Venice and its story

Front matter

MONTANA STATE COLLECE LIBRARY

JC LID

BOZEWAN

Preface

Tue History of Venice is the history of a State unparalleled in Europe for permanence and stability. For centuries Venice occupied that position of maritime supremacy now held by Great Britain, and time was when an English king was fain to crave the loan of a few warships to vindicate his rights in France. The autonomy of the Venetian Republic so imposed on men’s minds that it was regarded as in the very nature of things, and even so acute an observer as Voltaire wrote in the Dictionnaire Philosophique, less than three decades before her fall: ‘‘ Venice has preserved her independence during eleven centuries, and I flatter myself will preserve it for ever.”

In the course of our story we have freely drawn from the old chronicles, while not neglecting modern historians, foremost of whom is the Triestine Hebrew scholar, Samuele Romanin. Indeed, all that has been written on Venetian history during the past forty years does but increase our admiration for the imperturbable industry and sagacious judgment of the author of the Storia Documentata di Venezia, to whom our heaviest debt is due.

The history, criticism and appreciation of Venetian architecture and Venetian painting are indissolubly associated with the genius of Ruskin, and notwithstanding some waywardness of judgment and spoilt-child philosophy, his writings are, and ever will be, the classic works on the subject. Among more recent authorities we are indebted to the publications of Berenson, Bode, Burckhardt, Ludwig, Morelli, and Saccardo.

For purposes of description we have divided the city and outlying islands of the Venetian lagoon into twenty sections, vil

Vill PREFACE arranged rather with regard to their relative historical and artistic importance than to strict topographical considerations, although these have not been lost sight of. In our quality of cicerone we have drawn from an acquaintance of the city at various times extending over a period of twenty years: more detailed and practical information may be sought in the admirable guide-books of Baedeker, Grant Allen, Gsellfels and Murray.

A pleasant duty is that of expressing our gratitude for personal help and counsel to, among others, Mr Horatio F. Brown, Signor Cantalamessa the courteous Director of the Accademia, Mr Bolton King, Signor Alfredo Melani, and Mr René Spiers.

In order not to burden our pages with many notes we have limited references to such passages as seemed specially to call for them, exigencies of space having straitened a wide subject within close bounds. If, however, the perusal of this slight and imperfect sketch may lead intending travellers to turn to richer springs—and in that hope we have appended a list of the main sources! from which we have drawn—our pleasant labours will be amply rewarded. It is with travel as with other modes of observation. The eye will see what the mind takes with it, for as the Spanish proverb quoted by Dr Johnson runs: ‘He who would bring home the wealth of the Indies must carry the wealth of the Indies with him.”

1 See Appendix II. An exhaustive bibliography will be found in “The Cambridge Modern History,”’ Vol. I. 1903.

Preface To The Fourth Edition

Tue artistic patrimony of Venice has suffered little injury from the War. An Austrian bomb destroyed the Tiepolo fresco in the church of S. Maria agli Scalzi (p. 304). Inscriptions on the pavement in front of St Mark’s; on a door jamb in the facade of §. Zanipolo, and outside the church of Santa Maria Formosa close to the §. door, mark the spots where bombs fell doing small damage. A dud that fell through the roof hangs by the Titian altar-piece in the N. aisle of the Frari. But sadder indications of the havoc wrought by modern warfare may be seen by the wanderer along the city ways—inscriptions recording places where civilian dwellings were wrecked and their inhabitants maimed or slain.

Venice among cities of historic interest has perhaps suffered less change since this book was first written than many others. True, there has been a certain loss of the picturesque in the means of locomotion and in costume. The gondola with the private citizen has largely given place to the motor-boat (motoscafo), but the gondolier still hails the traveller on his arrival at the railway station and carries him to his hotel, to the various places of interest within the city, and the ferryman as of old answers to the call of Poppe’ The gracefully draped shawl and the wealth of hair of the Venetian popolana are fast disappearing, especially among the younger women, giving place to the bobbed hair, the abbreviated skirt, and the artificial silken hose of the up-to-date member of the female persuasion.

Picture Galleries and Museums in Italy, the property of the State, are now open free to the public from 9-4 on ik x PREFACE TO THE FOURTH EDITION weekdays: g—12 Sundays, with few exceptions. The only one known to the writer is the new excavations at Herculaneum. ‘To municipal monuments, such as the Palace of the Doges, the usual fees are charged for admission . on weekdays. A small fee is also paid for admission to churches.

