Historical Information Early Middle Ages

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The successors of Obelerio inherited a united Venice. By the Pax Nicephori (803), the two emperors had recognised Venetian de facto independence, while it remained nominally Byzantine in subservience. During the reign of the Participazio, Venice grew into its modern form. Though Heraclean by birth, Agnello, first doge of the family, was an early immigrant to Rialto and his dogeship was marked by the expansion of Venice towards the sea via the construction of bridges, canals, bulwarks, fortifications, and stone buildings. The modern Venice, at one with the sea, was being born. Agnello was succeeded by his son Giustiniano, who brought the body of Saint Mark the Evangelist to Venice from Alexandria and made him the patron saint of Venice.

During the reign of the successor of the Participazio, Pietro Tradonico, Venice began to establish its military might which would influence many a later crusade and dominate the Adriatic for centuries, and signed a trade agreement with the Holy Roman Emperor Lothair I, whose privileges were later expanded by Otto I. Tradonico secured the sea by fighting Slavic and Saracen pirates. Tradonico's reign was long and successful (837 – 864), but he was succeeded by the Participazio and it appeared that a dynasty may have finally been established. Around 841, the Republic of Venice sent a fleet of 60 galleys (each carrying 200 men) to assist the Byzantines in driving the Arabs from Crotone, but failed.

Under Pietro II Candiano Istrian cities signed a treaty under which it accepted the Venetian economical supremacy: it was the first move towards the creation of the coastal empire in Dalmatia. The autocratic, philo-Imperial Candiano dynasty was overthrown by a revolt in 972, and the populace elected doge Pietro I Orseolo; however, his conciliating policy was little effective, and he resigned in favour of Vitale Candiano. Starting from Pietro II Orseolo, who reigned from 991, attention towards mainland was definitely overshadowed by a strong push towards the control of Adriatic Sea. Inner strifes were pacified, and trade with the Byzantine Empire boosted by the favourable treaty (Grisobolus or Golden Bull) with Emperor Basil II. The imperial edict granted Ventian traders freedom from taxation paid by other foreigners and the Byzantines themselves. In the year 1000 an expedition of 6 ships in Istria secured the Venetian suzerainty in the area, and Slav pirates were suppressed permanently.

Horses of Saint Mark, brought as loot from Constantinople in 1204.
In the occasion Orseolo named himself "Duke of Dalmatia", starting the colonial empire of Venice. He died in 1008; he was also responsible of the establishment of the "Marriage of the Sea" ceremony. At this time Venice had a firm control over the Adriatic Sea, strengthened by the expedition of Pietro's son Ottone in 1017, and had assumed a firm role of balance power between the two major Empires.

During the long Investiture Controversy, an 11th century dispute between Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor and Pope Gregory VII over who would control appointments of church officials, Venice remained neutral, and this caused some attrition of support from the Popes. Doge Domenico Selvo also skilfully intervened in the war between the Normans of Apulia and the Byzantine Emperor Alexios I Komnenos in favour of the latter, obtaining in exchange a bull declaring the Venetian supremacy in the Adriatic coast up to Durazzo, as well as the exemption from taxes for his merchants in the whole Byzantine Empire, a considerable factor in the city-states later accumulation of wealth and power serving as middlemen for the lucrative spice and silk trade that funnelled through the Levant and Egypt along the ancient Kingdom of Axum and Roman-Indian routes via the Red Sea.

The war was not a military success, but with that act the city gained total independence of Venice also from the formal point of view. In 1084, Domenico Selvo had personally led a fleet against the Normans, but he was defeated and lost 9 great galleys, the largest and most heavily armed ships in the Venetian war fleet.

