Note: This page is about a fictionalized, fantasy version of thirteenth-century Venice for the role-playing game Ars Magica. It is not intended to reflect the real history of the city of Venice and indeed makes intentional departures from historical fact. If you found this page with a search engine while looking for real historical information, please see the links at the bottom of this page.
Venice is one of the largest cities of Mythic Europe, boasting a population of over 100,000 - comparable to London and Paris, and larger than Rome, Cologne, or Barcelona. Venice in Mythic Europe is a city-state that rules a far-flung commercial empire. She is one of the four Italian "mariner republics," the other three being Genoa, Pisa, and Amalfi.
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Venice is one of the few republics in Mythic Europe. The city is ruled by a Grand Council of hereditary nobles, who elect from among their number a Doge (duke) as the chief executive.
The Republic of Venice includes the city itself, the surrounding islands and the shores of the lagoon, and farms and estates extending a few miles inland. She has substantial overseas possessions in the Istrian peninsula and Dalmatia (along the northern and eastern coasts of the Adriatic), some Ionian and Aegean islands (including Crete) and colonies in Outremer. Following the Fourth Crusade, Venice rules three-eighths ("a quarter and a half") of the former Byzantine Empire. These overseas territories are ruled by Venetian nobles.
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One of the Republic's oldest institutions is the People's Assembly. Theoretically, all free citizens of Venice are permitted to attend and vote. In practice, there is no hall or public building large enough to hold even a fraction of the free population. The People's Assembly convenes outdoors in the Piazza San Marco in front of the Doge's palace.
Institutional reform in the twelfth century stripped the People's Assembly of most of its power. Its only remaining role in Venetian goverment is to approve or veto legislation of the Grand Council. After the Grand Council has passed a bill, representatives of the Council come out on the balcony of the Doge's palace and read it to the commoners assembled in the square below. The People's Assembly is limited to shouting its approval or disapproval of the legislation. Since there is no formal vote-counting, a large majority - approximately two-thirds of the People's Assembly - is required for the Grand Council representatives to hear anything other than what they want to hear.
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The Grand Council is a non-elected assembly of nobles and churchmen. Histoical sources vary on the actual size of the Grand Council, so for this Saga I've decided on a fairly conservative figure of about 600 nobles.
The Grand Council is the main legislative body and can pass resolutions directing policy. The Doge is elected from among its members.
Prominent families on the Grand Council include:
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In 1143, the Repbulic instituted a kind of inner council "for the honor and benefit and salvation of our country." This is the concilium sapientium or "Wise Council." It has about thirty-five members, chosen from among the members of the Grand Council. The Doge acts as its president. The role of the concilium sapientiae is to deliberate policy matters, especially foreign policy, and make recommendations to the Grand Council.
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The Doge ("duke") is Venice's head of state. Originally, the Doge was responsible for enforcing the law and keeping the peace. Over time, his powers have expanded until he now wields broad authority over all aspects of city government. He carries the additional titles of Duke of Istria and Dalmatia. The Doge presides over the Grand Council and the concilium saptientium. Each spring, he participates in a ceremony known as the "marriage to the sea," which ensures Venice's mercantile and naval superiority. In Mythic Europe, this ceremony may have more than merely symbolic significance.
The Doge is elected by members of the Grand Council from among their own number. In Mythic Europe, the Doge's powers are extensive and he rules almost as an autocrat. Just as the Senate remained an important political force even under the autocratic rule of the Roman Emperor, so the Grand Council still has influence even under the Doge's rule. A politically ineffective Doge can face strong opposition from the Council and some have even been forced into retirement. A shrewd and charismatic Doge, on the other hand, can bend the Council to his will and steer the fate of the Republic.
The current Doge, Enrico Dandalo, is one such man. Though over 90 years old and totally blind, Doge Dandalo led the Fourth Crusade in its attack on Constantinople. In this Saga, the Doge is alleged to have supernatural powers, perhaps from Infernal sources, that give him his remarkable longevity and powers of persuasion. Under his rule, the Republic of Venice acquired extensive new territories and trading priveleges in the former Byzantine Empire and the Aegean and Ionian Seas. Many on the Grand Council have grown rich on the loot of the Crusade and from the new trading monopolies Venice has been able to impose. Some, however, are unhappy with the Doge's naked military aggression and with his ongoing conflict with the Church. Opponents of the Doge occasionally speak out against him in council, and may be plotting some kind of intrigue to depose or discredit him.
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In addition to the concilium sapientium, the Doge has a group of six councilors chosen by the Grand Council. One councilor is chosen from each of the six sestieri of the city. These concillors preside over various departments of city government: the courts of law, the navy, tax collection, and so on.
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As a rising imperial power, Venice has need of substantial military forces.
She has a powerful fleet. This includes both a standing navy (built and maintained at the shipyard of the Arsenale district) and a large fleet of merchantmen who can double as privateers. All civilian ships are required by law to carry a certain number of weapons and coats of armor, even when on stricly commercial business. The navy's ships are largely crewed by professional sailors, but in time of war the Republic has been known to resort to impressment (forced conscription) to round out her naval crews.
Venice relies primarily on a militia and mercenaries for her army. Crossbow practice is compulsory for all male citizens between the ages of seventeen and sixty. There is no standing army but a well-trained militia may be called up to defend the city or to form an overseas expeditionary force. Militiamen are usually called up by lottery: the process is susceptible to bribery. Increasingly, Venice has begun also to rely on conscripts levied from her feudal possessions in Istria and Dalmatia.
