Venice

⁠A Short History of Ancient Rome⁠ - the debut book from the Noiser Network is out now! Discover the epic rise and fall of Rome like never before. Pick up your copy now at your local bookstore or visit ⁠⁠noiser.com/books⁠⁠ to learn more. Rising from the waters of a shallow, marshy lagoon and built on wooden piles driven into the shifting mud, it’s arguable that Venice should never have existed. One of the most improbable cities in the world, it began as a place of refuge that grew into a magnificent, powerful republic, commanding trade routes, shaping empires, and dazzling visitors with its wealth and beauty. Over the course of a thousand years, its ships carried spices and silk, its artists reshaped European culture, and its masked revellers embodied libertine decadence. But what difference did a daring relic-heist from Alexandria make to Venice’s identity? How did this small republic of merchants bend crusaders, emperors, and popes to its will? And how will the place sometimes known as the Floating City manage the threats it faces from mass tourism and rising waters? This is a Short History Of Venice. A Noiser Podcast production. Hosted by John Hopkins. With thanks to Thomas Madden, Professor of History at Saint Louis University, and author of “Venice: A New History”. Written by Sean Coleman | Produced by Kate Simants | Production Assistant: Chris McDonald | Exec produced by Katrina Hughes | Sound supervisor: Tom Pink | Sound design by Oliver Sanders | Assembly edit by Anisha Deva | Compositions by Oliver Baines, Dorry Macaulay, Tom Pink | Mix & mastering: Cody Reynolds-Shaw Get every episode of Short History Of… a week early with Noiser+. You’ll also get ad-free listening, bonus material and early access to shows across the Noiser podcast network. Click the subscription banner at the top of the feed to get started. Or go to noiser.com/subscriptions Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

• 0:01Speaker 00

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• 1:02Speaker 02

  It's 8:28 a.m.

• 1:06Speaker 02

  Inside the church of Saint Mark in Alexandria, the great port city in Egypt, the air is heavy with incense. Flickering candles throw shadows across carved pillars and faded mosaics, where saints gaze down from the walls. But despite the pious solemnity, right now, a daring heist is underway.

• 1:34Speaker 02

  At the altar, two broad-shouldered sailors from Venice stand with a pair of coptic priests. At their feet is a long, cloth-wrapped reliquary, almost the length of a man. This fragile bundle is ancient and worn, but immeasurably holy.

• 1:54Speaker 02

  It contains the mortal remains of Saint Mark the Evangelist, companion, interpreter, and scribe of Saint Peter himself.

• 2:07Speaker 02

  The Venetians are here to smuggle him to their lagoon city, far across the Mediterranean. And they're doing it with the full complicity of the custodians of this church.

• 2:19Speaker 02

  These priests know what's at stake. With Alexandria now under Muslim rule, relics are being scattered and churches destroyed. Today, they're all trying to ensure this relic will not be desecrated in the same way. But first, they must get it out of the city undetected.

• 2:42Speaker 02

  With the sacred bundle secured between them, the Venetians move towards the huge church doors. As they creak open, the roar of the city floods in.

• 2:54Speaker 02

  Outside, in the shimmering heat, traders, barter, sailors call across the harbor, camels grunt under loads of spice and grain. The Venetians keep their eyes low and their pace steady, heading towards a nearby handcart.

• 3:11Speaker 02

  There, an accomplice waits with a cover of salted pork. Carefully, the relic is secreted at the bottom of the pile and quickly covered with slabs of greasy meat. To the devout, it is a scandalous disguise, but to the smugglers, it is perfect. The Muslim officials, checking every cargo, will never touch pork.

• 3:36Speaker 02

  The Venetians wheel the cart cautiously through the market, with every jolt threatening to expose the secret within. The smell of the meat wafts up, thick and cloying in the sun.

• 3:48Speaker 02

  Up ahead, two customs officers stride across the cobbles, demanding to inspect their lot. One of the Venetians steps forward, lifting the uppermost cuts of meat with deliberate slowness. The guards quickly recoil, muttering in disgust but waving them on. They press through the crowd as quickly as they can, with each turn of the wheels bringing them closer to escape. Reaching the harbor, the Venetians hurry to the water's edge, where their own galley waits, crew ready to help load the cart, along with its hidden treasure onboard.

• 4:26Speaker 02

  Once on deck, the relic, still swaddled in pork, is secured in the hold, ready for the journey home. Wasting no time, the crew settle at their posts. Oars dip in unison. The sails unfurl, canvas cracking in the wind, and the galley pulls free, leaving Alexandria behind. The Venetian smugglers allow themselves a small congratulatory smile as they speed across the glittering sea. They have done the unthinkable. The relic of Saint Mark, who brought Christianity to Alexandria, is bound for a new home.

• 5:08Speaker 02

  And his arrival in Venice will not just sanctify the city, but will also come to define it for centuries to come. Rising from the waters of a shallow, marshy lagoon, and built on wooden piles driven into the shifting mud, it's arguable that Venice should never even have existed. One of the most improbable cities in the world, it began as a place of refuge that grew into a magnificent, powerful republic, commanding trade routes, shaping empires, and dazzling visitors with its wealth and beauty.

