The Origins of the Early Medieval State(historytoday.com)
historytoday.com
The Origins of the Early Medieval State
http://www.historytoday.com/paul-fouracre/origins-early-medieval-state
2 comments
That's a really bizarre and biased writeup about Venice. Venice did not "transplant itself to London" (whatever that even means)... they were separate cultures. Venice was not "comparable to switzerland during WWII" (again, what does that even mean?) Sure it was a refuge from barbarian invasions, and it developed its own culture.
Who says that Emperor Justinian was "evil" or that the Roman Senate was "sinister"? Who wrote this, George Lucas? If I had to choose between getting the shit kicked out of me by invading barbarians and living in Constantinople, I know which choice I would make.
The Ottoman Empire was a completely different religion and culture from the Byzantine Empire. It's pretty silly to even compare them... like saying the US is a continuation of the Iroquois league because we live on (some of) the same land. Nope.
Venice was perfectly correct in calling itself a "republic." The ancient Greeks, who gave us the word "republic," for the most part did not believe in giving everyone the vote. And the United States, the world's most famous republic, originally gave the vote only to male landowners. The US still doesn't give the vote to many people, including convicts and immigrants.
Venice was its own power in world affairs. Sure they made alliances with Byzantium when it seemed convenient, but Byzantium usually didn't care enough to actually send any troops to help with things. They had more important things to deal with, like not getting killed by invading Turks (which they ultimated failed at...) Venice even fought against Byzantium in 1296, and probably other times that I'm forgetting.
It's pretty laughable to say that "Venice was never part of Western Civilization"... say what? Venice was a vital port where goods flowed from the orient and from the middle east and into western europe. And it was an important stopping off point during the Crusades. And port cities like Venice helped spread the Black Plague... I'm sure that had no impact on Western Europe. Nope, no sir.
Usury and slavery? Again, this is silly, written from the point of view of someone with an axe to grind. Venice was a mercantile republic, an island of capitalism in a sea of feudalism. While the rest of Europe was under kings and queens, Venice had an elected doge. While the rest of Europe had peasants bound to the land, Venice had citizens and commerce. I could go on but you get the idea. You need to read more and stop idolizing royalty, who were really just military leaders with fancy hats.
Who says that Emperor Justinian was "evil" or that the Roman Senate was "sinister"? Who wrote this, George Lucas? If I had to choose between getting the shit kicked out of me by invading barbarians and living in Constantinople, I know which choice I would make.
The Ottoman Empire was a completely different religion and culture from the Byzantine Empire. It's pretty silly to even compare them... like saying the US is a continuation of the Iroquois league because we live on (some of) the same land. Nope.
Venice was perfectly correct in calling itself a "republic." The ancient Greeks, who gave us the word "republic," for the most part did not believe in giving everyone the vote. And the United States, the world's most famous republic, originally gave the vote only to male landowners. The US still doesn't give the vote to many people, including convicts and immigrants.
Venice was its own power in world affairs. Sure they made alliances with Byzantium when it seemed convenient, but Byzantium usually didn't care enough to actually send any troops to help with things. They had more important things to deal with, like not getting killed by invading Turks (which they ultimated failed at...) Venice even fought against Byzantium in 1296, and probably other times that I'm forgetting.
It's pretty laughable to say that "Venice was never part of Western Civilization"... say what? Venice was a vital port where goods flowed from the orient and from the middle east and into western europe. And it was an important stopping off point during the Crusades. And port cities like Venice helped spread the Black Plague... I'm sure that had no impact on Western Europe. Nope, no sir.
Usury and slavery? Again, this is silly, written from the point of view of someone with an axe to grind. Venice was a mercantile republic, an island of capitalism in a sea of feudalism. While the rest of Europe was under kings and queens, Venice had an elected doge. While the rest of Europe had peasants bound to the land, Venice had citizens and commerce. I could go on but you get the idea. You need to read more and stop idolizing royalty, who were really just military leaders with fancy hats.
What is that quote from? That was amazingly interesting and I want to read more!
Ah - Webster Tarpley. Kind of nutty, lots of conspiracies, but some good information nevertheless.
That said, the (very long) history of the Venetian Republic is both fascinating and important. The city of Venice (in the lagoon) is built entirely on wooden piles - astonishing both for the engineering and effort involved. Both words bank and ghetto are from Venice. Etc. Bank was originally a banca or bench on which proto-bankers or money lenders or whatever would sit.
That said, the (very long) history of the Venetian Republic is both fascinating and important. The city of Venice (in the lagoon) is built entirely on wooden piles - astonishing both for the engineering and effort involved. Both words bank and ghetto are from Venice. Etc. Bank was originally a banca or bench on which proto-bankers or money lenders or whatever would sit.
