Early Medieval Venice

Cultural Memory and History

Luigi Andrea Berto

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2020
• Print ISBN:
  9780367900564
• eBook ISBN:
  9781000168495
• Topic: Education
• Subtopic: Education Counseling

Early Medieval Venice examines the significant changes that Venice underwent between the late-sixth and the early-eleventh centuries. From the periphery of the Byzantine Empire, Venice acquired complete independence and emerged as the major power in the Adriatic area. It also avoided absorption by neighbouring rulers, prevented serious destruction by raiders, and achieved a stable state organization, all the while progressively extending its trading activities to most of northern Italy and the eastern Mediterranean. This was not a linear process, but the Venetians obtained and defended these results with great tenacity, creating the foundations for the remarkable developments of the following centuries.

This book presents the most relevant themes that characterized Venice during this epoch, including war, violence, and the manner in which 'others' were perceived. It examines how early medieval authors and modern scholars have portrayed this period, and how they were sometimes influenced by their own 'present' in their reconstruction of the past.

1 War and violence in early medieval Venice

Perceptions and mentality

War and violence in the Middle Ages have been the subject of various studies aimed primarily at examining military history, behavior in war, and ideological aspects.¹ Little attention, however, has been devoted to how the medieval chroniclers describe them. This is not an irrelevant gap, if one takes into account the important information that could be drawn from a systematic analysis of how they, for example, depict enemy populations. The goal of this chapter is to contribute to this kind of study by examining the Istoria Veneticorum (History of the Venetians) by John the Deacon. Since this work is the only early medieval Venetian chronicle and the sources used by the author are not known, the only possible analysis that one can make is to analyze all information that goes over and above a simple description of events.²

The Venetians at war

The deeds of the Venetian dukes are the main thread of this work and, therefore, beginning the examination with them seems relevant. The Istoria Veneticorum mentions several Venetian rulers leading at the head of their troops, especially emphasizing their commitment to defending their compatriots. For example, after the Muslims and the Slavs defeated the Venetians several times in the 840s, Duke Peter (836–864) ordered the construction of two warships that ‘were of a size that had never before seen in Venice.’³ Immediately after the incursion of the Hungarians in Venice (ca. 899), Duke Peter Tribuno (887–911) had the capital of the Venetian duchy, Rivoalto, fortified with walls, and ordered the mouth of the Grand Canal blocked with a chain.⁴ However, John the Deacon reports only one occasion during which a Venetian ruler fought. This duke was Peter Candiano (887), who ruled for a few months and was the sole Venetian ruler to lose his life in combat (the other three dukes, who died violent deaths, were all assassinated during plots and uprisings).⁵ Peter Candiano died while on an expedition against the Narentans.⁶

John the Deacon makes no comments about this episode. Nevertheless, he explains that the duke attacked the enemy with a few men, thus probably implying that the failure of this expedition and Peter Candiano’s death were attributable to his imprudence. Considering that the chronicler was a member of Duke Peter II Orseolo’s entourage and that the Orseolos and the Candianos were rivals, that detail could be interpreted as a desire to present the Candiano family in a bad light.⁷ If so, this was just a small hint. Indeed, John the Deacon narrates how Peter Candiano bravely fought against the Narentans and, before dying, killed several enemies and sank five of their ships. The fact that a Venetian was able to take away the duke’s corpse from the Narentans made the defeat less bitter.

Peter immediately sent an army against the Narentan Slavs; it returned with no result. Then, in August, he himself sailed out with twelve ships into the sea with bellicose intentions. Having arrived at the mountain of the Slavs, in a place called Macarsca, he attacked the Slavs despite having few men. At first he put to flight the Slavs who were resisting him, killed many of them and with some axes broke up five ships that were there. But in the end, the Slavs attacked and killed him and another seven there, on the 18th of September; the others, on the contrary, returned home unharmed.⁸

The uniqueness of Peter Candiano is emphasized by the fact he is the only person in the Istoria Veneticorum to be remembered with the adjectives ‘bellicosus et audax’ (warlike and brave)⁹ and the sole character described fighting. The way John the Deacon narrates war events contemporary to him further highlights this particularity.

In the case of the detailed account of Duke Peter II Orseolo’s expedition in Dalmatia in 1000, John the Deacon¹⁰ reports that there was only one battle; it was an assault on one of the Narentans’ bases, the island of Lagosta/Lastovo.

This island was surrounded by rocky cliffs and, although it did not deny access to those entering, it was nevertheless distinguished by the height of its mountains, one of which, fortified with towers and walls, was considered by all impregnable.¹¹

Having then collected a multitude of ships, the above-mentioned prince [Peter II Orseolo] entered one of that island’s ports. He sent word to the citizens to give up their stubbornness and come to him, otherwise they should know that he would face them in battle. They, driven by fear, responded with words of peace. Afterwards, he warned them that they would not be in any way able to obtain peace from the duke, if they did not destroy the city themselves and if, after having destroyed it, they left it irreparable and uninhabitable. They absolutely refused to do this and tried to resist this great army. The duke then ordered his men to prepare themselves for battle and attack them vigorously. Because the location’s steep terrain made the access difficult to the advancing people, however, the inhabitants tried, with as much valor as they could, to hold off the enemy for a little while by hurling javelins. Finally, thanks to Almighty God, most of the army attacked the area where the gates of the fortress were located, while the other soldiers climbed over the mountain trails and conquered the towers where the water cisterns were kept. The inhabitants were oppressed from this position in such a way that, finally, having lost their spirit and laid down their arms, they begged on their knees for nothing more than to escape the odious danger of death. The merciful duke decided to keep them all alive and ordered that only the city be destroyed.¹²

John the Deacon also describes the battle of the Venetian fleet, led by Peter II Orseolo, against the Muslims, who were besieging Bari (1002).

