What was Venice like during the 15th and 16th century? Comment especially on its demographics and culture.
Venice was actually a warring state during the 15th and 16th century, and was a country on its own, called the Most Serene Republic of Venice. It was constantly at war with neighbouring countries such as the Ottoman Empire (the Turks) and the Kingdom of France.
By 1490, its population was approximately 180,000. However, Venice suffered horrible losses of many major cities in battles like the Battle of Agnadello. It only strengthened its defences in some three cities of Famagusta, Nicosia and Kyrenia all in modern-day Cyprus, whilst the other cities remained easy targets for the two larger empires.
This resulted in a drop in the Venetian population, to 168,000 in 1563 but slightly increased to 175,000 in 1575 after winning the Battle of Lepanto under the naval forces of the Holy League, which was an alliance, over the Turks. However, Venice failed to recover from the 1575-76 plague which caused a drastic decrease in its population to a mere 126,000 in 1581.
Venice was also extremely important during the 15th and 16th century, as a world-renowned music centre, trading centre, art centre and metalwork centre, which will be explained in the answer to the second question.
After the rise in power of the Ottoman Empire in the Mediterranean, Venice faded in the trading field. It remained, however, as an economic and cultural centre in Europe. There was a mix of cultures and races here, as people of different nationalities gathered here and exchanged ideas. In fact, it could be said that Venice was like Singapore, a multiracial society. The theatre was also a source of entertainment after the lift of the ban on theatrical performances in the early 1500s. The musical culture of Venice is also widely recognised.
The dominant religion was Roman Catholicism, and so, the Jews were extremely badly treated during that period of time, which will be expounded on later.
Why was Venice important during the 15th and 16th century?
Venice became an important music centre during this period of time. By the end of the 16th century, Venice could be said to be extremely renowned for the splendour in its music.
Besides music, Venice also was a major trading centre during the 15th and 16th century, being the world’s first and busiest trading centre. The republic established a monopoly and forced Crusaders to attack rival traders in Constantinople, and in return, the Crusaders were allowed transportation to the Middle East. In fact, Venice had control over the Mediterranean Sea and imported products from Asia to Europe.
However, later, the Portuguese had a monopoly of spices, forcing Venice into moving towards the artistic world. It became famous for its art, be it paintings or architecture thereon.
Silk production was also extremely prosperous in Venice, so did Venetian glass, sugar and soap. Venice became very famous and popular for its metalwork and method of printing.
What was the dominant religion in Venice? How were Jews treated and regarded?
The dominant religion in Venice was Roman Catholicism.
Jews were extremely badly treated in the area of Venice. There was even a decree by the higher authorities in the year 1527. It ordered all Jews to move to the zone of Cannaregio, where the ancient foundries for cannons were.
They were also discriminated and faced prejudice by the Christians, who formed the majority of the Venetians. They were often spat on and shouted at, even kicked, by the Christians. They were treated so, because the Jews were often the moneylenders who collect interest for the money lent to the Christians. They were not discriminated secretly, but instead were discriminated openly under broad daylight.
How is Venice a choice setting for the plot of this play?
The plot of this play “Merchant of Venice” revolves around possibly the element of trading in the case of Antonio the merchant as well as the lending of money for Shylock the moneylender. The former gave rise to the latter, so trading can be said to be the crux of the entire play, for if it was nonexistent, there would have been no plot.
Venice was a major trading centre and, as explained previously, was, in fact, the first and busiest trading power in the whole world. This sets the theme and plot right to have the setting in Venice, because the connotation of Venice was trading and this suited the story extremely well.
In addition, there was an extremely high degree of discrimination between the Christians and the Jews in Venice, going to extreme points of physical and emotional abuse.
It was also in Venice that the Christians acted as merchants in the sector of trade, and that Jews acted as moneylenders for them.
These three pointers fully substantiate and justify Venice being the choice setting for the play “Merchant of Venice”.
Resources:
Debdeb93. (August 2007). Echeat: “The lives of the Jews in Venice during the 16th century”. http://www.echeat.com/essay.php?t=33311 (Accessed 11 June 2011)
ID1676263367. (Date Unknown). Wiki Answers: “What was Venice like in the sixteenth century?” http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_was_Venice_like_in_the_sixteenth_century#ixzz1P1nMwAf9 (Accessed 12 June 2011)
Best Regards,
Nathan :)
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