The Venetian Stories Podcast is a podcast of stories about Venice, and in particular the History of Venice.
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It is not a chronological narrative, but a series of freestanding episodes from the two millennia of Venetian history.
Chronology is, however, the mother of all History, and she cannot be ignored. Therefore, the first few episodes are a quick-paced chronological narrative of the most important events . Listen to those episodes first, for the background.
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Episode 22 — Happy New Year
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Happy New Year, even if two months early.
Happy New Year, even if two months early.
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The well-known image of the plague doctor with the beaked mask doesn’t really have a lot of support in our sources. Did he even exist?
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The plague slowly diminished during the 1700s, even if it didn’t disappear, and Venice reorganised the Lazzaretti.
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During the 1400s, Venice had created defences against the recurring outbreaks of the plague, and they kept Venice mostly safe for the following centuries. Mostly safe.
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Without a cure for the plague, the only way forward was prevention, and during the 1400s, Venice figured out how to govern the plague.
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The plague arrived in Venice in 1348, but what is the plague, and how did our ancestors understand it?
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Proper ball games for decent people? Not all ball games are equal; some are more equal than others.
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The Venetians played a ball game (or maybe two different) which was called football, or kicking ball, but it was more rugby-ish, but also not really.
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How a fun game of knightly courtship turned into bloody war, and, last but not least, white chicken.
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Noble, citizen, commoner, forestier, Jew, and what not. All people were absolutely not equal in the Republic of Venice.
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The story of Bianca Cappello tells us something about the institutions of the Republic of Venice, the agility of its government, and of early modern diplomacy.
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Bianca Cappello had eloped to Florence with her lover, whom she soon after married. She then became the mistress of the prince regent of the Duchy of Florence. Her husband took a mistress of his own, but her family murdered him on Blanca’s doorstep. Does all that sound bad? Well, it’s getting worse.
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