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The Liturgy of Power. Some Aspects of the Religious Policy of Venice in Relation to the Orthodox Church in Modern Age
 
Title (other)Литургия власти. Некоторые аспекты религиозной политики Венеции в отношении православной церкви в Новое время
PIIS207987840015575-1-1
DOI10.18254/S207987840015575-1
Publication type Article
Status Published
Authors
Alexey Yastrebov 
Affiliation: Institute of Russian History RAS
Address: Russian Federation, Moscow
Journal nameISTORIYA
Edition
Abstract

This article examines the features of the relationship between the state and the Orthodox Church in the capital and overseas possessions of the Most Serene Republic in the late 16th — 17th centuries. The review of the history of State-Church relations with the Orthodox begins with the Greek community of the capital, the history of which is most documented. The very nature of the contacts of the Greeks of the city of Venice with the spiritual and secular authorities is more complete than on the periphery, obeying a certain cause-and-effect logic, from which all sides of the dialogue proceeded. On the contrary, the religious policy of Venice in the overseas colonies was varied and heterogeneous in different epochs and territories. These connections, due to a variety of factors and circumstances, seemed to be subordinated to the logic of momentary interests, for which both sides either made mutual concessions, or explicitly or implicitly dictated their terms to each other. However, as far as we can judge from the documents that have come down to us, this complex dialogue could have taken place only because its sides were united by a cultural matrix that allowed them to find a common language and pass a centuries-old joint path among the difficult circumstances of life in the Italian Middle Ages and modern Age. The mutual enrichment of cultures and spiritual traditions was not only a legacy of the Byzantine period of the history of Venice, it continued throughout the era of joint residence of Venetians and Greeks in the capital and in the overseas colonies of the Republic.

KeywordsVenice, Stato da Mar, Orthodox Church, State-Church relations, Crete, Ionian Islands, jurisdictionalism, Church of Venice
AcknowledgmentThis article is a translation of: Ястребов А. О. Литургия власти. Некоторые аспекты религиозной политики Венеции в отношении православной церкви в Новое время // Новая и Новейшая история. 2021. Вып. 1. C. 44—59 DOI: 10.31857/S013038640009578-3
Received28.01.2021
Publication date17.05.2021
Number of characters60496
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Table of contents

In the Capital
Stato Da Mar: Crete and the Ionian Islands
1 As it is known, Venice was in the field of cultural attraction of Byzantium for a long time. Both states were connected not only by common political and economic interests, but also by spiritual traditions. By the time the empire fell in 1453, the history of their relationship was approaching a millennium and did not end with the disappearance of the Romeian state1. 1. See: Zorzi A. La Repubblica del Leone. Firenze, 2019. P. 16—67. According to the documents dated 992 and 1082, Venice in that era still recognized Byzantium as its suzerain. See: Fedalto G. I veneziani tra Chiesa Greca e Chiesa Latina // Quarta crociata. Venezia, Bisanzio, Impero latino / a cura di G. Ortalli, G. Ravegnani, Р. Schreiner. Venezia, 2006. P. 293.
2 Therefore, it is not surprising that the Most Serene Republic2 has more Orthodox subjects than other European states, because in addition to the symbolic assimilation of the empire's tradition, it inherited its people, who remained within the boundaries of their ancestral lands3. The authorities pragmatically measured the attitude towards his religion by the influence of the Greek or Slavic element in the capital or in each particular overseas province. If in Dalmatia and Albania the Orthodox were a minority, and therefore their opinion was less taken into account, then on the islands of Eptanisa and in Crete the administration had to take into account the local episcopate and clergy4. 2. Most Serene Republic (it.: Serenissima) — the official title of the Republic of Venice.

3. This essay does not touch upon the period associated with the activities in the capital of the Metropolitan of Philadelphia Meletius Typald (at the see — 1685—1713). See about him: Βελούδης Ι. Ελλήνων ορθοδόξων αποικία εν Βενετία. Βενετία, 1893. Σ. 80—89.

4. Eptanisa (modern Greek Επτάνησα, “Seven islands' land”) — Greek name for the Ionian Islands of Kefalonia, Kerkyra (ven. — Corfù), Zakynthos (ven. — Zante), Lefkada (ven. — Santa Maura), Kythira (ven. — Cerigo), Ithaca, Paxos, belonging to Venice from the end of the 15th century until its fall in 1797.
3 For example, in March 1648, at the height of the war of Candia5 (1645—1669), a Venetian official on Kythira, recruiting people to be sent to the theater of military operations, faced fierce opposition from the elders. He then informs in a dispatch addressed to the Doge that the Orthodox bishop, at his request, went around house after house to all families, urging them to obey, after which all the recruits came to the assembly point6. From the above-mentioned example, it can be seen that the most important issue in relations with Christians of the Eastern Church was their loyalty during the wars of the Most Serene Republic with the Ottoman Empire, in which the Dominion lands were the battlefield, and the attitude of the local population to both sides of the conflict sometimes became decisive for the outcome of the struggle. The Cypriot (1570—1573) war and then the war of Candia (1645—1669) showed the importance of the Greek factor in the defense strategy of the state, which is why the issues of religion of the subjects were under the direct control of the central bodies of the state power. 5. Candia — Venetian name for Crete.

