Economic history of Venice
Encyclopedia
Venice
, situated at the far end of the Adriatic Sea
, gained large scale profit of the adjacent middle european markets. So did the fact that the town belonged to the Byzantine Empire
. Along with increasing autonomy it gained far reaching privileges in both Empires. As a consequence of the Fourth Crusade
, the venetian doge
became - at least nominally - dominator of three eigtth of Byzantium, all trading ways opened up and a colonial empire, concentrated on the Aegean, developed.
As a consumer centre Venice did play a rather meaningless role. But within a long process of adaptation and learning the Venetians developed techniques of trade, forms of companies and methods of finance, but to the same degree means of business development, of insurance and patent protection, in addition technical and organisational innovations, last not least means of controlling the money-market, that made them forerunners of developments for the rest of Europe.
Nevertheless only the nobility
or patriciate had the right to exercise the wealth-bringing long-distance trade. It was the same patriciate that erected a monopoly of political leadership. It left production and small business to the strata of its society that were not capable of becoming a member of the council - which was the visible sign of nobility. On the other hand they provided protection against competitors, against violation of secrecy - and exercised strict control.
Ab initio Venice had to face fierce competition and rivalry, especially coming from Genoa
. War, whether declared or not, was the normal status that for four times culminated in year-long open wars, conducted with all means. Finally, the tiny - as far as its expanse was concerned - super power had to draw back, because the world powers of those days, Spain
and the Ottoman Empire
, had a world of natural and human resources, Amsterdam
, London
and Lisbon
the political and economic means that Venice could not afford in that ever growing range.
In the 17th and 18th century, the regional power that had almost lost its entire colonial empire, was more and more specialized in the production of luxury articles and in agricultural products of the Terra Ferma.
were always prepared to concede privileges to the venetian traders, when they were in heavy political constraints. These far going privileges - as quarrelled as they were - formed the judicial fundament for the preponderance of the adriatic town in commercial matters. At the same time it reached its aims to overthrow the dalmatian and italian rivals and to secure the routes of transport.
The crusades brought intensification of trade, of which Venice took profit so that it soon ranked first among the trading nations. Already a century before the conquest of Constantinople (1204) lots of traders' colonies flourished. This the more, when the Venetians conquered Crete and other important points that together formed a colonial empire, the backbone of free trade and of the convoys of large ships sent to the markets around the mediterranean see. In addition it offered lots of opportunities to regulate the local balances of power and secured partly the means of living - especially wheat - for the mother town.
Taking and keeping control of long distance trade from Venice necessitated neue means and measures of checking and controlling. The "commercial revolution" with its new cultural, organisational forms, not to forget with its new ways of living, lead to a never before seen predominance of economy, especially as the economically leading clans were at the same time incorporated in the vehicles of political power. Economic success attracted - as ever - thousands of people, amongst them lots of artisans with capabilities of utmost importance. Refining and melioration, new products could developg.
Crusades and the conquest of the Byzantine Capital opened the direct ways to the East and far into Asia. But these voyages, similar to the costly convoys to Flanders, Tunisia, Syria and Constantinople, required huge amounts of capital, which normally means credit. This fact is closely combined with the early reduction of barter and a strong position of money-mediated trade. A long learning-process that lead to a rudimentary economic policy started, including patent protection, trade FÖRDERUNG, but strategic help for the afflux and leave of capital and metals.
The city could finance its everyday duties by revenues of the tariffs, but in difficult times it rigidly made recourse to the estate and capital of the thousand rich families. Money in its core in those days mostly consisted of gold
or silver
. As a consequence the economy depended heavily on the timely afflux and efflux of these metals. So Venice had to develop a highly flexible system of currencies and change rates between coins consisting of silver and gold, if it wanted to preserve and enhance its role as platform and turntable of international trading. In addition the change rates between the currencies circulating within Venice and outsides had to be adjusted adequately. On the other hand the nobility had hardly any scruples to force its colonies to accept change rates, which were only useful for the fisk.
In addition italian traders were used to means of payment, which could help avoiding transportations of gold and silver that were expensive and dangerous. Crediting became a way to bridge the ubiquitous lack of noble metals, and at the same time, to accelerate goods turnover, were it with the help of a simple bank transfer, were it with the aid of a bill of exchange. Also available and helpful were to float loans, used as a kind of traders' money, circulating from hand to hand. Cambists played an important role just as well as the later state-controlled banks whose predecessors in Venice was the "wheat chamber" or Camera frumenti.
Despite the predominance of intermediary trade, ship building was an industry of utmost importance right from the beginning - and it was by far the most important employer. Quite important in the later middle ages were the production of drapery, of silk and glas. Still the salt monopoly was of utmost importance, even more so the trade of wheat and millet. This trade did not contribute less to the wealth of the patriciate than the abundant rest of the trade.
In early Modern Times
the power of Venice reached its climax, but the tiny super power was unable to confront the enormous powers of the Ottomans and of Spain with their gigantic resources. By and by Venice lost its colonies and its monopoly for the trade in the Adriatic Sea. In addition capital of the Netherlands and of England overran the venetian competitors, they did not accept any monopoly and trade moved into the North Atlantic. In addition market access became ever more difficult because protectionism
became rampant in most mediterranean and european states.
