Escolar Documentos
Profissional Documentos
Cultura Documentos
Venetian society
Economic activities
Piracy
Good leadership
Maintaining diplomatic relations
Venice established good terms with the Germanic tribes, Byzantine
empire and mainland states and negotiated for favourable trading
terms to expand its trade
Reforms in govt
Meeting the challenges of a growing city state
Creation of the Great council
The Great Council was expanded so that more nobles had the
opportunity to decide on Venices future
Specialisation of duties
More committees were created to handle the affairs of state. The
council of forty handled matters of law, finances and coinage
Industrial development
Trade-related industry
The shipbuilding industry benefited from the expansion of trade.
All shipbuilders were centralized at a new location, known as the
Arsenal to facilitate production.
Manufacturing industries
An increase in the demand for goods promoted the growth of
manufacturing industries like glassmaking and printing.
More jobs were created for the people and Venice continued to
prosper. This attracted skilled craftsmen to settle down and work in
Venice
Innovative practices
Double entry bookkeeping was a useful system to record business
transactions. With giro-banking, traders made or received payments
by making the request at the bank and did not have to worry about
carrying large sums of money or carrying different currencies.
Many traders came to Venice because they enjoyed the
convenience and efficiency of Venices trade-related services
Without a stable government with far sighted leaders, Venice would not have been able to govern its people well
Without proper guidance, the people would not have been able to be successful with their trade expansions or their efforts to
promote new industries
Maritime competition
Discovery of new sea routes
The Portuguese discovered a new sea route and the
Portuguese were able to buy their spices directly
from India. This new sea route destroyed Venices
monopoly of the lucrative spice trade and greatly
reduced the large profits Venice traders earned.
New trade rivals
Dutch East India and English East India Company
had better-designed ships. Venetians imitated the
designs but sailors lacked the skills to operate them.
Large states like England were more successful in
negotiating for favourable trading rights in new
ports.
Venetians adopted a protectionist policy and
imposed higher duties on foreign traders. Venice loss
some of its trading partners as it proved to be too
costly to trade with the Venetians
Political challenges
Incapable leadership
The rotation of duties meant that competent officers would have to leave office after one term and
sometimes incompetent ones were selected in their places.
Many nobles served as naval commanders in wars against the Ottomans even though they did not
have adequate naval expertise or military experience. Venice suffered heavy losses in battles
Corruption in the govt
A small group of rich nobles dominated the govt, thus making renewal of leadership a challenge.
With power in the hands of few, corruption was inevitable in the higher offices.
To finance the cost of wars with the Ottomans and neighbouring states, the Venetian govt
suspended the salaries of civil servants. Many poor nobles were willing to sell their votes at a high
price. Leadership was now determined by how much the nobles could afford to pay to be elected.
These corrupt practices resulted in incompetent leaders taking positions in the govt. The govt was
becoming increasingly inefficient as decisions made were not in the interest of Venice.
Social challenges
As nobles became more affluent,
they became less involved in
important matters such as the
administration and development of
the city-state and the gap between
the rich and poor widened.
Many wealthy nobles indulged in
lavish parties and celebrations and
some rich nobles who were
addicted to gambling lost their
fortunes.
Over-dependence on mercenaries
With its small population reduced significantly from the outbreaks of the deadly plague, it was
necessary for Venice to maintain a large mercenary army to protect its territories and fight its wars.
Some of these paid soldiers did not remain loyal to Venice as they could always be offered better
salaries from other states.
Corruption in the government led to incompetent leaders taking over high posts. Without capable leadership, Venice was doomed
to fail
Incapable leaders would not be able to plan ahead and bring about good developments to the country
Even after the discovery of the new sea route, Venice continued to act as a trade centre in the western Mediterranean Sea
Nation-building
The Venetians
maintained social
cohesion and developed
a sense of belonging
and loyalty through
organisations like guilds
Governance
The venetians made
constant improvements
to their system of govt
and were able to
respond to threats and
challenges by ensuring
strong political
leadership