Venetian Stories podcast

Tag: 1500s

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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2 July 2025
Daughter of the Republic

Bianca Cappello was created “daughter of the Republic” because Venice didn’t have princesses.
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25 June 2025
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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18 June 2025
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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4 June 2025
Episode 7 — Changing geography

The 1400s and 1500s were centuries of enormous change for Venice, and for the rest of the world. The changing geography moved Venice from a central position in European trade to the margins.
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9 April 2025
A Catalogue of Courtesans

The famous courtesans of Venice were so famous somebody made a catalogue, with prices.
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29 January 2025
However, we’ll make another

In the late Venetian republic, when the doge died, they held the funeral for a statue.
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20 April 2024
The Venetian constitution

The constitution of the Republic of Venice never really existed. The Venetian nobility just made it up as they went.
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9 April 2024
Fornicators of Nuns

“Fornicators of Nuns” were criminals in ancient Venice, and harshly punished, but that didn’t stop nuns from having lovers.
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12 March 2024