History of Venice Podcast

021. Campo San Barnaba

A slighty different episode this week, as we do an outside broadcast from Venice. We look at the sights and sounds of Campo San Barnaba, in Dorsoduro. Like almost anywhere in Venice, you don't have to look very far beneath the surface to discover a rich tapestry of historical stories.
To find Campo San Barnaba when you're in Venice, take the Vaporetto No. 1 to Ca Rezzonico, then walk one minute down the Calle del Traghetto.
To see whereabouts it is relative to other sights, try this link on Google Maps: https://maps.app.goo.gl/8obEPfETxZzuTz2k6
For more information, look for History of Venice Podcast on Facebook, Instagram, and Bluesky.
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Art03. The Crocodile Slayer

St Theodore, or Tòdaro, stands on a crocodile-dragon at the top of one of the two huge columns on the picture-postcard San Marco waterfront. He’s usually described as the original patron saint of Venice, before the arrival of St Mark. But what’s the story behind the man himself, his very unusual statue, and his connection with a city that he never went anywhere near in life? This week we investigate the crocodile-slaying saint.
https://histvenicepod.podbean.com/
All music used under Creative Commons licence from musopen.org

020. The Republic Strikes Back

After last week's adventures with Patriarch Poppo, we go back to look at what was happening inside Venice. Neither a fully fledged hereditary state nor a recognisable Republic, the city's future political structures could go in either direction. But as internal divisions abound and external pressures multiply, the city emerges from the crucible of the 1020s with a clearer view of her future political direction, and the stage is set for the trailblazing Republic that she will become.
https://histvenicepod.podbean.com/
All music used under Creative Commons licence from musopen.org

019. The Trouble with the Patriarchy

Venice was moving confidently into the new millennium when we last checked in on her. But with a powerful and resurgent Holy Roman Empire on her doorstep, danger lurks around every corner. When the ambitious and amusingly named Patriarch Poppo turns up just across the border in Friuli, the city's ongoing independence hangs by a thread, as the unresolved conflict between the rival Archbishoprics of Aquileia and Grado descends into murder, rape, and pillage.
https://histvenicepod.podbean.com/
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Casanova Part 3. Teenage kicks

Casanova's reputation is often more of a hindrance than a help in understanding the character of the man himself. In the third part of our series marking the 300th anniversary of the birth of Venice's most notorious son, we look at his formative teenage years. Giacomo is back in his home city, with minimal parental supervision. The highs and lows of his experiences, and the habits and attitudes that he picks up from the people he interacts with, will be crucial influences on the adult that he later becomes. 
https://histvenicepod.podbean.com/
All music is used under Creative Commons licence from musopen.org

018. City of Millennials

We've reached the year 1000 in our story, so it's time to take a breath and think about what sort of society Venice is right now. The traces of the city's future stone-and-marble elegance are there, but it's a very different place from the Venice that we know and love today. What were their houses like? Where did their food and drinking water come from? And why did they keep bringing holy relics back home with them from their travels?
https://histvenicepod.podbean.com/
All music used under Creative Commons licence from musopen.org

017. Top Doge (10th Century)

We reached the first millennium in the last episode, and that means that it's time to look back at the Doges of the past 100 years and think about how we rate them. We've got three guys with the same name; four guys who leave office to become monks (including one actual Saint), and an extremely valuable Golden Bull. Who will come out as our favourite? Will it be Inferno Doge? Pirate-slaying Doge? Nothing-to-see-here Doge? Or one of the many Monk Doges? Tune in and find out.
Visit our website at https://histvenicepod.podbean.com/
Our recommended companion listening this week is the History of the Germans podcast: https://historyofthegermans.com/
All music is used under Creative Commons licence from musopen.org

016. Marriage to the Sea

As the new millennium dawns, the Venetians take a decisive step that will be commemorated for the next 800 years in the increasingly elaborate and spectacular Marriage to the Sea ceremony. The episode also paves the way for the city to become the recognised Queen of the Adriatic -- a waterway that she would dominate so completely that foreign mapmakers referred to it as the “Gulf of Venice”. And the Venetians didn’t have to throw tantrums or hissy fits to force anyone to use that name.
https://histvenicepod.podbean.com/
All music is used under Creative Commons licence from musopen.org