Reviews for Del Veneto, dell'Armenia e degli armeni

The average rating for Del Veneto, dell'Armenia e degli armeni based on 2 reviews is 5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2016-11-17 00:00:00 Howard Ziehm PAX TIBI MARCE EVANGELISTA MEUS I have always loved Venice, with an intense passion that I have never felt for any other place. Venice is one of whose very few special cities where the soul of the receptive visitor can full immerse itself into the magic of almost two thousand years of Her proud and unique history, breath Her melancholic beauty and fall in love with Her special atmosphere; Venice is a special place, inviting introspective contemplation while aimlessly meandering, after dusk, in the embrace of the enveloping mists of a winter evening... when time itself seems to have stopped, and when the silence is broken only by occasional footsteps and the tranquil ripple of the water. Experiencing Venice in Her true nature is a deep, intensely personal experience – no wonder Venice was a mandatory part of the “Grand Tour”, the educational rite of passage of young upper-class gentlemen that flourished from 1660 until the mid 19-th century. No wonder many men of art and intellect found the city a constant fountain of inspiration throughout the centuries, and fell in love with Her. It is sad how many visitors, in this age of mass tourism and gigantic cruise ships, do not even begin to understand and appreciate what this city is about, and Her very peculiar culture and history. But I must say that the author absolutely gets what Venice is about; he understand Her much better than the large majority of foreigners who have ever written about the city, and actually better than many Italians, who too often fail to appreciate how profoundly different Venice is (historically, culturally, even aesthetically) from the rest of the country. The author does repeatedly highlight the beauty and uniqueness of the city, towards which his passion transpires constantly, but he is also very good at providing a multi-faceted, riveting, intriguing and academically brilliant history of the city. He manages to condense, in a single book, all the main events and trends of the very complex history of a city that played an important role in European history – not a mean feat indeed, especially considering that there are very few mistakes and very few inaccurate generalizations. The early history of the city feels somewhat hurried and it could have been developed to better detail, but overall the books seems quite balanced. I would have liked more space allocated to the architectural and cultural history of the city, but I guess that this would have had to come at the expense of the general political and social history of the Republic - which would not have been easy considering the limited space available within a single book with such a wide and ambitious scope. Overall, the author's writing style, only very occasionally dry, often conversational, and occasionally even lyrical, keeps the reader's attention quite high - only very occasionally the book reads like a dry series of events and dates. As the author beautifully says, "however majestic the churches, however magnificent the palazzi, however dazzling the pictures, the ultimate masterpiece remains Venice itself". Very true, but there is much more to Venice than the outstanding and special beauty of Her architecture, Her remarkable natural environment, the sweetness and wholesome sensuality of Her music as represented by the likes of Vivaldi, or the timeless serenity and confident luminosity of Cananetto's paintings: Venice is also a remarkably unique polity, whose history starkly distinguishes Her from any other political entity in history. Venice was the commercial and cultural crossroad between East and West, the most Byzantine city in Western Christendom, as visible for example by contemplating both the exterior and the interior of the stunning Saint Mark's Basilica. Venice was the mistress of the Mediterranean for the most part of its history (supported by an amazingly efficient shipbuilding industry, capable of turning out fully-equipped warships at the rate of one every few hours); a remarkably efficient, tolerant, broadly based, secular oligarchy based on commonsensical principles of commerce and wealth, never falling into the traps of religious fanaticism or autocratic principles (as opposed to what much of Europe repeatedly experienced throughout its history). A proudly independent, stable republic for over 1000 years, whose political stability, never seriously shaken by Her occasional political, military or commercial reversals, or the occasional internecine strife of Her oligarchic elites, continued to be the envy and wonder of the civilized world. While in Europe the feudal nobility remained haughtily aloof from trade, in Venice there never was a separate military caste: the nobles were merchants, the merchants nobles, and the interests of both were identical. The author is very good at highlighting the peculiar structure of the Republican government and of its social fabric, and the progressive evolution of her political structures into a very complex polity with an incredibly sophisticated system of checks and balances; while famous for its stability, the Republic was not immutable, and the author is very good at highlighting these continuous and progressive changes dictated by internal as well as external pressures. The competing and immense pressures on the Venetian government coming from the major international players in Italian and European politics, and the many instances where these required very difficult decisions by the Venetian