CHAPTER I Tue Founpation at R1Atto 3 é

CHAPTER II St Marx THE Patron or VenicE—T HE Brives or St Marx—Conquest oF DatmaTia—Limitation oF THE Doce’s Power ; CHAPTER III EXPANSION IN THE East—ReEconciuiATion oF Pore Axexanper III. AND THE Emperor Barsarossa —'T'HE WeEppinG OF THE ApRIATIC . A : j : . : CHAPTER IV

Enrico DanpoLo AnD THE CapTuRE OF CONSTANTINOPLE .

CHAPTER V Peace anp War—Tue Hoty Inogutsirion—ConFiicT WITH THE GenorsE— Loss or CoNnsTANTINOPLE CHAPTER VI

Tue Duet wits Genoa—Tue Crosinc or THE Great Counce.

CHAPTER VII Tue Oxvicarcuy—CommerciaL Supremacy—T HE BajamonTte ConsPIRACY— THE Councit oF THE TEN—Tue Prisons . ; CHAPTER VIII

Conguests on THE MatntanD—Execution or Marin Fariero—THeE Fat or Genoa : : . : < ° xi

PAGE xi CONTENTS

CHAPTER IX Aacacression oN THE MaintAnp—ArreEst AND Execution OF Car- MAGNOLA— THE 'T'wo Foscari fs . ; CHAPTER X

Tue Turkish Terror—Acauisirion or Cyprus—Discovery OF THE Care Roure to Inpia—TuHeE Frencu Invasions—T He Leacue oF Camprat—Decuine oF VENICE F . : 4

CHAPTER XI

Loss or Cyprus — Lepanro — Paoto Sarpi—ATTACK ON THE Tren—Loss or Crete — Temporary ReconquesT OF THE Morea—Decapence—J HE Enp - : : '

CHAPTER XII The Fine Arts at Venice

Masons —PainTERS—GLASS-WORKERS—PRINTERS . ; 2

Section I

Arrivatc—Tne Piazza . A ; : : : SECTION II

Tue Basitica or St Mark A , ‘ : :

Section III

Tue Ducat Pavace ; SECTION IV Tue AccaDEMIA . 6 5 ‘ A SECTION V Tre Granp Canat ann S. Giorcio Macciore ; A ‘

PAGE

CONTENTS

SECTION VI

S. Zutian—S. Maria Formosa—S. ZAnipoio (SS. Giovanni E Paoto) —Tue Cotrzont Sratue—Tue Scvora pi S. Marco— S. Maria per Miracoit . _ ‘ . :

SECTION VII

Tue Frarir—Tue Scuvora anp Cuurcu or S. Rocco ‘

SECTION VIII S. Zaccarta—S. Giorcio DEGLI Scutavoni—S. FRANCESCO DELLA ViGNA Fi 3 : : ; .

SECTION IX Tue Riva pecut Scutavoni—S. Maria vevta PietA—Perrarcn’s House —S. Guiovannt 1n Bracoro —S. Martino — THE ArsENAL— THE Pusric Garpens—S. Pietro in CasTELLo

SECTION X

S. SatvatorE—Corte Det Mizrione—S. Giovanni Grisostomo ;

SECTION XI

S. Morst—S. STEFANO—SITE OF THE ALDINE Press—It Bovoto —S,. Virate—S. Vio—Tue Satute—Tue Seminario

SECTION XII

GIOVANELLI .

SECTION XIII

Tue Riarro—S. Giacomo pet Riarto—S. Giovanni ELemosinario —S. Casstano—S. Maria Marer Domini .

