History of Venice Podcast

062. A Place in the Sun

1205. Venice wasn’t the only mercantile vulture who was looking at the carcass of the Eastern Roman Empire and realising that if she didn’t take advantage of this mess, someone else would. And if that someone else – most likely Genoa – turned out to be more effective at seizing the opportunities, then Venice’s hopes of commercial dominance would be severely dented. The Crusade had shaken the kaleidoscope and the pieces were still in flux. These were dangerous times for everyone, even for the apparent winners.
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Intro and outro music is Primavera from Vivaldi’s Le Quattro Stagioni, used under Creative Commons licence from musopen.org

Casanova Part 9. Giacomo in Paris

1750. The dream is over. The love of his life has gone. Casanova picks up the pieces and, after a pause to reflect, heads for Paris. But in sophisticated French high society, our smooth-tongued, charming Venetian will soon find out that he’s little more than a bumbling ingénue. Will he make a name for himself, or will he continue to flounder out of his depth in the capital of European culture? 
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Intro and outro music is Estate from Vivaldi’s Le Quattro Stagioni, used under Creative Commons licence from musopen.org

Art and Culture 08. Pin Floi

It’s an unexpected change of direction for us this week. We’ll explain why in the episode. Stand by for a Venetian story of music, spectacle, and poor decision-making, as we explain what on earth “Pin Floi” is and why it's an indelible memory for anyone who was there.
You can listen to Pitura Freska’s “Pin Floi” here, with the lyrics on screen in Venetian. Sing along with the chorus when you feel confident: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dImVV5yQv9g
There’s plenty of footage of the event available online. If you can make it through the adverts, this is a two and a half minute piece that aired on the TG2 news on the day after the concert. I don’t have the space for a full translation, but the pictures tell their own story for those who don’t understand the words. The “toilet” scene that we mention at the start of the episode is right at the end of the piece:
https://www.ilgazzettino.it/video/nordest/pink_floyd_venezia_25_anni_dopo_tg_rai_raccontarono_evento_2-145557.html
 
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Intro and outro music is from Vivaldi’s Gloria, used under Creative Commons licence from musopen.org

061. Booty Call

Today we want to try to understand what kind of place Venice was as the 13th century dawned; how much it had changed in the hundred years since we last took a close look at it, back in Episode 31; and how the arrival of fresh artworks and spoils of war from the east would fuel both its own ongoing beautification and the historical narratives and myths that the city’s public appearance was aiming to promote.
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Intro and outro music is Primavera from Vivaldi’s Le Quattro Stagioni, used under Creative Commons licence from musopen.org

060. Top Doge (12th Century)

Sebastiano Ziani and Enrico Dandolo battle it out for our vote as the Top Doge of the 12th Century. Find out who we pick and tell us whether you agree.
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Intro and outro music is Primavera from Vivaldi’s Le Quattro Stagioni, used under Creative Commons licence from musopen.org

059. Did that just happen?

We're away on holiday this week, so there's no time to research and write a normal episode. So we've quickly rounded up what eventually happened to most of the characters we've been following on the Crusade story, and then had a final broad chat about what on earth just happened.
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Intro and outro music is Primavera from Vivaldi’s Le Quattro Stagioni, used under Creative Commons licence from musopen.org

058. Putting Humpty Together Again

The Crusade was over. The Crusaders had won. They had pushed Humpty Dumpty off the wall, and now they were the kings of all the broken pieces. If this had been their plan all along, then whoever was responsible for working out what came next had been asleep at the wheel. Once the celebrations of Easter Week 1204 brought an end to the initial rush of looting and vandalism, all semblance of this being a united force with a common goal vanished into the springtime air like dandelion seeds in the breeze.
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Intro and outro music is Primavera from Vivaldi’s Le Quattro Stagioni, used under Creative Commons licence from musopen.org

057. The View from Constantinople

We're joined by two very special guests this week to discuss what the Fourth Crusade looks like from the perspective of Constantinople. Marco Cappelli from Storia d'Italia podcast and Robin Pierson from the History of Byzantium podcast share their fascinating and well researched perspectives.
You can find Marco's show at: https://italiastoria.com/
You can find Robin's show at: https://thehistoryofbyzantium.com/
Both are highly recommended by much more discerning sources than us, and are well worth your time and support.
You know where to find us, of course. 
Email us at histvenicepod@gmail.com, or find us on Bluesky, Facebook, and Instagram.
Intro and outro music is Primavera from Vivaldi’s Le Quattro Stagioni, used under Creative Commons licence from musopen.org