Republic Of Venice Research Articles

Geographical names of the Adriatic Sea on medieval and early-modern maps and nautical charts

The Adriatic Sea is one of the most frequently depicted parts of the Mediterranean on medieval and early-modern maps and nautical charts. Examination of these maps has revealed that the name of this sea reflects ancient tradition, particularly in terms of the use of various versions of the ancient Latin name Mare Adriaticum and, from the end of the Middle Ages, the Venetian declaration of political ambition to gain dominance over the entire sea. This Venetian agenda manifested itself in the naming of the entire sea as the Gulf of Venice (Golfo di Venezia). By uncritically adopting the geographical content of Venetian maps, the Venetian name for this sea was transferred to maps produced in numerous European cartographic centres. The abolition of the Republic of Venice in 1797 contributed to reduce the geographical scope of the hydronym Golfo di Venezia to the water area in the immediate vicinity of Venice, while various versions of the ancient name (Eng. Adriatic Sea, Ital. Mare Adriatico, Fr. Mer Adriatique, Ger. Adriatisches Meer, Cro. Jadransko more, etc.) prevailed. Based on the fact that maps are an important medium of communication of spatial information and spatial concepts, examples of the names of the Adriatic Sea on old maps confirm the importance of these sources for toponymy research.

Barbaro’s Glass Ball and Sokollu Mehmed’s Finesse. Ottoman-Venetian Peace in 1573

While the naval battle of Lepanto as well as the founding and dissolution of the Holy League has attracted significant scholarly attention, the preparation and ratification of the ensuing peace treaty between Ottoman Empire and Republic of Venice has received relatively little attention. Nonetheless, the three months of lengthy negotiations that culminated in the treaty of capitulations provide a valuable insight into the early modern Ottoman approaches to international negotiations and treaty-making. Sokollu Mehmed Pasha (1565-1579), Grand Vizier of Sultan Selîm II (1566-1574), was the principal protagonist of these negotiations on the Ottoman side. This article focuses on the encounters of the latter with Marcantonio Barbaro, Venetian bailo and François de Noailles, ambassador of King of France Charles IX and aims to provide a new perspective on their bargainings by emphasising the participants’ points of view, achievements and failures, hidden agendas, as well as tactics.

A Lutheran, Maciej Vorbek-Lettow (1593–1663) and his Studies in Padua

Maciej Vorbek-Lettow – Hetman Krzysztof Radziwiłł’s physician, and later one of King Władysław IV, left a memoir, Skarbnica pamięci [Treasury of Rememberance], in which he described his medical studies in Padua in detail. Many factors contribute to the great source value of this work: Vorbek-Lettow studied in Padua in 1613–1614 as a 20-year-old; he had previous educational experience from various academic centers (Vilnius, Gdańsk, Paris, Louvain); he held the position of syndic at Padua’s Università Artisti; he actively participated in the reform of the university, which gave non-Catholics equal rights in receiving doctorates as Catholics; and he took part in the first clashes in the guerra di Gradisca. The purpose of the article is to show the activity of Vorbek-Lettow in Padua and the Republic of Venice against the historical background, taking into account the role of the Paduan faculty of medicine for the development of medical science in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth of the 16th–17th centuries.

The origin of the phrase comparative psychology: an historical overview.

Comparative psychology, in its narrow meaning, refers to the study of the similarities and differences in the psychology and behavior of different species. In a broader meaning, it includes comparisons between different biological and socio-cultural groups, such as species, sexes, developmental stages, ages, and ethnicities. This broader meaning originated by extension from the former narrow meaning, which historically was the original meaning of the phrase (interspecies psychological and behavioral comparisons) and which still today is the focus of the field. Currently, comparative psychology is a subject of study in hundreds of universities all over the world. Nevertheless, a question that is often asked but seldom answered is: when did the phrase comparative psychology first appear and where did it come from? In the present work, we tracked down the origins of the phrase comparative psychology. In order to do so, at first we described the origin of the word psychology, coined in the decade 1510-1520 in the Republic of Venice by Dalmatian Renaissance humanist Marko Marulić Splićanin (1450-1524). Then, to explain where, within the phrase comparative psychology, the term comparative came from, we outlined the origin of the use of the word comparative in reference to interspecies comparisons. Finally, we reported the origin of the combination of the words comparative and psychology to form the phrase comparative psychology, the first usage of which was in 1778 by German scholar Michael Hissmann (1752-1784) from the University of Göttingen. Origins of the phrase in Latin, German, French and English languages are described.

