Extract
[...] In what way does the Venetian Interdict shed light on the power and sovereignty issues between the Republic of Venice and the papacy? Introduction The links between Venice and Rome date back to 1054 (11th century) and the emancipation of the Venetian city from the Byzantine Empire in favor of religious obedience to Rome1 (Jean Marie Mayeur, Luce Pietri, André Vauchez, Marc Venard, 2001). Indeed, the city of the doges shares a long common history, perilous and tumultuous, with the papacy of Rome, marked by periods alternating between coordination, cooperation, and then rivalry or even adversity. [...]
[...] Like most Western hegemonic powers, the Republic of Venice was a thalassocratic hegemonic power until the 18th century. Its sovereignty and economic expansion rely on the power of its army on land and at sea, its commercial power through the establishment of trading posts throughout the Byzantine Empire. Engaged in military protection against successive Dalmatian, Norman, and Arab invaders, the Venetian Republic was able to obtain numerous privileges, including a wide range of political autonomy, a dominant commercial position in the empire and later outside. [...]
[...] These assets were the foundation of the stability of the Venetian city and its influential role in international diplomacy throughout the Renaissance. The power of the lagoon city is such that we can assert that from the 14th to the 17th century, the Venice of the doges is an indispensable actor at a level that they can boast of having an influence and an aura equivalent to that of the papacy of Rome. Indeed, a certain number of Venetian popes of Venetian origin were elected in Rome (Gregory XII, Eugene IV, Paul II during the Renaissance). [...]
[...] This decline is both economic and political: first, a shift in the commercial center of gravity (decline of the Mediterranean in favor of the Atlantic) occurs as early as the 16th century. This political decline then reflects on the political and diplomatic influence of the city, as there is a logical interaction between the economy, politics, and the military. In fact, the latter aspect is verified by a spatial regression of the city. Finally, only the intellectual and artistic radiation persists until the 18th century and the defeat of 1797 against the troops of General Napoleon Bonaparte. [...]
[...] Conclusion The Venetian Interdict is a unique crisis where a Catholic republic defies papal authority. This conflict heralds a gradual weakening of the papacy's power over Catholic states, paving the way for Gallican theories and future claims of European monarchies: this case fits into a broader evolution of relations between civil power and religion, foreshadowing later conflicts between states and the papacy (e.g. Gallicanism in France, Josephism in Austria). Nevertheless, it has another, deeper, and implicit aspect, the rise of a more secular management of the city's affairs and more distant from religion. [...]
