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to employ thirty mercenary crossbowmen. With the rise of scutage, it became the dominant element of
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the Venetian military.
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In the early modern period, the Republic's military strength was well out of proportion with its
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demographic weight. In the late 16th century, it ruled over a population of about 2 million people
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throughout its empire. In 1571, while preparing for war against the Ottomans, the Republic had
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37,000 soldiers and 140 galleys (manned by tens of thousands of sailors and oarsmen), excluding
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urban militias. The Venetian peacetime army strength of 9,000 was able to quadruple in the course
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of a few months by drawing upon professional hired soldiers and territorial militias
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simultaneously. These troops generally showed marked technical superiority over their primarily
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Turkish opponents, as demonstrated in battles such as the 18-month Siege of Famagusta, in which the
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Venetians inflicted outsized casualties and only were defeated when they exhausted their gunpowder.
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Like other states of the period, the Republic's military strength peaked during wars, only to
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quickly go back to peacetime levels due to costs. The level of garrisons stabilized after 1577 at
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9,000, with 7,000 infantry and the rest cavalry. In 1581 there were 146 galleys and 18 galleasses
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in the navy, requiring a third of the Republic's revenue.Gregory Hanlon. "The Twilight Of A
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Military Tradition: Italian Aristocrats And European Conflicts, 1560-1800." Routledge: 1997. Pages
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19-20, 25, 87. During the Cretan War (1645-1669), the Republic fought mostly alone against the
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undivided attention of the Ottoman Empire, and though it lost, managed to keep fighting after
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losing 62,000 troops in the attrition, while inflicting about 240,000 losses on the Ottoman army
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and sinking hundreds of Ottoman ships. The cost of the war was ruinous, but the Republic was
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eventually able to cover it. The Morean War further confirmed the Republic's position as a military
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power well into the late 17th century.
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Venetian military strength underwent a terminal decline in the 18th century. The combined effect of
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prolonged peace and the abandonment of military careers by patricians meant that Venetian military
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culture ossified. Its army in that period was poorly maintained. The troops, serving under
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non-martial officers, were not regularly drilled and worked various odd jobs to supplement their
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salaries. Its navy did not decline to as drastic a degree, but still never came close to its
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relative power in the 16th and 17th centuries. In a normal 18th century year there were about 20
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ships of the line (each of 64 or 70 cannons), 10 frigates, 20 galleys, and 100 small craft, which
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mostly participated in patrols and punitive expeditions against Barbary corsairs. When Napoleon
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invaded in 1796, the Republic surrendered without a fight.Hanlon, p. 176-177.
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Economy
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The republic of Venice was active in the production and trading of salt, salted products, and other
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products along trade routes established by the salt trade. Venice produced its own salt at Chioggia
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by the seventh century for trade, but eventually moved on to buying and establishing salt
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production throughout the Eastern Mediterranean. Venetian merchants bought salt and acquired salt
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production from Egypt, Algeria, the Crimean peninsula, Sardinia, Ibiza, Crete, and Cyprus. The
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establishment of these trade routes also allow Venetian merchants to pick up other valuable cargo,
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such as Indian spices, from these ports for trade. They then sold or supplied salt and other goods
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to cities in the Po Valley - Piacenza, Parma, Reggio, Bologna, among others - in exchange for
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salami, prosciutto, cheese, soft wheat, and other goods.
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The Golden Bull of 1082, issued by Alexios I Komnenos in return for their defense of the Adriatic
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Sea against the Normans, granted Venetian merchants with duty-free trading rights, exempt from tax,
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throughout the Byzantine Empire in 23 of the most important Byzantine ports, guaranteed them
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property-right protections from Byzantine administrators, and given them buildings and wharfs
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within Constantinople. These concessions greatly expanded Venetian trading activity throughout the
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Eastern Mediterranean.