In that same year, a multitude of Saracens invaded the land of Apulia and besieged the city of Bari from all sides. It was then under the command of Catapan Gregory. When the mighty Duke Peter learned of this, he ordered a very great expedition to be prepared, and, on the solemn day of Saint Lawrence, he sailed from Venice to fight the Saracens. Sailing across the vast sea, he passed through many places and, on the sixth of September, approached the aforesaid city. When both Saracen forces¹³ saw that this unexpected assistance had come to the Christians, some mounted horses and lined up on the beach, while others boarded the ships and boldly provoked the Christians to fight. With the help of God, his lordship Duke Peter nevertheless succeeded in entering the port of the aforesaid city unharmed and with all his men. The citizens, along with Catapan Gregory, welcomed him with dignity and received him in the city palace. His lordship the duke then began to plan how he could defend the city against the cruelty of the pagans, but first he strengthened the citizens, who had been exhausted by hunger, with rations.¹⁴

The duke then encouraged them to fight with courage against this most wicked people. He ordered the victorious banner to be hoisted, sent some to fight in the suburbs, and took others with him to begin the naval battle. Then, for three consecutive days, they pressed the Saracens hard, now with swords, now with flaming arrows. On the third night, the army of the pagans retreated in silence. The others, who had invaded the surrounding places and cruelly subjugated them, did not stay much longer either, and soon retreated in confusion. And so, from that moment on, the citizens of Bari celebrated and honored the name of his lordship Duke Peter who, driven not by human fear, but by fear of God, had liberated them from the persecution of their enemies.¹⁵

These accounts clearly show that John the Deacon did not omit war episodes in which the Venetian dukes took part from his chronicle. Although he sometimes lingered over such events, he mainly stressed the difficulties in each battle in order to present the victory as an honorable event for the Venetians. Yet it is clear that in his way of narrating those episodes, he is only interested in describing the deeds of the entire army, not of an individual. What is absent, therefore, is the presence of a Venetian hero. With this in mind, it is significant that the chronicler records that in the Battle of Bari, Duke Peter II Orseolo simply ordered the assault against the Muslims and the raising of the Venetian banner, but he did not place himself at the head of his soldiers with weapons in hand. John the Deacon, therefore did not believe that being a brave warrior was a quality that the rulers of his homeland had to possess. The fact that he often mentions the dukes at the head of their soldiers suggests that he believed they had to prove themselves to be good military leaders, but this was enough for a Venetian ruler. This characteristic is especially relevant in the section of his work dedicated to Peter II Orseolo, whom John the Deacon portrays as the best duke that Venice ever had, since he possessed the best features of all those who had ruled before him.¹⁶ Unlike Duke Peter Candiano, however, Peter II Orseolo is not depicted as ‘bellicosus et audax’ (warlike and brave). As already emphasized, Peter Candiano was an exception.¹⁷

It is also worth noting that, regarding two of the most victorious Venetians dukes, namely Ursus II (864–881) and Peter II Orseolo, John the Deacon reports that they behaved in an exemplary manner during their war campaigns. After having inflicted a heavy defeat on the Slavs and believing that his victory was obtained thanks to God, Ursus II ordered the freeing of the prisoners and the return of all the objects that the enemies had stolen from the churches.¹⁸ Similarly, Peter II Orseolo decided not to execute any of the inhabitants of Lagosta/Lastovo who were the only ones to oppose him with arms during his expedition in Dalmatia.¹⁹ At Bari, after having entered the city, the first thing the duke did was to feed the citizens exhausted by the siege.²⁰

John the Deacon does not hide that the Venetians sometimes caused devastation during their campaigns.²¹ Moreover, he does not shy away from using harsh terminology for describing his compatriots’ war deeds. For example, Duke Obelerio (805–810/811) sent the Venetian fleet ‘to destroy the province of Dalmatias.’²² The fights between the Venetians and the Lombards during the seventh century are thus portrayed: ‘very many conflicts occurred between the two sides to the point that they often fought, causing suffering and destruction to each other.’²³ Duke John III (881–887) ‘ordered the Venetians to depredate the Ravennati.’²⁴ Duke Peter II Candiano (931–939) ’sent an army there (Comacchio), burned their fortified center, killed some of the inhabitants, and took the others of both sexes to Venice. He kept them ther...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Series Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Table of Contents
• List of maps
• Acknowledgments
• Abbreviations
• Introduction
• 1. War and violence in early medieval Venice: perceptions and mentality
• 2. Peter IV Candiano: a Duke deposed because he was too virtuous or too authoritarian?
• 3. Under the ‘Romans’ or under the Franks? Venice between two empires
• 4. Rumors of wars and deeds of emperors: circulation of news and ‘stories’ about non-Venetians in early medieval Venice
• 5. Emperor Otto III in Venice
• 6. All is well on the western front? The image of the early medieval Venetian frontier between the second and the third millennium
• 7. Remaining Roman on the Frontier? The Latin and Greek onomastics of eighth-century Lombard Treviso and its relationship with early medieval Venice
• 8. ‘As an angel revealed to her’: miracles, visions, predictions, and supernatural phenomena and the politics of memory in early medieval Venice
• Bibliography
• Index