Close to the end, the venetian state became a conservative agrarian system, which, despite increasing tourism, met incomprehension. There was no broad decadence but a slow recidivism behind the expanding trade powers of the 18th century.
(Clodia) was a roman military colony and in the Fontego dei Turchi above the Canal Grande a coin from the days of emperor Trajan
was found.
At the latest during the 6th century fishery, but overall sea salt
und grain
played the major roles.. At about 750 King Aistulf auf the Longobards prohibited trade with the byzantine subjects - that means obviously with the people of the lagoon as well..
At 780 ca. we find traders at Pavia
offering goods from orient, e.g. Tyrian purple
. Before 785 already, venetian traders resided in Ravenna
and in the so called Pentapolis
, men that had been "expelled" by the Franks in 787/791. About thirty years earlier they did appear in the slave trade with the saracen
es.
Trading mostly meant drapery
. Obviously coin
s and coinage were common - e.g. coins of emperor Louis the Pious
were in use, but stamped with „Venecia“ on the reverse -, but Venetians preferred the coins of Verona, although a venetian zecca
(arabian word for coin) is verifiable for the ninth century already.
The early emporium of Torcello
was soon replace by Malamocco
, later by Rialto. The nuclei around Olivolo, San Marco
and Rialto
made up three foci, one concentrated on ship building arsenal
, one as political centre, one as centre of trade and exchange.
The early phase of „feudalization“ together with the acquisition of wide real estates, brought huge amounts of capital to certain families. The last will
of the doge Giustiniano Participazio
from 829 demonstrates, to which amount these families did invest their revenues into buildings, goods and adornments, but the more it is astonishing that they invested even more in credits and trading companies. The leading stratum was obviously involved in trading very heavily, much more than the nobility of the neighbouring mainland.
With the destruction of Comacchio
(883) that controlled the mouth of the Po River, Venetians liberated the trade till Pavia and Piacenza – the more as a treaty with Charles the Fat
had opened his Realm. Much more difficult was the relation to Istria
and even more Dalmatia
, where the Narentani, pirates of the dalmatian coast resisted until 1000, when doge Pietro II Orseolo
conquered the northern and central part of the region.
Privileges in the Holy Empire worked well together in combination with supremacy in the adriatic sea and a chart of the byzantine Emperor of 992. In compensation for military aid against the Arabs of southern Italy emperor Basil II
had reduced the tax for the ships by half. In addition Venetians started trade with Tunisia and Alexandria in Egypt where they delivered wood, weapons, metal and slaves, even though the trade with humans was sometimes banned.. Emperor Leo V
(813–820) had already forbidden this trade., but during relatively peaceful times this ban was obviously loosened.
The breakthrough came in 1082 with the privilege of emperor Alexios I Komnenos
, which guaranteed free trade and opened large parts of his Realm for the first time. Colonies for the merchants, Fondachi and wharves completed and enhanced the by far largest colony in Constantinople.
In the Holy Land
, which was conquered by the crusaders at about 1098, Venice gained the right of free trade, because it had helped Gottfried von Bouillon in 1100 and had conquered Tyros, the trade central in Syria
. The colonies became enjoyed autarchy and autarky. From Syria to Little Armenia
they conducted their trade deep into Asia, as well as Alexandria and the Maghrib became their targets.
The counterpart of the privilege of 1082 became the one of 1084 that emperor Henry IV
ceded for his whole realm. Deeply mired in the Investiture Controversy
he allowed Venetians to trade in his whole realm, but his subjects were not allowed to extend their trading activities over Venice. Together with the monopoly in the Adriatic Sea and the staple
, and the fact that merchants could only trade in Venice with the intermediates that the city provided, Venice was on the way to monopolize the trade between West and East. The merchants of the Holy Empire had to reside in the Fondaco dei Tedeschi
, where control was intense.
Having conquered Constantinople and built a colonial empire, Venice was the predominant power in the eastern Mediterranean - with Genoa as enemy. This predominance formed the political frame together with the Latin Empire (1204-61), which allowed a massive expansion of trade. In addition the merchants participated in growing trade with the Holy Land, where Acre
played the main role until 1291.
Trade alone was unable to swallow such huge amounts of capital, so lots of nobles, but also „Populari grassi“, men grown rich very fast, acquired estates on the Terra ferma. Although the old clans tried to prevent this development, they could not stop it. Huge amounts were invested this way, althought the towns on the mainland objected these alienations.
Thanks to the gigantic wealth of populari and grandi only casual conflicts occurred. The two strata converged to only one whose members were regarded as the Magni. They held the political power and monopolized the profits of long-distance trade. Pressure was further reduced by sending 3 to 4,000 men and their families to Crete. Some of the Nobles conquered little empires of their own in the Aegean, many of them were sent as placeholders to hundreds of military and administrative posts.
The venetian empire reached from Venice to Crete. Its centre point was the Golden Horn
. Although Venice was completely unable to conquer the three eighths of the old empire that the crusaders had conceded to Enrico Dandolo
, it secured strategic points.
This way the risks diminished and the opportunities to accumulate capital increased. Close relationships and dependencies were developed and as a consequence family partnerships were largely preferred.
Not before the Late Middle Ages – and thus very late in comparison to Tuscany - veritable societates prevailed, companies conceived for longer periods. In addition double-entry bookkeeping enhanced the possibilities to stretch initiatives into rather far away countries by founding outposts or factories, and by enhancing controlling. Directing activities and intensification of local contacts were facilitated this way, too.
