Military history of the Republic of Venice
Venice first became a major military power in the 13th century during the Fourth Crusade, where Venetian troops participated in the successful siege and conquest of Constantinople, gaining vast territories and other war spoils.
The Republic of Venice was finally drawn into European warfare with Napoleon's invasion of Italy; unable to resist his armies, she was forced to surrender and become a French tributary state.
In 804, an agreement to cede sovereignty of parts of Venice was made between the exiled Patriarch of Grado, Fortunatus, and Doge Obelerio Degli Antenori.
By 810, with the Doge's political power weakening, Charlemagne's son King Pepin of Italy had militarily intervened in the Republic in response, seeking to occupy the city.
Pepin's army, which set out from Ravenna in 810, succeeded in putting down opposing forces in Chioggia and Pellestrina, but faced heavy resistance near the Malamocco channel, particularly around the presently named Lido di Venezia island.
Constantine VII, the fourth Emperor of the Macedonian dynasty of the Byzantine Empire, described in his historical treatise De Administrando Imperio (written in the 10th century) the failed attempts of Pippin to siege Malamocco on Lido:The Venetians would man their ships and take up position behind the spars they had laid down, and king Pippin would take up position with his army along the shore.
[3] By 12 April, forces from Venetian assault ships, blown ashore by strong winds, had taken control of a Byzantine tower near the Golden Horn.
[6] The ensuing year-long blockade was partially broken by a later Genoese naval counter-attack in June 1258, with Philip of Montfort assisting Genoa with his forces.
The first half of 1263 saw a 32-ship strong Venetian naval force defeat a fleet of 48 Genoese ships near the Greek island Spetses, in what is known as the Battle of Settepozzi.
It was only the conquest of the Stato de tera, rapidly developed at the beginning of the century, that generated the need for the Venetian State to equip itself with a land army.
If, on the one hand, maritime power and complete control of the lagoons guaranteed security against possible coups d'état, on the other hand, entrusting the control of a mercenary army to the members of the Venetian patriciate, as well as not giving guarantees of ability in land warfare, could have created concentrations of power extremely dangerous for the political equilibrium of the Republic.
He then succeeded him as Captain General Galeazzo Cattaneo de Grumello, under whose leadership the city of Padua was finally conquered, putting an end to the lordship of the Carraresi.
In 1425 the Republic appointed Captain General Francesco Bussone, called the Carmagnola, in the war against the Visconti, which ended with victory at the Battle of Maclodio and the peace of 1428.
Venice, for its part, rose from the defeat first supporting Sforza himself in an attempt to gain control of Milan, then abandoning him abruptly to sign peace with the Ambrosian Republic.
The conflict dragged on until 1453, when a treaty with the new Duke of Milan restored the borders to the pre-conflict conditions.From 1448 to 1451, Venice still availed itself of the service of the Colleoni, who, after several times having served the Republic and now the Sforza, in 1453 was appointed head of the armies of the Serenissima.
On 16 May 1483, faced with the defection of the papal allies, Venice also hired the Duke Renato di Lorena, while appointing Antonio Giustinian Captain General in Po, soon captured, however, by the Ferraresi.
The fall of Rovereto pushed Venice to dismiss da Camerino, calling Roberto Sanseverino, accompanied by his son Antonio, back into service.
Despite the reconquest of Rovereto, the defeat on 10 August at the castle of Petra caused a retreat that cost the life of the Captain General himself during the crossing of the Adige River.
[12] After formally gaining control of Crete in 1204 following the success of the Fourth Crusade, Venice administered the island from 1212 onwards as the Kingdom of Candia, with resistance by the local population occurring frequently in subsequent decades.
[13] Distracted and weakened by the ongoing Thirty Years War, European states rejected Venetian pleas for assistance as Ottoman advances on cities such as Rethymno quickened in October 1646.
Candia's siege, an Ottoman attempt to capture the island's capital, lasted another 22 years, constituting a major part of the remaining land warfare of the conflict.
