History of Venice Podcast

Venice was moving confidently into the new millennium when we last checked in on her. But with a powerful and resurgent Holy Roman Empire on her doorstep, danger lurks around every corner. When the ambitious and amusingly named Patriarch Poppo turns up just across the border in Friuli, the city's ongoing independence hangs by a thread, as the unresolved conflict between the rival Archbishoprics of Aquileia and Grado descends into murder, rape, and pillage.

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Casanova's reputation is often more of a hindrance than a help in understanding the character of the man himself. In the third part of our series marking the 300th anniversary of the birth of Venice's most notorious son, we look at his formative teenage years. Giacomo is back in his home city, with minimal parental supervision. The highs and lows of his experiences, and the habits and attitudes that he picks up from the people he interacts with, will be crucial influences on the adult that he later becomes. 

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We've reached the year 1000 in our story, so it's time to take a breath and think about what sort of society Venice is right now. The traces of the city's future stone-and-marble elegance are there, but it's a very different place from the Venice that we know and love today. What were their houses like? Where did their food and drinking water come from? And why did they keep bringing holy relics back home with them from their travels?

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We reached the first millennium in the last episode, and that means that it's time to look back at the Doges of the past 100 years and think about how we rate them. We've got three guys with the same name; four guys who leave office to become monks (including one actual Saint), and an extremely valuable Golden Bull. Who will come out as our favourite? Will it be Inferno Doge? Pirate-slaying Doge? Nothing-to-see-here Doge? Or one of the many Monk Doges? Tune in and find out.

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Our recommended companion listening this week is the History of the Germans podcast: https://historyofthegermans.com/

All music is used under Creative Commons licence from musopen.org

As the new millennium dawns, the Venetians take a decisive step that will be commemorated for the next 800 years in the increasingly elaborate and spectacular Marriage to the Sea ceremony. The episode also paves the way for the city to become the recognised Queen of the Adriatic -- a waterway that she would dominate so completely that foreign mapmakers referred to it as the “Gulf of Venice”. And the Venetians didn’t have to throw tantrums or hissy fits to force anyone to use that name.

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All music is used under Creative Commons licence from musopen.org 

Young Giacomo Casanova has been sent away to Padova at the age of 9 to cure his nosebleeds and get an education. He soon starts enjoying his schooling, and finds himself particularly fascinated by his teacher’s teenage sister, Bettina. What are these strange new emotions that he feels for her? And how will he feel when an older boy takes an interest in her? Stand by for an ogress, a rat-infested bedroom, a brilliant quip in Latin, an accidental romantic intrigue with a pair of knitted socks, and a series of failed exorcisms.

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The Venice blogs that we recommended in the show were:

https://www.theveniceinsider.com/

https://seductivevenice.wordpress.com/

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When you're walking a political tightrope you need strong nerves, good judgement, and sometimes a bit of luck. But with the resurgent Holy Roman Empire on her doorstep, Venice is politically divided between those who want to cosy up to their large and acquisitive neighbour, and those who want to keep a safe distance. The city's independence is on the line as the millennium approaches. Find out how she handles Emperor Otto's uncomfortably close attentions.

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All music used under Creative Commons licence from musopen.org

On a hot August afternoon in 976, the city of Venice burst into flames, both politically and literally. After spending most of the century trying to steer a delicate but serene course between the competing interests of her much larger friends, neighbours, and rivals, the young republic could no longer contain its political tensions. If cleansing by fire was the only way to cure the sickness at the heart of the body politic, then let the conflagration rip. 

Get ready for a boatload of identically named all-action Doges, interspersed with a couple of peaceful monk-like ones, and a return to the bad old days of violent regime change.

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We begin our investigation into the life of the original Casanova -- a famous name whose popular reputation tends to obscure the much more interesting man who lies underneath. We start by looking at his earliest memories, and his relationship with his parents. We've got a mysterious witch, an alleged indiscretion by the Prince of Wales, copious nosebleeds, and much more.

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Music used under Creative Commons licence from musopen.org 

We're back in Venice this week with a couple of local legends set in the 8th and 9th centuries. First, we look at the story of the 12 Marias, featuring pirates, wedding calamities, sea battles, and the etymology of the marionette. Then we explain the supposed origin of the Venetian practice of giving a "bocolo", or rosebud, to your beloved on St Mark's Day, to commemorate the sad love story of Vulcana and Tancredi.

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We conclude our four-part investigation into the life of our own local heroine, Margaret Marshal, first Duchess of Norfolk, and we find a couple of unlikely connections to our main subject of the city of Venice in the process.

Margaret and Walter are now a serious power couple, but the Golden Age of Edward's Arthurian court is slowly starting to fade. Find out what happens to them both as the 14th century draws to a close.

Next week, we'll be back to some more Venetian content, so stay tuned.

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In the third part of our mini-series on our own local heroine, Margaret Marshal, we catch up with the glittering career of Walter Manny, the purveyor of relentless amounts of derring-do whom she married in 1353, after a long struggle to have her first marriage annulled. Get ready for Walter to buckle monumental quantities of swash as he cuts a dash through early stages of the Hundred Years War and wins the heart of our heroine.

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We continue our Rabbit Hole series on the life of Margaret Marshal, England's First Duchess. Margaret and her younger sister Alice are trying to negotiate their late teens and early 20s in an environment where, behind the veneer of courtly love and chivalric culture, danger lurks around every corner. Both sisters will be the subject of scandals. For one of them, it will prove fatal. 

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In a break from our usual narrative, today we start a special Rabbit Hole mini-series. This is the first of four episodes on the life of Margaret Marshal, the 14th century owner of our own local landmark, Framlingham Castle, and a customer of the many exotic foods and luxury goods that were traded by medieval Venetian merchants. Today we're looking at her background and her childhood, as a prelude to the scandals of her early adulthood, which we'll cover in part 2.

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Wrapping up our exploration of the lives of the Doges in the 9th century, we look at the turbulent lives and times of the final four office holders, before considering which of the 9 top dogs from the 800s deserves to be hailed as the century's Top Doge.

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All music used under Creative Commons licence from musopen.org

We continue our look at the lives of the Doges and our quest to find who is worthy of the accolade of Top Doge. In the first episode of a two-parter, we look at the first five Doges of the 9th Century. 

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All music used under Creative Commons licence from musopen.org

This week we take a break from the economic and social history of the Venetians to take a closer look at the lives of the early Doges. Who were they, and what do we know about them? After a brief canter through the eight Doges of the 8th century, we consider which of them deserve the accolade of "Top Doge" of the century.

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All music used under Creative Commons licence from musopen.org

It's Double Trouble for Venice this week. Business has been going well, but as the city navigates the dangerous 9th century, Pirates and Saracens both want a piece of the action. Find out how our protagonists cope as we follow them through the perils of the 800s. 

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All music used under Creative Commons licence from Musopen.org

We return to the historical narrative of the early 800s this week, with the Venetian economy on the verge of taking off. The growing city is showing the first signs of its future as a commercial powerhouse. But how did it get to that position? And how dubious were the ethics of its trading practices? We look at the origins of the city's later mercantile pre-eminence and try to understand the moral and cultural context in which its merchants were operating.

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The four bronze horses on the balcony of St Mark's Basilica have silently witnessed the highs and lows of both Constantinople and Venice. Ancient and exquisite, they stand guard serenely over the Piazza, almost as iconic a symbol of the city as the winged lion itself. Today, we delve into their history.

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Music from Vivaldi's "Gloria" used under Creative Commons licence from musopen.org