Venice Social Life: Exam
Adrea Fox & Anne McIlroy 2011
Key Knowledge
• Social Structure of Venice
• Social Map of Venice and how it reflected social identity,
wealth, gender and class relationships
• The importance of aspects of social life such as family,
marriage, dowries, charity and social legislation and
festivals to the life of the city.
Nature Of Social Relationships
• Italian city states possessed distinct social structures shaped by
their economic and political bases
• Historians have variously described these relationships as
competitive, cooperative or pragmatic, typified by economic and
political networks rather than personal ties of love and friendship.
In order to prepare for an essay on the social life of Renaissance Venice, it is
necessary to have a thorough knowledge of a number of elements of the social life
of the Republic.
Essay
Do not have a prepared essay!
Argumentative basis
Use primary and secondary evidence
both visual and literary evidence
The Suckle paintings are particularly helpful.
For example, pictures like Mansueti’s ‘Miracle at the Bridge of San Lio’; Bordone’s
‘Chess Players’ represent a society that was well ordered, united in a common
enterprise.
Mansueti: The Miracle of the
Bridge at San Lio
Bordone: The Chess Players
The Study Design identifies:
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Social Structure, Social Map, Social Identity, Wealth, Gender
Class Relationships,
and elements of social life such as:
Family, Marriage, Charity, Social Legislation & Festivals,
as the areas that students can write on in their discussion of the Social
life of the City
… and so you need to be able to show how these different elements of
the city’s life were interrelated and how they were regulated.
Political and Economic Networks
• The political networks were firmly in the hands of the patrician
oligarchy that controlled Venice.
• The economic networks grew out of the Maritime and Terraferma
Empires
Social Structures
Social Structure
• Social structures are developed in response to the needs of the
particular society.
• In Venice, the social orders, classes, were developed because of
the nature of the foundation of the Venetian state. There was no
feudal aristocracy in existence as there was with the development of
the Florentine Republic, so the Venetians created their own
governing class.
• The Serrata of 1297 marked the creation of the Patrician oligarchy
who controlled the political institutions of Venice.
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All aspects of life in Renaissance Venice were tightly regulated, to ensure
that a public unity was promoted.
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The Venetian sumptuary laws meant that sobriety and restraint were more or
less the norm in the public world of the streets, part of the Venetian idea of a
united and unified body politic. Differences were muted and tensions
absorbed into the goal of national prosperity.
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‘Not one but many separate Cities.’ Francesco Sansovino 1581
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Venice was a diverse collection of elements within a seeming unity. Each
householder shared in the city’s refinements and wealth “according to their
quality and condition”
The Social Orders
• Patricians (nobili)
• The Venetian Patriciate was unlike other noble castes who grew up
in a tradition of land ownership. Approximately 244 families had
noble status during the period from 1293 to 1379
• The Serrata ‘froze’ these families into permanent possession of their
status. The dress code for patricians is an example of this discipline
of service. In public the nobili had to wear a plain black uniform and
they had to ‘observe other sumptary laws against conspicuous
consumption’
• Despite their status the behaviour of the nobili was
regulated as was that of the other social castes.
The Cittadini
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“we are the vine and you are the branches”. Doge Loredan, speaking of the relationship
between the patricians and the cittadini.
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There were two categories of citizens: cittadini originarii, men of ancient Venetian ancestry. They
enjoyed the exclusive privilege of holding certain posts in the bureaucracy, most notably that of
grand chancellor.
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The other category included cittadini who enjoyed citizenship de intus or de intus de extra. These
were grants of citizenship made to foreigners who had taken up residence in the city and paid taxes.
Clergy and Religious
• They were distinguished from the other social groups in Venice
• While they enjoyed fewer privileges and had less independence in
Venice than they had in other cities, they were separate from all
other social groups.
• Given the importance of the life of the parish in Venice, it is
reasonable to assume that the priests had some local importance.
• For poor women the religious life was the life many were forced into
to through lack of dowry
The Popolani (Plebians)
• Romano calls them ‘the mass of Venetian residents who enjoyed
no special privileges or special legal status’
• They were not always poor; the popolani were divided into relatively
wealthy to the poor and it is difficult to distinguish between some of
the popolani and the cittadini.
