Timeline of the Republic of Venice

This article presents a detailed timeline of the history of the Republic of Venice from its legendary foundation to its collapse under the efforts of Napoleon.

4th century

5th century

  • 421 - According to much later traditions, the city of Venice is founded on Friday, 25 March, by three consuls from Padua, with the establishment of a trading-post on the islands of the Rialto and the church of San Giacomo di Rialto. The account is found in some medieval chronicles, but not accepted by scholars, since settlements on Rialto were fully urbanized much later and transformed into Venice proper only since the first half of the 9th century.[1][2][3][4]
  • 452 – Attila the Hun, from central Asia, invades Italy and sacks Aquileia
  • 466 – Representatives of the island communities meet in Grado to work out a rudimentary system of self-government through 12 tribunes elected annually.
  • 476 – Fall of the Western Roman Empire, after the deposition of Romulus Augustulus by Odoacer, a military leader in Italy of east German descent.
  • 493 – Odoacer is overthrown by Theodoric the Great, an Arian Christian who had received his education in Constantinople.

6th century

  • 535 – Byzantine Emperor Justinian I launches the campaign which will become the Gothic War for the re-conquest of Italy
  • 554 – The Gothic War ends with Byzantine victory: entire Italy is again under imperial rule, and governed as the Praetorian prefecture of Italy, that includes the province of Venetia et Histria, centered in Aquileia.
  • 568 – Lombards, a Germanic tribe, invades Italy under King Alboin, and conqueres Aquileia. Byzantine province of Venetia is reduced to coastal regions, and its administrative center is moved to Oderzo, while ecclesiastical center is moved from Aquileia to Grado.
    • Bishop Paul of Altino hears “a voice from heaven” commanding him to climb to the top of a nearby tower and look to the stars for the path to where he must take his flock. They lead him to an island in the centre of the lagoon, later named Torcello “little tower” in memory of the one the bishop had climbed.
    • The people of Concordia Sagittaria flee to Caorle
    • The people of Padua choose Malamocco
  • 584 – The remaining Byzantine territories of the Praetorian prefecture of Italy are reorganized into the Exarchate of Ravenna, that also includes the remanents of Byzantine Venetia.

7th century

  • 697
    • According to later chronicles, a general assembly of all the peoples of the lagoons is called to Heraclea by the Patriarch of Grado and elects a single ruler in place of the twelve tribunesPaolo Lucio Anafesto, but those accounts are not accepted by modern scholars.[7][8][9]
    • The newly erected Basilica of Santa Maria Assunta on the island of Torcello is consecrated.

8th century

  • 712 – Lombard king Liutprand (712-744) assends the throne. During his reign, Ravenna is briefly occupied by the Lombards for the first time, but soon recaptured to the Byzantines. The Terminatio Liutprandina regulates borders between Lombard and Byzantine possessions at Cittanova. Byzantine Venetia is governed by magister militum Marcellus.[10][11]
  • 726 – Byzantine emperor Leo III orders the destruction of icons. The lagoon communities rise up in rebellion.
  • 726 or 727 – Paul, imperial Exarch of Ravenna, is assassinated; according to later chronicles, so is the second traditional doge Marcello Tegalliano. Orso from Eraclea is elected chief of the 12 tribunes. He is given the title of “dux” (which becomes "doge" in the local dialect). Orso is the first historically attested Doge of Venice (the third according to the legendary list which began in 697), having received the title “Ipato” or Consul by the Byzantine Emperor
  • 737 – Assassination of Doge Orso Ipato and beginning of the five year “Interregnum
  • 742 – Teodato Ipato, Doge Orso Ipato’s son, is elected to be the next Doge. He transfers his seat of government from Heraclea to Malamocco on the Lido which is thought to be more easily defended. He rules as a sovereign.
  • 751
  • 753 – Pepin the Short, son of Charles Martel (and the father of Charlemagne) invades Italy at the invitation of Pope Stephen II
  • 755 – Doge Teodato Ipato is deposed and blinded by his successor, Doge Galla Gaulo
  • 756
    • Doge Galla Gaulo is deposed and blinded by Doge Domenico Monegario
    • The Francs, having driven out the Lombards, donate the territory of Ravenna to the Pope who claims the Exarch for himself.
  • 764
  • 778 – Doge Maurizio Galbaio associates his son Giovanni with him in the Dogeship, thus allowing him to succeed his father without popular sanction or approval of his subjects
  • c.780 – The Rialto Islands gradually become permanently settled, and on the island of Olivolo (modern-day Isola di San Pietro di Castello) the chapel of Saints Bacchus and Sergius is rebuilt and reconsecrated as the cathedral of St. Peter. It remained the cathedral of Venice for a thousand years, until the City was occupied by Napoleon at the end of the eighteenth century.
  • c.788-790 – Byzantine Istria is annexed by the Franks

