066. Beat It

The system for electing the Doge of Venice is one of the great crowning masterpieces of political complexity. The multi-stage process was first used for the election of 1268. This week we look at the details of how it worked, and at the political culture of the city that made this bizarre process such an enduring feature of the Republic. Background Reading: Every book or website about the Venetian Republic will feature an explanation of the electoral system for the Doge. The main sources that we used for this episode were: “Il Doge di Venezia” by Giorgio Ravegnani “Venice - the remarkable history of the lagoon city” by Dennis Romano “La Venezia segreta dei Dogi” by Alberto Toso Fei “A History of Venice” by John Julius Norwich “Le Promissioni del Doge di Venezia dalle Origini alla Fine del Duecento” (Fonti per la storia di Venezia, sezione 1, Archivi Pubblici). This is the text, in Latin, of every surviving Promissione Ducale up to the end of the 13th century. Email us at [email protected], or find us on Bluesky, Facebook, and Instagram. Intro and outro music is Primavera from Vivaldi’s Le Quattro Stagioni, used under Creative Commons licence from musopen.org

Doge Ranieri Zen had an action-packed career. His life story traces the course of Venice’s rise and rise during the turbulent 13th century. As a diplomat and a national leader, he navigated some turbulent waters at home and abroad. Find out more as we delve deeper into the career of one of the most accomplished politicians of his age.

This week we talk to writer Kathleen Gonzalez, who has written books about contemporary and historical Venice, including a compilation of short biographies of many of the city's most notable women, all of whom should be better known than they are, as well as volumes that trace the footsteps of Casanova though both Venice and Rome. You can find more of her work on her blog and her YouTube channel. You may have noticed that we've started putting background reading lists on our show notes. And today's recommended reading is any or all of her books, which you can find at the third of the links below. Blog: https://seductivevenice.wordpress.com/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@kathleenanngonzalez/videos Books: https://kathleenanngonzalez.wixsite.com/kathleenanngonzalez And you can get in touch with us via the usual methods. Email us at [email protected], or find us on Bluesky, Facebook, and Instagram. Intro and outro music is Primavera from Vivaldi’s Le Quattro Stagioni, used under Creative Commons licence from musopen.org

Doge Marino Morosini (1249-53) hasn’t made much of a dent on the history books. Contemporary chronicler Martin da Canal gives him a good write-up: “Throughout his time as Doge, Venice was abundantly supplied with provisions – twice as much as the city needed. The Venetians had all the goods that they needed, and they were full of joy and happiness” Other historians have less to say about him. This week, we investigate what little we can find out about the life and times of the 44th Doge of the Republic. Background Reading for this episode: “Il Doge di Venezia” by Giorgio Ravegnani “Le Promissioni del Doge di Venezia dalle Origini alla Fine del Duecento” (Fonti per la storia di Venezia, sezione 1, Archivi Pubblici). This is the text, in Latin, of every surviving Promissione Ducale up to the end of the 13th century. “A History of Venice” by John Julius Norwich “Storia di Venezia attraverso le sue fake news” by a collection of contemporary historians of Venice, under the collective name of “I Babai” “Les Chroniques des Veneciens” by Martin da Canal, which you can read in its original old French, with a fairly old-fashioned Italian translation, here: https://archive.org/details/lacronacaveneta00zongoog/page/268/mode/2up Details of Doge Marino Morosini’s tomb can be found here: https://www.venetianheritage.eu/portfolio/monument-of-the-doge-marino-morosini-st-marks-basilica-venice/ Email us at [email protected], or find us on Bluesky, Facebook, and Instagram. Intro and outro music is Primavera from Vivaldi’s Le Quattro Stagioni, used under Creative Commons licence from musopen.org

Venice had won a crushing naval victory against Genoa in the summer of 1258. But that just meant that the Genoese needed to look for new allies. And Genoa’s new best friend is an old friend of our story: one of our former protagonists, who has been in the background of our narrative for the past half a century, is about to take centre stage again. But even when faced with a potential disaster, Venice will find a way to turn it into yet another triumph. Background reading for this episode is very similar to last time, since this is really just a continuation of the same story: Other than the general histories of Venice, for more detail about this episode try: “Il Grifo e il Leone: Genova e Venezia in Lotta per il Mediterraneo” by Antonio Musarra “The Black Sea: Trade and Navigation (13th to 15th Centuries)” by Michel Balard “Genoa and the Genoese: 928 to 1528” by Steven Epstein “Venice: The remarkable history of the lagoon city” by Dennis Romano “Le Repubbliche Marinare” by Ermanno Orlando “City of Fortune: How Venice won and lost a naval empire” by Roger Crowley “Les Chroniques des Veneciens” by Martin da Canal, which you can read in its original old French, with a fairly old-fashioned Italian translation, here: https://archive.org/details/lacronacaveneta00zongoog/page/268/mode/2up