Commercial policy of the Italian republics.
The stern, selfish policy of the Venetian republic
and its conflicting measures of protection and of
freedom are to this day marvels of success. During
many centuries a small isolated community held their
own amid the revolutions of surrounding nations, and
maintained their high position till the discovery of
the route to India by the Cape of Good Hope gave
the first serious blow to their commercial supremacy.
Venice, however, in her rise and progress had some
powerful competitors, and, of these, the Genoese were
the most conspicuous.
Genoa.
A.D. 1206.
Situated on the western, or opposite shore of
Italy to Venice, the Genoese had long beheld with
envy the superior wealth and power of Venice, and
had resolved, if possible, to acquire such strength
as would enable them to compete at sea with the
Venetians whenever a favourable opportunity might
arise for the trial of their strength. Hence, Genoa
was early alive to the importance of securing a fleet
which would be at least sufficient to protect her own
distant trade. Indeed, before Venice rose to great
power, Genoa had had commercial establishments in
the Levant, with factories along the coasts of Asia
and Africa, requiring from their great importance a
protecting fleet. Cruisers, under Venetian colours,
too frequently molested her traders with those settlements.
But the Genoese had also their marauders;
and, strange to say, the hostilities between the rival
republics commenced with the capture of a celebrated
Genoese pirate who had for a considerable space
of time infested the Mediterranean. The attack
and defeat of the first regular fleet of the Genoese
quickly followed, and the island of Candia (Crete)