• 5:51Speaker 02

  Over the course of a thousand years, its ships carried spices and silk, its artists reshaped European culture, and its masked revelers embodied libertine decadence. But what difference did a daring relic heist from Alexandria make to Venice's identity? How did this small republic of merchants bend crusaders, emperors, and popes to its will? And how will this place, sometimes known as the floating city, manage the threats it faces from mass tourism and rising waters? I'm John Hopkins. From the Noiser Podcast Network, this is A Short History of Venice.

• 6:44Speaker 02

  Venice's story begins with an act of desperation. When barbarian, goth, and Hun invasions sweep across the Roman Empire in the 5th century, frightened communities of Italy's northeastern Veneto region gather what they can and flee into an inhospitable landscape of marsh, mudflats, and small islands known as the Venetian lagoon.

• 7:09Speaker 02

  And though it's hardly an ideal refuge, their knowledge of its narrow, shallow waterways offers some sanctuary. Thomas Madden is professor of history at St. Louis University and author of Venice: A New History.

• 7:25Speaker 03

  No one with a choice would choose to found a city in the middle of a brackish lagoon that has nothing but water that you can't drink and mud and sand. It's done because there isn't a choice.

• 7:42Speaker 02

  Yet here, amid the reeds and saltwater, they find safety from invaders who have no idea how to navigate the maze of channels between the islands.

• 7:54Speaker 02

  But life in the lagoon is hostile, and as soon as the danger passes, the refugees scatter back to their ruined towns to try and rebuild. And yet, each time new raiders descend to plunder their wealth, the townspeople are forced to flee to the safety of the water again. There, they establish rough shacks built on wooden piles driven deep into the mud, ready as a bolt hole in times of crisis.

• 8:22Speaker 02

  Slowly, the refugees adapt to the harsh conditions, surviving in the isolated lagoon for longer periods by harvesting its scant resources and trading with one another for whatever else they need.

• 8:38Speaker 02

  Für Generationen weiter so. Die Geflüchtete werden immer mehr definiert, obwohl sie immer noch zu unheimlich vermischt sind, um eine echte Gemeinschaft zu sein.

• 8:49Speaker 02

  Aber Religion bindet die Islander mit gemeinsamen Ritualen, Glauben und wichtig, hilft, eine kollektive Geschichte zu schaffen.

• 9:00Speaker 02

  根据传说，维尼西亚的开始，或者维尼西亚，到公元421年 时，有一座小教堂在瑞尔塔被建庙， 一个将最终成为城市的心脏的岛屿群。 但是，现在大多数仍然回到他们毁掉的乡村，每当危险来临时， 拥着重建自己的希望。 这个循环在公元568年结束，当 Lombards 来到时。

• 9:31Speaker 02

  这些 Germanische Truppen, nachdem sie Land suchen, um zu besiegen und zu verlassen, 赶往 northern Italien。 而这次，侵略者来这里定居。

• 9:42Speaker 03

  所以，一旦 Lombards 在那里， 非常多人意识到，这就是结束，他们不会再回家了。 所以他们必须把这里作为他们的新家， 所以他们会在这些不同的岛屿上，整个峡谷中， 我们今天看到的峡谷， 维尼西亚峡谷， 以前有很大的， 很多的它在 centuries 里都得到了改善。 它以前是沿着埃及北部的东部延伸的。 有很多岛屿的乡村， 在那些 centuries 里发展。

• 10:18Speaker 02

  一开始虽然很分开， 这些 habitat 逐渐聚在一起，形成一个新的 settlement， 那个奖赏独立性和韧性，合作和聪明。

• 10:30Speaker 02

  Initially constructed from timber and reeds, the architecture becomes sturdier over time, with walls solidified with wattles and daub. Goods are ferried in by boat, and with no roads, the waterways act as streets between clusters of stilted houses lifted above the tide. Their precarious existence, along with their almost unique freedom from invasion, informs the Venetians' sense of identity.

• 10:58Speaker 03

  The Venetians always saw themselves, because they lived in this lagoon, they were part of Europe, but they were also stood aloof from Europe. They were the only place in Western Europe that had not been conquered by the barbarian invasions, which destroyed the rest of the Roman Empire. And they viewed themselves very much as a kind of a Rome unfallen.

• 11:25Speaker 02

  Over the next centuries, the settlements knit together into a more cohesive community. But now, they need rules, leaders, and direction.

• 11:37Speaker 02

  Nominally, they remain under the shadow of Byzantium, the eastern half of the Old Roman Empire, ruled from Constantinople. But this offers both protection and problems.

• 11:49Speaker 03

  There was a kind of a dual allegiance for them. On the one hand, they were loyal to the emperors in Constantinople. On the other hand, they weren't really in the empire anymore. They were on the frontier of the frontier. So there were lots of conflicting kinds of allegiances, but it did mean that they definitely stood apart.

• 12:09Speaker 02

  It's out of this duality that Venice's unique political system emerges.

• 12:19Speaker 04

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• 13:18Speaker 02

  In the 8th century, the Venetians decide to elect a Doge, or a duke, to act as head of state and govern their affairs.

• 13:29Speaker 02

  The office of Doge is both symbolic and practical. Representing all of the various island enclaves, he projects unity across the lagoon while keeping order.

• 13:41Speaker 02

  At this stage, there is still no city, just a cluster of villages strung across mudflats and channels, with the capital shifting to wherever each successive Doge is from.

• 13:54Speaker 02

  The production of food and goods in this strange landscape also affects the kind of republic Venice will become.