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High Middle Ages
In the High Middle Ages, Venice became wealthy through its control of trade between Europe and the Levant, and began to expand into the Adriatic Sea and beyond. Venice was involved in the Crusades almost from the very beginning; 200 Venetian ships assisted in capturing the coastal cities of Syria after the First Crusade, and in 1123 they were granted virtual autonomy in the Kingdom of Jerusalem through the Pactum Warmundi. In 1110, Ordelafo Faliero personally commanded a Venetian fleet of 100 ships to assist Baldwin I of Jerusalem in capturing the city of Sidon. In the 12th century, the Venetians also gained extensive trading privileges in the Byzantine Empire and their ships often provided the Empire with a navy. In 1182 there was an anti-Western riot in Constantinople, of which the Venetians were the main targets. The Venetian fleet was crucial to the transportation of the Fourth Crusade, but when the crusaders could not pay for the ships, the cunning and manipulative Doge Enrico Dandolo quickly exploited the situation and offered transport to the crusaders if they were to capture the (Christian) Dalmatian city of Zadar (Italian: Zara), which had rebelled against Venetian rule in 1183, placed itself under the dual protection of the Papacy and King Emeric of Hungary and had proven too well fortified[citation needed] for Venice to retake alone. Upon accomplishing this the crusade was again diverted to Constantinople, the capital of the Byzantine Empire, another rival of Venice. The city was captured and sacked in 1204; the sack has been described as one of the most profitable and disgraceful sacks of a city in history. The Byzantine Empire, which until then had resisted several attacks and kept the Islamic invaders out of Western Anatolia and Eastern Europe, was reestablished in 1261 but never recovered its previous power and eventually was conquered by the Ottoman Turks (which later occupied the Balkans and Hungary, as well as besieged Vienna on two occasions). The Venetians, who accompanied the crusader fleet, claimed much of the plunder from the city as payment including the famous four bronze horses which were brought back to adorn St. Mark's basilica. As a result of the partition of the Byzantine Empire which followed, Venice gained some strategic territories in the Aegean Sea (three-eighths of the Byzantine Empire), including the islands of Crete and Euboea; moreover, some present day cities, such as Chania on Crete, have core architecture that is substantially Venetian in origin. The Aegean islands formed the Venetian Duchy of the Archipelago.

In 1295, Pietro Gradenigo sent a fleet of 68 ships to attack a Genoese fleet at Alexandretta, then another fleet of 100 ships were sent to attack the Genoese in 1299. From 1350 to 1381, Venice fought an intermittent war with the Genoese. Initially defeated, they destroyed the Genoese fleet at the Battle of Chioggia in 1380 and retained their prominent position in eastern Mediterranean affairs at the expense of Genoa. Venetian fort in Nafplion, Greece. This is one of the many forts that secured the Venetian trade routes in the Eastern Mediterranean.

15th century
In the early fifteenth century, the Venetians also began to expand in Italy, as well as along the Dalmatian coast from Istria to Albania, which was acquired from King Ladislas of Naples. Venice installed nobility to govern the area, for example, Count Filippo Stipanov in Zara. This move by the Venetians was as a response to the threatening expansion of Giangaleazzo Visconti, Duke of Milan. Control over the north-east main land routes was also a necessity for the safety of the trades. By 1410, Venice had a navy of 3,300 ships (manned by 36,000 men) and taken over most of Venetia, including such important cities as Verona and Padua.

The situation in Dalmatia had been settled in 1408 by a truce with King Sigismund of Hungary. At its expirement, Venice immediately invaded the Patriarchate of Aquileia, and subjected Traù, Split, Durazzo and other Dalmatia cities. The difficulties of Hungary granted to the Republic the consolidation of its Adriatic dominions.

Under doge Francesco Foscari (1423-1457) the city reached its maximum power and territorial extension. In 1425 a new war broke out, this time against Filippo Maria Visconti of Milan. The victory at the Battle of Maclodio of Count of Carmagnola, commander of the Venetian army, the shift of the western border from the Adige to the Adda. However, the territorial expansion was not welcome everywhere in Venice; tension with Milan remained high, and in 1446 the Republic had to fight another league, formed by Milan, Florence, Bologna and Cremona. After an initial Venetian victory under Micheletto Attendolo at Casalmaggiore, however, Visconti died and in Milan a republic was declared. The Serenissima had then free ground to occupy Lodi and Piacenza, but was halted by Francesco Sforza; later, Sforza and the Doge allied to allow him the rule of Milan, in exchange of the cession of Brescia and Vicenza. Venice, however, again changed side when the power of Sforza seemed to became excessive: the intricate situation was settled with the Peace of Lodi (1454), which confirmed the area of Bergamo and Brescia to the Republic. At this time, the territories under the Serenissima included much of the modern Veneto, Friuli, the provinces of Bergamo, Cremona and Trento, as well as Ravenna, Istria and Dalmatia. Eastern borders were with the county of Gorizia and the ducal lands of Austria, while in the south was the Duchy of Ferrara. Oversea dominions included Euboea and Egina.

