Podcast: Venetian Stories
A podcast of Venetian Stories — episodes from the History of Venice from the time of Augustus until today.
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Episode 18 — Venice and the plague – part 2
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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Episode 17 — Venice and the plague – part 1
The plague arrived in Venice in 1348, but what is the plague, and how did our ancestors understand it?
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Episode 16 — The game of Pallone
Proper ball games for decent people? Not all ball games are equal; some are more equal than others.
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Episode 15 — The game of Calcio
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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Episode 14 — The War of the Castle of Love
How a fun game of knightly courtship turned into bloody war, and, last but not least, white chicken.
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Episode 13 — Nobles and Citizens
Noble, citizen, commoner, forestier, Jew, and what not. All people were absolutely not equal in the Republic of Venice.
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Episode 12 — Some institutions of the Republic of Venice
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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Episode 11 — Bianca Cappello, part 2
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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Episode 10 — Bianca Cappello, part 1
In 1563, a young Venetian noblewoman eloped with her lover, never to come back to Venice again. She went on to have an eventful, and highly unusual life, in Florence.
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Podcast update 2025-05-21
What’s next for the Venetian Stories podcast, and spanners, plenty of spanners.