• Serenissima Repubblica di Venezia  (Italian)
  • Serenìsima Repùblega Vèneta  (Venetian)
Coat of arms
Motto: Pax tibi Marce, evangelista meus
"Peace be to you Mark, my evangelist"
The Republic of Venice in 1789
Official languages
Minority languages
GovernmentUnitary parliamentary constitutional republic under a mercantile oligarchy
• 697–717 (first)
Paolo Lucio Anafestoa
• 1789–1797 (last)
Ludovico Manin
LegislatureGreat Council
• Upper Chamber
• Lower Chamber
Council of Ten
Historical eraMiddle AgesEarly modern period
• Established1
CurrencyVenetian ducat
Venetian lira
Preceded by
Succeeded by
Byzantine Empire under the Heraclian dynasty
Holy Roman Empire
Venetian Province
Austrian Empire
Cisalpine Republic
French departments of Greece

The Republic of Venice (Italian: Repubblica di Venezia;[1] Venetian: Repùblega de Venèsia) or Venetian Republic (Italian: Repubblica Veneta;[2] Venetian: Repùblega Vèneta), traditionally known as La Serenissima (English: Most Serene Republic of Venice; Italian: Serenissima Repubblica di Venezia; Venetian: Serenìsima Repùblega de Venèsia), was a sovereign state and maritime republic in parts of present-day Italy (mainly northeastern Italy) which existed for 1100 years from 697 AD until 1797 AD. Centered on the lagoon communities of the prosperous city of Venice, it incorporated numerous overseas possessions in modern Croatia, Slovenia, Montenegro, Greece, Albania and Cyprus.[3] The republic grew into a trading power during the Middle Ages and strengthened this position in the Renaissance. Citizens spoke the still-surviving Venetian language, although publishing in (Florentine) Italian became the norm during the Renaissance.

In its early years, it prospered on the salt trade. In subsequent centuries, the city state established a thalassocracy. It dominated trade on the Mediterranean Sea, including commerce between Europe and North Africa, as well as Asia. The Venetian navy was used in the Crusades, most notably in the Fourth Crusade. However, Venice perceived Rome as an enemy and maintained high levels of religious and ideological independence personified by the Patriarch of Venice[4] and a highly developed independent publishing industry that served as a haven from Catholic censorship for many centuries. Venice achieved territorial conquests along the Adriatic Sea. Venice became home to an extremely wealthy merchant class, who patronized renowned art and architecture along the city's lagoons. Venetian merchants were influential financiers in Europe. The city was also the birthplace of great European explorers, such as Marco Polo, as well as Baroque composers such as Vivaldi and Benedetto Marcello and famous painters such as the Renaissance master, Titian.




It was formally known as the Most Serene Republic of Venice (Italian: Serenissima Repubblica di Venezia, Venetian: Serenìsima Repiovega Vèneta, or Venetian: Repiovega de Venesia) and is often referred to as La Serenissima, in reference to its title as one of the "Most Serene Republics".


Main articles: History of the Republic of Venice and Timeline of the Republic of Venice

The Doge of Venice, illustrated in the manuscript Théâtre de tous les peuples et nations de la terre avec leurs habits et ornemens divers, tant anciens que modernes, diligemment depeints au naturel. Painted by Lucas d'Heere in the 2nd half of the 16th century. Preserved by the Ghent University Library.[5]


These communities were subjected to the authority of the Byzantine Empire.

The Venetia c 600 AD
The Venetia c 600 AD



Ursus's successor, Deusdedit, moved his seat from Heraclea to Malamocco in the 740s. He was the son of Ursus and represented the attempt of his father to establish a dynasty. Such attempts were commonplace among the doges of the first few centuries of Venetian history, but all were ultimately unsuccessful. During the reign of Deusdedit, Venice became the only remaining Byzantine possession in the north, and the changing politics of the Frankish Empire began to change the factional divisions within Venetia.


In that period, Venice had established for itself a thriving slave trade, buying in Italy, among other places, and selling to the Moors in Northern Africa (Pope Zachary himself reportedly forbade such traffic out of Rome).[6][7][8] When the sale of Christians to Muslims was banned following the pactum Lotharii,[9] the Venetians began to sell Slavs and other Eastern European non-Christian slaves in greater numbers. Caravans of slaves traveled from Eastern Europe, through Alpine passes in Austria, to reach Venice. Surviving records valued female slaves at a tremissa (about 1.5 grams of gold or roughly 13 of a dinar) and male slaves, who were more numerous, at a saiga (which is much less).[10][11] Eunuchs were especially valuable, and "castration houses" arose in Venice, as well as other prominent slave markets, to meet this demand.[12][13] Indeed, Venice was far from the only Italian city engaged in the slave trade in Medieval Europe.