The members of different nations came to live in Venice and they concentrated – as ever – in certain areas. The people from Milan lived in an alleyway near Rialto. Many bankers and drapers came from Tuscany, especially from Florence, many people came from southern Italy, Greece, Kroatia and even France. From about 1250 an increasing number of people came from the Holy Empire – that means Germans, Hungarians or Bohemians – called „tedeschi“. They dwelled in the Fondaco dei Tedeschi and they were helped and controlled by Visdomini del Fondaco. Official brokers or middle-men were the only ones who were allowed to buy and sell the products.
Last not least the Jews offered much more and cheaper credits to the Venetians, but most of them lived in Mestre
an. With the foundation of the Ghetto in 1516 the majority of them started to live in secluded quarters, locked up at night.
They could only try to make their way through Armenia, Persia, Turkestan. After long and difficult negiotiations they were re-admitted in Byzantium.
This was very important in so far as sailing through the Bosporus was now the most important way to reach Central Asia. It was not by coincidence that Marco Polo travelled through Asia in these years between 1278 and 1291. A second way led to Trabzon further to the Persian Gulf to India, a third one from Tana at the mouth of the river Don to the Wolga and the Caspian Sea to India.
But the larger part of trade was conducted by sea-vessels and not overland. Venice so developed a system of regular convoys with strong protective means, but also encouraged private trading.
Venice
Venice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...
, situated at the far end of the Adriatic Sea
Adriatic Sea
The Adriatic Sea is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkan peninsula, and the system of the Apennine Mountains from that of the Dinaric Alps and adjacent ranges...
, gained large scale profit of the adjacent middle european markets. So did the fact that the town belonged to the Byzantine Empire
Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire during the periods of Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, centred on the capital of Constantinople. Known simply as the Roman Empire or Romania to its inhabitants and neighbours, the Empire was the direct continuation of the Ancient Roman State...
. Along with increasing autonomy it gained far reaching privileges in both Empires. As a consequence of the Fourth Crusade
Fourth Crusade
The Fourth Crusade was originally intended to conquer Muslim-controlled Jerusalem by means of an invasion through Egypt. Instead, in April 1204, the Crusaders of Western Europe invaded and conquered the Christian city of Constantinople, capital of the Eastern Roman Empire...
, the venetian doge
Doge
Doge is a dialectal Italian word that descends from the Latin dux , meaning "leader", especially in a military context. The wife of a Doge is styled a Dogaressa....
became - at least nominally - dominator of three eigtth of Byzantium, all trading ways opened up and a colonial empire, concentrated on the Aegean, developed.
As a consumer centre Venice did play a rather meaningless role. But within a long process of adaptation and learning the Venetians developed techniques of trade, forms of companies and methods of finance, but to the same degree means of business development, of insurance and patent protection, in addition technical and organisational innovations, last not least means of controlling the money-market, that made them forerunners of developments for the rest of Europe.
Nevertheless only the nobility
Nobility
Nobility is a social class which possesses more acknowledged privileges or eminence than members of most other classes in a society, membership therein typically being hereditary. The privileges associated with nobility may constitute substantial advantages over or relative to non-nobles, or may be...
or patriciate had the right to exercise the wealth-bringing long-distance trade. It was the same patriciate that erected a monopoly of political leadership. It left production and small business to the strata of its society that were not capable of becoming a member of the council - which was the visible sign of nobility. On the other hand they provided protection against competitors, against violation of secrecy - and exercised strict control.
Ab initio Venice had to face fierce competition and rivalry, especially coming from Genoa
Genoa
Genoa |Ligurian]] Zena ; Latin and, archaically, English Genua) is a city and an important seaport in northern Italy, the capital of the Province of Genoa and of the region of Liguria....
. War, whether declared or not, was the normal status that for four times culminated in year-long open wars, conducted with all means. Finally, the tiny - as far as its expanse was concerned - super power had to draw back, because the world powers of those days, Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
and the Ottoman Empire
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
, had a world of natural and human resources, Amsterdam
Amsterdam
Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...
, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
and Lisbon
Lisbon
Lisbon is the capital city and largest city of Portugal with a population of 545,245 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Lisbon extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of 3 million on an area of , making it the 9th most populous urban...
the political and economic means that Venice could not afford in that ever growing range.
In the 17th and 18th century, the regional power that had almost lost its entire colonial empire, was more and more specialized in the production of luxury articles and in agricultural products of the Terra Ferma.
Introduction
Venice's historical roots reach at least as far back as the Etruscan Culture. The settlements from which later on Venice grew up, could revive the late roman trade with Northern Italy. At the same time Venice succeeded in extending its privileges in the Byzantine Empire. Byzantium as well as the Holy Roman empireHoly Roman Empire
The Holy Roman Empire was a realm that existed from 962 to 1806 in Central Europe.It was ruled by the Holy Roman Emperor. Its character changed during the Middle Ages and the Early Modern period, when the power of the emperor gradually weakened in favour of the princes...
were always prepared to concede privileges to the venetian traders, when they were in heavy political constraints. These far going privileges - as quarrelled as they were - formed the judicial fundament for the preponderance of the adriatic town in commercial matters. At the same time it reached its aims to overthrow the dalmatian and italian rivals and to secure the routes of transport.
