Barbas

The Indo-European Experience

How it feels being Central European surrounded by balkanic völkerabfälle

The Republic of Venice was incredibly successful not just because of the amount of territories and influence it gained but also because it largely avoided internal strife common in other Italian city states. I will present some very wise political decisions they made to ensure stability. When you study the history of Italian city states in Middle Ages and Renaissance, there are almost always massive internal conflicts at some stage, powerful patrician families fighting each other, despotic rule, outsiders getting involved, riots and popular unrest. But there is one major exception which for the most part avoided this and spent most of its history in unusual stability, Venice. Much of this was because of a very clever political system which they established in 1297 and which basically lasted until the end of republic in 1797. In 1297 the Republic of Venice established what is called the Great Council Lockout (Serrata del Maggior Consiglio) by means of which membership of the Great Council of Venice became hereditary, exclusive to the noble families enrolled in the Golden Book of the Venetian nobility. The Great Council was the source of power of Venetian government, responsible for electing offices which ran the Republic. This effectively solidified Venice as an oligarchical aristocratic republic, where ancient Venetian noble families would run the Republic for centuries to come. The interesting question is why this system was so successful and unchallenged, despite its exclusive nature. An oligarchical aristocratic republic would normally face three major issues: 1) factionalism and internal conflict among nobles 2) dissatisfaction from people (non-nobles) excluded from power 3) corruption within those in power The Venetians tackled these problems with some very wise decisions. 1) On preventing factionalism. The Great Council elected the Doge of Venice who was the head of state and military leader. The Venetians made sure that the process of electing the Doge was done in such complex way to eliminate powerful families forming voting blocks, thereby preventing factionalism. This was done by various stages of nominating electors which involved lottery. The Doge was elected in following way: Thirty members of the Great Council, chosen by lot, were reduced by lot to nine; the nine chose forty and the forty were reduced by lot to twelve, who chose twenty-five. The twenty-five were reduced by lot to nine, and the nine elected forty-five. These forty-five were once more reduced by lot to eleven, and the eleven finally chose the forty-one who finally elected the Doge. The power of the Doge was greatly limited. While this function carried great prestige, numerous limitations were introduced to prevent the Doge establishing himself as a hereditary despot, in a manner that was common in other Italian city states. It was decreed that no doge had the right to associate any member of his family with himself in his office, nor to name his successor. The Council of Ten, which was elected by the Great Council, had authority over the Doge. This structure helped prevent the type of scenario seen in other Italian city states, where powerful families would install a specific ruler from their ranks, leading to conflicts with other factions and tyrants emerging. 2) On preventing the discontent of the people. When the Great Council Lockout was established in 1297 and the Great Council became reserved for nobles, they elevated all the wealthy merchant families into nobles and included them in the government also, thereby preventing a potential powerful class rival to the nobility from emerging. While non-nobles were not allowed to serve in the Great Council, the ducal chancellery was reserved for citizens who were not of noble origin. This enabled the citizens to gain bureaucratic positions which could gain them great wealth and prestige and involved them in the structure of the government, placating them. Venetian nobles were aware of how important it was to prevent discontent and placed great deal of importance on public opinion. It was not uncommon that the Venetian government overturned new legislation if there was a significant outcry from the people. The people could let their voice be heard by gathering a significant crowd. 3) On preventing corruption. The stability of Venetian government depended on the image of Venetian nobility as united in their devotion for the protection of the republic, rather than pursuing their own interests and engaging in corruption. That is not to say that corruption didn't happen, but they tried to minimize it and publicly expose those who did it. Venetian nobles did not enjoy immunity from the law and were often prosecuted for their wrongdoings! The Council of Ten had the power to impose punishments upon nobles, including banishment and capital punishment. Nobody in Venice was above the law. The best example of this was Carlo Zeno. He came from one of the oldest Venetian noble families and was a renowned admiral and warrior, extremely popular in Venice. He basically saved the city of Venice in 1380 at the naval battle of Chioggia where he defeated the Genoese. But in 1405 he was convicted of bribery and disgraced. The Council of Ten stripped him of all his offices and sentenced him to a year in prison. Punishing important nobles and making an example of those who engaged in corruption no matter of their origin and status was a good way for the Republic to demonstrate that the elite was committed in punishing their own. Due to these wise decisions, the Venetians were able to avoid many of the internal problems pestering other Italian city states.

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