Early Middle Ages

The Venetia c 840 AD
The Venetia c 840 AD




Map of the Venetian Republic, circa 1000
Map of the Venetian Republic, circa 1000


High Middle Ages

See also: Stato da Màr

The Republic of Venice in the 15th–16th centuries. .mw-parser-output .legend{page-break-inside:avoid;break-inside:avoid-column}.mw-parser-output .legend-color{display:inline-block;min-width:1.25em;height:1.25em;line-height:1.25;margin:1px 0;text-align:center;border:1px solid black;background-color:transparent;color:black}.mw-parser-output .legend-text{}  Venice   Territory at the start of the 15th c.   Subsequent acquisitions   Temporary acquisitions   Seas dominated by Venetians at the start of the 16th c.   Primary Venetian routes   ■  Primary Venetian trading colonies   Ottoman Empire
The Republic of Venice in the 15th–16th centuries.
  Territory at the start of the 15th c.
  Subsequent acquisitions
  Temporary acquisitions
  Seas dominated by Venetians at the start of the 16th c.
  Primary Venetian routes
    Primary Venetian trading colonies




13th century




The Republic of Venice fought the War of the Castle of Love against Padua and Treviso in 1215.[22] It signed a trade treaty with the Mongol Empire in 1221.[23]


The Serrata del Maggior Consiglio (Great Council Lockout) refers to the constitutional process, started with the 1297 Ordinance, by means of which membership of the Great Council of Venice became an hereditary title. Since it was the Great Council that had the right to elect the Doge, the 1297 Ordinance marked a relevant change in the constitution of the Republic. This resulted in the exclusion of minor aristocrats and plebeian from participating in the government of the Republic.

14th century

See also: Venetian Renaissance



15th century: The expansion in the mainland



Procession in St Mark's Square by Gentile Bellini in 1496
Procession in St Mark's Square by Gentile Bellini in 1496




In 1454, a conspiracy for a planned rebellion against Venice was dismantled in Candia. The conspiracy was led by Sifis Vlastos as an opposition to the religious reforms for the unification of Churches agreed at the Council of Florence.[27]



Leonardo Loredan, Doge of Venice during the War of the League of Cambrai.







Sebastiano Venier commander of the Venetian fleet at Lepanto (1571)




17th century




18th century: decline

Greater coat of arms of the Republic, with its various possessions and claims, in the aftermath of the Morean War


The Republic of Venice around 1700
The Republic of Venice around 1700





Main article: Fall of the Republic of Venice

Drawing of the Doge's Palace, late 14th century
Drawing of the Doge's Palace, late 14th century








Venice followed a mixed government model, combining monarchy in the doge, aristocracy in the senate, republic of Rialto families in the major council, and a democracy in the concio.[37] Machiavelli considered it "excellent among modern republics" (unlike his native Florence).[38][39]

The governmental structure of the Venetian Republic
The governmental structure of the Venetian Republic



In 1229, the Consiglio dei Pregadi or Senate, was formed, being 60 members elected by the major council.[40] These developments left the doge with little personal power and put actual authority in the hands of the Great Council.






Main article: Venetian navy

Further information: Military history of the Republic of Venice

See also: List of sailing ships of the Venetian Navy



In the early modern period, the Republic's military strength was well out of proportion with its demographic weight. In the late 16th century, it ruled over a population of about 2 million people throughout its empire. In 1571, while preparing for war against the Ottomans, the Republic had 37,000 soldiers and 140 galleys (manned by tens of thousands of sailors and oarsmen), excluding urban militias. The Venetian peacetime army strength of 9,000 was able to quadruple in the course of a few months by drawing upon professional hired soldiers and territorial militias simultaneously. These troops generally showed marked technical superiority over their primarily Turkish opponents, as demonstrated in battles such as the 18-month Siege of Famagusta, in which the Venetians inflicted outsized casualties and only were defeated when they exhausted their gunpowder. Like other states of the period, the Republic's military strength peaked during wars, only to quickly go back to peacetime levels due to costs. The level of garrisons stabilized after 1577 at 9,000, with 7,000 infantry and the rest cavalry. In 1581 there were 146 galleys and 18 galleasses in the navy, requiring a third of the Republic's revenue.[42] During the Cretan War (1645-1669), the Republic fought mostly alone against the undivided attention of the Ottoman Empire, and though it lost, managed to keep fighting after losing 62,000 troops in the attrition, while inflicting about 240,000 losses on the Ottoman army and sinking hundreds of Ottoman ships. The cost of the war was ruinous, but the Republic was eventually able to cover it.[43] The Morean War further confirmed the Republic's position as a military power well into the late 17th century.

