F1008 Venice and the Ottomans

This course proposes a study of Venice in early modern Europe, and its relation to the sea, in particular to the Ottoman Sublime Porte, and the Ottoman Empire that ringed the Mediterranean in the 16th and 17th centuries. It will be accompanied by on-site study of the architecture of Venice and its Levantine influences. The relationship between Venice and Constantinople / Istanbul is a rich and complex one. The two civilizations cooperated in many regards, trading, sharing artistic talents, and learning from each other. They also competed with each other in ways that often led to war. Piracy and enslavement were not unusual on both sides. Soliman the Magnificent and Francis the First of France were the two major figures around whom the politics of the period revolved, but the Venetians retained their influence from the 14th and 15th centuries, and actually occupied islands (Crete, Corfu) and built forts and trading outposts in the close vicinity of Constantinople. The course will include study of the building of maritime fleets on both sides and consider the importance of sea power in the Mediterranean world. It will also study the specific materials in which the Venetians and Ottomans traded, and the kinds of learning they shared. Some of the readings will include : Alain Grosrichard, Sultan\'s Court; Lucette Valensi, The Birth of the Despot: Venice and the Sublime Porte; Deborah Howard, The Architectural History of Venice; David Rosand, Myths of Venice: The Figuration of a State. The course will be conducted largely as a discussion group around questions circulated in advance to have guided them in their reading. Students will be expected to participate intelligently, to successfully complete a midterm and a final exam, and to write a position paper on a topic to be developed with me. They should come away from the course with an enhanced appreciation of the relevance of history, and the importance of the early modern period to an understanding of today\'s geopolitical situation around the Mediterranean.