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Introduction
To
understand the causes which led to the occupation of Cyprus by
Venice, it is necessary to review briefly the history of that
republic. At the head of the Adriatic, between the Alps and the
sea, lies the rich plains of Lombardy, formed by the soil washed
down by the rivers from the mountains. A strong current sets
round the northern Adriatic coast from east to west. This
current catches the silt brought down by the rivers and deposits
it in long banks parallel to the shore. Between these sandbanks
and the shore lie brackish lagoons and groups of muddy islands.
Behind the Lido, or sandbank, on a group of islands in the
middle of a lagoon, lies the city of Venice. The soil is an
oozy mud which can only be built upon by driving piles from a
foundation. There is no land for agriculture or for the rearing
of cattle. The sole natural food supply is the fish from the
lagoon and water stored from the rainfall. The hardy fisher folk
who first lived on these islands were augmented by refugees
driven from the mainland by the barbarian invasion of the fifth
century AD Gradually, twelve independent townships grew up on
the islands in the lagoon, and their growing prosperity, based
on maritime skill and local trade, made them the object of
attack from the mainland and led them to seek alliance with
Eastern Roman Empire. The attempt to incorporate them in the
kingdom of Italy in the eighth century and their stubborn
defence welded the islanders into a homogenous state. In 810, a
treaty between Charlemagne and Nikephorus recognised the
Venetians as subjects of the Eastern Roman Empire, while
preserving to them their trading rights on the mainland.
The growing
wealth of Venice in the next 200 years attracted the cupidity of
the pirates of Dalmatia and forced her to arm her vessels in
self-defence. In the eleventh century, when the crusades began,
the Venetians had crushed the Dalmatians and had become supreme
in the Adriatic. Venice now commanded the sea route to the Holy
Land and could supply the transport required by the crusaders.
From this she reaped large profits and further trading rights.
After the Third Crusade, Venice had trading settlements in Tyre,
Sidon, and other cities of the Levant. After the Fourth Crusade,
she received more than half of the Eastern Roman Empire. Her
fleets now commanded the Adriatic, the Aegean, and the Black
Sea. She was established in the seaports of Syria and held the
trade routes between Europe and the East. She was thus raised to
the position of a European Power. For over a hundred years she
fought with Genoa for the command of the sea, until finally in
1380 the Genoese fleet, while blockading Venice itself, was
trapped in the lagoon. Genoa never recovered from the blow, and
Venice became undisputed mistress of the Mediterranean
trade.
In the fifth
century Venice expanded to the mainland in order to acquire a
food-supplying area and also to gain a duty-free outlet to
Europe for her merchandise. This led her into conflict with the
European Powers who were jealous of her growing strength and,
when in 1453 Constantinople fell to the Ottomans, Venice was
left to fight the Turks single-handed. The acquisition of Cyprus
marks the extreme limit of Venetian expansion in the Levant.
From that date she began to lose her overseas possessions. The
greatest blow to the prosperity of Venice came not from her
enemies but from the rounding of the Cape by Diaz in 1486. The
discovery of the Cape route to India diverted the stream of
trade from the Mediterranean to the Atlantic. The new route
saved the breaking of bulk between India and Europe and avoided
the dues levied by the rulers of Syria and Egypt. Trade passed
into the hands of the Portuguese, the Dutch, and the English,
and Venice lost her monopoly of trade with the East and the
revenues which accrued thereby. |