The crusades brought intensification of trade, of which Venice took profit so that it soon ranked first among the trading nations. Already a century before the conquest of Constantinople (1204) lots of traders' colonies flourished. This the more, when the Venetians conquered Crete and other important points that together formed a colonial empire, the backbone of free trade and of the convoys of large ships sent to the markets around the mediterranean see. In addition it offered lots of opportunities to regulate the local balances of power and secured partly the means of living - especially wheat - for the mother town.
Taking and keeping control of long distance trade from Venice necessitated neue means and measures of checking and controlling. The "commercial revolution" with its new cultural, organisational forms, not to forget with its new ways of living, lead to a never before seen predominance of economy, especially as the economically leading clans were at the same time incorporated in the vehicles of political power. Economic success attracted - as ever - thousands of people, amongst them lots of artisans with capabilities of utmost importance. Refining and melioration, new products could developg.
Crusades and the conquest of the Byzantine Capital opened the direct ways to the East and far into Asia. But these voyages, similar to the costly convoys to Flanders, Tunisia, Syria and Constantinople, required huge amounts of capital, which normally means credit. This fact is closely combined with the early reduction of barter and a strong position of money-mediated trade. A long learning-process that lead to a rudimentary economic policy started, including patent protection, trade FÖRDERUNG, but strategic help for the afflux and leave of capital and metals.
The city could finance its everyday duties by revenues of the tariffs, but in difficult times it rigidly made recourse to the estate and capital of the thousand rich families. Money in its core in those days mostly consisted of gold
Gold
Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au and an atomic number of 79. Gold is a dense, soft, shiny, malleable and ductile metal. Pure gold has a bright yellow color and luster traditionally considered attractive, which it maintains without oxidizing in air or water. Chemically, gold is a...
or silver
Silver
Silver is a metallic chemical element with the chemical symbol Ag and atomic number 47. A soft, white, lustrous transition metal, it has the highest electrical conductivity of any element and the highest thermal conductivity of any metal...
. As a consequence the economy depended heavily on the timely afflux and efflux of these metals. So Venice had to develop a highly flexible system of currencies and change rates between coins consisting of silver and gold, if it wanted to preserve and enhance its role as platform and turntable of international trading. In addition the change rates between the currencies circulating within Venice and outsides had to be adjusted adequately. On the other hand the nobility had hardly any scruples to force its colonies to accept change rates, which were only useful for the fisk.
In addition italian traders were used to means of payment, which could help avoiding transportations of gold and silver that were expensive and dangerous. Crediting became a way to bridge the ubiquitous lack of noble metals, and at the same time, to accelerate goods turnover, were it with the help of a simple bank transfer, were it with the aid of a bill of exchange. Also available and helpful were to float loans, used as a kind of traders' money, circulating from hand to hand. Cambists played an important role just as well as the later state-controlled banks whose predecessors in Venice was the "wheat chamber" or Camera frumenti.
Despite the predominance of intermediary trade, ship building was an industry of utmost importance right from the beginning - and it was by far the most important employer. Quite important in the later middle ages were the production of drapery, of silk and glas. Still the salt monopoly was of utmost importance, even more so the trade of wheat and millet. This trade did not contribute less to the wealth of the patriciate than the abundant rest of the trade.
In early Modern Times
Modern Times
Modern Times can refer to modern history.It may also refer to:* Modern Times , a 1936 Charlie Chaplin film* Modern Times , a 1975 album by Al Stewart...
the power of Venice reached its climax, but the tiny super power was unable to confront the enormous powers of the Ottomans and of Spain with their gigantic resources. By and by Venice lost its colonies and its monopoly for the trade in the Adriatic Sea. In addition capital of the Netherlands and of England overran the venetian competitors, they did not accept any monopoly and trade moved into the North Atlantic. In addition market access became ever more difficult because protectionism
Protectionism
Protectionism is the economic policy of restraining trade between states through methods such as tariffs on imported goods, restrictive quotas, and a variety of other government regulations designed to allow "fair competition" between imports and goods and services produced domestically.This...
became rampant in most mediterranean and european states.
Close to the end, the venetian state became a conservative agrarian system, which, despite increasing tourism, met incomprehension. There was no broad decadence but a slow recidivism behind the expanding trade powers of the 18th century.
Until the 9th century
In antiquity the sea level was a few metes lower than today. Greek and etrurian trays reveal much earlier settlements than expected. ChioggiaChioggia
Chioggia is a coastal town and comune of the province of Venice in the Veneto region of northern Italy.-Geography:...
(Clodia) was a roman military colony and in the Fontego dei Turchi above the Canal Grande a coin from the days of emperor Trajan
Trajan
Trajan , was Roman Emperor from 98 to 117 AD. Born into a non-patrician family in the province of Hispania Baetica, in Spain Trajan rose to prominence during the reign of emperor Domitian. Serving as a legatus legionis in Hispania Tarraconensis, in Spain, in 89 Trajan supported the emperor against...
was found.
