Renaissance Venice - Lagoon, City and Empire

Module Leader: Dr Philippa Woodcock

Module Summary

The global pandemic famously saw the return of clear waters, swans and tranquility to the canals of Venice, in sharp contrast to the more frequent image of a city in Peril, threatened by cruise ships, flood waters and a polluted environment. This module delves into how the Republic’s citizens first mastered their landscape to build a miraculous floating city by conquering and managing resources on land. Their success in this led to a belief in Venetian exceptionalism – that the city – personified as la Serenissima - and her possessions were particularly blessed.

To contemporaries, this belief was merited: Venice dominated Renaissance trade, culture, diplomacy and politics, as well as controlling a huge maritime and landed empire. It was the only city-state to retain real independence beyond 1600, and remained a Republic, in contrast to the other Italian City States who fell under the domination of France and Spain. This module asks just how did Venice survive, physically and politically?

This module will trace the growth of the city, the development of its political institutions, and the extension of its power beyond the lagoon. Rather than just a political history, this module aims to provide an understanding of the importance of Venetian physical environments to their power, their extension of coastal and territorial influence, as well as the ability to manage an extremely hostile environment.

Indicative Content

The three key themes are:  Environmental and Landscape History, Empire creation, Political Mythology

Several weeks will be spent on each of these overlapping themes, for example the ‘Environmental and Landscape History’ theme will encompass weeks on ‘Creating the City’, ‘Extending influence to the land’ and ‘Villa building, river dredging’.