State of the Sea
Stato da Màr (vec)
Overseas colonies of the Republic of Venice
c. 992–1797

Map of the Venetian overseas domains
Historical eraMiddle Ages
• Pietro II Orseolo's expedition
Late 10th century
1202–04
1463–79
1645–69
1684–99
1714–18
12 May 1797
Preceded by		Succeeded by
Dalmatian city-states
Byzantine Empire
Kingdom of Cyprus
Ottoman Empire
Habsburg Monarchy
French rule in the Ionian Islands (1797–1799)

The Stato da Màr or Domini da Mar (lit. 'State of the Sea' or 'Domains of the Sea') was the Republic of Venice's maritime and overseas possessions from around 1000 to 1797, including at various times parts of what are now Istria, Dalmatia, Montenegro, Albania, Greece and notably the Ionian Islands, Peloponnese, Crete, Cyclades, Euboea, as well as Cyprus.[1]

It was one of the three subdivisions of the Republic of Venice's possessions, the other two being the Dogado, i.e. Venice proper, and the Domini di Terraferma in northern Italy.

The overseas possessions, particularly islands such as Corfu, Crete, and Cyprus, played a critical role in Venice's commercial and military leadership. In his landmark study on the Mediterranean world in the 16th century, historian Fernand Braudel described these islands as "Venice's motionless fleet".[2]

History

The creation of Venice's overseas empire began around the year 1000 with the defeat of the Narentines by Doge Pietro II Orseolo and recognition of Venetian rule by Dalmatian city-states, allowing the Doge to call himself "Duke of Dalmatia" for the next few decades. Control over the latter, however, would not be stabilized until the early 15th century. In the 12th and 13th centuries, Venice gradually established its rule over Istria, which lasted until the end of the Republic.

Venice's overseas domains reached its greatest nominal extent at the conclusion of the Fourth Crusade in 1204, with declaration of the acquisition of three octaves of the Byzantine Empire. However, most of this territory was never controlled by Venice, being held by the Greek Byzantine successor states, namely the Despotate of Epirus and especially the Empire of Nicaea. Venice remained an important player in Constantinople, holding the key position of Podestà until its Byzantine reconquest in 1261, and more broadly in the region during the politically complex period known as the Frankokratia. Of its Fourth Crusade acquisitions, it kept Euboea until the 15th century, the Cyclades until the 16th, and Crete until the 17th.

The aftermath of the War of Chioggia in the late 14th century saw another period of rapid growth of the Venetian empire. Corfu came under permanent Venetian rule in 1386, Argos and Nauplia in 1388–1394, the Adriatic ports of Durazzo and Alessio on the Albanian coast in 1392, followed by Scutari in 1396 and Drivasto in 1397.[3] In 1402, the Battle of Ankara temporarily reversed the rise of the Ottoman Empire in the east, and the death of Duke of Milan Giangaleazzo Visconti created a power vacuum in northern Italy that enabled expansion of the Domini di Terraferma. The changed climate created by the Ottoman Interregnum and the ensuing Treaty of Gallipoli in 1403 led to a growth of commerce and the acquisition of a new string of fortresses in Greece: Lepanto in 1407, Patras in 1408, Navarino in 1410, and temporarily Thessalonica in 1423.[3] In Dalmatia, where Venice had been forced to cede its possessions to the Kingdom of Hungary by the Treaty of Zadar (1358), it took advantage of the conflict between Ladislaus of Naples and Sigismund over the Hungarian Crown, and in 1409 secured the cession by Ladislaus of several of his Dalmatian domains —Cres, Rab, Pag, Zadar, Vrana and Novigrad— for 100,000 ducats.[4]

In 1489, Venice also acquired Cyprus, which it kept until Ottoman conquest in 1570–1571. The Venetian hold over navigation in the Adriatic sea was maintained for centuries, to the extent that it was labeled "Mare di Venezia" (sea of Venice) on maps of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. From the 15th century onwards, the history of Venice's overseas empire is dominated by successive Ottoman–Venetian wars. Venice lost many territories but also occasionally gained some, most notably the Peloponnese from the late 1680s to 1715 and the Dalmatian Hinterland also in the 1680s. After that date, the remaining overseas domains, kept until the Fall of the Republic of Venice to Napoleon I in 1797, were all in Istria, Dalmatia, and the Ionian Islands, with none left east of Kythira and Antikythera.

Domains

The locations are listed broadly from closest to farthest from Venice. Where there is a difference between the name in Venetian language and standard Italian, the Venetian version is indicated first. Feudal lordships held by Venetians, such as Andrea Ghisi in Tinos and Mykonos, are included.

