Legitimating Venetian Expansion: Patricians and Secretaries in the Fifteenth Century

O’Connell, Monique (2014) Legitimating Venetian Expansion: Patricians and Secretaries in the Fifteenth Century. In: Venice and the Veneto during the Renaissance: the Legacy of Benjamin Kohl. Reti Medievali E-Book (21). Firenze University Press, Firenze, pp. 71-85. ISBN 978-88-6655-663-3

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Abstract

This essay examines the intersection of patrician humanist careers with the humanist trained secretaries who staffed the Venetian chancellery in the fifteenth century. There was a small group of both patrician and non-patrician humanist authors who used their diplomatic and rhetorical skills to defend Venice’s increasingly aggressive policies of territorial expansion. Three secretaries in particular — Lorenzo de Monacis, Nicolò Sagundino, and Antonio Vinciguerra — made significant contributions to the justification and defense of Venetian foreign policy. Each of them had multiple connections with Venetian patricians who supported these policies, and taken together their careers span the fifteenth century and mark three distinct stages in the development of Venice’s empire and the accompanying narratives of justification. Their career trajectories also demonstrate the importance of demonstrable loyalty to Venice and its interests for high-level secretarial careers.

Item Type:	Book Section
Additional Information:	Nella sezione: "Government and Society in Venice".
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Middle Ages; 14th-15th century; Venice; Politics; Institutions; Culture; Terraferma; Venetian empire; Patricians; Secretaries
Subjects:	D History General and Old World > D History (General) > D111 Medieval History
Depositing User:	dr Vincenzo De Luise
Date Deposited:	13 Apr 2019 14:14
Last Modified:	01 Oct 2024 09:38
URI:	http://www.rmoa.unina.it/id/eprint/4998

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