authorities, are vividly and skillfully represented by the author, whose riveting narrative deftly and brilliantly navigates through the complexity of European politics, and in particular through the maddeningly complex Italian politics of the Machiavelli Renaissance Italy. Venice was famed for her wealth and her progressive attitudes to many aspects of social life: Venetians have always loved life, and were always famous for their deeply aesthetic sensibility and a relaxed attitude to social customs. Apart from the notoriously beautiful and skillful courtesans providing services to locals and visitors alike, Venice was, for example, also famous for founding the first national health service in Europe, if not the world. Venice was tolerant of all religious philosophies, for as long as they did not threaten the stability of the state, and the freedom of the press was quite wide. Almost 200 printing presses were operating in Venice by the end of the 15th century – around one fourth of the total European production. As the author correctly highlights, Venice interest in the Crusades did not entail any religious crusading fervour: Venetians were interested in the Crusades only in so far as they opened up new commercial opportunities. Ideology never played any significant part in Venice political stance and decisions to engage in war and territorial expansion: the main drivers were pragmatically based on development of commerce and wealth. This was also the case for the infamous 4th crusade, when Venice played a significant role in the capture of Constantinople: one of the darkest moment of Western Christendom and of Venice itself, all the more bitterly upsetting if we consider that Venice was the child of Byzantium, and had in the past, and in many cases, supported Byzantium with Her fleet. It must be said that the author is very balanced in presenting all the negative repercussions of the 4th Crusade, and the ruthlessness of the policies pursued by Venice, but also in highlighting the short and long term reasons why Venice decided to embark on such course of action. It is however one of those deep ironies of history that Venice, having contributed to the demise of the Byzantine Empire, then had to confront, partially as a result of it, the full power of the Turkish expansion into Europe, which she then critically contributed to contain in events such as the symbolically important Battle of Lepanto of 1571. On the other hand, while Venice contributed significantly to the containment of the Turkish menace in Europe, She was no favorite child of the Pope. On the contrary, she had always a pretty testy, if not openly conflictual, relationship with the Papacy – it might even be claimed that it was one of the first examples of secular states in Europe: the Church was kept rigidly in its place, its duties and powers exclusively pastoral, and barred from the slightest interference in affairs of state: bishops were elected by the Venetian Senate, not by Rome. Venice received Papal interdictions more than once, in Her long history, because of Her fierce independence from the Papacy. The Papal interdiction of 1606 gained the following reply from the Venetian government: “We ignore your excommunication: it is nothing to us”. It is noteworthy that, after the successful Venetian defiance of such interdiction, no more interdiction was ever to be raised by the Papacy against any other European state. This complex relationship between Venice and the Papacy is represented by the author with balance and accuracy, even though it must be said that the author's sympathy for the Venetian position is quite clear. The complex relationship between Venice and the Turks is also represented by the author with remarkable balance and detail, where the intermingling of political, commercial and military aspects is highlighted with lucidity and precision. The author does not fail to highlight that there was no particular religious nor ideological consideration in driving the relationship of Venice with both the Papacy and the Turks: Venice never burnt an heretic, and it always maintained that moderate, humanist outlook which had sprung from the Renaissance. She had synagogues, Greek Orthodox churches, an Armenian church monastery, and a Muslim mosque. Below is a picture of the Celebration of Sunday of Orthodoxy in Venice held in 2011: It is probably another of those ironies of history that the Venetian Republic was killed by the supposed representatives of the Age of Reason, whose values she had implemented in so many instances – the revolutionary French armies lead by Napoleon. By that time, however, she was already a tired old lady, whose heavy make-up could not hide the devastating results of the obsolescence of her shipbuilding techniques, the deterioration of her social fabric, her commercial decline due to the significantly altered trade flows (and the resulting marginality of her geographical location) and the competition of Northern European powers. The author does not fail to highlight these major elements contributing to the decay of Venice, however I would have liked an analysis in more depth of this latest period of Venetian history. To me, however, as to many people who appreciate Her, Venice is still a timelessly beautiful, elegant, fascinating if somewhat moody and elusive lady with an amazing and unique history – an history represented with empathy, skill, competence and passion by this gifted author - a passion which I wholeheartedly share - Venice will always be the beautiful Queen of the Sea Highly recommended (4.5 stars rounded up to 5) - especially if you are lucky enough to be planning a visit to this enchanting city.