At the latest during the 6th century fishery, but overall sea salt
Salt
In chemistry, salts are ionic compounds that result from the neutralization reaction of an acid and a base. They are composed of cations and anions so that the product is electrically neutral...
und grain
GRAIN
GRAIN is a small international non-profit organisation that works to support small farmers and social movements in their struggles for community-controlled and biodiversity-based food systems. Our support takes the form of independent research and analysis, networking at local, regional and...
played the major roles.. At about 750 King Aistulf auf the Longobards prohibited trade with the byzantine subjects - that means obviously with the people of the lagoon as well..
At 780 ca. we find traders at Pavia
Pavia
Pavia , the ancient Ticinum, is a town and comune of south-western Lombardy, northern Italy, 35 km south of Milan on the lower Ticino river near its confluence with the Po. It is the capital of the province of Pavia. It has a population of c. 71,000...
offering goods from orient, e.g. Tyrian purple
Tyrian purple
Tyrian purple , also known as royal purple, imperial purple or imperial dye, is a purple-red natural dye, which is extracted from sea snails, and which was possibly first produced by the ancient Phoenicians...
. Before 785 already, venetian traders resided in Ravenna
Ravenna
Ravenna is the capital city of the Province of Ravenna in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy and the second largest comune in Italy by land area, although, at , it is little more than half the size of the largest comune, Rome...
and in the so called Pentapolis
Pentapolis
A pentapolis, from the Greek words , "five" and , "city" is a geographic and/or institutional grouping of five cities...
, men that had been "expelled" by the Franks in 787/791. About thirty years earlier they did appear in the slave trade with the saracen
Saracen
Saracen was a term used by the ancient Romans to refer to a people who lived in desert areas in and around the Roman province of Arabia, and who were distinguished from Arabs. In Europe during the Middle Ages the term was expanded to include Arabs, and then all who professed the religion of Islam...
es.
Trading mostly meant drapery
Drapery
Drapery is a general word referring to cloths or textiles . It may refer to cloth used for decorative purposes – such as around windows – or to the trade of retailing cloth, originally mostly for clothing, formerly conducted by drapers.In art history, drapery refers to any cloth or...
. Obviously coin
Coin
A coin is a piece of hard material that is standardized in weight, is produced in large quantities in order to facilitate trade, and primarily can be used as a legal tender token for commerce in the designated country, region, or territory....
s and coinage were common - e.g. coins of emperor Louis the Pious
Louis the Pious
Louis the Pious , also called the Fair, and the Debonaire, was the King of Aquitaine from 781. He was also King of the Franks and co-Emperor with his father, Charlemagne, from 813...
were in use, but stamped with „Venecia“ on the reverse -, but Venetians preferred the coins of Verona, although a venetian zecca
Zecca
Zecca, Italian for "mint" , may refer to:* The historical Papal mint located in Vatican City.* The mint of the Italian Republic, Istituto Poligrafico e Zecca dello Stato, which is still active....
(arabian word for coin) is verifiable for the ninth century already.
Torcello
Torcello is a quiet and sparsely populated island at the northern end of the Venetian Lagoon. It is considered the oldest continuously populated region of Venice, and once held the largest population of the Republic of Venice.-History:...
was soon replace by Malamocco
Malamocco
Malamocco is one of the three narrow inlets in the enclosing coastal dune bar that connect the Venetian Lagoon with the Adriatic Sea, together with the Lido and Chioggia inlets...
, later by Rialto. The nuclei around Olivolo, San Marco
San Marco
San Marco is one of the six sestieri of Venice, lying in the heart of the city. San Marco also includes the island of San Giorgio Maggiore...
and Rialto
Rialto
The Rialto is and has been for many centuries the financial and commercial centre of Venice. It is an area of the San Polo sestiere of Venice, Italy, also known for its markets and for the Rialto Bridge across the Grand Canal....
made up three foci, one concentrated on ship building arsenal
Arsenal
An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, issued to authorized users, or any combination of those...
, one as political centre, one as centre of trade and exchange.
The early phase of „feudalization“ together with the acquisition of wide real estates, brought huge amounts of capital to certain families. The last will
Last Will
Last Will is a 2011 mystery drama film starring Tatum O'Neal and Tom Berenger. It was shot in Kansas City, Missouri on a modest budget.-Plot:A woman named Hayden is framed for the murder of her wealthy husband Frank...
of the doge Giustiniano Participazio
Giustiniano Participazio
Giustiniano Participazio was the eleventh or ninth Doge of Venice briefly from 825 to his death. His four years on the ducal throne were very eventful...
from 829 demonstrates, to which amount these families did invest their revenues into buildings, goods and adornments, but the more it is astonishing that they invested even more in credits and trading companies. The leading stratum was obviously involved in trading very heavily, much more than the nobility of the neighbouring mainland.
Between Byzantium and the Holy Roman Empire: 9th century to 1171/1204
Comacchio
Comacchio is a town and comune of Emilia Romagna, Italy, in the province of Ferrara, 48 km from the provincial capital Ferrara.-Geography:...