In today's northeastern Italy, Slovenia, and Croatia

Map of the North Adriatic region, including the Republic of Venice's possessions in Istria and Dalmatia (mid-18th century)
1636 map of Istria

Following the Treaty of Zadar in 1358, Venice lost its presence in Dalmatia for half a century
  • Trieste, 1283–1287, 1368–1372 and 1508–1509
  • Muja/Muggia, 1420–1797
  • Koper (Capodistria), 1145–1797
  • Izola (Isola), 1145–1797
  • Piran (Piràn/Pirano), 1283–1797
  • Umag (Umago), 1269–1797
  • Motovun (Montona d'Istria), 1278–1797
  • Novigrad (Cittanova d'Istria), 1270–1797
  • Poreč (Parenzo), 1267–1797
  • Rovinj (Rovigno), 1283–1797
  • Sveti Lovreč (San Lorenso del Paxenadego/San Lorenzo del Pasenatico), 1271–1797
  • Bale (Vale/Valle d'Istria), 1331–1797
  • Vodnjan (Dignano), 1330–1797
  • Pula (Pola), 1145–1291 and 1331–1797
  • Labin (Albona) and Plomin (Fianona), 1420–1797
  • Pazin (Pisino), 1508–1509
  • Novigrad (Novegradi), 1409–1797 except Ottoman occupation in 1646–1647
  • Nin (Nona), 1328–1358 and 1409–1797
  • Zadar (Zara), 998–1186, 1202–1358 and 1409–1797
  • Biograd (Zaravecia/Zaravecchia after 1204), early 11C, 1115–1124, 1125, 1409–1797
  • Vrana (Aurana or Laurana Arauzona), 1409–1538, 1647 and 1683–1797
  • Ugljan Island (Ugliano) and Dugi Island (Isola Lunga or Isola Grossa), 13C–1358 and 1409–1797
  • Šibenik (Sebenego/Sebenico), 1116–1133, 1322–1358 and 1412–1797
  • Trogir (Traù), 1125–1133 and 1420–1797
  • Split (Spàlato), 998–1019, 1116–1117, 1118–1124, 1127–1141 and 1420–1797
  • Dubrovnik (Raguxa/Ragusa), 1000–1030 and 1205–1358

In today's Montenegro and Albania

Venetian possessions in northern Albania and southern Montenegro in 1448

In today's Southern Italy (Venetian Apulian ports)

Map of Venetian domains showing the Apulian ports

In modern Greece, Cyprus, or Aegean islands

The Eastern Mediterranean ca.1450 (before the Cyprus purchase), with Venetian domains in green and the Venice-controlled Duchy of Naxos (or of the Archipelago) in orange
The late-17th-century Realm of the Morea, divided into Achaea, Messenia, Laconia and "Romania"
17th-century map of the Venetian Realm of Candia (Crete) with its four provinces (from West to East) of La Canea, Retimo, Candia and Sitia
Destruction of the Parthenon in Athens by Venetian commander Francesco Morosini in 1687, early-18th century depiction
Map by Giovanni Francesco Camocio (1501–1575)
Contemporary map
16th-century depiction of the Venetian Walls of Nicosia and their footprint in today's urban landscape.
  • Patras (Patraso/Patrasso), 1408–1430 and 1687–1715
  • Pylos (Navarino), 1417–1501 and 1686–1715
  • Methoni (Modon/Modone), 1207–1500 and 1686–1715
  • Koroni (Coron/Corone), 1207–1500 and 1685–1715
  • Mani Peninsula (Braccio della Maina), 1487–1499
  • Monemvasia (Malvasia), 1464–1540 and 1690–1715
  • Argos (Argo), 1394–1462 and 1687–1715
  • Nafplio (Napoli di Romània), 1388–1540 and 1686–1715

In today's Russia

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ Map of venetian forts & presence in the Stato da Mar of southern Balkans
  2. ↑ "Sur le grand axe de sa puissance, ces îles sont la flotte immobile de Venise." Fernand Braudel (1949). La Méditerranée et le monde méditerranéen à l'époque de Philippe II, 1 : La part du milieu. Paris: Armand Colin. p. 149.
  3. 1 2 Gullino 1996, § La politica delle annessioni.
  4. ↑ Gullino 1996, § La conquista della Dalmazia (1409–1420).

Bibliography

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Stato da Màr.
  • Arbel, Benjamin (1996). "Colonie d'oltremare". In Alberto Tenenti; Ugo Tucci (eds.). Storia di Venezia. Dalle origini alla caduta della Serenissima (in Italian). Vol. V: Il Rinascimento. Società ed economia. Rome: Enciclopedia Italiana. pp. 947–985. OCLC 644711009.
  • Crowley, Roger (2011). City of Fortune - How Venice Won and lost a Naval Empire. London: Faber and Faber. ISBN 978-0-571-24594-9.
  • Da Mosto, Andrea (1937). L'Archivio di Stato di Venezia. Rome: Biblioteca d'Arte editrice.
  • Gullino, Giuseppe (1996). "Le frontiere navali". In Alberto Tenenti; Ugo Tucci (eds.). Storia di Venezia. Dalle origini alla caduta della Serenissima (in Italian). Vol. IV: Il Rinascimento. Politica e cultura. Rome: Enciclopedia Italiana. pp. 13–111. OCLC 644711024.
  • Mutinelli, Fabio (1851). Lessico Veneto. Venice: tipografia Giambattista Andreola.
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