble games for decent people. Calcio , as discussed in the previous episode, wasn't a real ball game. So what was a real and noble game for decent people? Read the full transcript. L...

I fell down a rabbit hole, and a rather deep one at that. It is all the fault of a 1500s priest and philosopher, who wrote a treatise on ball games. That rang a bell with some Venetian works of art that I knew of, so I set out to understand what ball games they were playing. Big mistake there, and the price is two episodes on the ball games Venetian played centuries ago. This time: the game of Cal...

When playing at war for fun and romance turned into real war, with sieges, baggage trains, warships, winners and losers, who feared for their lives, and white chicken, lots of white chicken. Read the full transcript. Illustrations Links Newsletter: The Castle of Love Episode 13 — Nobles and Citizens Episode 5 — Ascendancy Episode 6 — Wealth, power and empire

What did it mean to be a nobleman or noblewoman in the Republic of Venice? What did it mean not to be noble? This is not as simple as it sounds. All people were absolutely not equal in the Republic of Venice. Read the full transcript. Links Citizen of the Republic of Venice The Republic of Venice

The story of Bianca Cappello, as told in the two previous episodes, mostly unfolded in Tuscany, but there are some interesting interactions with the Republic of Venice. She was, after all, a Venetian noblewoman, and her actions had legal and diplomatic repercussions in Venice. Read the full transcript. Links The Bianca Cappello episodes are: Episode 10 — Bianca Cappello, part 1 Episode 11 — Bianca...

Bianca Cappello had eloped to Florence with her lover, whom she soon after married. She then became the mistress of the prince regent of the Duchy of Florence. Her husband took a mistress of his own, but her family murdered him on Blanca's doorstep. Does all that sound bad? Well, it's getting worse. Transcript: the approximate text for this episode on the History Walks Venice website. See also Epi...