SECTION XIV

S. Sepastrano—S. Maria ver Carmine—S. PanTALEONE—THE Cossters’ GuitpHaLt—S. Poro—S. APo.inare a A

SECTION XV

Giupecca—THE Repentore—S. Trovaso ; a z xiil

PAGE

XIV CONTENTS

SECTION XVI

Gut Scarzi—Pavazzo Lasia—S. Giospe—T ne Muszo Correr : : ,

SECTION XVII

SECTION XVIII

Torcetto—S. Francesco pEL Dreserto . ie

SECTION XIX

S. Nicoto pet Lipo 6 ; : z SECTION XX

CuioGciA ; 5 é A < APPENDIX I

List or Docss . A : : e

APPENDIX II

BisrioGRAPHY . : < a

INDEX . ‘ ; . ° e

Guetti—THE

PAGE

SOT at7

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

ILLUSTRATIONS IN COLOUR

By Giovanni Betuni : : 7 ; Frontispiece Tue Customs House . : * ; - facing page § Basin of S. Marco . : : 2 ‘ + Sake 10 S. Marco From Piazzetta Dri Leoni. : : oe 17 A Girt oF CasTELLo . ; A ‘ 4 tba 24 S. Marco—Facape . : : . : ree 29 S. Marco—SurineE oF THE Hoty Cross : ; be Baits 40 S. Marco—inTER1IOR—Cuarex or S. CLEMENTE : sitteecoa 45 Tue Piazzetta anp Cotumn or St Marx . . os Mabeek 50 S, Marco—Cuor . 5 . 5 6 weer ae 57 SUNSET ON THE ZATTERE : . . : yess 66 Iste or S. Francesco peL Desertro . : . es 73 S. Marco rrom Cotonnabe oF PavazzA Ducae : Cans 80 Doce’s Pavace From Isora S. Giorcio ' ; sess 87 On THE Granp CANAL : f é : ne 94 Boats at ANCHOR. - 3 2 A kG LOL Tue Crock Tower AND Entrance ro Mercer - wr esee | Oe S. Grorcio anp S. Maria DEtta SALuTE . . sie Mec Seo ao? SunsetT—Mopern VENICE : : és . iS ass. 120 Rio anp Ponte pt Santa Maria Macciore , - ‘woke <L40 A Fruit Sraty : : 2 ; : pe age SG Tue Fiso-Marxer . - : ; : sre se gS

XV xVi LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

Curtosiry-Suop near Piazza . . ‘ . facing page 165 A Wine-Suop . 5 , 3 . a 172 Ponte pi Riatro 4 : ° ; 5 Seay 181 Ponte pt Riattro From THE Market . : : Scan 190 In THE Procuratm NuovE . : . . ee Te On rue Steps or THE “ REDENTORE”” , ; : 33 ZO A Venetian Woman . ‘ : ° ° ey) 210 A Gonpouier Re : : ; ; Se 220 I Tre Ponti : s A ; ete 229 Ponte Der Sospirt . . . ’ : Xan Oe Granp Canat—Patazz1 Rezzonico AnD Foscari : os meee? On Scuota p1 S. Marco anp Statue oF CoLLeoni . . ee 277 Scuota pt S. Rocca . : : : . sy ee oe S. Fosca anp Patazzo GIOVANELLI . . : » » - 20% Rio S, Cassiano . . : . . » 9 204 Timber Boats x é ; é 4 a ee 303 CANNAREGGIO ; : 2 c : 3° as.) SOe VENICE FROM THE Lipo : ; : P a ass 310 REPRODUCTIONS OF PICTURES Doce’s Cap. < : : . - facing page 186 (from a Photograph in the possession of the late S. G. Fenton, Esq.) From Photographs by Alinari

Maponna EnrHRoNED AND Four Saints. In S. Zaccaria.

By Giovanni Beuuint. , : : ee Eee

St GeorGE AND THE Dracon. In S. Gtorcia Macciors.

By Carpaccio . : ‘ 5

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

Tue Baptist anp Four Saints. In THE MAponna DELL’

Orro. By Cima i ; A

S. Cristina. In S. Marta Marer Domini. CaTENA . : :

By

Tue Deap Curistr. In tHe Accapemia. By Titian

PresenTaTION OF St Marx’s Rinc ro THE Doce.

In

Toe Marriace or St Caruerine. In S. Carerina.

By VeERoNESE ; : '. é

Tue Marriace or S. Caruertne. In tHe Ducat

Pauace. By Tintoretto : .

Tue Rich Man’s Feast. In THE ACCADEMIA. Bonirazio ji 3 : .

Gipsy AND So.pier. In THE Patazzo GIovANNELLI.

GioRGIONE s S . e

By

By

ILLUSTRATIONS IN THE TEXT

Heapprece To Part I. Cuaprer I. - .