In 1453 Constantinople fell to the Ottomans, but Venice managed to maintain a colony in the city and some of the former trade privileges it had had under the Byzantines. Despite the recent Ottoman defeats against John Hunyadi of Hungary and Scanderbeg in Albania, war was however unavoidable. In 1463 the Venetian fortress of Argos was ravaged. Venice set up an alliance with Matthias Corvinus of Hungary and attacked the Greek islands by sea and Bulgaria by land. Both the fronts however, saw the allies forced to retreat, after several minor victories. Operations reduced mostly to isolated ravages and guerrilla, until the Ottomans moved a massive counteroffensive in 1470: this had Venice lose its main strongpoint in the Aegean Sea, Negroponte. The Venetians sought an alliance with the Shah of Persia and other European powers, but, received only limited support, could make only small-scale attacks at Antalya, Halicarnassus and Smirne. However, the Ottomans conquered the Peloponnesus and launched an offensive in Venetian mainland, nearing the important centre of Udine. The Persians, together with the Caramanian amir, were severely defeated at Terdguin, and the Republic was left alone. Further, much of Albania went lost after Scanderbeg's death. However, the heroic resistance of Scutari under Antonio Loredan forced the Ottomans to retire from Albania, while a revolt in Cyprus gave back the island to the Cornaro family and, subsequently, to the Serenissima (1473). Its prestige seemed reassured, but Scutari fell anyway two years later, and Friuli was again invaded and ravaged. On January 24, 1479, a treaty of peace was finally signed with the Ottomans. Venice had to cede Argo, Negroponte, Lemnos and Scutari, and pay an annual tribute of 10,000 golden ducati. Five years later the agreement was confirmed by Mehmed II's successor, Bayezid II, with the pacific exchange of the islands of Zakynthos and Kefalonia between the two sides.

Venetian possessions in Greece, 1450
In 1482 Venice allied with Pope Sixtus IV in his attempt to conquer Ferrara, opposed to Florence, Naples, Milan and Ercole d'Este (see War of Ferrara). When Papal-Venetian milices were smashed at the Battle of Campomorto, Sixtus changed side. Again alone, the Venetians were defeated in the Veronese by Alfonso of Calabria, but conquered Gallipoli, in Puglia, by sea. The balance was changed by Ludovico Sforza of Milan, who passed on the side of Venice: this led to a quick peace, which was signed near Brescia on 1484-08-07. In spite of the numerous setbacks suffered in the campaign, Venice obtained the Polesine and Rovigo, and increased its prestige in the Italian peninsula, at the expenses of Florence especially. In the late 1480s Venice fought two brief campaigns against the new Pope Innocent VIII and Sigismund of Austria. Venetian troops were also present at the Battle of Fornovo, which saw the Italian League against Charles VIII of France. Alliance with Spain/Aragon in the following reconquest of the Kingdom of Naples granted it the control of the Apulian ports, important strategic bases commanding the lower Adriatic and the Ionian islands.

Despite the setbacks in the struggle against the Turks, at the end of 15th century, with 180,000 inhabitants, Venice was the second largest city in Europe after Paris and probably the richest in the world. The territory of the Republic of Venice extended over approximately 70,000 km² with 2.1 million inhabitants (for a comparative example in the same time England hosted 3 million, the whole of Italy 11, France 13, Portugal 1.7, Spain 6, Germany/Holy Roman Empire 10). Administratively the territory was divided in three main parts: 1) the Dogado (literally the territory under the Doge) comprehending the islets of the city and the original lands around the lagoon; 2) the Stato da Mar (the Sea State) comprehending Istria, Dalmatia, Albanian coasts, Apulian ports, Ionian Islands, Crete, Aegean Archipelago, Cyprus and many fortress and commercial colonies in the major cities and ports around south-east Europe and Middle East; 3) the Stato di Terraferma (the Firm Land State) comprehending Veneto, Friuli, Venetia Iulia, East Lombardy and Romagna.