• 14:02Speaker 03

  Venice doesn't have fields. They grow very little. They grow a few grapes here and there. They might have some places for a few animals, but it's mostly just for local consumption. But they can't produce food. They have to buy it. The only thing that they do produce there, locally, is fish, but it's not very good. The main product they produce in those early years is salt. They have salt works in which they can evaporate seawater and then they can roll the salt and sell that. So they become businessmen right from the beginning, because their life depends on it.

• 14:38Speaker 02

  That dependence shapes everything.

• 14:43Speaker 02

  Where other parts of medieval Europe develop feudalism, rooted in land ownership and military aristocracy, power in Venice lies with the shipowners and merchants, whose survival depends on the lagoon and the sea beyond.

• 15:00Speaker 02

  With a Doge chosen primarily for his commercial skill, the city learns to constantly find balance between larger powers. Though officially governed by Constantinople, the empire is stretched thin and distracted by crises closer to home. That leaves Venice to act independently when it suits, with the Doge extracting privileges from Byzantine emperors, bargaining with popes in Rome, and charting his own course between the two.

• 15:32Speaker 02

  By the beginning of the 9th century, Venice is acting as a republic in all but name, with its strength firmly rooted in the sea and the trade on offer. But for all their autonomy, the Venetians are not beyond danger. On the mainland, the Franks are rising, a powerful dynasty of Germanic origin that now dominates much of Western and Central Europe.

• 15:55Speaker 02

  Their greatest ruler, Charlemagne, has formed the Carolingian Empire and been crowned emperor in Rome, reviving the idea of a Western empire. And in 810, Charlemagne's son, Pepin, king of Italy, turns his eye on the lagoon.

• 16:12Speaker 03

  Charlemagne conquered most of Central Europe and was extremely successful, but here's this little lagoon that he doesn't have control over. And so Pepin invades, as he goes right along the Lido and conquers Malamoco. And it looks like this is the end of Venice. But the Venetians end up fleeing over the centre of the lagoon, the hardest place to get to, Rivo Alto, high banks, what we today call Rialto. And once they defeat Pepin, that becomes the new capital. So what we think of as Venice is a result of that.

• 16:51Speaker 02

  But even with the takeover avoided, independence for the Venetians is never only about politics. It is also about faith.

• 17:01Speaker 02

  At this stage, the church in Venice is being led from the Patriarchate of Gradel, a small island just outside the lagoon. But its authority is continually contested by the older and more powerful Patriarchate of Aquilea on the mainland.

• 17:16Speaker 03

  But the problem is the Patriarch of Aquilea is Frankish, and the Venetians see this as essentially the Franks getting control of their church. In other words, getting what they couldn't get by warfare. And they are strongly opposed to this.

• 17:32Speaker 02

  To make matters worse, Aquilea claims religious superiority because their first bishop was a disciple of Saint Mark himself.

• 17:41Speaker 03

  And then, in 827, the Pope ruled against the Venetians and said, "No more Patriarch of Gradel, you're under Aquilea." And so that meant that this was a crisis.

• 17:56Speaker 02

  The crisis gives new urgency to Venice's quest for independence, and that requires a dramatic piece of one-upmanship. If Aquilea can boast a disciple of Saint Mark, Venice will have to go one better. They will have to get Saint Mark himself.

• 18:15Speaker 02

  Which is why a small group of merchants head off to Alexandria to secure his vestigial remains and smuggle them back to Venice under a blanket of pork. And once the relic is safely in Venice, they conveniently recall a prophecy that ties Saint Mark to them for good.

• 18:35Speaker 03

  They told a story that Saint Mark, during his life, was on his way to Aquilea. Now, there was no Venice back then, it was the first century, but he sailed through the lagoon, and he spent the night at Rialto, right there. And while he was sleeping, an angel came down and said, "Peace to you, Mark, my evangelist, your body will rest here." So it was prophesied that he would come back.

• 19:05Speaker 02

  The prophecy allows the Venetians to finally unite the disparate islands of the lagoon, each one with its own church and its own saint, under one gloriously divine protector.

• 19:17Speaker 03

  If you walk around Venice today, you'll walk by church after church after church, because those used to all be islands. But now, after bringing the body of Saint Mark, Venice became one urban centre. And the patron saint of that centre, ultimately their whole republic, was Saint Mark.

• 19:37Speaker 02

  With their patron saint enthroned and their independence more secure, the Venetians can now assemble their lagoon into the shape of a city. But how do you build a city on water?

• 19:51Speaker 02

  The solution is both simple and ingenious. Taking inspiration from their predecessors, builders now drive thousands of tightly-packed wooden piles, hewn from the alpine forests, deep into the mud, creating solid platforms on which to raise better homes and churches. Submerged in the dense mud without air, the wood will harden rather than rot, fossilising over time to form the invisible stone support network that still underpins Venice today.

• 20:26Speaker 02

  Rialto, that safer, higher ground, now becomes the permanent seat of power and the beating heart of the emerging city. The wooden Rialto Bridge that spans the Grand Canal binds the islands together, and the waterway itself becomes a lifeline. Markets flourish along its banks, while goods stream in from the Adriatic, carried on proud Venetian galleys.