6. Archivio di Stato di Venezia (further: ASVe). Dispacci Rettori. Candia. Filza 21. See also: Minchella G. Frontiere aperte. Musulmani, ebrei e cristiani nella Repubblica di Venezia (XVII secolo). Roma, 2014. P. 167—168; The title “doge”, which goes back to the Latin dux, came to Venice from Byzantium. In 697, the title “doux” (δούκας) was assigned to the Byzantine military governor of the Adriatic province, subordinate to the Exarch of Ravenna, and remained until the fall of the republic.
4 The most important feature of state-confessional relations in the capital and in the overseas possessions of the republic is its differentiated approach to the Orthodox not only in different epochs, but also in different territories, where it meets with a heterogeneous social environment and traditions, such as, for example, self-government bodies or church structures. The Most Serene Republic rules certain parts of Dalmatia since 1202, the islands of Crete since 1210, Kythira since 1363, Corfu and Paxos since 1386, Euboea since 1390, Zakynthos since 1485, Cyprus since 1489, Kefalonia from 1500, Ithaca from 1503, Lefkada from 1684 and, finally, the Peloponnese from 1699, i.e., enters into its rights in different historical periods and in dissimilar conditions.
5 Thus, when drawing up a picture of the relationship between the Republic and the Eastern Church, the factors of the epoch and place of action that characterized the course of Venice in a given period should be taken into account.
6

In the Capital

 

The influx of Greek refugees was directly related to the fall of Constantinople and the collapse of the Eastern Roman Empire that preceded this process7. During this period, another important event occurred: in 1438—1439, the Council of Ferrara-Florence took place, which resulted in concluding a confessional agreement between the Greek and Latin Churches, which, as it seemed to its authors at that moment, put an end to the division of the Christian East and West that had lasted for 400 years by that time8.

 7. Greek emigrants lived in the lagoon in an earlier epoch. See: Βελούδης Ι. Op. cit. Σ. 8—13; Cecchetti B. La Repubblica di Venezia e la corte di Roma. T. I. Venezia, 1874. P. 455—457; Fedalto G. Ricerche storiche sulla posizione giuridica ed ecclesiastica dei greci a Venezia nei secoli XV e XVI, Firenze, 1967. P. 16—23.

8. Fedalto G. Op. cit. P. 7, 25.
7 The republic accepted the refugees willingly. Noble immigrants were received with due attention, they were provided with proper rights from the very beginning. In 1485 they were granted citizenship, which in itself was an important privilege. The category of citizens was not much more numerous than the circle of patricians, representing the second class of society after them, which the government relied upon9. This fact testifies, on the one hand, to the trust in the newcomers, and on the other, to their high professional level, which allowed them, after a relatively short time after their arrival, to occupy an important position in the civil hierarchy of the capital. 9. Minchella G. Op. cit. P. 97. The Senate separately stipulated that “citizenship should be granted to lawyers, doctors, pharmacists, notaries and other representatives of secular professions, as well as to priests who do not belong to the noble class”.
8 Those people who proved to be indispensable in commerce, shipbuilding, navigation and military affairs, should not be forgotten. Especially in the latter case: the majority of the horsemen of the light cavalry corps, which was the core of the land forces of the Most Serene Republic, were the so-called “stradioti” of the Greek faith — Hellenes, Albanians, and Slavs10. 10. Birtachas S. La memoria degli stradioti nella letteratura italiana del tardo Rinascimento // Tempo, spazio e memoria nella letteratura italiana. Omaggio ad Antonio Tabucchi / a cura di Z. Zografidou. Salonicco, 2012. P. 124—142.
9 Regarding the process of interaction between the parties, it is necessary to add the obvious, albeit not expressed at the beginning, awareness by the Venetians of the fact that they accept the living culture of Byzantium, thereby receiving its heritage. It will not be long before Venice, following Vissarion's title of “Second Byzantium”, will receive the title of “new Athens” from Aldus Manutius, becoming the center of classical and Romeian culture11. 11. Omont H. Inventaire des manuscrits grecs et latins donnés à Saint Marc par le cardinal Bessarion // Revue des Bibliothèques. Vol. IV. 1894. P. 139.

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