AP World History 2012-2013
  • Unit 1
    • 1.1.3: Tools and Adaptation>
      • Case Study
      • AGMSPRITE Analysis
    • 1.3.9 & 1.3.2: New Religions & Geographies of Early Civs.>
      • Early Religions>
        • AGMSPRITE Analysis
        • Works Cited
      • The Early Civilizations>
        • Case Study
        • AGMSPRITE Analysis
        • Works Cited
    • 1.1.2: Humans and Fire>
      • 1.1.4: Economic Structures>
        • Case Study
        • AGMSPRITE Analysis
      • Case Study
      • AGMSPRITE Analysis
    • 1.3.6: Arts & Record Keeping>
      • Arts and Artisanship
      • Systems of Recordkeeping
      • Case Study: The Phoenician Alphabet
      • AGMSPRITE Analysis
    • 1.3.1-1.3.3: Early Culture & Systems of Rule>
      • Culture's Effects
      • Systems of Rule
      • Case Study: Hammurabi's Code
      • AGMSPRITE Analysis
    • 1.1-1.4 Early Human Innovation>
      • 1.1.1: Human Patterns of Migration>
        • Case Study
        • AGMSPRITE Analysis
    • 1.2.1-1.2.3: The Climate & The Neolithic Era>
      • Case Study
      • AGMSPRITE Analysis
    • 1.2.5-1.2.6: Reliable Food Sources & Innovation>
      • Case Study - The Plow
      • Works Cited
    • 1.3.1-1.3.2: Pastoralists & Early Architecture>
      • Introduction
      • Monumental Architecture And Urban Planning
      • Pastoralist Weapon Dissemination And Transportation
      • Pastoralist Tools
      • Basic
      • AGMSPRITE Analysis
      • Works Cited
  • Unit 2
    • 2.2.5-2.2.7 Social Hierarchy and Gender Roles>
      • Gender Roles>
        • Case Study
        • AGMSPRITE Analysis
      • Social Hierarchies >
        • AGMSPRITE
    • 2.2.4 Cities>
      • Trade>
        • Trade AGMSPRITE
        • Trade Case Study
      • Religious Rituals>
        • Religious Rituals AGMSPRITE
        • Religious Rituals Case Study
      • Public Administration>
        • Public Administration AGMSPRITE
        • Public Administration Case Study
    • 2.2.2 Orchestration of the Persian and S. Asian Empires>
      • Persia>
        • Imperial Administration and Legal Systems
        • Military Power
        • Trade and Economic Integration and Regulation
        • AGMSPRITE Analysis
      • South Asia>
        • Imperial Administration and Legal Systems
        • Military Power
        • Trade and Economic Integration and Regulation
        • AGMSPRITE Analysis
    • 2.2.2 Orchestration of Rome and China>
      • China>
        • Imperial Administration
        • Military Power
        • Trade and Economics
        • AGMSPRITE Analysis
      • Rome>
        • Imperial Administration
        • Military Power
        • Trade and Economics
        • AGMSPRITE Analysis
    • 2.2.1: Growth of Empires & States>
      • Case Study
      • AGMSPRITE
    • 2.1.6 Cultures Of Second Wave Civilizations>
      • Sculptures
      • Architecture
      • Literature
      • A.G.M.S.P.R.I.T.E
      • Sources
    • 2.1.1: Religions as a Bonding Force>
      • The Basic Gist
      • AGMSPRITE Analysis
      • Case Study
    • 2.1.4 Buddhism and Hinduism Impact on Gender Roles>
      • Buddhism
    • 2.1.2 The Emergence of Religions>
      • Christianity
      • Confucianism
      • Greco-Roman Philosophy
      • Daoism
      • AGMSPRITE
  • Unit 3
    • 3.1.1 Third Wave Global Trade Routes>
      • Basic Gist
      • Case Study
      • AGMSPRITE Analysis
    • 3.1.2 The Impact of trade on emerging trading cities>
      • Basic Gist
      • Case Study
