Serenissima: Medieval Coinage Of Venice

Coinweek - BETWEEN THE YEARS 1200 and 1600 a handful of feisty Italians created one of the greatest commercial and maritime empires in history. Venetians wrecked the Byzantine state, fought the Ottoman sultans to a standstill, defied a series of Popes and German emperors, and adorned their city with masterpieces of art and architecture that still leave tourists gasping in wonder. There are many explanations for their achievements, but the quality and integrity of Venice's medieval coinage was a big part of the story.

Fleeing barbarian invaders in the sixth century, refugees from the North Italian Plains found a home on marshy islands in the Venetian Lagoon, a shallow inlet of the Adriatic Sea covering some 210 square miles (550 sq/ km.) Trading in salt and fish, they owed nominal allegiance to the distant emperor in Constantinople. In 828, some Venetian merchants stole the remains of St. Mark the Evangelist from Muslim controlled Alexandria. In the medieval world, relics were widely thought to have miraculous powers, and St. Mark became patron of a thriving city that emerged on the islands in the lagoon.



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