Venetian military strength underwent a terminal decline in the 18th century. The combined effect of prolonged peace and the abandonment of military careers by patricians meant that Venetian military culture ossified. Its army in that period was poorly maintained. The troops, serving under non-martial officers, were not regularly drilled and worked various odd jobs to supplement their salaries. Its navy did not decline to as drastic a degree, but still never came close to its relative power in the 16th and 17th centuries. In a normal 18th century year there were about 20 ships of the line (each of 64 or 70 cannons), 10 frigates, 20 galleys, and 100 small craft, which mostly participated in patrols and punitive expeditions against Barbary corsairs. When Napoleon invaded in 1796, the Republic surrendered without a fight.[44]


Main article: Economic history of Venice

The republic of Venice was active in the production and trading of salt, salted products, and other products along trade routes established by the salt trade. Venice produced its own salt at Chioggia by the seventh century for trade, but eventually moved on to buying and establishing salt production throughout the Eastern Mediterranean. Venetian merchants bought salt and acquired salt production from Egypt, Algeria, the Crimean peninsula, Sardinia, Ibiza, Crete, and Cyprus. The establishment of these trade routes also allow Venetian merchants to pick up other valuable cargo, such as Indian spices, from these ports for trade. They then sold or supplied salt and other goods to cities in the Po Valley - Piacenza, Parma, Reggio, Bologna, among others - in exchange for salami, prosciutto, cheese, soft wheat, and other goods.[45]

The Golden Bull of 1082, issued by Alexios I Komnenos in return for their defense of the Adriatic Sea against the Normans,[46] granted Venetian merchants with duty-free trading rights, exempt from tax, throughout the Byzantine Empire in 23 of the most important Byzantine ports, guaranteed them property-right protections from Byzantine administrators, and given them buildings and wharfs within Constantinople. These concessions greatly expanded Venetian trading activity throughout the Eastern Mediterranean.[47]


The Flag of Veneto.
The Flag of Veneto.

The winged Lion of St. Mark, which had appeared on the Republic's flag and coat of arms,[48] is still featured in the red-yellow flag of the city of Venice (which has six tails, one for each sestier of the city), in the coat of arms of the city and in the yellow-red-blue flag of Veneto (which has seven tails representing the seven provinces of the region).


