Response #3

Jeannette Martin

Making the Mediterranean

Response #3

When ever I heard the term ‘melting pot’ I always assumed it was only used to describe the United States, however, after doing the readings and listening to the lectures I realized that Venice was also a melting pot. Previously, we had learned about the exchange between Europe and the Ottoman Empire and how each side adopted many aspects of the other’s culture and integrated it to their own. This exchange influenced the identities of the people who migrated between the east and the west. It was interesting to learn that those who left Europe for the Ottoman Empire adopted Islam during the time they lived there, but would revert to Christianity when they returned to Europe. Some merchants even had wives in both places. I always believed people during the 15th and 16th century were very religious and spiritual and were completely devoted to their religion. I had no idea it was a common practice for people to switch religions for the sole purpose of business.

Interestingly enough, during this time of exchange many Venetians would runaway to Constantinople to escape a life they did not want whether it be a marriage they were unhappy with or debts they could not pay (Safiye’s Household and Venetian Diplomacy). Those who moved to the Ottoman Empire had the opportunity to obtain high ranking positions in the government, however, the same could not be said for someone who left the Ottoman Empire and moved to Venice (Venice and the Islamic World). Those who remained in Venice and acquired a reasonable amount of wealth found several ways to flaunt it. They had lavish feasts with an obscene amount of food. Venetians’s were able to accumulate so much wealth because they were exempt  from paying taxes. Their trade agreements with Constantinople and Genoa really benefited them. All those who were extremely wealthy also began to have extravagant villas and homes built around the city. Those who were not wealthy were pushed out of the city. At this point, Venice belonged to the wealthy.  Although all three of them were very powerful and benefited from trade, Venice was the most powerful and this became evident when the Ottoman Empire fell apart and Venice continued to thrive (Venice and the Islamic World). Despite that, the Ottomans left their mark in Venice. They influenced the city’s architecture (Venice and the Islamic World). I have not been to Venice yet, but I do remember looking at pictures as seeing domes that were characteristically eastern. Before this lecture and these readings I was unaware of the influence the Ottomans had on Venice (Venice and the Islamic World).

One thing that surprised me this week was learning about the Jewish ghettos in Venice. I knew the Jewish people faced a lot of hardship throughout the centuries, but I had no idea they were forced to live in ghettos in Venice. We also hear about he ghettos during World War II, but never during this time period. It was also very interesting to discover that the most educated women were courtesans (Write). Although it is not often mentioned in Venetian documents, courtesans enjoyed a degree of political power that most women did not. However, women of the harem were included in Ottoman history. These women had power and many ambassadors would try to acquaint themselves with them. Both groups of women were an integral part of Venice and the Ottoman Empire. Sadly for courtesans, they would be prosecuted by the church for ‘practicing’ witch craft (Write). I always thought that women who were not married or were not monogamous were treated poorly by society, but it is interesting to see that at one point in history they were celebrated and part of the lavish lifestyle.