page_title: History of the Republic of Venice
section_title: League of Cambrai, Lepanto and the loss of Cyprus
hierarchical_section_title: History of the Republic of Venice / League of Cambrai, Lepanto and the loss of Cyprus
caption_attribution_description: English: This may be the drawing described by Brulliot as: deux armées rangées en bataille aussi nommée la bataille de Charles le hardi. In this case this would not represent the battle of Marignano at all, but rather one of the battles of the Burgundian wars of the 1470s, and the painting would possibly even predate Marignano by two or three years. It is possible that this drawing was made in ca. 1515 by the Maître à la Ratière with the intention of showing a Swiss battle of the Burgundian Wars, but "recent events" of the time contributed to the re-interpretation of the drawing as showing the battle of Marignano from an early time (?)
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 1499 Venice allied with Louis XII of France against Milan, gaining Cremona. In the same year the Ottoman sultan moved to attack Lepanto by land and sent a large fleet to support the offensive by sea. Antonio Grimani, more a businessman and diplomat than a sailor, was defeated in the sea Battle of Zonchio in 1499. The Turks once again sacked Friuli. Preferring peace to total war against the Turks, Venice surrendered the bases of Lepanto, Modon and Coron.
  Venice became rich on trade, but the guilds in Venice also produced superior silks, brocades, goldsmith jewelry and articles, armour and glass in the form of beads and eyeglasses.  However, Venice's attention was diverted from its usual trade and maritime position by the delicate situation in Romagna, then one of the richest lands in Italy.  Romagna was nominally part of the Papal States but effectively divided into a series of small lordships that were difficult for Rome's troops to control. Eager to take some of Venice's lands, all neighbouring powers joined in the League of Cambrai in 1508, under the leadership of Pope Julius II. The pope wanted Romagna, emperor Maximilian I Friuli and Veneto, Spain the Apulian ports, the king of France Cremona, the king of Hungary Dalmatia, and each of the others some part. The offensive against the huge army enlisted by Venice was launched from France. On 14 May 1509 Venice was crushingly defeated at the Battle of Agnadello, in the Ghiara d'Adda, marking one of the most delicate points of Venetian history. French and Imperial troops were occupying Veneto, but Venice managed to extricate itself through diplomatic efforts. The Apulian ports were ceded in order to come to terms with Spain, and Pope Julius II soon recognized the danger brought by the eventual destruction of Venice (then the only Italian power able to face large states like France or Ottoman Turkey). The citizens of the mainland rose to the cry of "Marco, Marco", and Andrea Gritti recaptured Padua in July 1509, successfully defending it against the besieging Imperial troops. Spain and the pope broke off their alliance with France, and Venice also regained Brescia and Verona from France. After seven years of ruinous war, the Serenissima regained her mainland dominions up to the Adda. Although the defeat had turned into a victory, the events of 1509 marked the end of the Venetian expansion.
  The Gasparo Contarini book De Magistratibus et Republica Venetorum (1544) illustrates the unique system of government in Venice and extols its various institutions. It also shows the astonishment of foreigners at the independence of Venice and its resistance to Italy's loss of freedom – and at it having emerged unscathed from the war against the League of Cambrai. Contarini suggested that the secret of Venice's greatness lay in the co-existence of the three types of government identified by Aristotle: monarchy, oligarchy, and democracy. In the opinion of Contarini, the Maggior Consiglio was the democratic part, the Senate and the Council of Ten were the oligarchy, while the doge represented monarchy. The combination of these three principles in the Venetian government came as close as possible to perfection in the mechanism of government. At the same time the patrician Marino Sanudo, a politician who had a remarkable career, and a celebrated diarist, was bemoaning the corruption resulting from the great number of poor or impoverished patricians.
  The struggle for supremacy in Italy between France and Spain was resolved in favour of the latter. Caught between the Imperial-Spanish and Turkish superpowers, the Republic adopted a skilful political strategy of quasi-neutrality in Europe, which turned into a defensive stance against the Ottomans. Venice's maritime aid was potentially useful to Spain, but not to the point of allowing it to reinforce its position in the Levant, which would increase its strength in Italy as well, where it was practically the only Italian state not subject to Spain. In the Turkish war of 1537-40, Venice was allied with the Holy Roman Emperor and King of Spain, C
caption: In 1515, the Franco-Venetian alliance decisively defeated the Holy League at the Battle of Marignano.
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