"We Will Rule the Adriatic!"
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Fig 1, Gian Galeazzo Visconti, Duke of Milan
Though not Veniero’s equal in administrative maneuverings, the Milanese Duke Visconti could match him in diplomatic finesse and exceed him on the field of battle. Though the two men never met in person, they would have made a study in contrasts. Veniero’s thin frame earned him the nickname “the shadow” behind closed doors. Possessing an immense appetite for power, he nevertheless subsisted on only one plain meal a day. His furnishings were Spartan and his tastes in the arts nonexistent. Visconti, meanwhile, reveled in his nickname, “the ox.” His massive frame and oversized head prompted a visiting diplomat to remark that “It were as though some descendant of Goliath, forsaking his home in Palestine, had settled in Lombardy.” His beard frequently bore the scent of his last meal, much to the dismay of his courtesans.
It did not take long for rumors about Veniero’s planned invasion to reach Visconti. Alarmed by the Genoese-Venetian alliance, the Duke sent emissaries of his own to Liguria. His agents preyed on the old distrust between the merchant republics, winning the support of traditionalists and bribing the undecided. The Genoese Senate decided to hedge their bets by pursuing a policy of trilateral diplomacy. Veniero flew into a rage when the Genoese ambassador informed him that his country had signed a military alliance with Milan.
What followed was a race between Venice and Milan to secure allies across the Italian peninsula and southern Holy Roman Empire. Switzerland entered into a military alliance and trade compact with Venice after much badgering, flanking Milan to the north. Milanese agents thwarted the efforts of Venetian diplomats in Burgundy, and Savoy remained frustratingly indifferent to the entreaties of both parties. Turning south, Venice signed an alliance with Tuscany. Finding himself surrounded, Visconti strengthened his relations with the Emperor in Bohemia.
This last move chilled the enthusiasm of the Major Council. Even Veniero seems to have been given pause. Bohemia had a powerful army and a threatening network of alliances that could bring the might of Central Europe to bear against Venice. The Emperor’s displeasure could also dry up the lucrative trade that flowed to Venice from Germany and Bohemia. Veniero would have to maneuver carefully so as not to appear to be the aggressor. Visconti had made it known that he intended to bring Mantua into his patrimony, so Venice extended a guarantee to the small Italian state.
While the entrenched interests of Venice tended to pursue trade, the Milanese elite prided itself on its martial origins. Visconti was compelled to keep his noble retainers busy on the field of battle to prevent them from scheming at home. The Duke enacted a plan to leapfrog the Venetian cordon sanitaire while simultaneously dispatching another rival. As an added bonus, the audacious move would keep his generals occupied far from home. On a hot July day in 1400, thirteen thousand Milanese troops and condottieri crossed the Austrian border into Trento.
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Fig 2, The disciplined Milanese troops overwhelmed the Austrian defenders
War fever swept into Venice like a tide. Market demagogues stoked fears that Milan would seize Tyrol, leaving Treviso surrounded. Merchants agonized as the nearby hostilities delayed caravans across the Alps. A mob formed daily in front of the Palace, demanding an intervention.
Milanese successes on the battlefield seemed to confirm these fears. The Milanese general Pietro swept away the Austrian opposition near the border in a brilliant lightning campaign. The numerically superior Austrian army, beset by logistical problems, suffered defeat by defeat as it arrived piecemeal from the Bohemian border. The Genoese Senate sided with Sforza and sent an expedition force to southern Austria. The majority of the Austrian army was in disorganized retreat by the time the leaves turned for the season, leaving Milan and Genoa unopposed.
Several members of the Signoria shared the crowd’s enthusiasm for intervention. These hawks butted heads with Veniero and his fellow pragmatists in heated meetings throughout that autumn. There were powerful arguments for caution. Venice could field less than half the number of men Milan had on the Austrian front despite the success of the state’s recruitment drive in Greece. There was no guarantee that Austria would not come to terms with Milan soon, regardless of whether Venice joined the fight. Most ominously, the Bohemian ambassador made it clear that the Emperor viewed the conflict as a strictly “imperial” affair. Any interference from “outsiders” would be met with immediate sanction.
Veniero had enough support in the legislature and executive councils to prevent the hawks from getting their way. He nevertheless recognized that further bickering on the war issue could tear apart the coalition that kept him in power. He needed a distraction. Fortunately for the doge, the perfect opportunity to unite the Venetian factions was brewing to the southeast.
The tiny principality of Montenegro was a former possession of Venice and remained tied to the Republic by trade. The former king had struggled to hold on to power as various factions jockeyed for influence. His death left a power vacuum, as his son was more interested in hunting and drinking than in ruling. It did not take long for resentment to boil over. Peasants burned their tithes while the garrison in the capital revolted. The young king and his few supporters barricaded themselves in the palace, leaving the country to the rebels. Refugees fleeing into Venetian Albania told stories of chaos and deprivation.
Veniero seized on this issue in a speech to the public on the feast day of St Mark. Addressing those who insisted on entering the Italian War, Veniero countered:
“We float serenely on the sea while behemoths wrestle on the land. Why send our sons to die for uncertain gain on the mainland? Look not in vain to the north. Look to the east, were riches await our merchants and anarchic territories crave our benign jurisdiction. Let the Viscontis and the Habsburgs struggle over rocky wastes. We will rule the Adriatic!”
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Fig 3, The Venetian army marches on Montenegro. Few expected the city to put up much resistance.
The fickle public bought the Doge’s ploy. The tide of war fever washed out to sea as quickly as it had arrived. Greed and adventurism, both cloaked by piety, took its place in the public imagination. An expedition charged with “restoring God’s ordained order” marched from Albania to Montenegro and laid siege to the city. The Venetians, expecting a quick surrender, were surprised when the defenders rallied and rebuffed their messengers. Both sides settled down to a bloody and protracted siege.
One Montenegrin survivor, Nicholas Luksic, was so traumatized by the event that he abandoned his business and family and retired to a monastery at war’s end. He published his diary, written during the siege, years later:
“The skies are black with ravens, come to feast on the bodies of our departed neighbors. No one has had bread or proper meat in weeks. We subsist on dogs, rats, anything. I have seen children picking each other’s hair for lice, so desperate are they for any form of sustenance. We are surely far from God to have descended to the level of beasts. Rumor has it that Death himself walks the streets at night, choosing his victims. It is a measure of our suffering that this story is not related in a tone of dread, but rather one of wistfulness.”
The besieging Venetian force suffered its share of hunger and morbidity as supplies and funding were redirected into the pockets of corrupt bureaucrats. Both sides must surely have appreciated the irony that this man-made hell sat within sight of some of the Mediterranean’s most beautiful natural coastline. Luksic had good cause for his lament.
Racked by disease and totally sapped by hunger, the city surrendered in the spring of 1401. Weary citizens accepted annexation as the price of stability. Jubilant crowds greeted news of the victory in Venice, while eager merchants divided the resources of the former state. Veniero remained securely in power as his country settled down to digest its acquisition. Events on the mainland, however, threatened to upset this delicate equilibrium.