• 20:53Speaker 03

  Now, they have very close connections with Constantinople and with the Byzantine Empire, because they're still part of it during their early centuries. And so, they can sail to Constantinople, which is a massive city. So, there's an enormous amount of trade that goes on there. They can buy low and come back and sell high. And so, these merchant runs become crucial to them.

• 21:19Speaker 02

  Ties with Constantinople give the Venetian merchants access to roots and privileges that those from other cities can only dream of. And the profits from this commerce are ploughed right back into developing the city. More bridges are built to link the islands. Modest wooden homes give way to sturdier brick palaces along the canals. Each one, a declaration of the ambition and wealth of Venice’s merchant elites. There are workshops too. Most famously on the island of Murano, where Venetian craftsmen turn glass into both an art form and a prized export. And at the heart of all this development is the Church of San Marco, one of Venice’s

• 22:03Speaker 02

  first great stone buildings, constructed beside the Doge’s palace to house the relics of Saint Mark. Though humble by later standards, it’s already a strong symbol that this proto-republic now sees itself as permanent, powerful, and divinely favored. Stone by stone, Venice secures its foundations. But its future lies with the sea, where its merchants are known for their shrewdness and success. The stage is set for expansion. In the 11th century, Italy is still centuries away from unification.

• 22:45Speaker 02

  The peninsula is divided into rival city-states like Genoa and Pisa, and powerful regional players like the Norman Kingdom of Sicily in the south and the Lombards further north, all of whom are competing for wealth and influence. By now, Venice has developed from a wealthy merchant city into a maritime powerhouse. Its fleets crisscross the Adriatic and the wider Mediterranean, carrying salt, glassware, and fine textiles, while importing spices, silks, and precious goods from the east. But transporting such valuable cargo over water is not without its risks.

• 23:26Speaker 02

  For centuries, Venice has relied on the Byzantine Empire for some measure of protection, especially at sea. But as the old powers now fade, Venice must step in.

• 23:40Speaker 03

  The Byzantine Empire becomes much smaller and doesn't have the ability any longer to police the Adriatic. And Venetians, who are now utterly reliant on trade, very reluctantly come to the conclusion that they're going to have to take over some of that operation of at least keeping the Adriatic safe. And so they need to start producing war galleys to patrol the Adriatic.

• 24:10Speaker 02

  To protect its wealth, Venice builds and maintains a formidable navy. Merchant convoys sail under armed escort to fend off pirates, defend their routes against rival city-states, and avert threats from those bigger regional powers. Venice is soon strong enough to take almost sole responsibility for keeping the seas around them safe.

• 24:34Speaker 03

  And once they start doing that, really the Adriatic is theirs. In fact, they start referring to the Adriatic as the Sea of Venice. And that means that if you're doing business somewhere, if you're a merchant and you pick up something in Alexandria and then you come into the Adriatic planning to stop at another Italian port, once Venice has firm control over the Adriatic, they require you to unload in Venice. So you don't get a choice as to where you're going anymore. You're told by the authorities that if you enter our sea, you're going to Venice. Either that or pay the taxes, pay a Venetian tax on the goods that you have, then you can go wherever you want. Otherwise, you're going to have to unload in Venice.

• 25:22Speaker 02

  Formally, Venice still acknowledges Byzantine authority, but its power now rests on its own strength. And soon that strength will be tested on a far greater stage as Europe is swept into an age of holy war, intended to reclaim Jerusalem and the Holy Land in the name of Christ. These campaigns, soon to be known as the Crusades, will draw in kings and knights, merchants and sailors, all bound for the East.

• 25:53Speaker 02

  Für die Armee involviert, die Heilige Land zu erreichen, ist die Hälfte der Kampf.

• 25:58Speaker 02

  Die meisten Crusader marschieren überland, sich von ganz Western Europe zusammengefasst und nach东(East) durch das, was jetzt Deutschland, Ungarn und den Balken sind, bevor sie nach Asien und nach Jerusalem durchlaufen. Aber die Sehre sind auch sehr wichtig. Um schnell Menschen, Hunde und Lieferungen durch die Mediterranien nach Levant zu bewegen, den Küstenstaaten moderner Syrien, Lebanon und Israel, braucht man Schiffe. Und niemand hat einen besserer Ort, um ihnen zu dienen, als Venice.

• 26:30Speaker 03

  Venice war sicherlich ein früherer Akteur der Crusades. Der erste Crusade wurde von Herrn Urban II in 1095 genannt. Und es gibt eine enorme Anzahl von Energie für den ersten Crusade in Western Europe. Venice stellt die größte Einzelflade für den ersten Crusade zusammen. Aber weil sie so groß ist, dauert es ihnen länger, sie zusammenzubilden. Also, wenn sie wirklich aus Venice ausfahren, ist der Crusade im Grunde genommen vorbei. Aber sie fahren immer weiter. Die Doge führt sie nach der Heiligen Land. Und sie helfen dem neuen König Jerusalem, um Beirut und einige andere Bereiche dort zu besiegen.

• 27:11Speaker 02

  Während sie immer noch von Religion gebunden sind, vereint Venice diese Heiligen Waffen nicht nur aus Glauben. Jedes Reisen ist ein Vertrag, und jeder Transportvertrag ist eine neue Chance für Profit.

• 27:25Speaker 02

  Fliegen Crusader wird ein großes Geschäft. Und mit jeder Kampagne, hat Venice seine Kontrolle auf die Handelswege, die Europa zu den Riesen des Osten verbinden.