(883) that controlled the mouth of the Po River, Venetians liberated the trade till Pavia and Piacenza – the more as a treaty with Charles the Fat
Charles the Fat
Charles the Fat was the King of Alemannia from 876, King of Italy from 879, western Emperor from 881, King of East Francia from 882, and King of West Francia from 884. In 887, he was deposed in East Francia, Lotharingia, and possibly Italy, where the records are not clear...
had opened his Realm. Much more difficult was the relation to Istria
Istria
Istria , formerly Histria , is the largest peninsula in the Adriatic Sea. The peninsula is located at the head of the Adriatic between the Gulf of Trieste and the Bay of Kvarner...
and even more Dalmatia
Dalmatia
Dalmatia is a historical region on the eastern coast of the Adriatic Sea. It stretches from the island of Rab in the northwest to the Bay of Kotor in the southeast. The hinterland, the Dalmatian Zagora, ranges from fifty kilometers in width in the north to just a few kilometers in the south....
, where the Narentani, pirates of the dalmatian coast resisted until 1000, when doge Pietro II Orseolo
Pietro II Orseolo
Pietro II Orseolo was the Doge of Venice from 991 to 1009.He began the period of eastern expansion of Venice that lasted for the better part of 500 years...
conquered the northern and central part of the region.
Privileges in the Holy Empire worked well together in combination with supremacy in the adriatic sea and a chart of the byzantine Emperor of 992. In compensation for military aid against the Arabs of southern Italy emperor Basil II
Basil II
Basil II , known in his time as Basil the Porphyrogenitus and Basil the Young to distinguish him from his ancestor Basil I the Macedonian, was a Byzantine emperor from the Macedonian dynasty who reigned from 10 January 976 to 15 December 1025.The first part of his long reign was dominated...
had reduced the tax for the ships by half. In addition Venetians started trade with Tunisia and Alexandria in Egypt where they delivered wood, weapons, metal and slaves, even though the trade with humans was sometimes banned.. Emperor Leo V
Leo V the Armenian
Leo V the Armenian was emperor of the Byzantine Empire from 813 to 820. A senior general, he forced his predecessor, Michael I Rangabe, to abdicate and assumed the throne. He ended the decade-long war with the Bulgars, and initiated the second period of Byzantine Iconoclasm...
(813–820) had already forbidden this trade., but during relatively peaceful times this ban was obviously loosened.
The breakthrough came in 1082 with the privilege of emperor Alexios I Komnenos
Alexios I Komnenos
Alexios I Komnenos, Latinized as Alexius I Comnenus , was Byzantine emperor from 1081 to 1118, and although he was not the founder of the Komnenian dynasty, it was during his reign that the Komnenos family came to full power. The title 'Nobilissimus' was given to senior army commanders,...
, which guaranteed free trade and opened large parts of his Realm for the first time. Colonies for the merchants, Fondachi and wharves completed and enhanced the by far largest colony in Constantinople.
In the Holy Land
Holy Land
The Holy Land is a term which in Judaism refers to the Kingdom of Israel as defined in the Tanakh. For Jews, the Land's identifiction of being Holy is defined in Judaism by its differentiation from other lands by virtue of the practice of Judaism often possible only in the Land of Israel...
, which was conquered by the crusaders at about 1098, Venice gained the right of free trade, because it had helped Gottfried von Bouillon in 1100 and had conquered Tyros, the trade central in Syria
Syria
Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....
. The colonies became enjoyed autarchy and autarky. From Syria to Little Armenia
Little Armenia
Little Armenia can refer to:* Little Armenia, Los Angeles, California* The Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia, also known as Lesser Armenia...
they conducted their trade deep into Asia, as well as Alexandria and the Maghrib became their targets.
The counterpart of the privilege of 1082 became the one of 1084 that emperor Henry IV
Henry IV
Henry IV may refer to:* Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor , King of The Romans and Holy Roman Emperor* Henry IV, Duke of Brabant * Henry IV Probus , Duke of Wrocław* Heinrich IV Dusemer von Arfberg Henry IV may refer to:* Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor (1050–1106), King of The Romans and Holy Roman...
ceded for his whole realm. Deeply mired in the Investiture Controversy
Investiture Controversy
The Investiture Controversy or Investiture Contest was the most significant conflict between Church and state in medieval Europe. In the 11th and 12th centuries, a series of Popes challenged the authority of European monarchies over control of appointments, or investitures, of church officials such...
he allowed Venetians to trade in his whole realm, but his subjects were not allowed to extend their trading activities over Venice. Together with the monopoly in the Adriatic Sea and the staple
The staple
The Staple in English historiography, refers to the entire medieval system of trade and its taxation. Under this system, the government or King required that all overseas trade in certain goods be transacted at specific designated market towns or ports, referred to as the 'staple ports'...
, and the fact that merchants could only trade in Venice with the intermediates that the city provided, Venice was on the way to monopolize the trade between West and East. The merchants of the Holy Empire had to reside in the Fondaco dei Tedeschi
Fondaco dei Tedeschi
The Fondaco dei Tedeschi is a historic building in Venice, northern Italy, situated on the Grand Canal near the Rialto Bridge. It was the headquarters and restricted living quarters of the city's German merchants...
, where control was intense.
1171 to 1261
10.000 Venetians are said to be arrested on March 12th of 1171. This and the following embargo put he whole trade at stake . Retaliation failed despite 120 galleys being sent into the Aegean. Tumults and riots occurred, the doge was killed in the streets. The Fourth Crusade offered later doge Enrico Dandolo the opportunity to take revenge.Sudden wealth and feudal way of living
Acre, Israel
Acre , is a city in the Western Galilee region of northern Israel at the northern extremity of Haifa Bay. Acre is one of the oldest continuously inhabited sites in the country....
played the main role until 1291.
