Venice and Its Story

by Thomas Okey

The naval supremacy of Venice was essential to her existence, and one of the first acts of Falier was to collect a fleet more powerful than any that had yet left the lagoons. In the spring of 1085 the shame of defeat was wiped out by a great victory over the Normans on the scene of the former engagement. In a few months plague had quenched for ever the fiery spirit of Duke Robert, and Alexius had leisure to reward the Venetians. The Doge’s title of Duke of Dalmatia was formally recognised and that of Augustus added. Trading franchises and exemption from customs were granted in all the parts of the Eastern Empire. Lands and factories were assigned to them, a Venetian quarter was founded in Constantinople. The first grip of the young Republic was laid on the capital of the Greeks and never relaxed until she had overthrown their empire and fixed herself there—victorious and dominant.

In 1094 the new Church of St Mark was ready for formal consecration; but it was a casket void of its treasure. For since the great fire of 976 all traces of the Saint’s body had been lost and great was the affliction of Doge and people. It was decided to institute a solemn fast and procession, and to supplicate the Eternal Majesty to reveal the hidden relic. On the 25th day of June, while the procession of Doge, clergy and people was slowly pacing St Mark’s, a great light shone from a pillar near the altar of St James, and part of the masonry falling away, a hand was thrust out with a ring of gold on the middle finger and a sweet fragrance was diffused throughout the church, “nor could any draw this ring off” (says Sanudo[10]) “save Giov. Delfino, counsellor to the Doge, whose descendants a few years ago gave it to the Scuola di S. Marco. The body being found, the whole city was filled with joy and gave thanks to the eternal God for having restored so great a treasure. On the 8th of October the said church, which of old was called St Theodore, was consecrated in the name of St Mark, and in the presence alone of the Doge, the bishop, the primicerio and the procurator of St Mark, the body was placed (as it is famed) in the high altar of the said church. And Bernardo Giustiniani maketh mention in his history that he being once procurator, it was told him in great secrecy where the said body lay, and that in very truth it was in the said church.”

On the 6th of May 1811 the body was rediscovered in a marble tomb in the crypt, with a few coins, a gold ring minus its jewel; a lamina with the date October 8, 1094, and the name of Vitale Falier.

A great festival was instituted to commemorate the discovery, and the fame of the miracle drew many pilgrims to Venice, among whom was Henry IV., Emperor of the West, who combining piety with statecraft, paid his devotions to the Saint and courted the favour of the Republic, whose help, or at least neutrality, he needed in his wars with the papacy to avenge the humiliation of Canossa.[11] The Emperor was magnificently received, and after admiring the beauty of the architecture and the wonderful site of the city he left, having added many privileges to those already enjoyed by the Venetian merchants in his dominions.

In 1096 Vitale Falier died, and on Christmas day was buried in the portico of St Mark’s. The people, whom the devastation wrought by tempest, earthquake and famine[12] had made unjust, ran to the church and cast bread and wine at the tomb, cursing and saying: “Sate thee now, who in life wouldest not provide plenty for thy people.”