МІРИ ВАГИ В ІТАЛІЇ В VI – ПЕРШІЙ ПОЛОВИНІ XIX СТОЛІТТЯ

Medieval Italy, which was formed after the fall of the Western Roman Empire at the end of the V century, completely inherited its material and spiritual culture. This does not apply to the state imperial traditions of Ancient Rome. It turned out that during the entire period of the Middle Ages and partly of the New Age – from the end of the V to the second half of the XIX century, Italy was not a single state. At this time, three main regions – Northern, Central and Southern Italy – were gradually formed here. Each region included several historically interconnected regions. In the territory of these regions, there were cities – republics and separate feudal estates. Each region preserved its distinctive features throughout the Middle Ages. Some of these differences have survived even in modern Italy. They arose from the peculiarities of the geographical environment, as well as the political and economic conditions that developed over a long period of time in each of the three regions of Italy. The single system of measures, including weight, which existed in the Roman Empire, in the conditions of political decentralization of Italy, was gradually, over the centuries, replaced by local measures. The basis of most of the newly created systems of weight measures in Italy was the ancient Roman system of weight measures. However, the development of production, domestic and foreign trade caused a constant transformation of the structure of the systems of weight measures, the mass of their units. Gradually, new systems of weight measures were formed in Italy. The structure of the systems of weight measures in Italy had certain common features, but the mass of their units differed among themselves in almost all cases. The weight systems of Italy during the Middle Ages were influenced by the dependence of the Italian lands at certain times on the empire of Charlemagne, the Holy Roman Empire of the German nation, and the Austro-Hungarian Empire. As a result, in some areas of Northern and Central Italy, along with the local systems of weight measures, the following measures began to be used: Carolingian silver and troy weight systems, the German Cologne system of weight measures, Austro-Hungarian weight measures. The long-term existence of the leading Italian city-states – the republics of Venice and Genoa, the Duchies of Milan and Tuscany, the Papal State, the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, etc. was a consequence of the use of constantly operating systems of measures and weights in the territory of Italy during the entire period of the Middle Ages.

Rural merchants in the Early Modern Republic of Venice

This article innovatively analyses the economic structure of sixteenth century Venetian rural areas, specifically the countryside of the province of Vicenza. Many studies have proposed general reconstructions of the manufacturing and agricultural characterisation of the Venetian rural areas in the Early Modern period, but little is known about the behaviour of the rural merchants, organisation of rural enterprises, scope of their businesses, and their relationship with urban entrepreneurs. Apart from shedding new light on these topics, this article will also permit a comparison of the characteristics of Vicentine rural merchants with those of rural entrepreneurs operating in other European regions, based on information gathered from accounting books and trials. Consequently, this article will contribute to the discussion of Mendel’s proto-industrialization theory and, more generally, it will offer new insights into the ‘ruralization’ of the Italian economy during the sixteenth century.

Formation of the foundations of criminal law in medieval Kafa and Budva: a comparative legal study

The article is devoted to highlighting the processes of formation, as well as clarifying and comparing the characteristic features of the complex of legal norms that determined crimes and punishments in the communities of the cities of Budva, located on the eastern coast of the Adriatic Sea, and Kafa (modern Feodosia) on the northern coast of the Black Sea. In the period under consideration, both cities were under the control of the Italian trading republics (Venice and Genoa), which was reflected in the content of local legal monuments and prompts researchers to compare and compare their legal systems.
 It is shown that already in the 12th–13th centuries in the coastal cities located on the territory of the Northern Black Sea and the eastern coast of the Adriatic, separate elements of medieval criminal law were gradually formed, which were partly formed on a local basis, and partly brought here from the legal systems of Genoese and Republic of Venice. The Statute of Budva and the Statute of the Genoese colonies on the Black Sea are valuable sources that allow us to get an idea of ​​the main features of the local criminal law of that time. The first of them was developed earlier, but was influenced by Venetian law after 1443, the second (in the last version) was approved by the government of Genoa on February 28, 1449.
 From the texts of the statutes, it is clear that both in Kafa and Budva, a clear definition of the crime was never developed (and, ultimately, it could not be), but its general understanding covered actions that harmed the state, the urban community, or a specific private person The damage could be physical, moral or material.
 At the same time, it is worth noting that the legal opinion of the time did not yet draw a clear line between the concepts of "crime" and "offence". In practice, they often coincided. Memoranda of law in a number of cases determined the circumstances aggravating the guilt of the criminal. There was a concept of a multiple crime, that is, the concept of a person committing two or more criminal acts, each of which had the characteristics of an independent crime. Already in those days, the perpetration of not one, but two or more criminal acts by a person was considered evidence of the greater danger of criminal activity and resulted in a more severe punishment.
 It is noted that the statutes contain references to several categories of criminal acts. Among them are state (against the urban community) and official crimes, crimes against justice, in the economic sphere, criminal acts directed against the person, against property (property crimes), against religion, against the family and morality. The fact that a whole series of crimes, which were undoubtedly committed at that time, were not provided for by the norms included in the statutes, draws attention.
 It was concluded that over time, criminal law, both in Kafa and Budva, acquires more and more distinct specific features inherent in the local legal system, and becomes noticeably more complex.