      • AGMSPRITE Analysis
    • 3.1.3. Spread of Islam Through Afro-Eurasia>
      • Basic Gist
      • Case Study
      • AGMSPRITE
    • 3.1.4 Inter-Regional Travelers >
      • The Basic Gist
      • Compare and Contrast
      • AGMSPRITE Analysis
    • 3.1.5. Cultural Interactions and Art>
      • The Basic Gist
      • Cultural Traditions AGMSPRITE
      • Art AGMSPRITE
      • Literature AGMSPRITE
      • Case Study
    • 3.1.6: The Impact of Newly Spread Technologies and Scientific Knowledge>
      • Basic Gist
      • Movement of Gunpowder from East to West
      • Movement of Printing from East to West
      • AGMSPRITE Analysis
    • 3.1.7 Inter-Regional Conflicts>
      • Case Study
      • AGMSPRITE Analysis
  • Unit 4
    • 4.1.1. - Influence of Tools Upon Transoceanic Trade>
      • Basic Gist
      • Case Study
      • AGMSPRITE
    • 4.1.2: Maritime Reconnaissance>
      • Basic Gist
      • AGMSPRITE Analysis
    • 4.1.3 World Economies>
      • Basic Gist
      • AGMSPRITE analysis
      • Case Study
    • 4.1.4 The Colossal Impact of the Colombian Exchange>
      • Basic Gist
      • Case Study on Sugar
      • AGMSPRITE Analysis of the East
      • AGMSPRITE Analysis of the West
    • 4.1.5 Government and the Arts>
      • Case Study
      • AGMSPRITE
    • 4.2.3 Forced Migration of Africans Cause and Effect>
      • Basic Gist
      • Causes of the forced migration of Africans
      • Effects/Developments of the forced migration of Africans
      • AGMSPRITE Analysis
    • 4.3.2 Impact of Technology on state consolidation and imperial expansion>
      • Basic Gist
      • Case Study
      • AGMSPRITE
  • Unit 5
    • 5.3.1 US and Latin American Revolutions >
      • Basic Gist
      • Case Study
      • AGMSPRITE
    • 5.3.2b Hatian Revolution>
      • Basic Gist
      • AGMSPRITE
    • 5.3.2a: Causes and Effects of French Revolution>
      • Causes of the French Revolution
      • Effects of the French Revolution
      • AGMSPRITE
    • 5.3.2c Causes and Effects of the Mexican Revolution>
      • Basic Gist
      • Causes of the Mexican Revolution
      • Effects of the Mexican Revolution
      • AGMSPRITE Analysis
    • 5.3.3: The Winds of Change>
      • Case Study
      • The Conception of Nation-States
      • Nationalism on the Rise
      • AGMSPRITE Analysis
    • 5.3.4 Nationalism and Democracy >
      • Case Study
      • AGMSPRITE
      • 5.3.5 Enlightenment and European Despots>
        • Basic Gist
  • Unit 6
    • War and Peace in a Global Context>
      • Big Gist>
        • WWI vs WWII
      • Case Study
      • AGMSPRITE
    • Changing Economics>
      • Basic Gist
      • AGMSPRITE
      • Case Study
      • Case Study
      • AGMSPRITE
    • Demographic and Environmental Changes>
      • Basic Gist
      • Case Study
      • AGMSPRITE Analysis
    • 20th Century Globalization>
      • Basic Gist
      • Case Study
      • AGMSPRITE
    • Effects of Revolutions on Women>
      • Basic Gist
      • Case Study
      • AGMSPRITE
    • New Patterns of Nationalism >
      • Basic Gist
      • Independence of Vietnam Case Study
      • Effects of Communism Case Study
      • Chinese and Russian Revolutions
      • AGMSPRITE
    • Globalization of Science, technology and culture. >
      • Basic Gist
      • Case Study
      • AGMSPRITE
Home Page
Basic Gist
Case Study
AGMSPRITE Analysis
3.1.2 Elodie Chidiac,Jessalyn Nelson, Karen Angeles, Jazmin Haque, Helene Fertal

