Piracy and the Decline of Venice 1580 - 1615

Pirate welfare played a prominent part in Mediterranean life during the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries. Its influence was significant both in the decline of Venice and in the shift of the economic hegemony of Europe. Professor Tenenti maintains that Venice is a fitting focus for study of this period, for the mediterranean became and increasingly a centre of European activity. On one side was Venice which, in spite of a huge navy and a still sizable merchant fleet, observed the strictest neutrality and sought only to protect her trade. On the other were potentially or openly hostile navies, which clashed with one another and frequently also with Venetian shipping. english and Dutch navies forced their way into the area by a combination of trade and piracy and established themselves in positions of great strength. Professor Tenenti analyzes the impact of northern piracy on the trade of the Venetian republic and her failure to resist this threat. During the early seventeenth century Venetian prosperity was irreparably damaged, not only by competition from the north, but also by a severe shipbuilding crisis. He suggests that Venice wa unable to adapt the organization, equipment and discipline of her navy to the changed conditions; for these were spheres in which her pride was particularly strong and tradition enduring. He describes the different types of pirates from the Barbary pirates, the Knights of Malta and the English corsairs to the Uscocchi, whom even sophisticated Venetians regarded as necromancers. The translation of this important work fo Venetian economic history makes a valuable addition to the books on the period available to English readers. This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press's mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in 1961.