I believe most of the issues in Western Europe were due to the reorganization of the Roman Empire by the Emperor Diocletian after the time period known as the crisis of the third century. The reforms he implemented basically helped turn the west to Feudalism. He tied people to the land, and forced people to work in the same trade as their parents. He also tried to reform the economy by fixing prices which of course didn't work out well. Since the coinage was reduced to near nothing, people had to resort to barter, which I'm going to guess stifles trade.
He also saved the Empire from total disillusion and established a system that might have led to stability had Constantine not broken up the Tetrarchy.
Also he did not 'tie people to the land', landowners did that as a means of escaping paying taxes.
Also he did not 'tie people to the land', landowners did that as a means of escaping paying taxes.
...as a means of escaping paying taxes.
"The islands of the lagoons provided an invulnerable refuge, comparable to Switzerland during World War II, for Roman aristocrats and others fleeing the paths of Goth, Hun, and Langobard armies. Already between 300 and 400 A.D. there are traces of families whose names will later become infamous: Candiano, Faliero, Dandolo. Legend has it that the big influx of refugees came during the raids of Attila the Hun in 452 A.D. Various areas of the lagoons were colonized, including the present site of Torcello, before the seat of administration was fixed at a group of islands known as Rivus Altus (“the highest bank”), later the Rialto, the present location of the city of Venice. The official Ab Urbe Condita is March 25, 721 A.D. Paoluccio Anafesto, the first ruler of the lagoon communities, called the doge (the Venetian equivalent of Latin dux or Florentine duca/duce, meaning leader or duke), is said to have been elected in the year 697.
The most significant fact of this entire period is that the whelp of what was later to become Venice survived and grew thanks to its close alliance with the evil Emperor Justinian in Constantinople, an alliance that was underlined in later years by intermarriage of doge and other leading Venetian oligarchs with the nobility of Byzantium, where a faction embodying the sinister traditions of the Roman Senate lived on for a thousand years after the fall of Rome in 476.
Venetian families are divided into two categories. First come the oldest families, or Longhi, who can claim to prove their nobility substantially before the year 1000. The Longhi include many names that are sadly familiar to the student of European history: Dandolo, Michiel, Morosini, Contarini, Giustinian (perhaps related to the just- mentioned Byzantine emperor), Zeno, Corner (or Cornaro), Gradenigo, Tiepolo, and Falier. These old families held a monopoly of the dogeship until 1382, at which time they were forced to admit the parvenu newcomers, or Curti, to the highest honor of the state. After this time new families like Mocenigo, Foscari, Malipiero, Vendramin, Loredano, Gritti, Dona, and Trevisan came into the ascendancy."
"between 180 and 280 AD, the empire collapsed. It was reorganized by Aurelian, Diocletian, and Constantine with a series of measures that centered on banning any change in the technology of the means of production, and very heavy taxation. The Diocletian program led to the depopulation of the cities, serfdom for farmers, and the collapse of civilization into a prolonged Dark Age.
The Roman Empire in the West finally collapsed in 476 AD. But the Roman Empire in the East, sometimes called the Byzantine Empire, continued for almost a thousand years, until 1453. And if the Ottoman Empire is considered as the Ottoman dynasty of an ongoing Byzantine Empire, then the Byzantine Empire kept going until shortly after World War I. With certain exceptions, the ruling dynasties of Byzantium continued the oligarchical policy of Diocletian and Constantine.
Venice, the city built on islands in the lagoons and marshes of the northern Adriatic Sea, is supposed to have been founded by refugees from the Italian mainland who were fleeing from Attila the Hun in 452 AD. Early on, Venice became the location of a Benedictine monastery on the island of St. George Major. St. George is not a Christian saint, but rather a disguise for Apollo, Perseus, and Marduk, idols of the oligarchy. Around 700 AD, the Venetians claim to have elected their first doge, or duke. This post was not hereditary, but was controlled by an election in which only the nobility could take part. For this reason, Venice erroneously called itself a republic.
In the years around 800 AD, Charlemagne, King of the Franks, using the ideas of St. Augustine, attempted to revive civilization from the Dark Ages. Venice was the enemy of Charlemagne. Charlemagne’s son, King Pepin of Italy, tried unsuccessfully to conquer the Venetian lagoon. Charlemagne was forced to recognize Venice as a part of the eastern or Byzantine Empire, under the protection of the Emperor Nicephorus. Venice was never a part of western civilization.
Over the next four centuries, Venice developed as a second capital of the Byzantine Empire through marriage alliances with certain Byzantine dynasties and conflicts with the Holy Roman Empire based in Germany. The Venetian economy grew through usury and slavery. By 1082, the Venetians had tax-free trading rights in the entire Byzantine Empire. The Venetians were one of the main factors behind the Crusades against the Muslim power in the eastern Mediterranean."