9th century

  • 803 – Opposition to the Galbaii family forces Doge Giovanni Galbaio, with his son Christopher to flee to Mantua
  • 804
    • Obelerio degli Antenori is elected Doge and immediately associates his brother Beato to the Dogeship
    • The exiled Patriarch of Grado, Fortunatus, returns to Venice from the court of Charlemagne at Aachen and proposes that, in return for his being re-instated at Grado, and the Doge's acceptance of the authority of Charlemagne (who was crowned Emperor of the West by the Pope on Christmas Day AD 800) the Venetians could count on the protection of the Franks when needed. Doge Obelerio degli Antenori accepts.
  • 805
    • 25 December (Christmas Day) – Doge Obelerio degli Antenori and his brother Beato do homage to Charlemagne in Aachen
    • Doge Obelerio degli Antenori chooses a Frankish bride; Carola, the first Dogaressa
  • 809
    • Venetian recognition of Charlemagne as Emperor of the West is seen as treachery by the Eastern Emperor in Constantinople and a Byzantine fleet sails up the Adriatic and attacks a Frankish flotilla at the port of Comacchio situated to the south of the Venetian Lagoon. It is defeated.
    • Doge Obelerio and his brother Beato raise yet another brother, Valentino, to the Dogeship alongside them. It is one step too much for the Venetian people who rise up in opposition against them. Obelerio calls upon Charlemagne's son King Pepin of Italy installed at Ravenna to intervene on their behalf, as had been promised by the agreement of 804.
  • 810
    • King Pepin of Italy with his army and cavalry sets out from his capital Ravenna to invade the Venetian capital Malamocco, situated on the Lido. But the inhabitants of the lagoon put up fierce resistance under the leadership of Agnello Participazio from Rialto. The siege lasts six months and Pepin's army is ravaged by the diseases of the local swamps and forced to withdraw. A few months later Pepin dies
    • Doge Obelerio is deposed, and Agnello Participazio, who has defended Venice from the beginning, is chosen to replace him.
    • Former Doge Obelerio degli Antenori spends the next two decades in exile in Constantinople
  • 811 – Agnello Participazio is the eighth Venetian to hold the title of Doge. His Rialtine house on the present Campiello del Cason becomes the first Doge's Palace within the Venice we know today, soon to be rebuilt in stone next to the chapel of Saint Theodore which stood on the site now occupied by the Basilica of Saint Mark.
  • 827 – Giustiniano Participazio is elected Doge
  • 828 – Relics of Saint Mark the Evangelist arrive in Venice having been stolen from Alexandria in Egypt by the merchants Bono da Malamocco and Rustico da Torcello
  • 829 – Giovanni I Participazio arrested, and tonsured (head shaved like monk)
  • 832 – Former Doge Obelerio degli Antenori returns from two decades of exile in Constantinople with a band of faithful men to reclaim the Dogeship. He lands at Vigilia, near Malamocco, but the legitimate Doge, Giovanni Participazio, razes the two cities and kills Obelerio degli Antenori displaying his head in the market
  • 837 – Pietro Gradonico assassinated, although in this case his successor arrests and executes the assassins
  • 839 – The Venetian Navy conducts military operations against Croats, led by Mislav of Croatia, who sign a peace treaty with doge Pietro Tradonico[12][13]
  • 840 –
    • Pietro's military assault on the Narentines fails[12]
    • Pactum Lotharii demonstrates Venice's independence from the Byzantine Empire by signing its own treaties
    • Title of the Doge drops mention as province of the Byzantine Empire (Dux Venetiarum Provinciae becomes Dux Veneticorum
  • 841 – The Republic of Venice sends a fleet of 60 galleys (each carrying 200 men) to assist the Byzantines in driving the Arabs from Crotone, but fail
  • 846 – The Narentines breach Venice itself, and raid the neighbouring lagoon city of Caorle[12]
  • 864 – Orso I Participazio is elected Doge
  • 881 – Giovanni II Participazio resigns due to poor health
  • 887 – Narentines defeated Venetians near the town of Makarska, killing the Venetian doge Pietro I Candiano in open battle. Venetians start paying Croatian prince Branimir (879–892), an annual tribute for the right to travel and trade in the Adriatic Sea[12]
  • 888 – Pietro Tribuno is elected Doge

