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papal sympathies of the time), they looked towards the new Carolingian king of the Franks, Pepin
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the Short, as the best provider of defence against the Lombards. A minor, pro-Lombard faction was
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opposed to close ties with any of these further-off powers and interested in maintaining peace with
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the neighbouring (and surrounding, but for the sea) Lombard kingdom.
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In that period, Venice had established for itself a thriving slave trade, buying in Italy, among
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other places, and selling to the Moors in Northern Africa (Pope Zachary himself reportedly forbade
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such traffic out of Rome). When the sale of Christians to Muslims was banned following the pactum
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Lotharii, the Venetians began to sell Slavs and other Eastern European non-Christian slaves in
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greater numbers. Caravans of slaves traveled from Eastern Europe, through Alpine passes in Austria,
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to reach Venice. Surviving records valued female slaves at a tremissa (about 1.5 grams of gold or
|
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roughly of a dinar) and male slaves, who were more numerous, at a saiga (which is much less).
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Eunuchs were especially valuable, and "castration houses" arose in Venice, as well as other
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prominent slave markets, to meet this demand. Indeed, Venice was far from the only Italian city
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engaged in the slave trade in Medieval Europe.
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Early Middle Ages
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The successors of Obelerio inherited a united Venice. By the Pax Nicephori (803–814), the two
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emperors had recognised that Venice belonged to the Byzantine sphere of influence. Many centuries
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later, the Venetians claimed that the treaty had recognised Venetian de facto independence, but the
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truth of this claim is doubted by modern scholars. A Byzantine fleet sailed to Venice in 807 and
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deposed the Doge, replacing him with a Byzantine governor. Nevertheless, during the reign of the
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Participazio family, Venice grew into its modern form.
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Though Heraclean by birth, Agnello, the first Participazio doge, was an early immigrant to Rialto
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and his dogeship was marked by the expansion of Venice towards the sea via the construction of
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bridges, canals, bulwarks, fortifications, and stone buildings. The modern Venice, at one with the
|
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sea, was being born. Agnello was succeeded by his son Giustiniano, who stole the remains of Saint
|
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Mark the Evangelist from Alexandria, took them to Venice, and made him the republic's patron saint.
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According to tradition, Saint Mark was the founder of the Patriarchate of Aquileia.
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With the patriarch's flight to Grado after the Lombard invasion, the patriarchate split into two:
|
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one on the mainland, under the control of the Lombards and later the Franks, and the other in Grado
|
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on the lagoons and the areas under Byzantine control. This would later become the Patriarchate of
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Venice. With the apostle's reliquiae in its hands, Venice could again claim to be the rightful heir
|
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of Aquileia. In the Late Middle Ages, this would be the basis for legitimizing the seizure of the
|
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patriarchy's vast territories in Friuli and eastwards.
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During the reign of the successor of the Participazio, Pietro Tradonico, Venice began to establish
|
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its military might, which would influence many a later crusade and dominate the Adriatic for
|
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centuries. Tradonico secured the sea by fighting Narentine and Saracen pirates. Tradonico's reign
|
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was long and successful (837–64), but he was succeeded by the Participazio and a dynasty appeared
|
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to have been finally established. Around 841, the Republic of Venice sent a fleet of 60 galleys
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(each carrying 200 men) to assist the Byzantines in driving the Arabs from Crotone, but it failed.
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In 1000, Pietro II Orseolo sent a fleet of 6 ships to defeat the Narentine pirates from Dalmatia.
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High Middle Ages
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In the High Middle Ages, Venice became extremely wealthy through its control of trade between
|
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Europe and the Levant, and it began to expand into the Adriatic Sea and beyond. In 1084, Domenico
|
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Selvo personally led a fleet against the Normans, but he was defeated and lost nine great galleys,
|
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the largest and most heavily armed ships in the Venetian war fleet. Venice was involved in the
|
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Crusades almost from the very beginning. Two hundred Venetian ships assisted in capturing the
|
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coastal cities of Syria after the First Crusade. In 1110, Ordelafo Faliero personally commanded a
|
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Venetian fleet of 100 ships to assist Baldwin I of Jerusalem and Sigurd I Magnusson, king of Norway
|
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in capturing the city of Sidon (in present-day Lebanon). In 1123, they were granted virtual
|
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autonomy in the Kingdom of Jerusalem through the Pactum Warmundi.
