Economic+Status

= Economic Status in the 16th Century    = =     =   
 *   **Venice had been the largest trading power in the world**
 *   Venice was the first trading power, and the strongest
 *   In the fifteenth and early sixteenth century, Venice completely monopolized the trade industry
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">  <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Used Crusades as a tool to increase wealth more by attacking rivals in Constantinople (World66.com)

Sixteenth Century Constantinople (www.hort.purdue.edu)

>     <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">   <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"> Sixteenth Century Ship (history.wisc.edu)
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">  <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">**In the 16th century, the republic was experiencing an economic crisis**
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">The Eastern market was lost
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">  <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">The discovery of new lands in the West and new trade routes to the East released Europe from dependence on Venetian merchants
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">  <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Venice lost their valuable spice monopoly when Portugal arrived in the Indies
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Venice ceased to be a Mediterranean power
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">  <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">As a European power, it lacked the advantage that the Atlantic countries had of direct access to the New World
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">  <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Venetian policy in the 16th century was dictated by the need to keep intact its political, economic, and territorial heritage against the advance of the Turks on the one side and the pressure of the great western European powers on the other
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">  <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">**The landscape of Venice was<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"> a product of its economic activities **
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">  <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">The enduring foundation of Venetian wealth was maritime commerce
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">  <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Local products such as fish and salt from the lagoon
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">   <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">The Rialto remains the core of Venetian commercial and mercantile activity
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Venetian trade required well-constructed vessels both for transport and for protection from pirates, rivals, and Turkish military forces
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">  <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">**Shipbuilding inevitably became a major industry**
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">It occupied a whole sector in the northeast of the city, the <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Arsenal—a vast assemblage of basins, yards, and workshops
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">At its entrance is an elaborately decorated gateway with a fine group of stone lions guarding what was until the 18th century Europe’s largest industrial complex
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">  <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Parts of the Arsenal are still used for Italian military purposes, though other parts have been converted into beautiful spaces for art and architecture exhibitions or for theatrical productions (Encyclopedia Britannica)
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">  <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">**After loss of political power, Venice focused on the arts**

Venetian Architecture (photographers-scotland.com)

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">  <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">  <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Venice became a tourist attraction
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">  <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Became one of the most important musical centers in Europe
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">  <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Exported fine silks
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">  <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Developed Venetian glass--high quality glass in a unique range of colors, highly sought after
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">  <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Became center for painting and architecture
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">  <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Venetian government removed ban on theatrical performances, which, in turn, encouraged growth of theater elsewhere in Europe (World66.com)

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"> <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"> <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"> <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">