On THE Lacoons ; 3 ; r S. Fosca AND THE Duomo, Torcetto ; ; Ponte S. Giustina : : é Ms

(a) Earty Ducat Cap From AN OLD Mosaic 1n Earty Ducat Cap or Doce Moro, From in S. GiosBe A ; Z ; Coisters oF S. GREGORIO 2 .

Fisoinc Boats . é : : 3

CoisTER OF S. FRANCESCA DELLA VIGNA . 3

S. Pietro in CasTELLo From S. Evena ;

9?

facing page be)

eB)

St Mark; (2)

THE Porrrair

.

XVil

204 213 215 248 259

PAGE

14 15 18 “3 xvili LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

PAGE Vint PERGOLA ON THE GIUDECCA . : ; , 30 Tue Squero, S. Trovaso : : 5 " : 40 S. Marco anp THE Doce’s Pataczt, with THE LOGGETTA IN THE ForEGROUND z : ; . 0 2 48 Cotumns or SS. Mark anp THEODORE. ‘ ; ° 51 S. Marco—Inrerior, with Putpit ‘ : : . 58 S. Marco—FacabDE AND CAMPANILE : : a A 86 Doce’s Parace—Tue Jupcment or Sotomon Corner : : 94 Remains or Marco Poto’s House : ; . : 99 Doce’s Parace—Sava pet Maccior Consicuio . : - 100 Ponte pi Pacuia . 7 ; ; 7 ; ce Tue Pavazzi GiusTInIANI AND Foscari . : : « 1126 CroisterR oF S. GREGORIO 5 , 7 ; ia BAS Statue or BartTotomeo CoLieoni ? : : aug a5 Bust oF Francesco Foscart Z : : ; . 150 Pavazzo Dario . 7 ‘ : : . 160 Tue PrazzeTTa . . . ‘ : . 219 S. Marco—Main Porrar - ; ; ; See S. Marco—Deraw or ArcHIvOLT : : : a, $225 S. Marco—Deraw or Main Door 7 : ; - 226 Byzantine Revier—Nortu Sipe, S. Marco ; c - 228 ByzaNnTINE RevieF FROM SoutH Sipe, S. Marco . 3 « 4 229 Carirats, Atrium, S. Marco. ; ; . . 230 S. Giorcio MacciorE . . : - : eee oo Doce’s Parace—Tue Corte . : 3 - : 248 Granp Canal, witH THE Riva pet Carson anp Riatto Brainck . = 264 Ca’ dD’ Oro : . . : : ‘ ~ 264 Pavazzo VENDRAMIN ; : : i : 2 205 TraGuHEetro anp Campo S. SAMUELE A cs j 5 AGE Statue or Bartrotomeo CoLLEont ' 5

. eee

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

Heaprtece to Section 1X. ; : ‘é VENICE FROM THE Pusiic GarpEns ‘3 ; Wett-Heap, Campo S. Giovanni Grisostomo.

Tue Rratto Brice : i :

*

Patazzo Conrarini, with Spirat STaiRcASE AND ByzanTINE

Weuti-Heap : ‘ ‘ ‘ S. Maria DELLA SALUTE . : 3 t Ix Goszo pi Riattro P : , :

Byzantine Crosses—Campo S. Maria Marer Domini

Doorway with Cotourep Rewer or SS. Marx anp Antanus

Cossters’ Guitp House, Campo S. Toma .

Fisuinc Boats on THE GiIUDECCA . ‘ é

Heappiece To Section XVII. : ‘ :

Murano. 3 ; a : 7

VENICE FROM THE SOUTH . . j MAPS

Sxetcu Map or Iraty AnD THE Eastern MEpITERRANEAN

VENICE IN THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY . . :

facing page

292 292 207) 298

301 304 3°97 309 315

Wal DSNIdle

Loy”

S1YdAD os PsP 2 uoprs } 5 pysnbourvy) $a ‘ se : es ae ate. é asnaDIks.

Vas Dio Vala: f ee Q 3 , CORN os c0uraz)

ore ¢ Duca)

SISPTLLG FA 6 A% Sprasoague vee Ys sy *oupbieg oe o s

—_7,

N.ERICHYEN

PART I—THE STORY

CHAPTER I

“ Venice seems a type Of life—’twixt blue and blue extends, a stripe, As life, the somewhat, hangs ’twixt nought and nought.” —Browning.