Case Study

By Karen Angeles

A Brief History of Venice

The city of Venice in present-day northeast Italy was a major trading power during the Middle Ages, spanning from about the 5th to the 15th century. Venice’s small fishing population increased during the 5th century C.E. after Germanic tribes invaded the Western Roman Empire and refugees fled towards the south.  The ruler of the Byzantine Empire appointed an official to rule over the then town of Venice and the islands around it.

In 809, the Venetian doge, or leader, made an alliance with Pepin, the son of Charlemagne and ruler of the Holy Roman Empire. In order to not anger the Byzantines who ruled over the Islands near Venice, the Franks and the Byzantines agreed that Venice would not be annexed into the Carolingian empire. This agreement combined with Venice’s location between the Mediterranean Sea, allowed Venice to become the wealthy and powerful “middle man” of the East and the West.

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A busy Venetian sea port.

Venice as a Trading Power

Starting 1200, Venice established trading agreements between China, Egypt, and Syria. Over the next centuries, Venice’s wealth and prestige increased as it traded with the Islamic world and the Byzantine Empire. Venice’s power increased when Byzantine emperor granted the Venetians the right to use 23 of its most important ports without fees or tolls in return for naval aid in their conflict against the Normans. 

With the start of the first crusade in the 11th century, new routes for commerce opened. The recovery of the Holy Lands and Jerusalem from Muslim hands increased the amount of Christian knights and peasants traveling eastern of the Mediterranean. Venice, being in such an important geographical location and having the means to provide transport, provided the goods and services the travelers needed. This increase in the importance of Venice created feelings of deep resentment in Genoa and Pisa, Venice’s neighbors and trading competitors. Venice’s conflict with Genoa escalated to the point of war, and in the Battle of Chioggia in 1380, the Genoese had to sing an agreement that would reduce their ability to trade. With Genoa out of their way, Venice became one of the most important and wealthy commerce and trading power in the Mediterranean.

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Map depicting Byzantine, Roman, and Muslim lands, as well as the close location of Venice, Pisa, and Genoa.

The Importance of Trade

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Pope Innocent III
In this document, Pope Innocent III decided to allow the Venetians to engage in trade and commerce with the Saracens, or Muslims. Even if the Muslims were the enemies of the Church, the Pope was willing to allow trade because of the knowledge that Venice was key to the economy of the empire because of its location as a trading center. This shows that the importance and power of Venice was so great that even the Pope himself would consent to trade with the enemies of the Church, as long as the Venetians did not supply them with the materials of weapon-making.

The Spread of Disease: The Black Death

When merchants, artisans, and travelers arrived in Venice, they not only brought with them goods and knowledge, they also brought disease. The permission Venice obtained from the Pope to legally trade with the Islamic world opened the doors to the plague that decimated one-third of Europe's population. The Tartars had attempted to take the city of Kaffa in present day Ukraine, but when they succumbed to the plague, they hurled the bodies of their dead into the city in a last attempt to take the Christian city. On January of 1348, as the surviving merchants of Kaffa sailed home to Venice, they brought the bubonic plague with them.
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The spread of the Black Death from Europe from the Middle East.
Venice’s economy was devastated by the plague. Venetian officials had to hold incoming ships for 40 days until they were sure that no one aboard was infected, which greatly reduced the amount of goods that passed through the city. Travelers and merchants were scared of passing through Venice for fear they may become infected. Also, many merchants, artisans, peasants and wealthy elite fell ill with the plague, and were no longer able to produce as many goods or services.


Economic Innovations

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This document is a colleganza between Zaccaria Stagnario and Giovanni Agadi, written in August 1199. A colleganza was a short-term partnership which allowed any Venetian of little wealth to participate in trade. The “investor,” or sedentary merchant, gave the travelling merchant, who was usually a poor merchant, goods to trade in an overseas destination. Since the sedimentary merchant provided most of the capital, he decided how the profits were divided. The investor would usually keep 75% of the profit while the travelling merchant would receive the other 25%.

 This innovation was very important to the development of Venice and the creation of its wealth because it encouraged those with little wealth to enter into a colleganza partnership. Through the colleganza, the poor merchants had the opportunity to achieve socioeconomic mobility  if they succeeded.



Works Cited

"History of Venice." History World. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Dec. 2012.

Puga, Diego. Center for Economic Political Research. CEPR, n.d. Web. 18 Dec. 2012.

"Venice." About.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Dec. 2012.

"Venice." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 20 Dec. 2012. Web. 21 Dec. 2012.

"Western Civilization." Medieval Civilization: Venetian Rise and Decline. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Dec. 2012.




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