Residences as instruments of power: Venetian ambassadors’ houses in Madrid during the reigns of Philip IV and Charles II

Against the traditional vision, the relations between the Spanish Monarchy and the Republic of Venice improved significantly during the second half of the 17th century. Once again, the war against the Ottomans in Candia (1645-1669) forced the Serenissima to look for the support of the Catholic King. For this reason, the role played by their ambassadors in Madrid, with a view to achieve the necessary assistance of Philip IV, became essential for the Venetian interests. At the same time, they pursued to ensure a relevant and closer position to the principal nucleus of power in the Spanish court. Accordingly, the continuous disputes with the members of the Spanish institutions with regard to their lodging become an essential field of study to measure the degree of influence, supremacy or immunity of these legates during the reigns of the two last monarchs of the House of Austria.

Šta jeste "republikanizam"? Republika kao "forma vlasti" i republika kao "forma vladavine"

In this paper, we discuss the meaning of the words 'republic' and 'republicanism'. These words are classic political terms, frequently used in political theory and political practice as well. Still, do they convey clear and unambiguous meaning to everybody? Is it possible to find a single sense and meaning of the word Republic/republicanism? Is something like that even necessary? How to understand and justify the intense contemporary scientific discussion on that topic? In general, it is possible to use three types of classification. First, we can analyze different theories of republicanism, such as the ones we have in the works of Machiavelli, Kant, and alike. Secondly, it is possible to analyze the different historical forms of the notion of Republic - for example, Roman Republic, Republic of Venice, or the United States. Thirdly, we can analyze different doctrines of republicanism, such as the so-called liberal republicanism or civic republicanism. In this text we will go through these forms of Republic and republicanism using the Kantian formula of 'government' and 'sovereignty'.

Russian Travelers 17th Centuries about the Ceremony of Marriage of the Adriatic

The article considers the ceremonial of the Doge’s betrothal to the Adriatic sea through the prism of its perception by Russian travelers of the end of the 17th century. In the Republic of Venice there were a considerable number of ceremonies, which were held annually on the occasion of victories and various festivals. Among them, a special place was occupied by the rite of betrothal of the Doge to the sea (with the Adriatic) (Marriage of the Adriatic). Its origins rite of passage is leading with deep absent. Almost all Russian travelers who visited Venice at the end of the 17th century, paid attention to this ceremony. In their travel notes stolnik P. A. Tolstoy and an unknown author write about the date of the ceremony, its history, the details of the protocol of its ceremonial, the value for the Venetian state. The splendor and colorfulness of its holding attracted the special attention of Russian travelers. In their opinion, the central place in this ceremony was occupied by the figure of the venetian doge. In addition, they emphasized its state character. But the venetian vessels that took part in the ceremony, and above all, the ceremonial galley of the venetian doge Bucintoro, attracted the special attention of russian travelers. The interest of the stolnik P. A. Tolstoy and unknown author called private ships of the venetians, who accompanied the doge of Venice in the maritime procession. The author of the article comes to the conclusion that the rite of betrothal of the venetian doge to the Adriatic caused some interest among russian travelers of the 17th century, but to a greater extent their admiration was associated with architectural masterpieces, religious shrines, music, gardens and fountains. Perhaps this was due to the fact that in the Moscow state there were no similar ceremonies. In any case, the russian travelers of the 17th century, namely stolnik P. A. Tolstoy and an unknown author in their travel notes recorded this ritual, leaving the memory of this to posterity.