• Their occupations ranged from: the skilled workers of the Arsenale,
the textile workers, skilled workers such as the glassmakers
Murano.
• The underworld of thieves, beggars and prostitutes
Social Map
• The term ‘social map’ does not really refer to geography although
geography plays a part in it, especially in a city such as Venice with
its uniqueness of location.
• The social map refers the organisation of the city; the structures
where people met, prayed, were involved in charity and recreation.
• The social map would include the neighbourhoods, the sestieri, the
campi, the parishes, the scuole,
Neighbourhood: Sestieri, Campi
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Venice was divided into 6 sestieri and Sanudo provides us with a detailed
description of the sestieri. They were established to administer government
loans but they were less important than were the gonfalone of Florence.
•
Campi were situated within these divisions around which daily life was
centred. The well of the campo supplied the water to the neighbourhood
and its bell told them the time.
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The more important division in relation to the social interaction within the
city were the parishes. Pullan argues they were the basic social unit. Lane
says that each parish was a ‘diversified but integrated community…each
with its own saint, festival, campanile, market centre and local customs’
•
The lack of space in Venice meant that the rich and the poor lived ‘cheek by
jowl’ which assisted in the integration of the different levels of the social
spectrum.
•
Parishes were an important element in the social integration that occurred.
Festivals
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Festivals were particularly important in Venice as a means of social
integration.
Lane argues they were ‘instruments of government’ reflecting the sense of
Venice as a tightly controlled social organism.
They were not only for the rich. Festivals were shared by all types of people.
Festivals provided a sense of solidarity, all joined together in a common
enjoyment.
There were a number of festivals:
Marriage of the Sea:
St Marks Feast April 26th
October 8th ‘reverence towards Saint Mark’
Corpus Christi
Festa Del Redentore
Festival of the 12 Marys 3nd Sunday in July
…and there were often large and unruly groups of foreigners came to
Venice for the celebration of these festivals.
Foreigners
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The treatment of foreign populations in Venice is another illustration of the
control the state exercised over all aspects of life.
Phillipe de Commynes observed in the 15th century ‘most of the people are
foreigners’
Priuli said ‘all the world flocked to Venice…’
Both wealthy merchants and workmen came to Venice from the outside
world.
Greeks, Germans, Turks, Albanians, Jews.
The movements of foreigners were monitored by the Capita Contratarum
Capita Sexeritorum established to control taverns and hostelries.
1329 the Council of 10 ordered that no inhabitant of Venice could receive in
his home more than 4 foreigners without having first informed the Capita
Sexeritorum
The treatment of the Jews was particularly restrictive.
There are a number of Senate decrees that demonstrate the control that the
State imposed on all foreign groups.
Social Identity
• A person’s social identity was what made them who they were. It
was the class they belonged to, the organisations they belonged to
and the place where they lived and interacted with neighbours.
• Therefore social identity is constructed from the different elements of
their lives. Which class or caste they belonged to, their wealth, their
gender, their parish and neighbourhood and their membership of the
Scuole, and the role the Festivals could play in their relationships
with other people .
Wealth
• The governing class in Venice was not necessarily the most wealthy
and there were gradations of wealth within most all social castes.
• Romano points to the disparity of wealth among the Patriciate which
could be significant, but there were also such disparities in the
wealth of the cittadini and the popolani.
• The Estimo of 1379 shows that these disparities in wealth meant the
Patriciate was not a unified group sharing common interests and
that others had a significant stake in the economic make up of the
city.
Charity: The Scuole
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These lay devotional organisations performed a number of social functions
and were a place where the different classes met and worked together
Scuola were societies grouped around the parish church.
They provided poor relief including the financing of dowries, housing and
medical care.
The Scuole Grande provided a means for the wealthy cittadini to exercise
social leadership and their meeting houses were elaborate.
The Scuole Piccole had responsibilities which involved taking care of altars in
the parish church.
• The Scuole were a mechanism for promoting social harmony.
• They provided material relief for the poor.
• They were another place where the rich and poor of Venice could
meet.
• As with all other aspects of civic life in Venice the Scuole were
regulated by the State.
The Scuole played an important role in the social cohesion of the
Republic. This social integration is suggested in the Scuole paintings of
Bellini and Carpaccio.