Trade alone was unable to swallow such huge amounts of capital, so lots of nobles, but also „Populari grassi“, men grown rich very fast, acquired estates on the Terra ferma. Although the old clans tried to prevent this development, they could not stop it. Huge amounts were invested this way, althought the towns on the mainland objected these alienations.
The venetian empire reached from Venice to Crete. Its centre point was the Golden Horn
Golden Horn
The Golden Horn is a historic inlet of the Bosphorus dividing the city of Istanbul and forming the natural harbor that has sheltered Greek, Roman, Byzantine, Ottoman and other ships for thousands of...
. Although Venice was completely unable to conquer the three eighths of the old empire that the crusaders had conceded to Enrico Dandolo
Enrico Dandolo
Enrico Dandolo — anglicised as Henry Dandolo and Latinized as Henricus Dandulus — was the 41st Doge of Venice from 1195 until his death...
, it secured strategic points.
Forms of company
The typical form of company was the so called Collegantia. Within its frame a silent partner introduced about three quarters of the capital investment, the active partner, who conducted the trade, introduced the rest. Aims, responsibility assignment and shares were fixed before the journey being started, but the active partner could also reinvest his gains during the same journey. In a way silent and active partner were only roles that were fixed before each adventure, in which several silent partners could dare their luck.This way the risks diminished and the opportunities to accumulate capital increased. Close relationships and dependencies were developed and as a consequence family partnerships were largely preferred.
Not before the Late Middle Ages – and thus very late in comparison to Tuscany - veritable societates prevailed, companies conceived for longer periods. In addition double-entry bookkeeping enhanced the possibilities to stretch initiatives into rather far away countries by founding outposts or factories, and by enhancing controlling. Directing activities and intensification of local contacts were facilitated this way, too.
Immigration
The population of Venice – maybe 85 to 100.000 at about 1300 – could only bear these permanent losses, because there was also a permanent afflux. This afflux was heavily encouraged by venetian officials, especially after the waves of Black Death after 1348. Specialists like silk weavers from Lucca or mill builders and bakers of the Holy Empire. Venice was forced to expand within its narrow territory, so gardens and swamps were largely by dwellings.The members of different nations came to live in Venice and they concentrated – as ever – in certain areas. The people from Milan lived in an alleyway near Rialto. Many bankers and drapers came from Tuscany, especially from Florence, many people came from southern Italy, Greece, Kroatia and even France. From about 1250 an increasing number of people came from the Holy Empire – that means Germans, Hungarians or Bohemians – called „tedeschi“. They dwelled in the Fondaco dei Tedeschi and they were helped and controlled by Visdomini del Fondaco. Official brokers or middle-men were the only ones who were allowed to buy and sell the products.
Last not least the Jews offered much more and cheaper credits to the Venetians, but most of them lived in Mestre
Mestre
Mestre is a city part of the comune of Venice, in Veneto, northern Italy.The city is connected to Venice by a large rail and road bridge, called Ponte della Libertà ....
an. With the foundation of the Ghetto in 1516 the majority of them started to live in secluded quarters, locked up at night.
Venice as key of world trade between 13th and 15th century
The arabian conquest of Jerusalem caused a long lasting deviation of trade routes to Bagdad and Tabriz. Cilician Armenia was now the main hub of trade. In addition the Venetians lost their main ports in Egypt and in 1291 also the most important Akkon.This was very important in so far as sailing through the Bosporus was now the most important way to reach Central Asia. It was not by coincidence that Marco Polo travelled through Asia in these years between 1278 and 1291. A second way led to Trabzon further to the Persian Gulf to India, a third one from Tana at the mouth of the river Don to the Wolga and the Caspian Sea to India.
But the larger part of trade was conducted by sea-vessels and not overland. Venice so developed a system of regular convoys with strong protective means, but also encouraged private trading.