• 27:36Speaker 03

  Mit dem Besiegen von Jerusalem bedeutete es, dass es jetzt sicherlich für Christentum-Pilgräte zu den Heiligen Seiten ging. Und so ging es zu einem Italienischen Port und zu einem Passagier. Also, Venice macht ein sehr gutes Geschäft beim Transport von Menschen nach der Heiligen Land.

• 27:54Speaker 02

  Aber der Prozess der Heiligen Waffe war nie glatt.

• 28:01Speaker 02

  At the end of the 12th century, Jerusalem is once more in Muslim hands under Saladin, and Pope Innocent III wants it back. So he calls for a fourth crusade, a huge affair which involves vast numbers of French knights taking the cross. Venice's Great Council, the assembly of its leading families, among whom power is concentrated, enters into a massive contract with the French to supply ships, men, and provisions for their effort. But when the French arrive in 1202, their numbers fall way short and they can't pay the bill. The Venetians, who have spent fortunes outfitting the fleet, are left frustrated and out of pocket.

• 28:46Speaker 02

  Desperate to cover their costs, the Crusaders agree to a deal with a Byzantine prince who promises gold and aid if they can help him onto the throne of Constantinople. The Crusaders agree, and successfully install him as emperor in 1203. But his promises of riches and support quickly collapse, leaving the crusade in tatters. By the spring of the next year, the double-crossed knights finally turn their fury on Constantinople itself. It's April 1204. Outside the city of Constantinople, the air is thick with smoke.

• 29:29Speaker 02

  Days of skirmishes have scarred the walls and set whole quarters ablaze, and still the city smoulders. From inside the walls, bells toll frantically, sounding a desperate alarm. The sound carries out to the Golden Horn, the vast harbour that curves beneath Constantinople's northern walls, where the Crusaders' fleet now rocks. Behind their gilded prowls, their decks are crammed with fighters, ready for battle. One such soldier, a strong young man in gleaming armour, hefts a grappling hook in one hand, a sword in the other, as the vessels close in on the sea walls.

• 30:13Speaker 02

  He turns to the blind old doge of Venice, Enrico Dandolo. Now ninety, he still leads the fight, and as the prowls now bump against the stone wall, he bellows the order to attack.

• 30:30Speaker 02

  From their decks, soldiers raise ladders and throw grappling hooks, storming the defenses. The young soldier throws his own hook high, feeling it bite the top of the wall. Arrows hiss down from above, striking armor around him as he starts to climb. Though some men fall screaming into the water, the young fighter now hauls himself over the parapet.

• 30:56Speaker 02

  He is immediately set upon by the city's defenders, and has no choice but to put his deadly weapons to use.

• 31:03Speaker 02

  Now he joins the wave of attackers pouring through the streets.

• 31:10Speaker 02

  The city fills with armored men, doors are hacked down, treasures plundered from homes. The young soldier, with his own haul gripped tight, watches as the great doors of the Hagia Sophia Cathedral are breached. Inside, the terrified citizens stand crowded together, clutching icons, praying and begging for compassion. But this young man, like the hordes of other crusaders, is on the warpath. He was promised gold, supplies, and support for the march to Jerusalem. Instead, he is starving, unpaid, and failed by his leaders.

• 31:50Speaker 02

  So instead of acknowledging these frightened civilians as allies, he sees them only as liars and enemies. And as the cathedral's golden icons and treasures are torn away, and its marble floors spattered with blood, he sees not sacrilege, but justice.

• 32:13Speaker 02

  When the battle is done, Constantinople, the bastion of the East and the ally of Venice, has fallen. Not to Muslim armies, but to fellow Christians.

• 32:26Speaker 02

  And in the smoke and the ruin, the Crusaders seize their prize, while Venice, almost by accident, gains the wealth of an empire.

• 32:37Speaker 03

  Once the Crusade had conquered Constantinople, Venice was certainly going to try their best to profit from it. The Doge of Venice at the time, Enrico D'Ondolo, he was in his 90s and blind, and he still went on the Crusade. And he lived through the whole Crusade. He was massively important. He was in all the councils with the barons, telling them what he thought they should do.

• 33:03Speaker 02

  The sack of Constantinople leaves Venice staggeringly enriched. The Venetians carry home relics, jewels, and art, much of which finds its way into their churches and palaces. They also secure land in Constantinople itself, with vast quarters of the city placed under Venetian control, along with a larger share of Byzantine lands. But at home, not everyone rejoices.

• 33:30Speaker 02

  The raiding of a Christian city by fellow Christians unsettles Europe, and with the heart of Byzantium broken, its protection also vanishes. Suddenly, all of the islands, ports, and coastal strongholds that at once answered to Constantinople are up for grabs.

• 33:50Speaker 02

  Rival city-states like Genoa and Pisa waste no time lunging for key outposts across the sea, forcing Venice to do the same to hold under power. Chief among these is Crete, claimed as a tactical jewel to anchor Venetian control in the eastern Mediterranean.

• 34:09Speaker 03

  It's really the conquest of Crete that turns Venice from being a maritime republic into being a maritime empire. Now they have to administer a state that is over the seas. Now they get a lot more territory in the Adriatic as well, but Crete is crucially important.