Attitudes to Foreigners
• Zorzi notes the perception that ‘because foreigners were not born in
Venice, they could not be trusted’
• Priuli boasts ‘Venice was open to foreigners and all could come and
go without any obstacle’
• Pietro Aretino 1527 ‘Venice opens her arms to all others shun…She
• lifts up all whom others abase.’
• Historian Gary Wills notes that Venice allowed certain foreigners to
become cittadini, giving them higher rank than the native popolani
• Wills also argues that ‘attitudes towards foreigners shifted with the
city’s fortunes
• Braudel notes that after the Black Death, Venice promised citizenship
to anyone who would settle there
Attitudes to Foreigners
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Legislation
Economic stagnation of Europe after 1315 ensured the Venetian
Government assumed an increasingly hostile attitude to foreigners
Jews
1382 Condotta (charter) was issued allowing moneylenders to work in the
city for 5 years
1387 a 10 year charter was created for Jewish moneylenders
1397 Jews were only permitted to stay in Venice for 15 days per year
1402 Restrictions were intensified when it was decided after the 15 day
period Jews could not return to the city for 4 months.
1516 Senate Decree ‘given the urgent needs of the present times…Jews
have been permitted to live in Venice
1516 Jews were to ‘go at once and dwell together …within the Geto at San
Hieronimo’
Venetian Government attitude
to Charity
• In 1529 a comprehensive Poor Law stated
• ‘Charity is without any doubt, to be considered the most important
form of good work, and it must always be practised towards our
neighbours. As it is everyone’s duty, we must look to the interests of
the poor and the health of the sick and offer food to the hungry; and
never should we fail to extend our aid and favour to those who can
earn their bread by the sweat of their brow.’
Women, Family, Dowries.
Carpaccio’s Two Venetian Courtesans
Gender, Marriage, Dowries
• Marriage and the provision of dowries served a largely pragmatic
purpose in Venetian society.
• While the primary purpose of marriage was procreation, in some
cases, alliances were formed for economic or political purposes,
making marriage a joining of two families.
• The title of nobility, or cittadini was passed on through the male
lineage.
• ‘Unable to dominate councils of government by themselves,
patrician families sought allies through marriage’
• Dowries were an essential and pragmatic element of marriage. ‘he
who takes a wife wants money’.. A woman’s dowry not only
reflected her father’s wealth but indicated her share in her father’s
patrimony.
Women
• Venetian society was patriarchal. Women’s role
was subservient to the husbands
• For most Venetian women, life was local, the life
of the Parish. Patrician wives rarely left their
homes, except to go the Church.
• Marriage and filial emancipation sometimes
occurred simultaneously
• But women also had significant domestic power
and this can be seen in the wills and also the
Republic’s laws.
• In terms of the Section C essay it is important to be able to identify
who these groups consisted of, but more importantly to be able to
show how these groups interacted and what was the result of this
interaction. .
• Therefore your discussion should be able to include some of the
following: the parish, the sestieri or the campo, the Scuole, Festivals
and marriage
2005 Exam
Question
In his description of Venice, written in 1493, Venetian
patrician Marin Sanudo observed that ‘there is no
sedition [troublemaking] from the non-nobles (popolo),
no discord among the patricians, but all work
together...’
To what extent did cooperation between classes
characterise Venetian class relationships? 20 marks
•
Examiner’s comment
• Relevance was important when answering this question; some
students ignored the phrase ‘cooperation between classes’ and
simply wrote a descriptive piece on social classes. Essays that
addressed the ways in which there was interaction between classes,
such as in scuole, in parishes, in guilds, through marriage or civic
ritual, allowed for a more complex analysis.
• The idea of cooperation between the social classes in Venice was
one that really required students to structure the essay around the
places within Venice where the social classes met or worked
together. Students could have formulated an argument around the
question of whether these relationships were cooperative, pragmatic
or competitive. The best responses showed extensive knowledge
not only of class relationships but also legislation which served to
mitigate class tensions on the civic level.
Extract: High Scoring Response
• This introduction demonstrates the ability to set up a
proposition for analysis.
The clearly delineated class structure of Venice is best
emblemised in Paris Bordone’s ‘The Chess Players’ where
‘each piece has its correct role and place’ [Fortini Brown].
