Online Encyclopedia
Republic of Venice
The Republic of Venice was a state in Venetia in Northeastern Italy, based around the city of Venice.
History
The city of Venice, previously a dependency of the Byzantine Empire, had established its independence of either eastern or western emperor as early as the 9th century.
In the high Middle Ages, Venice became extremely wealthy through its control of trade to the Levant, and began to expand into the Adriatic Sea and beyond. The Venetian fleet was crucial to the sack of Constantinople by crusaders in the Fourth Crusade in 1204. As a result of the partition of the Byzantine Empire which followed, Venice gained a great deal of territory in the Aegean Sea, including the islands of Crete and Euboea. Later, in 1489, the island of Cyprus, previously a crusader state, was annexed.
In the early 15th century, the Venetians also began to expand in Italy, as a response to the threatening expansion of Giangaleazzo Visconti, Duke of Milan. By 1410, Venice had taken over most of Venetia, including such important cities as Verona and Padua. The Venetians also came into conflict with the Popes over control of the Romagna. This led in 1508 to the League of Cambrai against Venice, in which the Pope, the King of France, the Emperor, and the King of Aragon came together to despoil the republic. Although the French were victorious at Agnadello in 1509, the coalition soon fell out among themselves, and Venice found itself without serious territorial loss.
At the same time, however, the expansion of the Ottoman Turks in the Balkans and the Eastern Mediterranean proved threatening to the Venetians. In 1570, the Turks invaded Cyprus, which was conquered by 1571 despite the victory of the Holy League (including significant Venetian forces) at Lepanto later that year. The Venetians soon after made peace, confirming the loss of Cyprus. In the 17th century, Crete too was lost, after a long conflict.
By the 18th century, the Serene Republic was largely a shadow of its former glory. In 1797 it was invaded by the French troops of General Napoleon Bonaparte, who partitioned the Republic with the Austrians.
Government
The Republic was under the titular sovereignty of the Doge, a nobleman elected to the post for life. However, the doge had little real power, and actual authority was exercised by the Great Council, an extremely limited body in which only members of the great aristocratic families of the republic were allowed to participate.