Further Readings
- John McManamon/Marco D'Agostino/Stefano Medas, Excavation and Recording of the Medieval Hulls at San Marco in Boccalama (Venice), in: The INA Quarterly. The Publication of the Institute of Nautical Archaeology 30 (2003) 22-28, als PDF (Nr.1, Jahrgang 30):
- Ludwig Beutin, Der wirtschaftliche Niedergang Venedigs im 16. und 17. Jahrhundert, in: Hansische Geschichtsblätter 76 (1958) 42–72
- Ludo (Ludwig) Moritz Hartmann, Die wirtschaftlichen Anfänge Venedigs, in: Vierteljahrschrift für Wirtschafts- und Sozialgeschichte 2 (1904) 434–442
- Heinrich Kretschmayr, Geschichte von Venedig, 3 Bde, Gotha 1905 und 1920, Stuttgart 1934, Nachdruck Aalen 1964
- Frederic C. Lane, Venice. A Maritime Republic, Baltimore, London 1973
- Gino Luzzatto, Storia economica di Venezia dall'XI al XVI secolo, Venedig 1961, Nachdruck 1995
- Storia di Venezia, 8 Voll, Rome 1992–2002
- Benjamin Arbel, Trading Nations: Jews and Venetians in the Early Modern Eastern Mediterranean, Leiden 1995
- Jean-Claude Hocquet, Denaro, navi e mercanti a Venezia 1200–1600, Rom 1999
- Ugo Tucci, The psychology of the Venetian merchant in the sixteenth century, in: Renaissance Venice, J. R. Hale (ed.), London 1973, 346–378
- Robert C. Davies, Shipbuilders of the Venetian Arsenal. Workers and workplace in the preindustrial city, Baltimore/London 1991
- Maurice Aymard, Venise, Raguse et le commerce du blé pendant la seconde moitie du XVIe siècle, Paris 1966
- Philippe Braunstein, De la montagne à Venise: les réseaux du bois au XVe siècle, in: MEFR 100 (1988) 761–799
- Salvatore Ciriacono, Les manufactures de luxe à Venise: contraintes géographiques, goût méditerranéen et compétition internationale (XIVe-XVIe siècles), in: Les villes et la transmission des valeurs culturelles au bas Moyen Age et aux temps modernes, Brüssel 1996, 235-251
- Salvatore Ciriacono, L’olio a Venezia in età moderna. I consumi alimentari e gli altri usi, in: Alimentazione e Nutrizione, secc. XIII – XVIII, Florenz 1997, 301 – 312
- N. Fano, Ricerche sull'arte della lana a Venezia nel XIII e XIV secolo, in: Archivio Veneto Va serie 18 (1936) 73–213
- Jean-Claude Hocquet, Chioggia, Capitale del Sale nel Medioevo, Sottomarina 1991
- Hans-Jürgen Hübner, Quia bonum sit anticipare tempus. Die kommunale Versorgung Venedigs mit Brot und Getreide vom späten 12. bis ins 15. Jahrhundert, Peter Lang 1998 ISBN 3-631-32870-2
- Luca Molà (ed.), The Silk Industry of Renaissance Venice, Baltimore 2000
- Sergej P. Karpov, La navigazione veneziana nel Mar nero, XIII–XV sec., Ravenna 2000 ISBN 8875673594
- Ralph-Johannes Lilie, Handel und Politik zwischen dem Byzantinischen Reich und den italienischen Kommunen Venedig, Pisa und Genua in der Epoche der Komnenen und Angeloi (1081–1204), Amsterdam 1984
- Gerhard Rösch, Venedig und das Reich. Handels- und verkehrspolitische Beziehungen in der deutschen Kaiserzeit, Tübingen 1982
- Freddy Thiriet, La Romanie vénitienne au Moyen Age. Le développement et l'exploitation du domaine colonial vénitien (XII–XV siècles), Paris 1959, 2. Aufl. 1975
- Tommaso Bertelè, Bilanci generali della Repubblica di Venezia, Venedig 1912
- Roberto Cessi (ed.), La regolazione delle entrate e delle spese (sec. XIII–XIV), Padua 1925
- Frederic C. Lane/Reinhold C. Mueller, Money and Banking in Medieval and Renaissance Venice, Vol. 1: Coins and Moneys of Account, Vol. 2: The Venetian Money Market: Banks, Panics and the Public Debt, 1200–1500, Baltimore/London 1985 and 1997
- Gino Luzzatto, I prestiti della Repubblica di Venezia (sec. XIII–XV), Padua 1929
- Reinhold C. Mueller, L'imperialismo monetario veneziano nel Quattrocento, in: Società e Storia 8 (1980) 277–297
- Luciano Pezzolo, Il fisco dei veneziani. Finanza pubblica ed economia tra XV e XVII secolo, Verona 2003
- Alan M. Stahl, The Venetian Tornesello. A medieval colonial coinage, New York 1985
- Ugo Tucci, Monete e riforme monetarie nell'Italia del settecento, in: Rivista Storica Italiana 98 (1986) 78–119
- Franco Brunelli, Arti e mestieri a Venezia nel medioevo e nel rinascimento, Vicenza 1981
- Elizabeth Crouzet-Pavan, „Sopra le acque salse“. Escpaces, pouvoir et société à Venise à la fin du Moyen Age, 2 Bde, Rome 1992
- Gerhard Rösch, Der venezianische Adel bis zur Schliessung des Grossen Rates: zur Genese einer Führungsschicht, Sigmaringen: Thorbecke 1989
- Alvise da Mosto, L'ARCHIVIO DI STATO DI VENEZIA. INDICE GENERALE, STORICO, DESCRITTIVO ED ANALITICO (PDF, 796 kB oder im HTML-Format) – das Überblickswerk über die Bestände des Staatsarchivs von Venedig und damit über die wichtigsten Quellenbestände zum Thema.
- Roberto Cessi (ed.), Documenti relativi alla storia di Venezia anteriori al Mille, in: Testi e Documenti di storia e di letteratura latina medioevale, Bd. 1-3, Padua 1942–43
- Roberto Cessi (ed.), Liber Plegiorum & Acta Consilii Sapientum (Deliberazioni del Maggior Consiglio di Venezia, Bd. 1), Bologna 1950
- Georg Martin Thomas, Diplomatarium Veneto-Levantinum sive Acta et Diplomata Res Venetas Graecas atque Levantis illustrantia, 2 Bde, Venedig 1880/99, ND New York 1966 (enthält zahlreiche Vertragstexte zwischen Byzanz und Venedig)
Weblinks
- News on the Rialto Newsletter (engl.)
- Venezia e le isole della Laguna archeologia subacquea (ital.)