Peter the Great's Venetian Policy and the Prut Campaign

Russia's regular contacts with the Republic of Venice on the eve of the RussianTurkish war 1710-1713 resumed after almost a ten-year break. Before Sultan Ahmed III declared war, the Tsar sent two letters to the doge. They can be interpreted as a call to Venice to recognize the intermediate results of the Northern War and as an appeal to the republic's orthodox subjects to join Russia in the impending conflict. This episode is scarcely covered in Russian and international historiography. The connection of the envoys with the Prut campaign is also not covered in the literature. Therefore, it seems necessary to establish a connection between the two events, especially in changes in Russian foreign policy towards Venice.In March 1711, a Russian consul was sent to Venice to build support and attract volunteers for the opening theater of military operations in the Balkans. It is no coincidence that Dmitry Bozis became the first Russian consul in Italy. Being a prominent representative of the Greek community of the capital, he successfully extended his influence not only to the local Greeks but also to the Slavs of Dalmatia, who wanted to serve the Russian Tsar and fight the Turks. The outcome of the Prut campaign did not affect the consulate's work and the trade mission. Agents of the Russian government, who had commercial orders, were sent to Venice, and successfully fulfilled their mission. One of them was Count Savva Raguzinsky, an outstanding diplomat and successful commercial agent. His activities were relatively peaceful, although they still included political monitoring and legal intelligence.The resumption of bilateral relations caused by the Prut operation positively affected Russian-Venetian relations. Since the departure of the consul Bozis and the diplomatic agent Caretta, who had the authority to create a second Balkan "front" in the rear of the Sultan, after July 12, 1711, the Russian mission transformed into a commercial agency with broad diplomatic powers. These changes open a new, fruitful period in the history of bilateral relations between Russia and Venice.

Mediterranean Vector of International Relations in the Mirror of Sigismund of Luxembourg’s Conflict with Venice (1411—1413)

The article covers international and diplomatic aspects of the conflict of Sigismund of Luxembourg, the King of Hungary and the Romans, and the Republic of Venice in 1411—1413. Venetian claims to Dalmatia that nominally belonged to the Hungarian Crown were the formal reason of the conflict. The article notices that the main battleground was in Italia, not Dalmatia. The author thereupon concludes that the actual factor of the events was the competition between Italian states. But contrary to the traditional opinion the researcher assigns the part of the main power that competed with Venice to Florence, not Genoa. In the early fifteenth century it entered into the struggle for the outlet to the sea and sought the extension of its influence for account of new trade lines that connected the Mediterranean with Central and North Europe. Meanwhile, the head-on clash of the republics was ruled out because their relations guaranteed them both the safety of the political balance of Italy and the defence of the peninsula from external actions. But Florence could force Venice by the manipulation by the Italian policy of the King Sigismund. The instrument of the pressure was the potential union of the King and the Pope John XXIII. It was the interests of Florence that made it possible to explain the reason that kept them from direct official contacts. The investigation of the nature of the conflict reveals also its indirect connection with historical events related to West European states, Poland, the Teutonic Order, the Byzantine Empire, the Ottomans and the Golden Horde.

Enclosure within a Closed Sea? The Fisheries against theCommonsin the Republic of Venice in the Eighteenth Century

This article will analyse the role of the authorities in the progressive restriction on the use of aquatic spaces and maritime resources in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries in the laguna of Venice. The tensions between private and common uses of the territory was an age-old problem that had not begun towards the end of the early modern period. However, during this period, the growth in fishing activities augmented the role of the fish farms called valli da pesca, which was vehemently opposed by the Venetian fishermen whose different communities used the laguna for their own activities. This restructuring of the space could be termed an enclosure, which meant that access to spaces and resources was restricted. In return, this movement modified the organisation of these activities profoundly, not only socially and politically, but also economically and ecologically. Thus, by creating a more productive system, the Venetian authorities played a key role in the metamorphosis and development of this area, on one hand protecting the fishing communities and their activities in the laguna while on the other, supporting the fishing sector to become more efficient and productive.

Митрополит Филадельфийский Гавриил, Паоло Сарпи и проект «Церкви Венеции»

The article studies a little-known episode of an important stage in the history of the Republic of Venice – the formation of national church identity and the codification of the experience of state-confessional relations accumulated here over centuries. Two protagonists of this period – the Orthodox Metropolitan Gavriil Seviros and the Catholic monk Paolo Sarpi united in opposition to the Holy See and in an attempt to create an independent Venetian Church. Events had been developing against the background of a long confrontation between Venice and the Holy See, the so-called “War of the Interdict”, which began with the fact that Pope Paul V excommunicated the republic for its independent position in church matters. An unrealized project, which had as its model the Orthodox state and the Church, is a unique example of the assimilation of the Eastern tradition by one of the famous Western theologians – Paolo Sarpi. His cooperation with Metropolitan Gavriil in protecting the Greeks from the influence of Rome was clearly manifested during a trial of 1610, two documents of which are first published in Russian in the appendix to the article. Thanks to Gavriil’s authority, the See of the Metropolitan of Philadelphia became prestigious, his title as Patriarchal Exarch in Venice gave him access to the Doge’s palace, and his status as the head of the Orthodox of Dalmatia and the Ionian Islands was subsequently twice confirmed by the patriarchs of Constantinople.