The board itself is a metaphor of the well ordered society
and reflects an idyllic image of social concord. However, it
is also suggested that factionalism and lack of cooperation
were also very much evident. What we must decipher is to
what extent cooperation between classes characterised
relationships and whether harmony was the result of
goodwill intrinsic to Venetian society or simply instilled in
the people by a paternalistic and controlling ruling class
2006 Exam Question
They all walked two and two, as I said, after the Doge in perfect order. This is very different from the
practices I have witnessed at many courts, both ecclesiastical and secular, where the moment the Prince
has passed all go pell-mell* . . . without any order. In Venice, both before and behind the Doge, everyone
goes in the best order imaginable.
* hasty and disorderly
Pietro Casolo, a Milanese pilgrim who witnessed an All Saints’ Day procession in 1494, in
Edward Muir’s Civic Ritual in Renaissance Venice.
How important was social life in Renaissance Venice? Discuss with reference to two or
three aspects of Venetian social life that you have studied.
Examiners Comments
• Some students who chose to write on Venice obviously anticipated
a question that required them to discuss the importance of social
harmony and peace. The more effective answers were able to link
aspects of social life in Venice with the existence of social cohesion.
The most effective responses considered the complexity of the
different elements of social life, and the accounts were substantiated
with a wider range of primary and secondary sources. The following
is an extract from a response that scored very highly.
• Extract: High Scoring Response
The importance of social life in Renaissance Venice is reflected through
the great measures that the government undertook in order to monitor
and control the inhabitants of the city. As Marin Sanudo noted, the ‘very severe
magistracy of the Council of Ten regulated every aspect of city life from dress,
housing festivities and even the sexuality of the city’s inhabitants. However, for
a state obsessed with maintaining control, some aspects of social life such as
neighborhoods, civic ritual and participation in the Scuole played an important
role in achieving a measure of social cohesion in the city.
As historian Frederick Lane asserts ‘neighborhoods were the foundation
stone’ of Venice’s stability. ‘Constraints on living space’ (Chambers) meant
that the Venetian Patriciate could not live in isolated splendour.
Neighborhoods and parishes were ‘heterogeneous places’ (Romano) which
often saw patricians and popolani living in the same building. Due to this
‘face-to-face society’ (Chojnacki) relationships between the social castes
were of high importance, due to the function they served in creating
communal atmosphere.
2007 Exam
Question
The giudici del piovego [officials in charge of Venice’s
public facilities] spoke of the need to promote “love and
fruitful happiness between…good neighbours and dear
friends”.
Denis Romano,
Patricians and Popolani [1989]
To what extent can social relationships in Renaissance
Venice accurately be described as based on ‘love and
fruitful happiness’?
Total 20 marks
Examiner’s Comments
The essay question was handled well by most students and
it was encouraging to see that most students tried to avoid
a simple narration of elements of social life. The best
essays maintained a clear argument in response to the
question. Students needed to evaluate the motivations for
social relationships in Venice. It was also essential that
students used sufficient primary and secondary evidence to
support their argument.
Examiner’s Comments
The question demanded an evaluation of how accurately
social relationships in Venice could be described as based
on cooperation between the different social groups. It was
necessary to establish an argument and try to use the
primary and secondary sources in support of the argument.
Clearly the absence of overt class conflict needed to be
part of the discussion, but the views of historians such as
Denis Romano, who comment on the examples of conflict
within the city, could have been examined.
Extract: High Scoring Response
Bellini ‘s painting ‘The Procession in the Piazza San Marco’
depicts a typical Venetian situation. With the cittadini and
the popolani intermingling as they leave the Porta Della
Carta to the right of the painting, the patricians all about the
piazza and the Doge’s Palace, the ever present reminder of
government visible, ‘the message conveyed is clear: all are
included and consensus prevails’ [Fortini Brown]. However,
historians like Edwin Muir urge caution when assuming that
all Venetian social relationships were characterised purely
by ‘love and fruitful happiness’ choosing to contend that
social relations were, instead, characterised by the
pragmatic co-operation, that was to develop due to
government policy, and competition between the classes.
2008 Exam
Question
To what extent can neighbourhoods [sestieri] in
Renaissance Venice be described as competitive and /or
cooperative in relation to social life?
