Il 28 settembre 1644 una squadra dei Cavalieri di Malta attacca la Carovana di Alessandria al largo dell’isola di Scarpanto, nel mar Egeo. I Cavalieri catturano numerosi prigionieri. Tra di essi, dame del seguito del sultano e un bambino principe del sangue. Durante il rientro, i Cavalieri sostano ripetutamente in territorio veneziano. L’episodio non sarebbe significativo nel Mediterraneo di metà Seicento. Diventa, però, la scintilla che accende il conflitto, lungo oltre ventiquattro anni, noto come Guerra di Candia. Momento chiave della storia europea perché ridisegna gli equilibri mediterranei. La Dalmazia ne è uno dei centri di gravità. Nel periodo 1644-49 sulla costa orientale adriatica accadono fatti fondamentali dal punto di vista geostrategico. Quanto accadde allora determina la sorte della regione fino a oggi. Qui emerge il genio di Lunardo Foscolo, il provveditore generale veneziano, che avrebbe potuto imprimere una svolta decisiva alla storia della repubblica Serenissima. Questo libro racconta quei giorni e quegli eventi. 1644,September 28th, a team of the Knights of Malta attack the Caravan of Alexandria off the island of Scarpanto, in the Aegean Sea. The Knights capture numerous prisoners. Among them, ladies of the following of the sultan and a prince of blood. During the return, the Knights stop repeatedly in Venetian territory. The episode would not be significant in the mid-seventeenth century Mediterranean. However, it becomes the spark that ignites the conflict, over twenty-four years long, known as the War of Candia. Key moment in European history because it redesigns the Mediterranean balance. Dalmatia is one of its centers of gravity. In the period 1644-49 on the eastern Adriatic coast, fundamental geostrategic events occurred. What happened then determines the fate of the region to date. Here emerges the genius of Leonardo Foscolo, the Venetian poveditòr generàl, who could have given a decisive turning point to the history of the Serenissima republic. This book tells about those days and those events.

On Julian the Apostate in Venetian writers at the end of the Republic of Venice and under the foreign dominations, especially on the poet Giambattista Armani (1768-1815) and Chateaubriand's influence on him. Draft of the article published in “Quaderni Veneti”, n. 45 (giugno 2007), pp. 87-103 [ISSN 0394-2694]

Already three famous Istrian historians from the 19th and first half of the 20th Century, Carlo De Franceschi, Bernardo Benussi and Giovanni De Vergottini, devoted relatively much attention to the issue of the so-called »oaths of fealty« (fidelitas), dedicated in the 12th Century to the Venetian Republic by the most important Istrian cities: Capodistria and Isola (1145), Pola (1145, 1149, 1153), Rovigno, Parenzo, Cittanova, Umago, Pirano (1150), Muggia and Trieste (1202). Still today, historiography questions whether the purpose of those oaths of fealty (fidelitas) was to conclude friendships between the equal communities or was just a form of alliances against common enemies, or were even the subordination of Istrian towns? Or only an act, as said by Kandler, that “nè importava maggior debito che di non osteggiare e tradire”. At a different constellation of historical events, these oaths of fealty could probably remain only witnesses of the diversified maritime economic activities between the upper Mediterranean and Central Europe, but subsequent events clearly testify in support of the fact that those oaths of fealty, dedicated to the Venetian Republic by Istrian towns, were the first step towards the later direct subordination of Istrian towns, the basis of the process which ended only in 1420 with the collapse of the secular power of the patriarchs of Aquileia, while at the same time the basis of the process which led towards the Venetian Stato da Mar. In regards to this phenomenon is surprising the fact that at that time the Istrian towns were part of Empire while the Republic of Venice was marked as his enemy. This paper argues that the above events should be understood and interpreted in accordance with then prevailing system of conflict resolution and within the framework of the ritual: homage, fealty, peace (homagium, fidelitas, pax).

