Venice, Europe
By: William Rose
Commerce
Most of Venice’s trade was with the Islamic world. Goods that came to Venice from the East included silk, spices, carpets, ceramics, pearls, crystal ewers, and precious metals. On the other hand, salt, wood, linen, wool, velvet, Baltic amber, Italian coral, fine cloth, and slaves went to Egypt, Anatolia, the Levant and Persia. Venice was the primary European center for publishing, which included many Arabic texts translated into Latin and Italian.
A painting by a Venetian overlooking the busy harbor
Culture and Society
The culture and society of post classical Venice were influenced by Islamic culture. For example, numerous Arab words were absorbed into Italian, including trade terms, like doana (customs) and tariffa (duty), and the names of luxury goods, such as sofa, divan and damasco. Another Islamic influence can be seen in Venetian architecture. An example would be the Torre dell’Orologio, a clock tower with a giant blue zodiac dial identical to the clock face in al-Ghazari’s 13th-century treatise on robot. The city was also filled with art captured from the Byzantine capitol, Constantinople.
Above: Torre dell’Orologio
Below: Another example of how Venetian architecture was influenced by Islamic architecture, specifically the pinnacles
Below: Another example of how Venetian architecture was influenced by Islamic architecture, specifically the pinnacles
Location on the Post-Classical Trade Networks
Venice was a large city on the Post-Classical Trade Networks. For centuries, it was the center for trade in the Mediterranean, where many goods originated from the Islamic world. Venice was also a stop for Christians all over Europe on their route to the Holy Land. Venetian merchants also collected Muslim pilgrims from other cities and brought them to the Levant en route to Mecca.
Religious Influences
The population of Venice was mostly Christian. Since the city traded with the Islamic world, it was also influenced by the Islamic faith. This spread of the Islamic religion was enhanced by merchant contact. Even though Venetians were strong Christians, they did not allow their religion to interfere with their business.
Reasons for Growth
At the beginning of Venice’s history, it was just a fishing village. Because of its location in the Mediterranean, it became a site for merchants to stop and trade. It then became a city concentrated on trade, specifically trade with the Islamic world. Without this Muslim trade, Venice would simply not have existed.
Innovations
The Venetians had innovations in publishing, trade, and diplomacy. In publishing, they printed the first Qur’an, but it had many mistakes in it. In diplomacy, the Venetians developed a system of exchanging ambassadors with the Islamic world. In commerce, the Venetians built fandacos, home bases for Venetians merchants overseas to store their goods.
A copy of the Qur’an, which was printed in Venice