• 34:27Speaker 02

  Soon, Venice's lion banner flies over ports, islands, and fortresses across the Adriatic, the Aegean, and into the Black Sea. And with these new colonies securing its sea lanes and defending its choke points, Venice stakes its claim as the unrivaled maritime power of the Mediterranean.

• 34:54Speaker 04

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• 35:23Speaker 01

  When you shop Kroger Delivery, you can expect the savings you love and fresh groceries delivered right to your door. From delicious produce to everyday essentials, enjoy the convenience of delivery and the trusted selection you've come to know from Kroger. Because bringing you fresh, quality groceries is what we do best. Right now, enjoy free delivery on orders of $50 or more with your digital coupon. Restrictions apply. See site for details. Kroger: Fresh for Everyone.

• 35:53Speaker 02

  By the 13th century, Venice has reached its peak. Known as La Serenissima, the Most Serene Republic, it is the richest and most stable state in Europe. Its navy dominates the waters, and its merchants can be found everywhere, from the cloth markets of Flanders in Northern Europe, to the spice ports of Alexandria in Egypt. Meanwhile, its chief rival, Genoa on the northwest coast of Italy, struggles to match its reach.

• 36:24Speaker 02

  In this age of expansion, one Venetian will carry its name further than anyone before.

• 36:31Speaker 02

  In 1271, Marco Polo departs from the harbor with his father and uncle. After years of traveling, they reach the court of Kubla Khan in China, the heart of the Mongol Empire. There, Polo encounters cities larger than any in Europe: the strange miracle of paper money and black stones we now call coal.

• 36:58Speaker 02

  A quarter of a century later, when he returns to Venice, his tales astonish Europe.

• 37:04Speaker 03

  Marco Polo went on this amazing trip to the Far East, lived there for decades, and became crucial in the Khan's government, and then eventually returned to Venice with riches, galore, and with lots of stories, which he told all the time. You would think that the Venetians would have really played him up, but they didn't really at all. In fact, as far as Venice was concerned, they thought he had just made it up. In fact, he kept talking about how big everything was and how giant everything was. Their nickname for him was Il Milione. It means like "Mr. Millions." That's all you're doing, just talking about millions, millions of this, millions of that.

• 37:47Speaker 02

  His adventures are chronicled as "The Travels of Marco Polo" and offer a glimpse of far Cathay. And since such marvels flow back through Venice first, it becomes known as the city that brought the East alive in the Western mind. But while his stories astonish with tales of distant lands, Venice has plenty to wow the senses closer to home. While the rest of Christendom marks the rhythms of the year with familiar traditions, in Venice, the ceremonies get a unique spin.

• 38:23Speaker 02

  The short season of revelry before Lent, for example, becomes Carnival, a weeks-long festival of masks, music, gambling, and theater, where the city transforms itself into a stage and everyone from nobles to commoners plays a part. And that is not the only Christian ritual to get the Venetian treatment.

• 38:44Speaker 03

  Probably among the most famous of the uniquely Venetian ones was the rituals on the Feast of the Ascension. After the regular religious rituals and the masses were done, they would have a massive procession of boats in which the Doge would come out in his ducal galley, and then everyone would sail out the lagoon to the mouth of the Adriatic. There, the Doge would take a golden ring and would throw it into the Adriatic and would say, "With this ring, I espouse thee." So it was the marrying of Venice to the sea, because the sea was everything for them.

• 39:30Speaker 02

  The sea certainly brings them wealth and prosperity, and by the 15th century, that wealth fuels a cultural rebirth, as in Venice, the emerging Renaissance takes dazzling form.

• 39:46Speaker 02

  The movement that rekindles interest in art, literature, and science begins in Florence, but the Venetians are quick to embrace it. On Murano, glassmakers perfect dazzling new techniques, creating crystal-clear glass-enamelled goblets and mirrors fine enough to grace the courts of Europe. The city's printing presses turn Venice into a hub of knowledge, producing books on philosophy, law, science, and poetry, and spreading them across the continent at unprecedented speed.

• 40:18Speaker 03

  Part of the reason why Venice becomes kind of a hub for art, printing, glassmaking has to do with just the amount of concentrated wealth that's in the city. And this is in part also because Venice is inventing the basic tools of the modern capital age: deposit banking, insurance, stock markets, double-entry bookkeeping, or audits, and things of that sort. They're inventing all these things, and as a result, becoming wealthier.

• 40:47Speaker 02

  And because in Venice, unlike the rest of Western Europe, status is bought rather than inherited, well-to-do families can flaunt their prominence by commissioning works from the great Renaissance masters, luring painters from Florence and beyond to work in their city.

• 41:05Speaker 03

  A lot of the Venetian art is done in churches, but also, really big one is the squolet, which are basically confraternities of men who are competing against other confraternities. And they want their buildings to look the most beautiful.

• 41:25Speaker 02

  This competition brings about another invention: painting on canvas. In Venice, frescoes painted directly onto walls can't survive the damp, salt air. So artists adapt by working instead on enormous pieces of fabric stretched over frames.

• 41:45Speaker 02

  Venice's sacred and civic spaces fill with masterpieces, while architects and engineers reshape its skyline with domes, campaniles, and bridges that blend beauty with utility until the city itself becomes a work of art. And beneath its beautiful skin, Venice is cosmopolitan, tolerant, and curious. Here, east meets west in thought as well as trade. Greek scholars, Jewish merchants, and travelers from the Muslim world all add their voices to the mix. Ideas circulate freely, underpinned by lavish ritual and ceremony.