See also



  3. ^ Arbel, Benjamin (1996). "Colonie d'oltremare". In Alberto Tenenti; Ugo Tucci (eds.). Storia di Venezia. Dalle origini alla caduta della Serenissima (in Italian). V: Il Rinascimento. Società ed economia. Rome: Enciclopedia Italiana. pp. 947–985. OCLC 644711009.
  4. ^ "Translatio patriarchalis Ecclesiae Graden. ad civitatem Venetiarum, cum suppressione tituli eiusdem Ecclesiae Gradensis", in: Bullarum, diplomatum et privilegiorum sanctorum Romanorum pontificum Taurinensis editio, vol. 5 (Turin: Franco et Dalmazzo, 1860), pp. 107–109.
  6. ^ Duchesne, Louis Marie Olivier. XCIII Zacharias (741–752). Le Liber pontificalis; texte, introduction et commentaire par L. Duchesne (Volume 1). 1886. p. 426–439. Available on archive.org
  7. ^ "CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: Pope St. Zachary". newadvent.org. Retrieved 24 December 2019.
  8. ^ Reverend Alban Butler. "St. Zachary, Pope and Confessor". The Lives of the Saints, Volume 3. 1866. [1]
  9. ^ Il pactum Lotharii del 840 Cessi, Roberto. (1939–1940) – In: Atti. Istituto Veneto di Scienze, Lettere ed Arti, Classe di Scienze Morali e Lettere Ser. 2, vol. 99 (1939–40) p. 11–49
  10. ^ Slavery, Slave Trade. ed. Strayer, Joseph R. Dictionary of the Middle Ages. Volume 11. New York: Scribner, 1982. ISBN 978-0684190730
  11. ^ MGH, Leges, Capitularia regum Francorum, II, ed. by A. Boretius, Hanovre, 1890, p. 250–252 (available on-line).
  12. ^ Jankowiak, Marek. Dirhams for slaves. Investigating the Slavic slave trade in the tenth century.[2]
  13. ^ Mary A. Valante, "Castrating Monks: Vikings, the Slave Trade, and the Value of Eunuchs", in Castration and Culture in the Middle Ages, ed. Larissa Tracy [3]
  20. ^ C.Michael Hogan, Cydonia, Modern Antiquarian, 23 January 2008
  21. ^ Van Tricht 2011, p. 160.
  27. ^ Manousakas, Manousos I. (1960). Ἡ ἐν Κρήτῃ συνωμοσία τοῦ Σήφη Βλαστοῦ (1453-1454) καὶ ἡ νέα συνωμοτικὴ κίνησις τοῦ 1460-1462 [The Conspiracy of Sēphēs Vlastos in Crete (1453-1454) and the New Conspiratorial Attempt of 1460-1462] (PhD thesis). Athens: National and Kapodistrian University of Athens.
  32. ^ The Jesuits and Italian Universities, 1548-1773. Catholic University of America Press. 2017. p. 151. ISBN 9780813229362.
  36. ^ Raymond Trousson, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Tallandier, p. 452
  40. ^ a b Catholic Encyclopedia, "Venice", p. 602.
  42. ^ Gregory Hanlon. "The Twilight Of A Military Tradition: Italian Aristocrats And European Conflicts, 1560-1800." Routledge: 1997. Pages 19-20, 25, 87.
  44. ^ Hanlon, p. 176-177.
  45. ^ Kurlansky, Mark (2002). Salt: A World History. Alfred A. Knopf Canada. p. 82-105. ISBN 0-8027-1373-4.
  46. ^ Crowley, Roger (2012). City of Fortune: How Venice Ruled the Seas. New York: Random House. ISBN 978-1400068203.
  47. ^ Puga, Diego; Trefler, Daniel (11 May 2021). "International Trade and Institutional Change: Medieval Venice's Response to Globalization". The Quarterly Journal of Economics. 129 (2): 753–821. doi:10.1093/qje/qju006. ISSN 0033-5533.
  48. ^ Aldrighetti, Giorgio; De Biasi, Mario (1998). Il Gonfalone di San Marco (in Italian). Venice: Filippi Editore. p. 18.


Primary sources


Secondary sources

  • Drechsler, Wolfgang (2002). Venice Misappropriated. Trames 6(2):192–201. A scathing review of Martin & Romano 2000; also a good summary on the most recent economic and political thought on Venice.
  • Grubb, James S. (1986). When Myths Lose Power: Four Decades of Venetian Historiography. Journal of Modern History 58, pp. 43–94. The classic "muckraking" essay on the myths of Venice.
  • Karpov, Serghei (2017). Ortalli, Gherardo; Sopracasa, Alessio (eds.). "La Tana veneziana. Vita economica e rapportisociali: i tentativi di superare la grande crisi della metà del Trecento". Rapporti Mediterranei, Pratiche Documentarie, Presenze Veneziane: Le Reti Economiche e Culturali (XIV - XVI Secolo). Estratto (in Italian). Venezia: Istituto Veneto di Scienze, Lettere ed Arti: 237–252. ISBN 978-88-95996-69-1.
  • Laven, Mary (2002). Virgins of Venice: Enclosed Lives and Broken Vows in the Renaissance Convent. The most important study of the life of Renaissance nuns, with much on aristocratic family networks and the life of women more generally.
  • Melisseides Ioannes A. (2010), E epibiose:odoiporiko se chronus meta ten Alose tes Basileusas (1453–1605 peripu), (in Greek), epim.Pulcheria Sabolea-Melisseide, Ekd.Vergina Athens, (Worldcat, Greek National Bibliography 9217/10, Regesta Imperii, etc.), p. 91–108, ISBN 9608280079
  • Prelli, Alberto. Sotto le bandiere di San Marco, le armate della Serenissima nel '600, Itinera Progetti, Bassano del Grappa, 2012
  • Rosand, David (2001). Myths of Venice: The Figuration of a State. How foreign writers have understood Venice and its art.