Or the original home of the earliest settlers in that province of North Italy known to the Latins as Venetia, little can be told with certainty. Historians and antiquarians are pleased to bring them, under the name of Heneti or Eneti, from Paphlagonia, and explain some characteristic traits they subsequently developed—the love of colour and of display, the softness of their dialect—by their eastern origin. They were an independent, thriving and organised community when the Roman Empire first accepted their aid in the fierce struggle against the invading Gauls, and so they continued to be until they were absorbed as a province of the Empire. The land they cultivated, ‘‘mervailous in corne, wine, oyle, and all manner of fruites,” was one of the richest in Europe. Its soil was formed by ages of alluvial deposit brought A 1 by the rapid streams that drain the southern slopes of the Alps.

The traveller who enters Italy by any of the Alpine passes will not fail to note the contrast between the northern streams and the more torrential water-ways of the south, which, however, being soon checked by the deposit they bring, grow slack and fray out into many and varying channels, through which the waters find their way with small, at times almost imperceptible, flow into the sea. So lazily do the rivers discharge that the north-east shores of the Adriatic are formed of sandbanks, shoals and _ islets, which for nigh a hundred miles from Cavarzere to Grado constituted the dogado of Venice. The famous Venetian lagoon is confined to some thirty miles north of Chioggia, and is divided into the Laguna morta, where the tide is scarcely felt, and the Laguna viva, where the sea is studded with numerous islands and islets protected by the /idi, a long line of remarkable breakwaters formed by the prevailing set of the current to the west, with narrow openings or Porti through which the shallow tide ebbs and flows. This natural barrier has made the existence of Venice possible, for the islands on which the city is built afforded a refuge safe alike from attack by sea or land. The colonisation, development and defence of these lagoons and islands by settlers from the mainland make up the early history of Venice. Some misapprehension exists as to the nature of these settlements. The picture of terror-stricken and despoiled fugitives from the cities of Venetia escaping from hordes of pursuing Huns or Lombards to seek a refuge in the barren and uncertain soil of mud-banks and storm-swept islands is true in part only. In many cases the movement was a deliberately organised migration of urban communities, with their officers, their craftsmen, their tools, their sacred vessels, even the very stones of their churches, to towns and villages already known to them. Among the settlers were men of all classes—patrician and plebeian, rich and poor.

“But they would receive no man of servile condition, or a murderer, or of wicked life.”

Some islands were already inhabited by a hardy race of

© ERICHSEN

ON THE LAGOONS pilots and fishermen: others by prosperous Roman patricians, with their villas, farms, gardens and orchards. Grado was a busy commercial settlement with rich vineyards and meadows, and joined to the mainland by a causeway that led to Aquileia. Heraclea was rather a mainland than a lagoon city; Torcello is said to have been a fashionable Roman watering-place, and Roman remains have been found at S. Giorgio Maggiore. Much of the ground was covered with pine forests, the haunts of game and other wild creatures. For a long time the islands were not regarded by the settlers as abiding places. Again and again many of them returned to their old homes on the mainland when the invaders’ force was spent. It was only in 568 that the Lombards, more cruel, or perhaps more systematic in their oppression than Marcoman or Hun, finally determined the Venetians to make the lagoons their permanent home.

Who of us northmen that has reached the descending slope of an Alpine pass, it may be through mist and sleet and snow, to gaze upon the rich and luscious plains of Lombardy or Venetia smiling with vine and fruit and corn; who that has felt the warm breath of sun-steeped Italy caressing his face as he emerges from northern gloom, but will feel a twinge of envy which is akin to covetousness, and which in strong and masterful races quickly develops into _ lust of conquest ?