20 marks
2008 Assessment Report
The essay question asked for an evaluation of the aspects of
neighbourhood; many students appeared to find the question too
restrictive. Students were expected to provide an analysis of the nature
of the social relationships that existed in the neighbourhood and
whether these relationships were cooperative or competitive Again, this
year there were too many essays with no evidence. While some
students discussed the cooperative or competitive aspects of the social
life of the city as a whole rather than the neighbourhood, others
discussed aspects of neighbourhood without evaluating the nature of
these relationships the best essays had a clear argument and analysed
a range of primary and secondary sources.
Some students appeared to have prepared a response to a
more general question on social harmony in Venice and
struggled to adapt that material. It is important that students
do not try to prepare essay for the examination as their
answers generally lack the capacity to engage with the
particular question using a strong and clear argument. A
discussion of the social welfare activities of the parishes
and scuole in Venice would have been helpful in evaluating
the cooperative aspects of the neighbourhoods within this
society and the heterogeneity of these neighbourhoods.
The nature of the state-sponsored festivals was one aspect
that many students argued was an example of the
continued
cooperation between the different groups within this highly
ordered society. Denis Romano’s point that Venetian
society was ‘rife with conflict, strife and clashing interests’
could have been used with other primary examples of
competition like the activities of the Scuole Grande and the
regulation of foreign communities.
Extract: High Scoring Response
• Petrarch describes Venice as ‘built solidly on a foundation of civic
concord’ while Contarini asserts that Venice was free from ‘internal
sedition’ Various levels competition and cooperation, in Venice’s
sestieri and some 60 campi provided a moderate level of concord.
Romano argues that the canals of Venice ‘demarcated the city’s
borders’ and just as the city was broken into 6 sestieri which
operated as communities, the central campos and island parishes
which were found in these sestieri, in effect, acted as a series of
networks within networks. Within these campi various classes were
forced to interact and communal activities such as the bridge fights
of the Guerre de Pugni elicited cooperation within various
neighbourhoods in mutual competition against others.
2009 Exam
Question
In what ways did the Venetian Government try to enhance
civic harmony through legislation? Discuss in relation to
three different kinds of legislation. In your response you
must draw on a range of evidence and relevant historian’s
views.
20 marks
Examiner’s Comments
Many students found the essay question very difficult and
struggled to write within the terms of the question. Some
students relied on broad generalities and the evidence they
used did not really relate to the point they were making. In
order to score highly it was important to construct an
argument and support this argument with primary and
secondary sources. It was pleasing to see, however, that
some students were able to use their knowledge to address
the specific demands of this question.
The Venice essay question asked students to identify the
ways in which the Venetian Government tried to enhance
civic harmony through the use of social legislation.
Continued
The students who scored highly on this question were
those who constructed an argument in relation to the
means by which the Patriciate was able to encourage civic
harmony. However, the question demanded that students
use three types of legislation. Many students seemed to
struggle with the identification of laws; a starting point could
have been the Serrata in 1297, which defined the ruling
elite and created the social structure that remained
constant in Renaissance Venice. Other exam;oes of the
types of legislation that students could have used include
the control of Venetian institutions like the Scuole by the
Council of Ten, the regulation of the lives of foreigners, the
Poor Laws of the 16th century and the Sumptuary Laws.
Extract: High Scoring Response
The Venetian Government prided itself on ‘standing more
stable on a foundation of civil concord [Petrarch 1364] and
to enhance or even force civic harmony, it used legislation.
In 1483 Marin Sanudo acknowledged the Council of Ten is
a ‘very severe magistracy’ enforcing the idea that social
harmony resulted primarily from government enforcement
and legislation. The Serrata of 1297 was the first and most
crucial piece of legislation that truly enabled the venetian
government to maintain control of Venetian social life. With
the closed patrician class, the popolani or cittadini classes
never had any hope of gaining political office in the
Venetian government. This created a strictly stratified
society that with tight government control enabled the
Patriciate to rule Venice with stable institutions and no
serious revolt.
2010 Exam
Question
Writing in 1493 Marin Sanudo declared that the population
of Venice ‘according to a census which was made, is about
150,000 souls. There are three classes of inhabitants:
gentlemen [nobles] who govern the state and republic;
……..citizens; and artisans or the lower class’.
