Lesson 22, held on December 16, 2022:

Sea routes of Venetian trading in the late Middle ages. Conflicts among the cities of the mainland: unstable signorìe linked in ephemeral alliances, with ambitions on the Venetian territories. Padua and the da Carrara against Venice. Debate in the Major Council whether to acquire a buffer zone on the mainland to ensure ease of trade with the rest of Europe. Dedition of Vicenza, Brescia, Belluno; conquest of Padua, Monselice, Verona and the patriarchal fief of Aquileia. Western boundary set at the river Adda. Acquisition of the Polesine. The war of the League of Cambrai: defeated in battle on land, the Venetians engage in diplomacy to break the original League. The delaying tactics pays as one by one the enemy kings, signori and popes die, and their successors abandon the war. Mainland dominions re-established at the former boundaries. Government of the mainland through podestà and capitani, magistrates elected in Venice. Local institutions and legal systems are maintained under the control of the rectors.