In the fifth century of our era the Roman Empire, decaying, like most giants, at the extremities, lay defenceless before the inroads of those forceful, elemental peoples who from north and east swept down the passes to ravage the garden of Italy and to enslave her inhabitants. In 452 Venetia became the prey of God’s scourge—Attila. Aquileia, now a poor Italian village of three thousand souls, but then a Roman city of the first rank, was plundered. Altinum, a city famous for its strength and wealth, resisted for a time but soon its inhabitants and those of Padua, Asolo, Belluno and other mainland cities forsook their homes and migrated to the lagoons. ;

The earliest settlements were twelve: Grado, Bibbione, Caorle, Jesolo (now Cavallino), Eraclea, Torcello, Burano, Rivoalto (now Venice), Malamocco, Poveglia, Cluges Minor (actual site now unknown, but not Sotto Marina, as sometimes stated), Cluges Major (now Chioggia). Of these, Grado was occupied by the Aquileians; Rivoalto and Malamocco by the Paduans; Eraclea by the Bellonsese; Torcello and Burano by the Altinese. To the pious imagination of chroniclers these migrations were not without divine admonition. In 568 the terrible Lombards were threatening Altinum, whose inhabitants entreated the help of heaven with tears and prayers and fastings; and, lo! they saw the doves and many other birds bearing their young in their beaks flying from their nests in the walls of the city. This was interpreted as a sign from God that they also were to expatriate themselves and seek safety in flight. They divided into three bodies, one of which turned to Istria, another to Ravenna. The third remained behind, uncertain whither to direct their steps. Three days they fasted, and at length a voice was heard saying: “ Sa/ite alla torre e guardate agli astri.” (Ascend the tower and look at the stars. )

S$. FOSCA AND THE DUOMO, TORCELLO

THE CUSTOMS HOUSE.

Their good Bishop Paul climbed the tower, and to his gaze the very stars of the firmament seemed to set themselves in ae | y 3 q

N.ERICH SEN.

PONTE S. GIUSTINA a constellation that figured forth the fateful group of islands in the lagoon before him. His flock, following this warning from heaven, went forth, headed by their bishop and clergy bearing the sacred vessels and relics, and passed to an island high and fertile, which they called Torcello, from one of the twelve towers of their old city. The very hierarchy of heaven, from Our Lord and His Blessed Mother to St

Peter and the Baptist, even to Giustina, the martyred little maid of Padua, appeared to Mauro, the priest, in a vision, as he paced the sea shore, and in sweet voices bade him build here a church and there a church in their honour. The immigrants therefore had come to make the lagoons their permanent home. Their new city was organised. In process of time churches were built; trade guilds were formed ; painters and mosaicists enriched the buildings. The marble seat on the grass-grown piazza of Torcello, to this day called Attila’s chair, was probably the official seat of the tribune when he administered justice to the people.

It will be seen that no definite date can be assigned to the foundation of Venice, though Sanudo is very sure it was in “the year ccccxxi., on the xxv. of March, which was a Friday, that day on which our father Adam was created, when about the hour of nones the first stone of St Giacomo di Rivoalto was laid by the Paduans.” The great diarist gives a charming picture of the earliest Venetians trading in fish and salt with their little barks to the neighbouring shores: “They were a lowly people, who esteemed mercy and innocency, and, above all, religion rather than riches. They affected not to clothe them with ornaments, nor to seek honours, but when need was they answered to the call.”

There is little doubt that originally the settlers were subject to the Consuls at Padua, but in 466 they were strong enough to meet at Grado and to elect their own tribunes, one for each of the twelve communities. A passage in a famous letter of Cassiodorus to these Tribuni Maritimi in 523 affords the first glimpse in history of the lagoon folk. ‘The secretary of Theodoric the Great writes urging them not to fail to transport the tribute of oil, honey and wine from Istria to Ravenna, and expatiates on their great security and the wonderful habitations that he has seen, like sea-birds’ nests, half on land, half on sea, or like the cyclades spread over the broad bosom of the waters. Their land is made not by nature but by man, for the soil is

THE FOUNDATION AT RIALTO a strengthened by flexible withy bands, and they oppose frail dykes to the waves of the sea. Their boats are tied to posts before their doors like horses are on the mainland. Rich and poor live in equality. They flee from the vice of envy, to which the whole world is enslaved. Instead of plough and scythe they handle cylinders. In their salt they produce a merchandise more desired than gold, so all the fruits of the earth are at their command.

About 530, when Narses the Eunuch began the great campaign which wrested the Italian dominions of the Emperors from the Goths, the Venetians gave him effective aid by transporting an army of Lombard mercenaries from Aquileia to Ravenna. As a reward Narses sent some Byzantine masters, who from the spoils of the enemy built the Church of St Theodore at Rivoalto on a plot of ground known as the Broglio or garden where now stands the Basilica of St Mark.