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Heraldry
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The winged Lion of St. Mark, which had appeared on the Republic's flag and coat of arms, is still
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featured in the red-yellow flag of the city of Venice (which has six tails, one for each sestier of
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the city), in the coat of arms of the city and in the yellow-red-blue flag of Veneto (which has
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seven tails representing the seven provinces of the region).
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The winged lion also appears in the naval ensign of the Italian Republic, alongside the coat of
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arms of three other medieval Italian maritime republics (Genoa, Pisa, and Amalfi).
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See also References Citations Sources Primary sources
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Contarini, Gasparo (1599). The Commonwealth and Government of Venice. Lewes Lewkenor, translator.
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London: "Imprinted by I. Windet for E. Mattes". The most important contemporary account of Venice's
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governance during the time of its blossoming; numerous reprint editions; online facsimile.
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Secondary sources
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Brown, Patricia Fortini (2004). Private Lives in Renaissance Venice: art, architecture, and the
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family.
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Chambers, D. S. (1970). The Imperial Age of Venice, 1380–1580. London: Thames & Hudson. The best
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brief introduction in English, still completely reliable.
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Drechsler, Wolfgang (2002). Venice Misappropriated. Trames 6(2):192–201. A scathing review of
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Martin & Romano 2000; also a good summary on the most recent economic and political thought on
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Venice.
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Garrett, Martin (2006). Venice: a Cultural History. Revised edition of Venice: a Cultural and
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Literary Companion (2001).
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Grubb, James S. (1986). When Myths Lose Power: Four Decades of Venetian Historiography. Journal of
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Modern History 58, pp. 43–94. The classic "muckraking" essay on the myths of Venice.
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Howard, Deborah, and Sarah Quill (2004). The Architectural History of Venice.
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Hale, John Rigby (1974). Renaissance Venice. .
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Lane, Frederic Chapin (1973). Venice: Maritime Republic. . A standard scholarly history with an
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emphasis on economic, political and diplomatic history.
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Laven, Mary (2002). Virgins of Venice: Enclosed Lives and Broken Vows in the Renaissance Convent.
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The most important study of the life of Renaissance nuns, with much on aristocratic family networks
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and the life of women more generally.
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Mallett, M. E. and Hale, J. R. (1984). The Military Organisation of a Renaissance State, Venice c.
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1400 to 1617. .
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Martin, John Jeffries and Dennis Romano (eds.) (2002). Venice Reconsidered: The History and
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Civilization of an Italian City-State, 1297–1797. Johns Hopkins UP. The most recent collection on
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essays, many by prominent scholars, on Venice.
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Melisseides Ioannes A. (2010), E epibiose:odoiporiko se chronus meta ten Alose tes Basileusas
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(1453–1605 peripu), (in Greek), epim.Pulcheria Sabolea-Melisseide, Ekd.Vergina Athens, (Worldcat,
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Greek National Bibliography 9217/10, Regesta Imperii, etc.), p. 91–108,
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Muir, Edward (1981). Civic Ritual in Renaissance Venice. Princeton UP. The classic of Venetian
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cultural studies, highly sophisticated.
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Prelli, Alberto. Sotto le bandiere di San Marco, le armate della Serenissima nel '600, Itinera
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Progetti, Bassano del Grappa, 2012
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Rosand, David (2001). Myths of Venice: The Figuration of a State. How foreign writers have
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understood Venice and its art.
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Tafuri, Manfredo (1995). Venice and the Renaissance. On Venetian architecture.
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Tafel, Gottlieb Lukas Friedrich, and Georg Martin Thomas (1856). Urkunden zur älteren Handels- und
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Staatsgeschichte der Republik Venedig.
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Tomaz, Luigi (2007). Il confine d'Italia in Istria e Dalmazia. Foreword by Arnaldo Mauri.
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Conselve: Think ADV.
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Tomaz, Luigi. In Adriatico nel secondo millennio. Foreword by Arnaldo Mauri.
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Tomaz, Luigi (2001). In Adriatico nell'antichità e nell'alto medioevo. Foreword by Arnaldo Mauri.
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Conselve: Think ADV.
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External links