|
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The Venetians also gained extensive trading privileges in the Byzantine Empire during the 12th
|
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century, and their ships often provided the Empire with a navy. In 1182, a vicious anti-Western
|
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riot broke out in Constantinople targeting Latins, and Venetians in particular. Many in the Empire
|
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had become jealous of Venetian power and influence, thus when the pretender Andronikos I Komnenos
|
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marched on the city, Venetian property was seized and the owners imprisoned or banished, an act
|
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which humiliated and angered the republic.
|
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In 1183, the city of Zara () successfully rebelled against Venetian rule. The city then put itself
|
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under the dual protection of the papacy and Emeric, King of Hungary. The Dalmatians separated from
|
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Hungary by a treaty in 1199, and they paid Hungary with a portion of Macedonia. In 1201, the city
|
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of Zara recognized Emeric as overlord.
|
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13th century
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The leaders of the Fourth Crusade (1202–04) contracted with Venice to provide a fleet for
|
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transportation to the Levant. When the crusaders were unable to pay for the ships, Doge Enrico
|
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Dandolo offered transport if the crusaders were to capture Zara, a city that had rebelled years ago
|
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and was a rival to Venice. Upon the capture of Zara, the crusade was again diverted, this time to
|
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Constantinople. The capture and sacking of Constantinople has been described as one of the most
|
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profitable and disgraceful sacks of a city in history.
|
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The Venetians claimed much of the plunder, including the famous four bronze horses that were
|
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brought back to adorn St Mark's Basilica. Furthermore, in the subsequent partition of the Byzantine
|
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lands, Venice gained a great deal of territory in the Aegean Sea, theoretically amounting to
|
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three-eighths of the Byzantine Empire. It also acquired the islands of Crete (Candia) and Euboea
|
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(Negroponte); the present core city of Chania on Crete is largely of Venetian construction, built
|
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atop the ruins of the ancient city of Cydonia.
|
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The Aegean islands came to form the Venetian Duchy of the Archipelago. In ca. 1223/24, the
|
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then-lord of Philippopolis, Gerard of Estreux declared himself prepared to acknowledge the
|
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suzerainty of the Republic of Venice over a part of his possessions. The Byzantine Empire was
|
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re-established in 1261 by Michael VIII Palaiologos, but never again recovered its previous power,
|
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and was eventually conquered by the Ottoman Turks.
|
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The Republic of Venice fought the War of the Castle of Love against Padua and Treviso in 1215. It
|
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signed a trade treaty with the Mongol Empire in 1221.
|
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|
In 1295, Pietro Gradenigo sent a fleet of 68 ships to attack a Genoese fleet at Alexandretta, then
|
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another fleet of 100 ships was sent to attack the Genoese in 1299. From 1350 to 1381, Venice fought
|
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an intermittent war with the Genoese. Initially defeated, they devastated the Genoese fleet at the
|
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Battle of Chioggia in 1380 and retained their prominent position in eastern Mediterranean affairs
|
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at the expense of Genoa's declining empire.
|
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The Serrata del Maggior Consiglio (Great Council Lockout) refers to the constitutional process,
|
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started with the 1297 Ordinance, by means of which membership of the Great Council of Venice became
|
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an hereditary title. Since it was the Great Council that had the right to elect the Doge, the 1297
|
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Ordinance marked a relevant change in the constitution of the Republic. This resulted in the
|
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exclusion of minor aristocrats and plebeian from participating in the government of the Republic.
|
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14th century
|
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In 1363, the revolt of Saint Titus against Venetian rule broke out in the overseas colony of Candia
|
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(Crete). It was a joint effort of Venetian colonists and Cretan nobles who attempted to create an
|
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independent state. Venice sent a multinational mercenary army which soon regained control of the
|
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major cities. However, Venice was not able to fully reconquer Crete until 1368.
|
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By the end of the 14th century, Venice had acquired mainland possessions in Italy, annexing Mestre
|
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and Serravalle in 1337, Treviso and Bassano del Grappa in 1339, Oderzo in 1380, and Ceneda in 1389.
|
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15th century: The expansion in the mainland
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In the early 15th century, the republic began to expand onto the Terraferma. Thus, Vicenza,
|
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Belluno, and Feltre were acquired in 1404, and Padua, Verona, and Este in 1405.
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