Scarcely, however, were the Goths defeated, when in 568 Alboin and his Lombards menaced the land. Longinus, who succeeded Narses in the exarchate of Ravenna, came to Venice and asked her aid as subject to the Emperor. He was given an honourable and festive welcome, but the Venetians had bought their freedom at a great price and stoutly refused to admit his claim. They declared that the second Venice which they had made in the waters was a mighty habitation and their very own by right of creation ; that they feared no power of Prince or Emperor, for it could not reach them. ‘They, however, furnished a ship and sent an embassy with Longinus to Constantinople, and in return for valuable trading rights, agreed to acknowledge the suzerainty of the Emperor if no formal oath were exacted.:

In 584 the lagoon folk had so expanded that an additional tribune was chosen for each community. Of these Tribuni majores was formed a federal council, the original tribunes now serving as heads of local administrations.

The golden age so lovingly dwelt upon by the early chroniclers was of short duration. Already, before the institution of the new tribunes, family and local feuds, the ambition of the tribunes and jealousy of the people, led to bloody affrays in the Pinete (pine forests) with which the lidi were clothed. Anarchy threatened the state; bands of Lombards under the Duke of Friuli plundered the churches of Heraclea and Grado. The crisis was met by the public spirit and wisdom of the Church. A general meeting (Arengo) was called by the Patriarch of Grado at Heraclea. Two vital problems came to the front—the organisation of self-defence and the

. Maintenance of public order. The whole Assembly having invoked the name of Christ, the great churchman stood forth, and after reviewing the political situation, proposed that all the tribunes should be a. EARLY DUCALCAP FROM AN OLD MOSAIC IN ST MARK relegated to purely b, DUCAL CAP OF DOGE MORO, 1462-1471, From local offices, and a Capo THE PORTRAIT IN S. GIOBBE or chief elected for

life. His new polity was approved and in 697 Pauluccio Anafesto was chosen first Doge and invested with sovereign

powers. ‘Thus was constituted the Dogeship of Venice which, save for a short interruption of six years, endured for eleven centuries. The Doge could nominate, degrade or dismiss all public officers, convoke or dissolve the Arengo and the synod. The appointment of Patriarchs and Bishops was subject to his veto. The military authority, entrusted to a Master of the soldiers, was subordinate to him ; foreign affairs were in his hands, though the approval of the people was required to declare war or conclude peace. He could impose taxes; his feudal dues and rights of corvée were extensive. His state was regal. When he went abroad, girt with a sword and surrounded by his guards, a state umbrella was held over him, lighted tapers were borne by his side, trumpets blared and banners waved. He sat enthroned in an ivory chair, holding a sceptre, and arrayed in a silk mantle with a fringe of gold fastened by a gold clasp over a tightly fitting tunic trimmed with ermine; he wore red hose and a high biretta richly jewelled, which was subsequently shortened by constricting the middle so as to form two lobes, one of which soon disappeared, and the familiar horned cap of the later Doges was evolved. A close cap of fine linen was worn beneath, so that when the biretta was raised his head should be covered as a mark of dignity. The Doge was no fainéant. He rose before the dawn, and having heard mass went forth to judge the people and transact the business of the day. On solemn occasions he gave his benediction. The blessing of God was invoked upon him in the litany. The election, more or less democratic until the abolition of the Arengo in 1423, was made by the whole people, who were summoned from Grado to Cavarzere. Their chosen one was acclaimed and carried shoulder high to the church, which he entered barefoot, and there swore to govern according to the laws and to work for the good of the people. The result of the election was communicated to the Pope and the Emperor ; to the latter usually by the Doge’s son in person.

Anafesto had a difficult task. The young state lay between two mighty powers: Lombards or Franks and Pope in the west, the Byzantine Emperor in the east. Only by vigilance and prudence could she escape subjection. And these rival interests were active within her borders— aristocratic Heraclea leaning towards the Eastern Empire ; democratic Malamocco and Jesolo towards the Western kingdoms and the Pope. One of the first acts of the new Doge, after securing internal peace, was to conclude a treaty with Luitprand, King of the Lombards, by which the boundaries of the Republic were defined, and in return for an annual payment, valuable rights of wood-cutting and horse-breeding and trading were conceded. But political jealousy dies hard. Two powerful families revolted in 717, and the Doge perished in a civil broil in the Pineta of Jesolo.