10th century

  • 912 – Orso II Participazio is elected Doge
  • 932 – Pietro II Candiano is elected Doge
  • 939 – Pietro Participazio is elected Doge
  • 942 – Pietro III Candiano is elected Doge
  • 948 – With the weakening of Byzantium, Venice began to see Ragusa as a rival who needed to be brought under her control, but the attempt to conquer the city failed[14]
  • 959 – Pietro IV Candiano is locked in his palace with his son while it burned.
  • 976 – Pietro I Orseolo resigned to become a Camaldolese hermit in Abbey of Sant Miguel de Cuxa in the Pyrenees
  • 978 – Vitale Candiano is elected Doge
  • 979 – Tribuno Memmo is elected Doge
  • 991 – Pietro II Orseolo gave the majority of his wealth to the poor and the Church, and retired to a monastery
  • 996 – Venetian Doge Pietro II Orseolo stop to pay tribute to the Narentine Pirates, after several incursion in the Venetian cities.

11th century

12th century

  • 1102 – Ordelafo Faliero is elected Doge
  • 1104 – Traditional date for commencement of construction of the permanent Arsenale
  • 1105 – Great fire of Venice
  • 1110 – Ordelafo Faliero personally commands a Venetian fleet of 100 ships to assist Baldwin I of Jerusalem in capturing the city of Sidon
  • 1116: July 15 – Doge Ordelafo Faliero conquers the troops of Stephen II of Hungary who have arrived to relieve Zara and the remaining towns of Dalmatia surrender to Venice
  • 1117 – Stephen II of Hungary regains Dalmatia while the Venetians are on a naval expedition, Doge Ordelafo Faliero dying in battle near Zara; Domenico Michele is elected Doge to succeed him, reconquers the territory and agrees a 5-year truce
  • 1122 – Byzantine emperor John II Komnenos refuses to renew the trading rights granted by Alexios I in 1082. The Venetian fleet raids the Greek coasts in retaliation, until the rights are re-confirmed in 1125
  • 1130 – Pietro Polani is elected Doge
  • 1143 – The Commune Veneciarum is founded
  • 1148 – Domenico Morosini is elected Doge
  • 1156 – Vital II Michele is elected Doge
  • 1171 – The Byzantine emperor Manuel I Komnenos expels all Venetians from Constantinople. Outbreak of a war that continues inconclusively until relations normalize ca. 1180
  • 1172
  • 1177 – Pope Alexander III is reconciled with Emperor Frederick Barbarossa in the Basilica of St. Mark thanks to the intercession of Doge Sebastiano Ziani
  • 1178 – Orio Mastropiero is elected Doge
  • 1182 – Massacre of the Latins in Constantinople
  • 1183 – The Dalmatian city of Zara (Zadar) rebels against Venetian rule
  • 1192 – Enrico Dandolo is elected Doge and is the first Doge to make the promissione ducale

13th century

14th century

  • 1304 – Salt War with Padua
  • 1310 – 15 June – Plot by Baiamonte Tiepolo and Marco Querini is quelled. The Consiglio dei Dieci – the Council of Ten – is set up to try the culprits
  • 1311 – Marino Zorzi is elected Doge
  • 1312 – Giovanni Soranzo is elected Doge
  • 1328 – Francesco Dandolo is elected Doge
  • 1337 – Serrvalle is acquired
  • 1339
  • 1342 – Andrea Dandolo is elected Doge
  • 1345 – Siege of Zadar begins and lasts until 1346. It was successful.
  • 1348 – The Black Plague begins to spread in Venice killing half of the population
  • 1350 – Third war with Genoa breaks out and lasts until 1355. Venice allies with the Byzantines and the Pisans
  • 1354 – Marino Faliero is elected Doge and convicted of treason after a failed attempt to overthrow Republican Rule on 17 April. He is executed and condemned to damnatio memoriae
  • 1355 – Giovanni Gradenigo is elected Doge
  • 1356 – Giovanni Dolfin is elected Doge
  • 1361 – Lorenzo Celsi is elected Doge
  • 1363 – The Revolt of Saint Titus breaks out in Crete that needed considerable military force and five years to suppress
  • 1365 – Marco Cornaro is elected Doge
  • 1367 – Andrea Contarini is elected Doge
  • 1368 – The War of Trieste begins in order to secure Adriatic trade routes. The war ends in 1370
  • 1378 – Outbreak of the fourth and final Venetian–Genoese War, the "War of Chioggia", which lasts until 1381
  • 1380
  • 1381 – End of the War of Chioggia with the Peace of Turin on 8 August
  • 1382 – Michele Morosini is elected Doge
  • 1382 – Antonio Venier is elected Doge
  • 1388 – Treviso passes into permanent Venetian control
  • 1389 – December 19 – Episcopal County of Ceneda which includes Conegliano peacefully submits to Venetian overlordship