Review # 2 was written on 2017-05-27 00:00:00 Matthew Daluz A History of Venice, by John Julius Norwich, is an in-depth analysis of the history of the Republic of Venice from inception to its eclipse and demise. Venice came together around the time of the fall of the Western Roman Empire, as refugees from various Italian cities found themselves fleeing an onslaught of German and Hun invaders. As the Western Roman Empire crumbled, they found refuge amongst the lagoons of modern Venice, an ideal and strategic location that would serve the fledgling city well throughout its history. Successive waves of immigrants began to turn the area into a city, and soon, with the blessing of the Eastern Emperor, Venice emerged as a political entity with close relations to the Eastern Roman Empire in Constantinople. Venice was an ideal trading location, with easy access to the Adriatic Sea, highly defensible, and in a good location to act as a middleman between Western Europe and the Mediterranean world. This focus on trade would characterize the Republic as it began to turn itself from a small city state in Italy (one of many) into a trading Empire able to go toe-to-toe with any European power. The Venetian Republic began to take shape for various reasons, mostly of self-interest. When pirates on the Dalmatian coast of modern Croatia began to make trouble for Venetian merchants (and thus Byzantine shipping as well) the Venetian, with the blessings of the Eastern Roman Empire, attacked and annexed some islands on the Dalmatian coast. These made good stopover points for Venetian merchants heading to Greece, and offered strategic timber resources to build up Venice's powerful merchant fleet. Venice began to play off interests in Italy as well, supporting Italian city states against each other, but largely remaining aloof to getting involved in Italian politics. This saved the Republic from the growing despotic aspects of many Italian city states (such as Milan and Florence), while allowing it to remain on the winning side of a conflict. Venice's merchant marine soon became a source of income outside of trading, as Venice began to ferry troops to take part in overseas conflicts, and especially in Crusades. Venice was a key mercenary-like participant in many crusades, and soon began to build an Empire of trading posts in Egypt, the Levant, Anatolia and Greece. These came as rewards for services rendered (for example, a district of Acre from the Crusader states as a reward for ferrying troops), or through outright aggression on Her part (the many Greek islands taken from the Eastern Empire in the Fourth Crusade, for example). On top of this, Venice began to take land on the Italian peninsula to shore up its defense of the Venetian lagoon. Verona, Treviso, Padua, Fruili and parts of Lombardy would all fall to Venetian arms as it began to take part in the turmoil of Renaissance Italian politics. Enemies could quickly become friends as Allies began to back-stab, and all the Italian states engaged in Machiavellian maneuvers to gain territory and defeat rising threats. Venice in its history was under indirect from the Pope many times, and would often switch allegiances in order to gain more territory. Venice also jealously guarded its salt monopoly along the Po river, and would go to war with any who tried to cash in on this lucrative trade. Outside of Italy, Venice fought to defend and enlarge its colonial possessions. Venice turned against its one-time patron, the Eastern Roman Empire, as its power began to crumble. Venice annexed key islands of the Peloponnese, created ducal possessions out of the Naxos islands, annexed a chain of ports and fortresses down the Adriatic coast - in modern day Albania, Montenegro and Greece, and fought to defend her trading privileges in the Empire. She went into a deadly grudge match against rival Mercantile republic Genoa, which had taken territory in the islands of Chios and Lesbos, and owned the peninsula opposite Constantinople, along with a section of the city itself. Venice fought hard to take on the Genoese, and although looking dicey for a while, ultimately came out triumphant. She even managed to take over the Eastern Empire's remnants briefly, creating the short lived Venetian puppet, the Latin Empire during the complete mess called the Fourth Crusade, where Christian forces never even ended up leaving Europe, and instead fought for spoils with other Christian states in Greece. Hungary was a perennial rival, and Venice fought hard to retain her control over the Dalmatian coast, at times enlarging it, and at times losing it altogether. Venice also briefly annexed Cyprus in an act of political brinkmanship that was as impressive as it was ruthless. Venice began to eclipse in the late 15th century, as jealous Italian rivals, a hostile papacy, and growing powers in France and Spain began to covet her Italian possessions. On the colonial front, Venice was constantly harried and eventually usurped in her Mediterranean possessions by the onslaught of military adventurism known as the Ottoman Empire. Her possessions in the Peloponnese, the Balkans and, finally, her crown jewel of Crete, were all lost over a period of time. On the land front, Venice's possessions were frayed away by hostile French/Milanese forces, by the Pope in Rome, and by the growing power of Austria. On top of this, the colonization of North America, and the use of alternate trade routes to Asia around the Horn of Africa, made the caravan routes that Venice relied upon to monopolize luxury imports irrelevant. Portugal and the Netherlands became the new clearing houses of Europe, and Italy began to wax into obscurity. Venice would remain a fledgling regional power until her lands in Italy were gobbled up by first French, then Austrian forces. Norwich has written an excellent and in-depth history of the Venetian Republic, an interesting state that focused on trade, and maintained a solid oligarchic system of governance for many hundreds of years, resisting the allure of despotism and monarchical rule that shattered Italian city states during the Renaissance. Norwich goes through its long and storied history by Doge, listing the current ruler, his achievements, and the wider political context of what was happening to Venice. He also adds the construction of the city and its fabulous architecture in this account, mentioning when specific churches, monuments and public works were completed and why. This is certainly an excellent book to read on the Venetian Republic, both for those interested in the state itself, and those interested in wider Republican political theory. Venice went through the ringer throughout its history, and there is a lot to learn about Republican systems from its trials and tribulations throughout its centuries long history. A great read, and easily recommended.