Marin Sanudo, ‘Praise of the city of Venice’, in David
Chambers & Brian Pullan [eds], Venice – A Documentary
History: 1450-1630, 2001, p. 6
To what extent was social identity influenced by class and
gender in Renaissance Venice?
20 marks
Examiner’s Assessment
Must have supportive evidence using both primary source
material and historiography. In order to achieve a high
score in Section C, students need to base their essay
around an argument in response to the question, and not
simply narrate all they know about social life in Venice.
There were some students who used prepared essays in
the examination and while some of these showed
impressive preparation and historiographical discussion,
they could not score highly because they ignored the
question being asked.
Extract: High Scoring Response
Students needed to make some use of the quote provided
in the question. In this essay, students should have
referred to both class and gender in terms of social identity.
This meant that students should have identified and
discussed all three classes as well as both genders. Many
students wanted to write about social harmony and the
networks that crossed class lines, and there were some
fine discussions of the networks of female patronage and
the networks of support provided by the Scuole; While
these discussions were impressive, they needed to assess
the extent to which class and gender defined what a
Venetian could do and how they were regarded. This was
the point that the essay needed to come back to.
Continued
Some of the best answers made a strong case that, at least
among men, being Venetian first and an individual of a
particular class second, was the main determinant of social
identity. Quite a few answers identified the role of maritime
and mercantile activity in cutting across class lines; for
instance, the encouragement of investment in the stat
galleys and the closeness of patricians and cittadini in
business. However, few responses paid enough attention
to the effect on social identity of having a fixed ruling class,
Who had status, privilege and responsibilities, regardless of
wealth. Some discussions of female networks forgot to
point out that gender affected social identity far more for
the patrician and cittadini than for 90% of the popolo. In the
discussions of social cohesion, there was a lack of detailed
Continued
Knowledge of the Scuole. Some referred to the use of
robes amon the Scuole Grandi but few pointed out that
activity within the Scuole Grandi was influenced by class
and wealth, although there were some fine discussions of
how the actiities of the Scuole reduced class differences
Some students gave a lot of information about the patterns
of female charity but they did not make this relevant to an
essay on social identity. Very few were aware of the
heightened emphasis on social class in the sixteenth
century, as indicated by the formal writing of the Book of
Gold and the Book of Silver, and the attempts to make
patrician men marry within the patrician class The best
features were the inclusion of more evidence, including the
use of eveidence from the lives of specific individuals, such
Extract: High Scoring Response
This response demonstrates the importance of the Serrata
in identifying social class, which is a logical place to start a
discussion of Venetian social identity. While the response
is still quite generalised, it does display knowledge of how
this event contributed to the social structure of enice and
uses some detail to support this point.
There were aspects of Venice which created social identity through
class as seen in the Serrata or ‘Lock Up’ of 1297. Known as the
‘Foundation of the eternity of this Republic’ it totally closed off the
Patrician class from that of the cittadini and the Popolani. Patricians
were given their social identity through clothing, seen in uniform black
roves with fur trim [a signo f their political abilities] while cittadini were
given ;pain untrimmed black robes. However certain privileges, specific
to each class further identified their social standing.
Medium to High Level
Response 2010
This essay made a very good point avout the factors within
Venetian society that brought the different groups together.
This was a good point to make in an essay that asked ‘to
what extent’ social identity was influenced by class and
gender.
Similarly, women established cooperative ‘horizontal and
vertical’[Crouzet Pavan] ties of kinship and affection which overcame
tendencies of social division and contributed to the relative harmony of
Venetian society. The restricted living environment of Venetian women
saw the establishment of an intimate female space, in which they knew
the most intimate details of each others lives and looked after one
another in time of hardship. ‘Venetian patrician women saw themselves
as protectors and nurturers to assist Popolani women in any way they
could’ [Romano]. Bellini’s Madonna with Donors’ is a reflection of this
sense of identity of patrician women like Madonnas, the protectors of
• It is clear that what is required is the development of an
argument as to what were the most important elements
of the social life of the city and what kind of civic life they
produced.
• Therefore simply reciting what were the elements of
social life and describing them is not sufficient. You must
evaluate them and in your evaluation assess whether
they worked to draw the Venetians together.