• 42:28Speaker 02

  Yet even as the city shines, the tides are beginning to turn.

• 42:34Speaker 02

  The first blow to Venice's dominion comes when Portugal's Vasco da Gama finally establishes a sea route around Africa, leading directly to the spice markets of India.

• 42:48Speaker 03

  This is bad, because if they can go straight to the markets, they can buy these goods that Venetians trade in: peppers, cloves, things of that sort. They can buy them for next to nothing. And they can bring them back. Now, it's a long way, but it doesn't matter. The markup is so high. Once they return, you can bring ten vessels, go around Africa, go to India, come back, it might take you more than a year. You can lose nine of those vessels and still come out ahead, way ahead.

• 43:23Speaker 02

  Spain too finds a new path to wealth. Hoping to reach the spice islands by sailing west, explorer Christopher Columbus instead stumbles on the Americas, where the silver mines make Spain incredibly wealthy.

• 43:40Speaker 02

  With its role as Europe's middleman now easily bypassed, Venice's monopoly is broken. Meanwhile, military defeats against the Ottoman Empire weaken its colonies in the Eastern Mediterranean too. And just as its fortunes falter abroad, disaster strikes at home.

• 44:00Speaker 03

  Venice always had a plague problem. At least from the first Black Death in 1379. Every time a ship docks, there's like a rat exchange. Rats get off, and rats would get on with the fleas that carried the disease. And then they would sail to Venice, and they would get off in Venice. And then the fleas would jump and bite humans. And then the humans would get the plague, and then it would spread from there.

• 44:26Speaker 02

  By the late 16th century, Venice learns to quarantine the sick on a lagoon island, Lazaretto Vecchio. Suspected cases are confined there for quaranta giorni, or forty days, long enough to get better or die. It's a system that gives us the word quarantine.

• 44:49Speaker 02

  Even so, outbreaks continue. The epidemic of 1630 alone wipes out nearly a third of the city's population. But plague is only one symptom of a deeper malaise. Venice's world is changing. And to compensate for fading maritime power, leaders look inland, expanding into northern Italy, where Verona and other great cities are drawn into the Venetian orbit. Unfortunately, these territories are hard to defend, especially for an empire unaccustomed to fighting on land. And many Venetians see this shift as a mistake. But the sea is no longer profitable either. The world is getting bigger, and Venice, once a thriving crossroads,

• 45:34Speaker 02

  is being left behind.

• 45:40Speaker 02

  By the 18th century, the city is still a glittering jewel, but its political system has ossified, and its military power has dwindled to almost nothing. But that famous Carnival before Lent, with its masked balls and libertine reputation, is now what makes it legendary across Europe.

• 46:01Speaker 02

  Wealthy travelers stop here to marvel at the canals, to commission paintings of themselves gliding in gondolas, and to sample the city's notorious pleasures.

• 46:12Speaker 03

  What Venice had was just plain old decadence. Venice had prostitutes like crazy. Prostitution was practiced all across the city, and you've had all levels of prostitutes, from the lowest levels to the highest courtesans.

• 46:28Speaker 02

  Gambling in the casinos, or ridotti, and music in the many opera houses all feed the city's reputation for extravagance and spectacle. Even Vivaldi, ostensibly writing his music for a charity for orphaned girls, also composes for tourists eager to be dazzled. As Venice loses its political and mercantile heft, theatricality and indulgence become its last true inheritance.

• 47:04Speaker 02

  It's February 1797. In a darkened palazzo, a young Venetian nobleman sits alone.

• 47:13Speaker 02

  Once his family's future was secure, bound to the fate of the Doge's palace. Now, with Napoleon's armies tearing through northern Italy, the Republic trembles.

• 47:26Speaker 02

  Tonight, though, is for forgetting all of that. On the table before him lies a traditional volta, a plain, white mask, ghost-like and anonymous.

• 47:37Speaker 02

  Here, in Venice, masks are more than costume. They erase rank and identity, letting courtesans mingle with senators, merchants with nobles, priests with gamblers. Behind them, anyone can be anyone.

• 47:55Speaker 02

  He places the mask over his face, studies his reflection in the dark glass of the window, and ties the ribbon tight.

• 48:04Speaker 02

  Stepping outside, he is swallowed by the atmosphere of Carnival.

• 48:11Speaker 02

  The canals glitter with lantern light, rippling gold across black water. Gondolas glide past, heavy with masked passengers. The sounds of violins and harpsichords blend with the laughter of crowds spilling into the piazzas. His velvet cloak brushes cold marble as he weaves through the flock of revelers. All around him, the city whirls in a dream of color and sound. He passes a ridotta, where dice tumble and fortunes vanish in a breath. Cordisans in feathered masks lean close to their patrons, jewels sparkling, voices sweet with wine.

• 48:56Speaker 02

  From an opera house nearby, applause erupts as the singing ends. The air is thick with perfume and smoke from the fireworks.

• 49:07Speaker 02

  The young man pauses on the edge of the square, gazing at the spectacle.

• 49:13Speaker 02

  Venice is no longer the proud republic of his forbears, yet here, in Carnival, it feels as though the city could still be reborn.

• 49:29Speaker 02

  But no amount of revelry can hide the truth. By 1797, the Republic has run out of time.

