Western Political Thinkers' Narratives On The Venetian Republic

Some of the city-states of early modern Italy are famous for their unique system of autonomous republics in the world.Among them,the Venetian Republic has attracted much attention because of its long-term stable domestic political environment and strong economic strength.Although the Venetian political system imitated the political wisdom of the ancient Romans and surpassed the achievements of the Roman,it was unique in the European medieval history and left a large amount of political legacy.This dissertation introduces the general situation of the Venetian Republic and its influence on the history of western political thought.From the 5th century to the 18th century,Venice experienced three important reforms and formed a unique political regime structure and operation mechanism.Since the 15th century,Florence and Venice jointly shaped the image of the Venetian Republic as the ideal politics of a "mixed constitution".Machiavelli was "the only non-venetian admirer" of Florence,but he also affirmed the stability and longevity of Venice in his comparison with Rome.Guichadini regards the Venetian government as the ideal development direction of Florence.Giannotti introduces the political system of Venice in detail,aiming to construct a political model for Florence by using his knowledge of the Venetian government.At the same time,the scholars of Venice also noticed this trend and began to consciously shape themselves.By describing the political system of the Venetian Republic,the historian Contarini shaped it into an ideal republic model in line with philosophical design.By arguing with the Holy See about Interdicta,Sarpi shaped Venice's image as a free country.From the 16th century to the 18th century,the Venetian republic was widely spread in Europe as a model of mixed government.In this period,the discussion on the form of political organization in Europe was inspired by the constitutional practice of Venice to a great extent.Bodin expressed his objection to Venice as a typical mixed constitution and expounded its concept of sovereignty.Harrington,the English republican thinker,drew on the experience of the Venetian regime and designed an ideal regime of separation of functions and separation of powers.After the fall of Venice in the 18th century,the question of the "Venetian myth" emerged,which also showed the real side of the perfect image of the Venetian republicThe text and historical context analysis are adopted in this dissertation,which not only focuses on the interpretation of the classical texts of the thinkers,but also pays attention to the investigation of the social and historical background of the texts.By introducing the history of the Venetian Republic,this dissertation studies different thinkers' interpretation of the Venetian government,and fills in the blank of the study of Venetian values.