Venice

Venice (Italian: Venezia) is a city and major seaport in Veneto in Nothern Italy. It is famous for its canals, and for its role as a republic and a major trade hub in medieval Europe.

History

The history of Venice begins with the Langobard invasion in the sixth century, where numerous Italians were driven onto the islands of the Adriatic. Venice got its first doge, Orso, in 727, and got its de facto independence from the Byzantine Empire in the early ninth century. After a period of turbulence, Venice transformed into a republic between 1140 and 1160.

After the sacking of Constantinople in 1204, the Venetians filled the power vacuum by creating their own commercial empire in the eastern Mediterranean. The Venetian empire included many Greek islands, such as Crete and later Cyprus. Venetian control over Crete ended when the Ottomans conquered it in 1645–69.

The republic was ended by Napoleon in 1797, and the Austrians took control over the city and its possessions. Venice joined the unified Italian kingdom in 1966, after Austria's defeat to Prussia.

Bibliography

• Brown, David Alan et al. Bellini, Giorgione, Titian and the Renaissance of Venetian Painting. (2006). 352 pp.
• Brown, Patricia Fortini. Private Lives in Renaissance Venice: art, architecture, and the family (2004)
• Carboni, Stefano, ed. Venice and the Islamic World, 828-1797. (2007). 375 pp.
• Chambers, D.S. (1970). The Imperial Age of Venice, 1380-1580. The best brief introduction in English.
• Chojnacki, Stanley. Women and Men in Renaissance Venice: Twelve Essays on Patrician Society. (2000). 370 pp.
• Concina, Ennio. A History of Venetian Architecture. (1998). 356 pp.
• Crouzet-Pavan, Elisabeth. Venice Triumphant: The Horizons of a Myth. (2002). 386 pp.
• Davis, Robert C. and Marvin, Garry R. Venice, the Tourist Maze: A Cultural Critique and the World's Most Touristed City. (2004). 360 pp.
• Davis, Robert C. and Ravid, Benjamin C. I., eds. The Jews of Early Modern Venice. (2001). 314 pp.
• Garrett, Martin, "Venice: a Cultural History" (2006). Revised edition of "Venice: a Cultural and Literary Companion" (2001).
• Glixon, Beth L. and Glixon, Jonathan E. Inventing the Business of Opera: The Impresario and His World in Seventeenth-Century Venice. (2006). 398 pp.
• Goy, Richard J. Building Renaissance Venice: Patrons, Architects, and Builders, ca. 1430-1500. (2006). 316 pp.
• Grubb, James S. "When Myths Lose Power: Four Decades of Venetian Historiography." Journal of Modern History (1986). 58#1, pp. 43-94. The classic "muckraking" essay on the myths of Venice. in JSTOR
• Hills, Paul. Venetian Colour: Marble, Mosaic, Painting and Glass, 1250-1550. (1999). 240 pp.
• Howard, Deborah, and Sarah Quill. The Architectural History of Venice (2nd ed. 2004)
• Howard, Deborah. Venice and the East: The Impact of the Islamic World on Venetian Architecture, 1100-1500. (2000). 282 pp.
• Hale, John Rigby. Renaissance Venice (1974)(ISBN: 0571104290)
• Kittell, Ellen E. and Madden, Thomas F., eds. Medieval and Renaissance Venice. (1999). 345 pp.
• Lane, Frederic Chapin. Venice: Maritime Republic (1973) (ISBN: 0801814456) standard scholarly history; emphasis on economic, political and diplomatic history
• Laven, Mary, "Virgins of Venice: Enclosed Lives and Broken Vows in the Renaissance Convent (2002). The most important study of the life of Renaissance nuns, with much on aristocratic family networks and the life of women more generally.
• McGregor, James H. S. Venice from the Ground Up. (2006). 384 pp.
• Mallett, M. E. and Hale, J. R. The Military Organisation of a Renaissance State, Venice c. 1400 to 1617 (1984) (ISBN: 0521032474)
• Martin, John Jeffries and Dennis Romano (eds). Venice Reconsidered. The History and Civilization of an Italian City-State, 1297-1797. (2002) essays by prominent scholars.
  • Drechsler, Wolfgang (2002). "Venice Misappropriated." Trames 6(2), pp. 192-201. A scathing review of Martin & Romano 2000; also a good summary on the most recent economic and political thought on Venice.
• McCray, W. Patrick. Glassmaking in Renaissance Venice: The Fragile Craft. (1999). 240 pp.
• Muir, Edward (1981). Civic Ritual in Renaissance Venice. The classic of Venetian cultural studies, highly sophisticated.
• Plant, Margaret. Venice: Fragile City 1797-1997. (2003). 550 pp.
• Rosand, David. Myths of Venice: The Figuration of a State (2001) how writers (especially English) have understood Venice and its art
• Tafuri, Manfredo. Venice and the Renaissance (1995) architecture
• Vio, Ettore, ed. St. Mark's: The Art and Architecture of Church and State in Venice. (2003). 319 pp.
• Wills, Garry. Venice: Lion City. The Religion of Empire. (2001). 420 pp.
• Zorzi, Alvise. Venice 697-1797: A City, a Republic, and an Empire. (2002). 303 pp.
• Zuffi, Stefano, ed. Art in Venice. (1999). 400 pp.

Primary sources

• Contarini, Gasparo (1599). The Commonwealth and Gouernment of Venice. Lewes Lewkenor, trsl. London: "Imprinted by I. Windet for E. Mattes." The most important contemporary account of Venice's governance during the time of its blossoming. numerous reprint editions.