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Throughout the Middle Ages and all over Europe and the Mediterranean, Venetian merchants travelled throughout the known world, in search of lucrative business opportunities and trading in anything that could be bought and sold. Envied by its neighbours, Venice came up against powerful enemies, both Christian and Muslim, and ultimately found itself between the interests of Spanish, Austrian, and Turkish ambitions.
This book combines thirteen chapters previously written by the author throughout his career, discussing the history of Venice throughout this period. It covers topics such as: maritime trade, trade routes from Egypt to England, and how the Venetians exploited their overseas colonies. It also analyses the salt trade, public monopolies, the use of credit, and investment.
Venice Between Magnificence and Misery will appeal to students and scholars alike interested in the history of Venice throughout the Middle Ages, as well as the history of maritime trade and business.
List of contents
Introduction: The international influence of VenicePart I: Venetian merchant in ConstantinopleChapter 1Badoer and the raw materials trade
"Giacomo Badoer et le commerce de l'alun et des cendres à Constantinople au XVe siècle",
Thesaurismata, Bollettino dell'Istituto Ellenico di Studi Bizantini e Postbizantini, 37 (2007), Venise, pp. 87-100
Chapter 2Badoer, the drapery, and the bartering
"Giacomo Badoer, marchand-drapier à Constantinople et les draps du Nord",
Atti dell'Istituto Veneto di Sc., L ed A., tomo CLV (2001-2002), cl. di Sc morali, lettere ed arti, pp. 71-89
Chapter 3Maritime Activity in Constantinople
"Ships, sailors and maritime activity in Constantinople (1436-1440)",
The Journal of European Economic History, vol. 30/3, 2001, pp. 533-567
Chapter 4The business network of Giacomo Badoer
"Le réseau d'affaires de Giacomo Badoer marchand vénitien à Constantinople (1436-1440)",
Studi Veneziani, LIV (2010), pp. 179-200
Part II: Salt, taxes, and ecologyChapter 5The salt pans of Chioggia
"The salt pans of Chioggia, which flourished in 1200, disappeared in 1553", unpublished
Chapter 6Diversity of the Venetian Monopoly
"Diversità del monopolio veneziano del sale (secoli XIII-XV)",
Sal terrae. The legal regulation of the production and the marketing of salt in late medieval Italy, Law Faculty of the University of Parma, 20 février 2025
Chapter 7Credit in the Venetian salt economy: consumer credit, investment, and public credit
Studi Veneziani, LI-LII (2006), pp. 133-144
Part III: Shipping and maritime tradeChapter 8Maritime trade routes
"Les routes maritimes du commerce vénitien aux XVe et XVIe siècles",
Atti del V Convegno internazionale di studi colombiani, Navi e navigazione nei sec. XV e XVI, (Gênes, 26 - 28 oct. 1987), Gênes 1990, pp.581-605
Chapter 9The Venetian colony of Ayas/Lajazzo
"Les activités de la colonie vénitienne d'Ayas/Lajazzo en Petite Arménie (1316-1318)",
Studi in onore di Maria Fancesca Tiepolo, Thesaurismata, Institut grec d'Études byzantines et néobyzantines, Venise, 45 (2015), 2017, pp. 123-135
Chapter 10Route of Flandern
"Le marchand de Venise sur la route de Flandre au xve siècle",
Histoire et Mesure, 34 (2019), pp. 125-152
Chapter 11The Merchant Elites in 14th-century
"Solidarités familiales et solidarités marchandes à Venise au XIVe siècle",
Les élites urbaines au Moyen Age, Age (XXVIIe Congrès de la SHMES, Rome, 23-27 mai 1996), Paris 1997, 461 pp. 227-255
Part IV: Greatness and miseriesChapter 12Venice and the Turks
"The Cultural et Historical Context. Venice and the Turks",
Venice and the Islamic World, The Metropolitan Museum of Arts & Yale University Press, New York, New Haven & Londres, 35-51. Ateneo Veneto, anno CCIII, ser. 3a, 15/II (2016), pp. 10-23
Chapter 13The Adriatic, Gulf of Venice?
"L'Adriatique, golfe de Venise ? Commerce, ports et relations à la fin du Moyen Âge", D. IGUAL LUIS et J. L. SOLER MILLA éds,
Comercio internacional, conectividad marítima y espacios portuarios en la Baja Edad Media, pp. 13-32, Anales de la Universidad de Alicante. 23 (2022).
Bibliography
About the author
Jean-Claude Hocquet (1936) is a university professor who has taught at universities in Paris, Venice, and Lille, and has given lectures at foreign universities and international conferences. Professor and director of research at the CNRS and EHESS (Paris), he is the author of a thesis, forty books, many of which have been translated, and numerous articles on Venice, whose archives and libraries he has frequented since 1958. A specialist in the history of salt, maritime trade and taxation, and the history of weights and measures, he is a scientific advisor to several international journals. He is now retired from the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique and lives in Lille.
