Salve Venetia, gleanings from Venetian history; vol. I

Venice is the most personal of all cities in the world, the most feminine, the most comparable to a woman, the least dependent, for her individuality, upon her inhabitants, anci...

Then came the first Goths, with fire and sword--‘more fell than anguish, hunger or the sea’--and then a score of years later fair-haired Alaric, the Achilles of the North, and,...

Naturally enough, such internal discord laid the communities open to attacks from without; and the Slav pirates came sailing in their swift vessels from the Dalmatian coast, and...

The old paintings leave us in no doubt as to the Venetian fashions of the tenth century. The nobles wore a long tunic tightened to the waist by a belt or girdle, and over this t...

Then Pietro the younger turned pirate himself, and armed six fast vessels and harassed the Venetian traders all down the Adriatic. But meanwhile he still had a strong party of f...

It is not my intention to attempt in these pages an unbroken narrative of early Venetian history. Such attempts have been made by men of great and thorough learning, but they ha...

The Venetian Republic does not appear to have been at all alarmed by what was known of the Emperor’s intentions, and sent three patricians to represent her at the diet. The Empe...

It was on a Sunday, and in the year 1201, that the decision was reached which sent a Venetian fleet and army to the East under the aged Doge Enrico Dandolo. A vast crowd filled...

From what has gone before, it must be clear that the Venetian Republic, as it was when it first took its place among the European powers, was the result of circumstances rather...

The position it occupied in the Republic has, I think, no example elsewhere. In one shape or another it had always existed, and there was an aristocracy amongst the first fugiti...

It was not to be expected that after the final closure of the Great Council all the rest of the people should remain in a condition of thoroughly legal equality. There were, for...

The chronicles are inclined to explain the conflicts between the two factions as the result of exaggerated rivalry in everything resembling public games. The latter were very co...

Though surprised, and a little uneasy at this proposal, the Council determined to receive him with lavish hospitality, and several senators were sent to Treviso with richly-ador...

Meanwhile the conspirators made their way through a tempest of rain and wind to the Quirini palace, and arms were distributed to them; Badoer, however, did not come, and his abs...

Nearly fifty years after the date of the Tiepolo-Quirini conspiracy, August 9, 1356, a number of rules were introduced, to increase the severity with which the powers of the Cou...

The fourteenth century was not remarkable for much luxury or feminine display. Among the most characteristic objects used in those times were the extraordinary clogs, with doubl...

What shall I tell you? After these words they leave the church and go to their own houses, and after they have eaten, the people, men and women, go into the districts that have...

At last Cane della Scala made a sort of alliance with his rivals, and having got the mastery in several other cities, installed Marsilio Carrara in Padua as his lieutenant and r...

In the church of Saint Mark’s he was presented to the people, and received the usual threefold laudation and salutation. It is worth noticing that Faliero was the last doge who...

It is certain that Marino Faliero immediately made his will by the hand of a notary. This document is still wholly preserved, and is the best argument that could be produced of...

He added bluntly that as for his acquaintance with foreign princes, his friendships had profited the Republic more than himself; since, if he had sought his own advantage, he wo...

The first two engagements, off Negroponte and on the Bosphorus, were disastrous to the Venetians, but the third, which took place off Lojera on the coast of Sardinia, resulted i...

The very first and most pressing danger was past when Contarini called a general assembly of the people, on the thirteenth of September, by causing the great bell of Saint Mark’...

Deceived by Zeno’s manœuvres, the whole garrison of Brondolo was drawn out in the direction of ‘Little’ Chioggia. Seizing the opportune moment, Zeno then succeeded in throwing h...

But his departure did not improve matters, and his son was soon obliged to surrender Padua to the allies, on condition of receiving a safe conduct for himself and his retinue to...

In spite of his admonitions and of a considerable opposition, the electors chose Francesco Foscari to succeed him, and henceforth war with Milan became a certainty. It was on th...

I felt as if my soul were being torn out of me, when he said that I must speak the truth; and when I answered that I had told it he gave me a wrench of the rope, and had me draw...

Astonishing things were done by the soldiers of that age. In the war with Milan, for instance, Venice at one time judged it necessary to get a small fleet into the Lake of Garda...

I. Paolo Lucio Anafesto elected 697 d. 717 Seat in Heraclea. II. Marcello Tegaliano “ 717 “ 726 III. Orso Ipato “ 726 “ 737 (murdered). Seat in Malamocco. (From 737 to 742, mili...

Churches of-- the Frari, 425, 457, 458, 459, 474, 475 Saint Gemignano, 178 Saint John Chrysostom, 190 Saint Nicolas, 197, 204 Saint Sophia, 140 San Francesco della Vigna, 458 Sa...

Whosoever Shall Offend $1.50 The Heart of Rome 1.50 Cecilia 1.50 Marietta 1.50 Corleone 1.50 Mr. Isaacs 1.50 Dr. Claudius 1.50 A Roman Singer 1.50 An American Politician 1.50 To...