page_title: History of the Republic of Venice
section_title: 17th century
hierarchical_section_title: History of the Republic of Venice / 17th century
caption_attribution_description: English: The Republic of Venice (in dark green) and neighboring states in the mid-18th century. Not shown are the Ionian Islands, which also belonged to The Most Serene Republic. he pale green territories belonged to the Papal States (eastern and central Italy) and the Republic of Genoa (in the extreme west of the map). Cropped from a map of Italy published by Homann Heirs in 1742. T
context_page_description: The Republic of Venice, traditionally known as the Most Serene Republic of Venice, was a sovereign state and maritime republic in northeastern Italy, which existed for a millennium between the 8th century and 1797.
  It was based in the lagoon communities of the historically prosperous city of Venice, and was a leading European economic and trading power during the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, the most successful of Italy's maritime republics. By the late Middle Ages, it held significant territories in the mainland of northern Italy, known as the Domini di Terraferma, along with most of the Dalmatian coast on the other side of the Adriatic Sea, and Crete and numerous small colonies around the Mediterranean Sea, together known as the Stato da Màr.
  A slow political and economic decline had begun by around 1500, and by the 18th century the city of Venice largely depended on the tourist trade, as it still does, and the Stato da Màr was largely lost.
context_section_description: In 1605 a conflict between Venice and the Holy See began with the arrest of two members of the clergy who were guilty of petty crimes, and with a law restricting the Church's right to enjoy and acquire landed property. Pope Paul V held that these provisions were contrary to canon law and demanded that they should be repealed. When this was refused, he placed Venice under an interdict. The Republic, under Doge Leonardo Donà, paid no attention to the interdict or the act of excommunication, and ordered its priests to carry out their ministry. It was supported in its decisions by the Servite monk Paolo Sarpi, a sharp polemical writer who was nominated to be the Signoria's adviser on theology and canon law in 1606. The interdict was lifted after a year, when France intervened and proposed a formula of compromise. Venice was satisfied with reaffirming the principle that no citizen was superior to the normal processes of law.
  A new war occurred in the years 1613–1617. The government of Venice wrote:
  The whole house of Austria is displeased and disgusted at the just rule of the Most Serene Republic over the Gulf, and it appears to [us] that they are disturbing Venice's peaceful jurisdiction and possession with the frequent raids of the Uzkoks.
  The Uzkoks (Italian Uscocchi) were Christian refugees from Bosnia and Turkish Dalmatia who had been enlisted by the Austrian Habsburg to defend their borders after the peace between Venice and the Ottomans following the Battle of Lepanto. They settled in Segna and lived as pirates in the Adriatic, causing concern in Venice that they would complicate relations with the Sublime Porte. When Venice acted against these Uscocchi in 1613, she found herself at odds on land with their protector, the archduke of Austria. An army was sent against Gradisca, an archduke's possession, with financial support given to the duke of Savoy, who was pinning down the Spanish army in Lombardy. The military operations on the eastern frontier were not decisive, but among the terms of the peace of 1617 the Habsburgs undertook to solve the problem of the Uzkoks, whom they moved inland.
  In 1617, whether on his own initiative, or supported by his king, the Spanish viceroy of Naples attempted to break Venetian dominance by sending a naval squadron to the Adriatic. His expedition met with mixed success, and he retired from the Adriatic. Rumours of sedition and conspiracy were meanwhile circulating in Venice, and there were disturbances between mercenaries of different nationalities enrolled for the war of Gradisca. The Spanish ambassador, the Marquis of Bedmar, was wise to the plot, if not the author of it. Informed of this by a Huguenot captain, the Ten acted promptly. Three "bravos" were hanged, and the Senate demanded the immediate recall of the Spanish ambassador.
  Tension with Spain increased in 1622, when Antonio Foscarini, a senator and ambassador to England, was accused of acting for foreign powers during his time as ambassador and of spying for Spain after his return. He was tried, acquitted of the first charge, found guilty of the second and hanged from a gallows between the columns of the Piazzetta in 1622. A few months later the Ten discovered that he had been the innocent victim of a plot. He was rehabilitated, and the news circulated around all the chancelleries of Europe.
  In 1628 Venice was involved in Italian politics for the first time in more than a century. On the death of Ferdinando I Gonzaga, duke of Mantua and Montferrat, the succession devolved upon a French prince, Charles of Gonzaga-Nevers. This changed the balance of power in northern Italy, which had until now been controlled by the Spanish through Milan. In the ensuing war, Venice was allied with France against the Habsburgs and Savoy. The Venetian army was defeated in an attempt to come to the aid of Mantua, which was under siege by German troops, and Mantua itself was savagely sacked. The peace which recognized Charles of Gonzaga-Nevers as duke of Mantua and Monferrato was made practically without Venice's participation. War brought plague 
caption: Republic of Venice in the early 18th century
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