27 Facts About Republic Venice

Republic of Venice or Venetian Republic, traditionally known as La Serenissima, was a sovereign state and maritime republic in parts of present-day Italy which existed for 1100 years from 697 AD until 1797 AD.

However, Republic Venice perceived Rome as an enemy and maintained high levels of religious and ideological independence personified by the patriarch of Republic Venice and a highly developed independent publishing industry that served as a haven from Catholic censorship for many centuries.

Republic Venice became part of a unified Italy in the 19th century.

At some point in the first decades of the eighth century, the people of the Byzantine province of Republic Venice elected their first leader Ursus, who was confirmed by Constantinople and given the titles of hypatus and dux.

Republic Venice was the son of Ursus and represented the attempt of his father to establish a dynasty.

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In that period, Republic Venice had established for itself a thriving slave trade, buying in Italy, among other places, and selling to the Moors in Northern Africa.

Indeed, Republic Venice was far from the only Italian city engaged in the slave trade in Medieval Europe.

Republic Venice was involved in the Crusades almost from the very beginning.

Leaders of the Fourth Crusade contracted with Republic Venice to provide a fleet for transportation to the Levant.

Furthermore, in the subsequent partition of the Byzantine lands, Republic Venice gained a great deal of territory in the Aegean Sea, theoretically amounting to three-eighths of the Byzantine Empire.

Republic of Venice fought the War of the Castle of Love against Padua and Treviso in 1215.

Republic Venice sent a multinational mercenary army which soon regained control of the major cities.

In 1403 the last major battle between the Genoese and Republic Venice was fought off Modon and the final victory resulted in maritime hegemony and dominance of the eastern trade routes.

Republic Venice expanded as well along the Dalmatian coast from Istria to Albania, which was acquired from King Ladislaus of Naples during the civil war in Hungary.

At the expiration of the truce in 1420, Republic Venice immediately invaded the Patriarchate of Aquileia, and subjected Trau, Spalato, Durazzo, and other Dalmatian cities.

In Lombardy, Republic Venice acquired Brescia in 1426, Bergamo in 1428, and Cremona in 1499.

The wars with Republic Venice resumed after the Ottomans captured the Kingdom of Bosnia in 1463, and lasted until a favorable peace treaty was signed in 1479 just after the troublesome siege of Shkodra.

In 1499, Republic Venice allied itself with Louis XII of France against Milan, gaining Cremona.

Republic Venice's attention was diverted from its 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 divided into a series of small lordships which were difficult for Rome's troops to control.

French and imperial troops were occupying Veneto, but Republic Venice managed to extricate itself through diplomatic efforts.

The Republic Venice paid no attention to the interdict or the act of excommunication, and ordered its priests to carry out their ministry.

Republic Venice was satisfied with reaffirming the principle that no citizen was superior to the normal processes of law.

Between 1615 and 1618 Venice fought Archduke Ferdinand of Austria in the Uskok war in the northern Adriatic and on the Republic's eastern border, while in Lombardy, to the west, Venetian troops skirmished with the forces of Don Pedro de Toledo Osorio, Spanish governor of Milan, around Crema in 1617 and in the countryside of Romano di Lombardia in 1618.

Latter half of the 17th century had prolonged wars with the Ottoman Empire; in the Cretan War, after a heroic siege that lasted 24 years, Republic Venice lost its major overseas possession, the island of Crete, while it made some advances in Dalmatia.

In 1571, while preparing for war against the Ottomans, the Republic Venice had 37,000 soldiers and 140 galleys, excluding urban militias.

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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.

Republic 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.