Amazon.com: Venice: A History eBook : Davis, John: Kindle Store
Today's happy hour book...
Today's happy hour book...
“Any grievances a Venetian noble of the sixteenth century
might have had concerning the limitations placed upon his personal freedom by
the state were more than offset by the security and satisfaction he derived
from being a part of the ruling class.
But what about the worker, the craftsman, the clerk - the 99 percent of the population who had no say in public affairs?
Why didn’t these disenfranchised classes revolt against the aristocratic oligarchy?
The answer to this question is simple, for although the lot of the lower and middle classes in sixteenth-century Venice was meager by our standards, it was the most favorable in Europe by the standards of the times.
Venetian workers were the most highly paid in Europe, and they enjoyed steady employment.
The government saw to it they had plenty of holidays, many more than the aristocrats, and it allowed them to take part in the great pageants and ceremonies of state, thus giving them a feeling of participation in the affairs of the republic.
Furthermore, the Council of Ten kept the prices of food and wine sufficiently low that workers could eat well without straining their budgets.
Most master craftsmen owned their own homes.
Other workers rented apartments in tenements along the secondary canals.
Thus, even though the Venetian worker did not have a say in public affairs, he knew he was better off than laborers elsewhere.
Every Venetian male was required to serve a term in the navy or merchant marine - an experience that gave him a chance to see how the working classes lived in Alexandria, Constantinople, Smyrna, Tunis, and elsewhere.
When the young mariner returned to Venice, he told relatives and friends about the lives of people in Egypt or on the Black Sea, and they all rejoiced they were Venetians.”
But what about the worker, the craftsman, the clerk - the 99 percent of the population who had no say in public affairs?
Why didn’t these disenfranchised classes revolt against the aristocratic oligarchy?
The answer to this question is simple, for although the lot of the lower and middle classes in sixteenth-century Venice was meager by our standards, it was the most favorable in Europe by the standards of the times.
Venetian workers were the most highly paid in Europe, and they enjoyed steady employment.
The government saw to it they had plenty of holidays, many more than the aristocrats, and it allowed them to take part in the great pageants and ceremonies of state, thus giving them a feeling of participation in the affairs of the republic.
Furthermore, the Council of Ten kept the prices of food and wine sufficiently low that workers could eat well without straining their budgets.
Most master craftsmen owned their own homes.
Other workers rented apartments in tenements along the secondary canals.
Thus, even though the Venetian worker did not have a say in public affairs, he knew he was better off than laborers elsewhere.
Every Venetian male was required to serve a term in the navy or merchant marine - an experience that gave him a chance to see how the working classes lived in Alexandria, Constantinople, Smyrna, Tunis, and elsewhere.
When the young mariner returned to Venice, he told relatives and friends about the lives of people in Egypt or on the Black Sea, and they all rejoiced they were Venetians.”
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