• 49:37Speaker 02

  Napoleon Bonaparte marches through northern Italy, defeating Austria and redrawing the map of Europe. Venice, officially neutral, is too weak to defend itself. When skirmishes break out between French troops and Venetian militias, Napoleon seizes on them as proof of treachery, accusing the city of conspiring with Austria. It is the pretext he needs to strike.

• 50:05Speaker 02

  This time, there is no sanctuary in the lagoon. Venice is defenseless before Napoleon's cannons, and the Doge is forced to abdicate.

• 50:15Speaker 03

  And so, May 12, 1797, the last Doge convened the Great Council, the oldest republican body in existence, and brought before it the resolution to end the Republic of Venice. And they voted in favor, and so the republic died. I think it's always amazing that this republic remained so strong that, after so long, it literally voted itself out of existence right at the end.

• 50:53Speaker 04

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• 51:22Speaker 01

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• 51:52Speaker 02

  As the oldest republic in the world, Venice's thousand years of independence ends not with a battle, but as a bargaining chip.

• 52:03Speaker 02

  In the Treaty of Campo Formio, Napoleon hands Venice, ironically, to the very Austrians he accused it of aiding. In exchange, Austria recognizes his newly-created Sisalpine Republic in northern Italy and cedes the Austrian Netherlands and Lombardy to France.

• 52:24Speaker 02

  Fearing the opportunity for political meetings and uprisings that large masked gatherings can offer, Napoleon bans Venice’s legendary carnival. And though some version of the festivities continues secretly in much smaller groups, in the private homes of wealthy individuals, for almost two centuries, the proud tradition all but disappears.

• 52:51Speaker 02

  Venice now passes between Austrian and French rule before joining the unified Kingdom of Italy in 1866. By then, its role as a great power is long over. Yet the city finds a new life as a cultural capital and a magnet for visitors. And in 1979, the Italian government reinstates the dormant carnival in a drive to revive the city’s culture and heritage.

• 53:18Speaker 02

  But while its 119 interconnected islands were once home to over 100,000 residents, modern Venice struggles to hold on to its people.

• 53:30Speaker 02

  Tourism drives property prices beyond the reach of most Venetians, pushing families to the mainland, while the grandest palazzi are snapped up by the wealthy elite among its visitors.

• 53:41Speaker 03

  Nowadays, it’s less than 50,000, around 40,000 or so, who actually live in Venice. And when you consider that on any given day, particularly around Carnival Day, you can have 50, 60, 70,000 tourists in the city. So the tourists literally outnumber the people in the city. And Venetians have debated for a long time about this. You know, is it even a city anymore? Or is it just a theme park? And we’re all the workers in the theme park.

• 54:11Speaker 02

  In recent years, that tension has sharpened. Venetians have protested against the crush of mass tourism and the environmental strain of giant cruise ships. In 2024, the city became the first in the world to introduce a so-called "tourist tax", aimed at limiting numbers and helping to preserve the fragile lagoon. For some locals, it's a necessary safeguard; for others, a reminder that their city is at risk of becoming a museum of itself, frozen in time to look as it did in the 16th century. And the city also faces the far greater threat of the waters themselves.

• 54:52Speaker 02

  Venice is slowly sinking, even as sea levels rise. Floods that were once rare now swamp the city several times each winter, and climate scientists warn that without drastic action, large parts of Venice could be uninhabitable within a century. To stave off disaster, engineers have built a barrier of floodgates designed to hold back the highest tides. It has already saved the city on several occasions, though critics question how long such defenses can last against the relentless rise of the sea. And yet, despite the fragility of its foundations, Venice endures as a place of survival and reinvention,

• 55:35Speaker 02

  as dazzling and improbable as the day it first rose from the lagoon.

• 55:42Speaker 03

  Venice is unique, and it's beautiful, and everyone has an image of it in their mind. And so, of course, it's natural that everyone, if they can, they want to see it, experience it for themselves. I would say that the average tourist probably doesn't know that this is the birthplace of modern capitalism, that the world that we know of is largely possible because of the innovations from this city. And that's OK. It's a beautiful place, and it should be experienced on that level as well.

• 56:15Speaker 02

  Hi listeners. We'll be taking a short break over the festive season. Short History of will be back in the new year with brand new weekly episodes. Happy holidays.

• 56:25Speaker 02

  If you can't wait a week until the next episode, you can listen to it right away by subscribing to Noiser Plus. Head to www.noiser.com/subscriptions for more information.

• 56:37Speaker 04

  Low energy, unfocused, foggy? You might be dehydrated. Gatorade Zero Powders have been scientifically designed to help improve hydration balance in the body. With a clinically proven electrolyte blend and no artificial colours or flavours. Great tasting hydration, no matter where you're going. Shop now online or at retailers nationwide. Gatorade: Hydrates better than water. Is it in you? Symptoms noted are signs of mild to moderate dehydration. Consult a healthcare professional if symptoms persist.

• 57:07Speaker 01

  When you shop Kroger delivery, you can expect the savings you love and fresh groceries delivered right to your door. From delicious produce to everyday essentials, enjoy the convenience of delivery and the trusted selection you've come to know from Kroger. Because bringing you fresh, quality groceries is what we do best. Right now, enjoy free delivery on orders of $50 or more with your digital coupon. Restrictions apply. See site for details. Kroger: Fresh for everyone.