To prevent a military coup d'etat, Venice has strict laws limiting the priveleges of nobles to retain men-at-arms. There is no knight tenure in the city or her possessions. The permission of the Grand Council is required for a citizen to join a foreign order of knighthood. Nobles are limited to employing twenty-five men-at-arms per household.
To help fill the needs of the army, some petty nobles have become condottieri - leaders of small mercenary companies (of about twenty-five men each). The condottieri are already infamous for their opportunism: they have been known to "re-negotiate" contracts on the eve of battle, or even switch sides during a battle if they feel the opposing side has a clear upper hand. When not fighting under the banner of Venice, condottieri commonly seek employment in foreign wars.
Venetian nobles usually fight from horseback as light cavalry, armed with swords. Condottieri and their men-at-arms are very well equipped and usually fight either as heavy cavalry or heavy infantry. Militiamen fight primarily with crossbows but some are also trained for hand-to-hand combat with spears. Istrian and Dalmatian levies are armed with spears and polearms; their discipline and morale vary from poor to excellent.
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Venice is divided into six districts or sestieri.
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The Saga of Palatini began a little earlier than the standard Ars Magica game, in the year 1210. This was to bring it a little closer to the Fourth Crusade.
The following events are particularly embellished for dramatic purposes. They don't much resemble actual history.
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The intent of the Fourth Crusade was to attack the southern flank of the "Saracen" empire through Egpyt. There were established in the Holy Land four Christian kingdoms, the "Crusader States," but these were under constant pressure and seemed to be in a strategically untenable position. Pope Innocent III ordered the invasion of Egpyt. The leaders of the Crusades needed transportation to the Holy Land so they negotiated with Venice to hire transport ships for 30,000 men and horses (a very ambitious number). However, less than half than number actually assembled by the appointed time.
The Doge at this time was Enrico Dandalo, who was over 80 years old and totally blind. He insisted that the Crusaders pay the full amount originally promised even though less than half the original number of ships was needed. He played hardball in the negotiations, "staging" the Crusaders on an island and then withholding shipments of food and water until they agreed to pay everything they had. Eventually a deal was struck and Dandalo himself, in a grand ceremony, put on a suit of armor and joined the Crusade. A large number of Venetian volunteers signed aboard and the fleet set sail.
The Crusaders' first stop was the Hungarian port city of Zara on the Adriatic coast, a Catholic community like Venice. Zara had been among Venice's Dalmatian possessions until it rebelled with the aid of the Hungarian crown. Dark rumors speak of Dandalo using diabolic powers to assume de facto command of the Crusade at this point. It is noteworthy that elements of the Crusading army, including the otherwise rather unscrupulous baron Simon de Montfort the Elder and all his men, refused to participate in the attack, deserted, and returned home. Rumor holds that de Montfort carried a relic with him that protected him from the Doge's influence. After the sack of Zara and the attending massacre, Pope Innocent III excommunicated the remaining Crusaders for mercilessly attacking their fellow Christians.
The Doge capitalized on some intrigue in the Byzantine court to attack Constantinople itself. The Byzantine Empire was ruled at this time by a usurper, and the rightful heir was living in exile. The heir, Alexis Angelus, promised Byzantine support in the Crusade if the Crusaders would restore him to power. It turns out that Alexis Angelus had no real support inside Constantinople and what was meant to be a quick coup d'etat turned into a pitched battle with the forces of the usurper Alexis III. Inexplicably, Alexius III fled the city instead of defending it, and the mighty Constantinople, greatest city in all Christendom, fell in flames. The Venetians installed Alexis Angelus as Emperor Alexius IV, but the Byzantine treasury was empty and Alexius was unable to keep his promise of sending reinforcements with the Crusaders to Egypt. Factional fighting broke out in the city, Alexius IV was assassinated, and a Byzantine strongman emerged from the Imperial court to have himself crowned Alexius V.
Alexius V raised his army to crush the crusaders, but when the forces met outside the city, inexplicably the Byzantine army (much larger than the Crusaders' force but lacking heavy cavalry) refused to fight and instead withdrew inside the city. The Crusaders managed to break small holes in the walls and invade the city by marching through them single file, a tactic that seems extraordinarily risky because a small number of defenders could easily kill the invaders one at a time. The Crusaders seems to have the element of surprise on their side, and after some bloody fighting that included the destruction of the famous Varangian Guard, they were victorious. The citizens of Constantinople were prepared to capitulate and hand over the city, but the Crusaders savagely sacked the city anyway with epic looting and slaughter. The Byzantine Empire was carved up and the Latin Empire at Constantinople was established. Thus ended the "holy" Fourth Crusade.
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Doge Enrico Dandalo returned victorious to Venice in 1205, though he was still excommunicated. The Pope sent emissaries expressing outrage over the sack of Zara and Constantinople and demanding that Dandalo atone for his sins. The Doge not only refused, he had the emissaries bodily thrown out down the palace steps.
The Pope next sent emissaries to the Grand Council, warning the representatives of Venice that no nation can prosper whose ruler is excommunicated. Some Council members attempted to pass a resolution condemning the Doge and ordering him to atone, but amid much intrigue the movement was quashed. Several key Council members were arrested on trumped-up charges. The Pope sent a third set of emissaries threatening to place the Republic under Interdict unless the Council either removed the Doge or compelled him to atone. The opposition to Dandalo had already been suppressed, and the Council was unable - or unwilling - to act.
In 1207, the Pope was forced to carry out his threat. Since then, the Republic has been under Interdict. Specifically, this means no sacraments are administered throughout its territory. There no baptisms, no weddings, no Mass, not even funerals. In Mythic Europe, this has the following effects:
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