1. Venice Social Life: Exam Adrea Fox & Anne McIlroy 2011

2. 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.

3. 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.

4. 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.

5. Mansueti: The Miracle of the Bridge at San Lio

6. Bordone: The Chess Players

7. The Study Design identifies: 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.

8. 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

9. Social Structures

10. 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.

11. All aspects of life in Renaissance Venice were tightly regulated, to ensure that a public unity was promoted. 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. ‘Not one but many separate Cities.’ Francesco Sansovino 1581 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”

12. 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.

13. The Cittadini “we are the vine and you are the branches”. Doge Loredan, speaking of the relationship between the patricians and the cittadini. 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. 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.

14. 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

15. 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

16. 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,

17. Neighbourhood: Sestieri, Campi 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. 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.

18. Festivals 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 26 th October 8 th ‘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.

19. Foreigners 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 15 th 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.

20. 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.

21. 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.

22. Charity: The Scuole 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.

23. 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.

24. 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

25. Attitudes to Foreigners 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’

26. 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.’

27. Women, Family, Dowries. Carpaccio’s Two Venetian Courtesans

28. 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.

29. 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.

30. 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

31. 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 2005 Exam

32. 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.

33. 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

34. 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. 2006 Exam Question

35. 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.

36. 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.

37. 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

38. 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

39. 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.

40. 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.

41. 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

42. 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.

43. 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

44. 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. continued

45. 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.

46. 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

47. 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.

48. 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 16 th century and the Sumptuary Laws.

49. 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.

50. 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

51. 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.

52. 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.

53. 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

54. 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 as Tommaso Rangone, Clara Morosini and Vicenzo Catena.

55. E xtract: 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.

56. 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 humanity.

57. 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.