League of Cambrai, Lepanto and the Loss of Cyprus
In 1499 Venice allied itself with Louis XII of France against Milan, gaining Cremona. In the same year the Ottoman sultan moved to attack Lepanto by land, and sent a large fleet to support his offensive by sea. Antonio Grimani, more a businessman and diplomat than a sailor, was defeated in the sea Battle of Zonchio in 1499. The Turks once again sacked Friuli. Preferring peace to total war both against the Turks and by sea, Venice surrendered the bases of Lepanto, Modon and Coron.

Venice's attention was diverted from her usual maritime position by the delicate situation in Romagna, then one of the richest lands in Italy, which was nominally part of the Papal States but effectively fractionated in a series of small lordship of difficult control for Rome's troops. Eager to take some of Venice's lands, all neighbouring powers joined in the League of Cambrai in 1508, under the leadership of Pope Julius II. The pope wanted Romagna, emperor Maximilian I Friuli and Veneto, Spain the Apulian ports, the king of France Cremona, the king of Hungary Dalmatia, and each of the others some part. The offensive against the huge army enlisted by Venice was launched from France. On 14 May 1509 Venice was crushingly defeated at the Battle of Agnadello, in the Ghiara d'Adda, marking one of the most delicate points of Venetian history. French and imperial troops were occupying the Veneto, but Venice managed to extricate herself through diplomatic efforts. The Apulian ports were ceded in order to come to terms with Spain, and pope Julius II soon recognized the danger brought by the eventual destruction of Venice (then the only Italian power able to face national states like France or Ottoman Turkey). The citizens of the mainland rose to the cry of "Marco, Marco", and Andrea Gritti recaptured Padua in July 1509, successfully defending it against the besieging imperial troops. Spain and the pope broke off their alliance with France, and Venice regained Brescia and Verona from France also. After seven years of ruinous war, the Serenissima regained her mainland dominions up to the Adda. Although the defeat had turned into a victory, the events of 1509 marked the end of the Venetian expansion.

Gasparo Contarini's De Magistratibus et Republica Venetorum (1544) clearly shows the approval and interest which surrounded Venice's constitutional arrangements. It also illustrates the foreigners' astonishment at Venice's independence and resistance to Italy's loss of freedom and, not least, at her having emerged unscathed from the war against the League of Cambrai. Contarini suggested that the secret of Venice's greatness lay in the co-existence of Aristotle's three types of government, monarchy, oligarchy, and democracy. In his opinion, the Maggior Consiglio was the "democratic" part, the Senate and the Ten were the oligarchy, while the doge represented monarchy. The combination of these three principles in the Venetian government came as close as was possible to perfection in the mechanism of government. At the same time the patrician Marino Sanudo, a politician who had a remarkable career, and a celebrated diarist, was bewailing the corruption which resulted from the great number of poor or impoverished patricians.

The struggle for supremacy in Italy between France and Spain was resolved in favour of the latter. Caught between the Spanish-Imperial and Turk superpower, the Republic adopted a skilful political strategy of quasi-neutrality in Europe, which turned into a defensive stance against the Ottomans. Venice's maritime aid was potentially useful to Spain, but not to the point of allowing her to reinforce her position in the Levant, which would increase her strength in Italy as well, where she was practically the only Italian state not subject to Spain. In the Turkish war of 1537-40, Venice was allied with the emperor and King of Spain, Charles V. Andrea Doria, commander of the allied fleets, was defeated at Preveza in 1538, and two years later Venice signed a treaty of peace by which the Turks took the Aegean duchy of Naxos from the Sanudo family. After Preveza the supremacy of the sea passed to Turkey.