F1202 Venice, Dalmatia, and Ragusa from the Renaissance to the Enlightenment (F1202)
Tuesday 11.00-12.30
Thursday 11.00-12.30
In this course students will study the cultural intersections of the Venetian territories on the Western and Eastern Adriatic (Dalmatia) and the Venetian Empire’s political and cultural ties to the Republic of Ragusa (Dubrovnik), from the beginning of Venetian involvement in Dalmatia (roughly in the year 1000) until the end of Venice’s sovereignty in 1797.
During the Renaissance, Dalmatian and Ragusan high culture benefited directly from the supremacy of Renaissance Venice—the noble and privileged of Dalmatia and Ragusa entrusted the Dominicans, Franciscans, and eventually the Jesuits, with the education of their sons. The latter in turn contributed significantly to Renaissance art, considered broadly, while simultaneously laying the foundation for a specifically Croatian high culture. Students will read short works by, among others, Marko Maruli? (1450-1524), considered the “father” of Croatian literature.
We will also study Venice’s relationship with Slavs beyond the coastal “urban” centers. With the waning of Ottoman rule in the Balkan peninsula (late 17th-early 18th centuries), Venice acquired territory further inland from the Adriatic coast, which included territory in the Dinaric Alps populated predominately by Orthodox Christian Slavs (the Morlacchi), whose (rural/”primitive”) customs reflected the realities of their mountainous terrain. Excerpts from Alberto Fortis’s Travels into Dalmatia (Viaggio in Dalmazia) will demonstrate the program of Venetian Enlightenment whereby the easternmost lands of the empire, and the Morlacchi, represented the case for Venice’s “civilizing” (Enlightenment) administration and influence.
Evaluation
Readings