In his play The Merchant of Venice, Shakespeare created a positive image of Antonio, the merchant of Venice, who was zealous in his righteousness. In order to help his friends, Antonio did not hesitate to borrow usurious loans. Because he had a merchant ship at sea, there was no problem in paying the bill after the ship arrived at its destination. But, the ship... It seems to be missing...
Shakespeare lived in 16th-century England, and he created such a tall Venetian merchant image, on the one hand, for the sake of the thriving bourgeoisie at that time, on the other hand, it also shows that the deep-rooted connection between The Venetian and the shipping trade has long been famous at home and abroad.
So when did the Venetians' long shipping history begin? How do businessmen like Antonio make huge profits from shipping?
Venice: The Maritime Republic is a comprehensive general history of the Republic of Venice. Written by Frederick M. C. Lane graduated from Harvard University and has taught at several colleges and universities. He has long devoted himself to the study of Venetian history, and Venice: The Republic of the Sea is his masterpiece. In the book, he uses thematic methods to describe in detail the rise and fall of the Republic of Venice for nearly a thousand years through a comprehensive interpretation of politics, trade, finance, shipbuilding, navigation, handicrafts and other fields.
After the fall of the Western Roman Empire, most of Italy was ruled by Germanic tribes, but in a place called Venetia on the northern coast of the Adriatic Sea, officials sent by the Byzantine Empire remained at the behest of the Order.
In 568, the Lombards invaded Italy, and refugees from many inland cities rushed to the coastal areas. Later, some people compared this migration with the "Mayflower" to North America, believing that these immigrants were the ancestors of the later Venetians.
The Venetian principality, which was at the crossroads between East and West, was clearly part of the Byzantine Empire around the 9th century AD in the constant struggle between the Franks and byzantines. With the decline of Byzantium, Venice gained de facto independence.
Even so, Venice's "sense of belonging" to Byzantium remained the same. They took an active part in the Crusades, especially during the First and Fourth Crusades. More importantly, it has strengthened its own maritime power and formed maritime hegemony. Only absolute sea supremacy can ensure the smooth development of their maritime trade.
At the same time, due to its undeterred loyalty to Byzantium, Venice had a commercial advantage that its neighbors, who also traded by sea, did not have: special tariff preferences granted by the Byzantine Empire. Compared with the surrounding Romania, Greece, Genoa, and Pisa, the Venetians were basically tax-free for hundreds of years after 1082.
With maritime hegemony and policy support, how can business not go smoothly? This may be the reason why Antonio dared to borrow Jewish loan sharks.
Of course, the experience that Venice summed up in continuous struggle and practice also set a model for the subsequent replacement of maritime powers in the West. That is, simply trading and escorting merchant ships is not as good as directly grabbing profits.
For a long time, Venice was on the brink of two worlds, the Byzantine-Muslim world in the East and the Latin-Germanic world in the West. This made Venice look sometimes like the East and sometimes like the West, and the Venetians became active intermediaries in the exchange between the East and the West.
Among these people was marco Polo, whom we are familiar with.
Frederick P. C. Lane tells readers in Venice: The Republic of the Sea that Marco Polo was able to reach the East because of his unique family and social background.
The family background is simple, Marco Polo's father and uncle are the pioneers and leaders of the Business of the East and the West. At that time, the huge territory of the Mongol Empire provided them with a relatively relaxed "unified market".
In 1260, the Egyptians put an end to the rapid expansion of the Mongol Empire. As a result, the vast Eurasian continent, from the coast of the Sea of Japan to the border of Hungary, entered a period of relative stability. Land trade between the East and the West also gradually developed.
It was during this period that Niccolò Polo and Matteo Polo began their stories. They and their Venetian natives had earlier transported goods from Constantinople across the Black Sea to the Crimean Peninsula. The brothers decided to go further east to Sarai (near present-day Saratov), the capital of the Golden Horde on the Volga River.
At this time, Constantinople was occupied by the Greeks, and the Golden Horde and the Ilkhanate were fighting near the Caucasus, so they had to continue east to the Chagatai Khanate. They escaped the war here, learned Mongolian and Persian, and then followed a Mongol caravan to The Capital, the capital of the Mongol Empire.
The Mongol Khan admired the Polo brothers and hoped that they would meet and persuade the Pope to send missionaries to the East to spread Christianity. But when they returned to the East in 1271, they gathered only 2 missionaries and soon slipped away. Only Marco Polo, 21, the son of Nicolo Polo, followed his elders to Dadu and lived for 20 years in what he considered to be a larger, more orderly, more civilized and developed city.
Marco polo
Later Marco Polo's life in prison is also familiar to us. He was imprisoned because of the war between Venice and Genoa.
The struggle between Venice and Genoa for maritime supremacy has kept the two in a state of war. Although Venice also suffered major battle defeats, venice's position was not significantly weakened by its effective government operations and commercial handicrafts, and it remained a maritime republic facing the sea, facing the east, with safe colonies.
After Byzantium was completely replaced by the Ottoman Empire, Venice had to shift its focus to the West, and the large number of existing artistic achievements such as architecture and painting clearly demonstrated this transformation.
Although Venice also actively participated in the following major historical processes such as the Renaissance and the opening of new shipping routes, it was obviously a little weak, and the rapid rise of neighboring countries such as the Ottoman Empire, Spain, and France made Venice's light more and more dim.
The Merchant of Venice
Eventually Venice became a pawn in Napoleon's hand, shoving between France and Italy, and finally part of Italy, until now.
Frederick P. C. Lane details the different historical periods in Venice: The Republic of the Sea, including the whole picture of Venice, including the form of government, social structure, urban construction, cultural and economic development, etc. Especially from the unique business organization and business atmosphere, we can understand the story of the prosperity behind the Venetian merchants. Shakespeare's Antonio is an upright businessman, and the "white wolf with empty gloves" and "getting rich overnight" are justified and inspiring for them.
For the shipping and shipbuilding industry, which was bound by the fate of Venice, frederick C. Lane is more nuanced. Through text and pictures, the types of ships and their construction equipment at different times are clear at a glance. It offers a glimpse into the development of Western shipbuilding and maritime trade.
If it can be compared with the Dutch and British merchant ships in the later powerful period, and even the "treasure ships" of Zheng He's voyage to the West, I believe it will be an interesting thing.
Europe's history is inseparable from the plague. The city of Venice had a hospital for infectious diseases at the beginning of its construction, and in 1485 all ships that could infect the Black Death had to remain in custody for 40 days. This is also the origin of the term "isolation" that we have been very familiar with in the past two years. In the 16th century various professional guilds were formed, among which the surgeon guild had a series of regulations that strictly responded to epidemics. For example, you can't leave Venice during the plague epidemic, wear tightly wrapped "protective clothing" when you go to see the sick, wear strange masks, and so on.
In 2020, the plague once again swept the world, and the response measures of European countries in the past two years have made the ancient Eastern powers that have always been accused of "no science" stunned and full of doubts - at least in terms of dealing with epidemics, has Europe made progress in the past few hundred years?