The dawn of cardiovascular medicine in the Serenissima Republic of Venice, Land of the Doges.

The dawn of cardiovascular medicine in the Serenissima Republic of Venice, Land of the Doges.

“In terra et in mare”: The Holy League in 1684 and Papal Diplomacy

In the aftermath of the Liberation of Vienna by the army commanded by Jan III Sobieski, international diplomacy was activated immediately to extend the Polish-Imperial League and continue the war against the Turkish. The diplo­macy of the Holy See, planned by Innocent XI, was particularly active: Franc­esco Buonvisi, ordinary nuncio in Vienna, and Opizio Pallavicini, nuncio in Warsaw, worked hard to encourage the adhesion of the Serenissima Republic of Venice. With the signing of the treaty on March 6, 1684 between Warsaw, Vienna, and Venice—solemnly celebrated in Rome on the following May 24— Innocent XI could count on joint action against the infidels by land and sea, with the armies of Poland, of the Empire, and the naval fleet of the Serenis­sima. The article intends to retrace the diplomatic phases—not always an easy task—which led to the signing of the League, paying attention to the decisive role played by the diplomacy of the Holy See.

Methodologies for the study of a vernacular built environment within a historic residential complex: The case of the village of Gornji Stoliv, Montenegro

The settlement of Gornji Stoliv is an abandoned rural ensemble located on the northern hillside of Mount Vrmac, in the Bay of Kotor, Montenegro. Including around six dozen residential, commercial and religious buildings, the village is a rare testimony to a social and architectural tradition that was developed throughout the Adriatic coast within the borders of the Republic of Venice from 1420 to 1797. A research conducted between December 2018 and May 2019 was the first wide-scale research into the historical, social, urban, and architectural characteristics and cultural landscape of the village since the 1950s. This paper presents the results of a comprehensive set of analyses carried out on the current state of conservation of the village and demonstrates the methodologies required to analyse a historical built environment of this kind in the absence of sufficient written and archival material.

The Authority and the Society in Dubrovnik in the 15th — 17th Centuries

The commune of Dubrovnik was mentioned in the documents of the XV century as “the Republic”. This political unite, being situated between “the Lion” (Republic of Venice) and “the Dragon” (Ottoman Empire), kept its freedom during 450 years and was being included in Austrian Empire only after the Napoleonic wars. In historiography the image of Republic of Dubrovnik was confirmed, in which the ideal of the civic life was reflected in the Latin inscription Non bene pro toto libertas venditur auro, that was stamped in the castle of Lovrienats. In this article the dynamic of the concept “freedom” in the perception the citizens of the Republic is being concerned and the activities of the nobility upon the mobilization of the society for the keeping of the stability and protection of freedom against the claims of the nearby states is being analyzed.

Turn-taking in office

This paper provides a theoretical explanation for the adoption of turn-taking in office. Turn-taking in office is where two or more individuals are elected to serve individual terms for the same public office, with the exclusive right to exercise the public office rotating among those elected individuals at intervals shorter than the term. Turn-taking enables the benefits of shorter tenures to be realized without incurring, to the same extent, the costs associated with setting an equivalently shortened term and term limit regime. Turn-taking would be most likely to emerge among a factional electorate in order to generate support for shared governance institutions. A case study of three high-level public offices in the Republic of Venice provides evidence of the operation of turn-taking. The tripartite presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina provides a modern-day example of some aspects of office turn-taking in operation.

How the Republic of Venice Chose Its Doge: Lot-Based Elections and Supermajority Rule

We study a family of voting rules inspired by the peculiar protocol used for over 500 years by the Republic of Venice to elect its Doge. Such lot-based indirect elections have two main features: a pool of delegates is chosen by lot out of a general assembly, and then they vote in a single winner election with qualified majority. Under the assumption that the assembly is divided in two factions, we characterise the win probability of the minority and study how it varies with the electoral college size and the winning threshold. We argue that these features promoted a more equitable allocation of political representation and thus may have contributed to the political stability of the Republic of Venice.