Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
ranean. A century after the fall of Constantinople (now renamed Istanbul), the Christian
West summoned its fleets for a final assault against Turkish maritime power. The Battle of
Lepanto in 1571, the last great battle fought by galleys, brought victory to the West. [76]
THE PEPPER TRADE
With Turkish maritime might weakened, Venice continued to prosper, but new threats to its
prosperity were in the making. Driven by national and religious ambitions, the Portuguese
sailed around Africa, crossed the Indian Ocean in 1498, and became rich by transport-
ing the spices and gems of the Indies. More important, as a threat to Venetian prosperity,
Portuguese pepper flooded the market, and the price of pepper plummeted. Even before
the Portuguese under the command of Vasco da Gamma landed on India's pepper coast,
Columbus had crossed the Atlantic, claiming a New World for Spain. In 1523 the first
treasure fleet sailed from the Yucatan to be followed almost yearly by ships carrying the
gold and silver of Mexico, Peru, and Bolivia. Spain and Portugal were the new treasure
houses of Europe. And the Venetian Republic worried for its future.
THE VENETIAN REPUBLIC
Half a millennium separates the First Crusade from Lepanto. During those years, Venice
grew from a city-state to an empire. It dealt with kings and courts as a sovereign power
and had colonies in the Adriatic and the Aegean. The city square of beautiful Nauphlion
in southern Greece still displays the lion of St. Mark, emblem of its former Venetian over-
lords. The lion is incised in the stones of Dubrovnik and in several towns north and east of
Venice, the region of the Veneto.
As Byron reminds us, “…Venice sate in state, throned on her hundred isles.” Venice
called itself a republic, but not in the form we consider to be a republic today. All power
lay in the city-state, but the city-state was governed by a single ruler, the doge , chosen for
life by a small, hereditary council of nobles. As centuries passed, the doge's power was cir-
cumscribed by a still smaller inner council who ruled secretly, killing and murdering those
accused by secret informers of working against the interests of the state. The prisons of
Venice were notorious for their cruelty, and today's visitors pay attention to a small bridge
that links the prison to the doge's palace. For centuries, it has been called the Bridge of
Sighs. [77]
The business of the Republic was business, and sharp trading was a matter of pride to
the merchants of Venice. The Republic called itself Serenissima (the Serene One), a singu-
lar conceit, part boast and part disguise for the Venetian enterprise. In the year 1000, Doge
Pietro Orseolo celebrated the enterprise by casting a wedding ring and laurel crown into
the sea. He stood aboard his gorgeously gilded state barge, and with pomp and great cere-
 
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