Towards the close of the 11th century harrowing stories of the atrocities committed by the Saracen conquerors of Palestine on Christian pilgrims, and the impassioned oratory of Peter the Hermit had fired the West with a desire to cleanse the Holy Land from the pollution of the infidel. Wave after wave of unorganised enthusiasm broke against the forces of nature and the military prowess of the Saracens, until at length the epic story of the conquest of Jerusalem by the organised Chivalry of Christendom rang through Europe. The Venetians, who aimed at something more solid than the gratification of religious emotion, looked on unmoved, until an appeal came to the maritime states of Italy to furnish transport for the crusaders and pilgrims who were flocking to the East. Doge Vitale Michieli, in 1096, called an assembly in St Mark’s. He appealed to the religious zeal of the people and dwelt on the unwisdom of permitting their rivals of Pisa and Genoa to forestall them again and increase their power in the East. Commercial interest and state policy left them no choice. A fleet was manned and after solemn mass at St Mark’s the expedition set sail, bearing the consecrated banner of the Cross, under the command of the Doge’s son Giovanni and the Bishop of Castello. But the Greek Emperor, ever fearful of the whole movement, incited the Pisans to attack the Venetians, and a fierce battle between the rival armaments at Rhodes disgraced the Christian host. The Venetians were victorious and continued their voyage. A call was made at Myra, where lay the body of St Nicholas, patron saint of mariners, which the Bishop had long coveted for the Abbey of St Nicolo on the Lido. Having learnt from his spies that the city was almost deserted, the worthy prelate proceeded to the church accompanied by some sailors, and demanded of the custodians where the body of the saint was. They replied that they knew not, and indicated an old tomb, saying that some relics were there and some had been removed, and the Bishop might have what he could find. The sailors working day and night broke open the tomb and found nought save some oil and water. Whereupon the Bishop, waxing very wroth, put the four custodians to the torture, who cried: “Wherefore dost thou afflict us, verily in the altar of St John are two bodies of saints.” The altar being opened two chests were found with inscriptions saying they contained the bodies of St Theodore the Martyr and St Nicholas the Less. The spoilers were about to depart when a sailor, by “divine inspiration,” turned back to look again at the rifled tomb, and lo, an odour of such great sweetness came forth that surely, he said, there must lie some relic of great worth. The sailors dug deeper and came upon a third chest with an inscription in Greek saying: “Here rests the great Nicholas, who wrought wonders on land and sea.” The chests were carried abroad with great devotion, and the fleet went its way to the Holy Land. The Venetians assisted in the capture of Caifa, and on St Michael’s Day returned laden with the saint’s body and much spoil. Meanwhile their interests in the West had not been neglected. For help afforded to the Countess Matilda in Ferrara the usual reward of trading privileges in that city was given.

In 1104, in the third year of the reign of Ordelafo Falier, a Doge, “young in years but old in wisdom,” came a summons from Baldwin, King of Jerusalem, for a naval contingent. A fleet of more than a hundred sail was despatched, which, after contributing to the victory of Jaffa and to the capture of Sidon, swept the sea of pirates. The Venetians exacted important concessions—a quarter of the conquered city; their own church, bakery and mill; a market-place; exemption from customs, taxes and dues; the right to use their own weights and measures; and a yearly tribute in money from the king. They were also to be subject to their own laws.

But at home evil days had fallen upon Venice. An awful tempest and inundation wrought havoc in the city. Houses and factories were levelled to the ground; the ancient capital Malamocco was engulfed in the sea. Scarcely had the unhappy citizens recovered from their terror when two disastrous fires consumed a great part of the city. Thirty churches were destroyed, and the ducal palace and St Mark’s injured. Abroad, the King of Hungary attacked their protectorate of Dalmatia, and the fleet was recalled from the East. It had done what was expected of it. A certain Friar Peter being at Constantinople heard that the body of St Stephen, the proto-martyr, was in a church there, and “found means to obtain it.” The fleet was in the harbour, and the sacred treasure put on board, not without opposition from the Greeks, who were with difficulty restrained from attacking the bearers. A great procession went forth to meet the fleet as it neared Venice, and the Doge himself transferred the holy burden on his shoulders to the ducal barge. Many churches contended for the possession of the relic, which at length was conferred on the rich Benedictine Abbey of S. Giorgio Maggiore, founded in the year 982.

The Bishop of Castello, who had been sent to Constantinople to plead for help in the reconquest of Dalmatia, was no less successful. As a token of the Emperor’s favour, he returned with the right hand of St John the Baptist in a vase. Two armaments were sent to recover Dalmatia. In 1117, when the Venetians were wavering before a fierce attack of the Hungarians outside Zara, the Doge spurred forward to hearten them. His horse stumbled on a dead body: the enemy closed on him, and he was slain—the second Doge who had met a soldier’s death.