The studies on the history of the Valmareno and its district, were focused on the centuries after the territory was feoffed to the warlords Brandolino Brandolini and Erasmo da Narni in the 1436; this probably due to the shortage of documents in the local archives prior to this event. The object of this article, after a survey on the central sources of the venetian Senate, is the reconstruction of the history and microhistory of the Valmareno district between 1341 and 1436. This research confirm the political experimentation of Venice in the Trevigiano and Cenedese areas during XIV and XV centuries. /// L’attenzione degli storici per il distretto cenedese della Valmareno si è sempre concentrata sui secoli successivi all’infeudazione dei Brandolini da Bagnacavallo, operata dalla Repubblica di Venezia nel 1436; ciò fu probabilmente dovuto alla scarsità, pressoché assoluta, di documenti negli archivi locali antecedenti a quella data. Nel presente contributo si è cercato, tramite lo spoglio di fonti centrali quali delle delibere del Senato veneziano, di ricostruire la storia e microstoria di quel distretto nell’intervallo 1341-1436, vale a dire dall’ultima dominazione caminese all’infeudazione dei condottieri Brandolino Brandolini ed Erasmo da Narni. La ricerca conferma la sperimentazione politica veneziana nel Trevigiano e Cenedese dei secoli XIV e XV. Le notizie, in gran parte inedite, testimoniano che l’attività dei podestà – dei quali si fornisce un elenco nell’ultima parte – si concentrò soprattutto sull’organizzazione militare del distretto, confine della Repubblica sino al 1420, pur non mancando informazioni circa l’amministrazione civile.

Adhering to its well-established tradition of participation in Venetian cultural life, the State Archives of Venice - an active custodian of the documentary memory of the city and the state it created - could not fail to make a contribution to the celebrations that, starting in 2021, aim to commemorate the 1600 years that have passed since 421, the legendary date of the foundation of Venice. This volume constitutes the catalogue of the virtual documentary exhibition prepared for the occasion. The Archive has created a review, structured in twelve thematic chapters, which, although necessarily partial, offers the opportunity to dwell on important aspects of Venetian civilisation through the centuries, providing some new insights or resuming and integrating itineraries already travelled. In fact, the wealth and quality of the documentation in the Frari Archive makes it possible to illustrate practically every perspective of the political, social and cultural history of Venice. Created in 1815, the Institute preserves a large part of the documents produced by the Venetian Republic. To these are added the archives of the government authorities that succeeded the Serenissima, as well as the notarial archives, those of the religious corporations, the Scuole grandi, the innumerable devotional and trade confraternities, and many of the families and individuals. The documentary perusal and editing of the more than one hundred files, all original, are the result of the work of the Venetian State Archivists, who, in their daily occupation, accompany the study and research of the sources with the activities that are indispensable to the daily functioning of a world-famous Institute.

The Fourth Crusade is one of the key hubs of the Venetian adventure. Its outcome represents the masterpiece, in particular, of its symbolic character: the warrior-doge Enrico Dandolo. The deviation of the expedition to Constantinople serves the interests of the future Serenissima to the point of making the lagoon city rise to the rank of great power. Understanding what happened then is important to understand the subsequent developments. Which concern us because they are rooted in long-term geopolitical constants in action in our reality. The strategic projection of Venice located on the Rimland, the maritime and coastal strip in this European case around the heart of the Planet or Heartland, ranges from the Mediterranean to the Black Sea; from the coasts of Asia Minor to the Arabian or Persian Gulf; from Northern Africa to the Red Sea: it thus intercepts the entire network of long-range connections on the Island-World. And it is the same as today's Italy. A story, the Venetian one, full of teachings that cannot be ignored. La Quarta Crociata è uno degli snodi chiave dell’avventura veneziana. Il suo esito rappresenta il capolavoro, in particolare, del suo personaggio-simbolo: il doge-guerriero Enrico Dandolo. La deviazione della spedizione verso Costantinopoli serve gli interessi della futura Serenissima al punto da far salire la città lagunare al rango di grande potenza. Capire cosa accadde allora è importante per comprenderne gli sviluppi successivi. I quali ci riguardano perché affondano le radici nelle costanti geopolitiche di lungo periodo in azione nella nostra realtà. La proiezione strategica di Venezia che si trova sul Rimland, la fascia marittima e costiera in questo caso europea attorno al cuore del Pianeta o Heartland, spazia dal Mediterraneo al Mar Nero; dalle coste dell’Asia Minore al Golfo Arabico o Persico; dall’Africa Settentrionale al Mar Rosso: intercetta così l’intera rete di connessioni a largo raggio dell’isola-Mondo. Ed è la stessa dell’Italia di oggi. Una storia, quella veneziana, ricca d’insegnamenti che non si possono ignorare.