15th century

16th century

17th century

18th century

  • 1700 – Alvise II Mocenigo is elected Doge
  • 1709 – Giovanni II Cornaro is elected Doge
  • 1714 – December: the Ottoman Turks declared war on Venice, the seventh and last conflict between the two powers.
  • 1715 – A huge Ottoman army under Grand Vizier Silahdar Damat Ali Pasha overruns the Morea
  • 1716 – Successful defense against Ottoman siege of Corfu. Austrian intervention takes off pressure from the Venetians, but they are unable to retake their lost possessions
  • 1717 – Performance of Juditha Triumphans an oratorio of Antonio Vivaldi commissioned by the Republic to celebrate allegorically the defense of Corfu
  • 1718: 21 July – The Treaty of PassarowitzAustria makes large territorial gains, but Venice loses the Morea, for which her small gains in Albania and Dalmatia, where the Venetians are able to advance up to the modern-day Bosnian/Croatian border, taking in the whole Sinjsko Polje and Imotski, are little compensation
  • 1722 – Sebastiano Mocenigo is elected Doge
  • 1732 – Carlo Ruzzini is elected Doge
  • 1735 – Alvise Pisani is elected Doge
  • 1741 – Pietro Grimani is elected Doge
  • 1744 – Work begins at the Lido on construction of the murazzi breakwater to protect the lagoon from sea storms
  • 1752 – Francesco Loredan is elected Doge
  • 1762 – Marco Foscarini is elected Doge
  • 1763 – Alvise Giovanni Mocenigo is elected Doge
  • 1779 – Paolo Renier is elected Doge
  • 1782 – Pope Pius VI visits Venice along with several princes of Russia
  • 1785 – Angelo Emo begins an expedition to northern Africa against the Barbary pirates. His expedition will end in 1786
  • 1789 – Ludovico Manin is elected Doge. He will ultimately be the last Doge of the Republic of Venice
  • 1796 – Prelude to the Fall of the Republic
  • 1797 – The Fall of the Republic
    • April 9 – Napoleon threatens Venice with war
    • May 1 – Domenico Pizzamano fires on a French ship trying to force an entry from the Lido forts. Napoleon declares war
    • May 12 – The Maggior Consiglio – the Great Council of Venice – sits for the last time and approves a motion to hand over power "to the system of the proposed provisional representative government", although there is not a quorum of votes: 512 vote for, ten against, and five abstain
    • May 16 – The provisional municipal government meets in the Hall of the Maggior Consiglio. The preliminaries of the Peace of Leoben are made even harsher in the Treaty of Campoformio, and Venice and all her possessions become Austrian
    • October 18 – The accord is signed at Passariano, forcing Ludovico Manin to abdicate and thus ending the Republic of Venice after more than a thousand years

See also

References

  1. ^ Gasparri 2015, p. 42-44.
  2. ^ Gelichi 2021a, p. 111-132.
  3. ^ Gelichi 2021b, p. 360-386.
  4. ^ Gasparri 2021, p. 106.
  5. ^ Gasparri 2018, p. 8-9.
  6. ^ Gasparri 2021, p. 100.
  7. ^ Gasparri 2015, p. 35-50.
  8. ^ Gasparri 2018, p. 5-26.
  9. ^ Pazienza 2018, p. 27-50.
  10. ^ Gasparri 2018, p. 14–18.
  11. ^ Pazienza 2018, p. 41–42.
  12. ^ a b c d Norwich 1982.
  13. ^ Riazzoli, Mirko (2017-11-09). Cronologia di Venezia dalla fondazione ai giorni nostri. Youcanprint. ISBN 978-88-926-9405-7.
  14. ^ Singleton, Frederick Bernard (1985). A Short History of the Yugoslav Peoples. Cambridge University Press. p. 107. ISBN 0-521-27485-0. Venetian siege in 948.
  15. ^ a b Weiner, Gordon M. (1970). "The Demographic Effects of the Venetian Plagues of 1575–77 and 1630–31". Genus. 26 (1/2). Sapienza University of Rome: 41–57. JSTOR 29787908.

Sources