Venice and the Ottoman Empire: Crash Course World History #19

Summary

In this Crash Course World History episode, John Green explores the mutually beneficial relationship between Venice and the Ottoman Empire, highlighting its impact on the European Renaissance and the voyages of Christopher Columbus. He discusses Venice's maritime trade expertise, the Ottoman's unique ruling class, and how their partnership influenced European exploration and cultural exchange, ultimately leading to the search for new trade routes to the East.

Takeaways

• 🏰 The script discusses the historical relationship between Venice and the Ottoman Empire and its impact on world history.
• 🛶 Venice, being a city of islands, was built for maritime trade and lacked natural resources, relying heavily on commerce for growth.
• 🛍 The Venetians were skilled shipbuilders and traders, known for their merchant ships like the galley and the cog, and established trade treaties with various powers, including the Ottomans.
• 🕌 The Ottoman Empire, one of the longest-lasting and richest empires, had a unique ruling system based on a slave aristocracy, including the devshirme system that created a loyal military and bureaucracy.
• 🔄 The mutually beneficial relationship between Venice and the Ottomans led to Venice's wealth, which was crucial for the European Renaissance, and the spread of ideas and knowledge.
• 🎨 The wealth from Venice's trade with the Ottomans funded art and learning, making Venice a leading city in the early Renaissance.
• 🌾 Venice imported grain from the Ottomans, which had abundant resources, including from the fertile Nile River after the conquest of Egypt in 1517.
• 🧪 Venice's glass industry relied on a special ash imported from the Ottomans, which was essential for creating the vibrant colors of Venetian glass.
• 👑 Venice was a republic with elected leaders, including the doge, who had to answer to the property-owning male populace.
• ⚔️ The Ottomans' control over trade routes after capturing Egypt and their partnership with Venice influenced other Europeans to seek alternative paths to the East, leading to increased exploration.
• 🌐 The script humorously connects historical events to modern concepts like relationships and personal anecdotes to make history more relatable and engaging.

Q & A

What is the main theme of the video script?

The main theme of the video script is the relationship between the city of Venice and the Ottoman Empire, and how this relationship influenced significant historical events such as the European Renaissance and Christopher Columbus's travels.

Why was Venice built for ocean-going trade?

Venice was built for ocean-going trade because it was situated at the northern tip of the Adriatic Sea and lacked natural resources, which forced the city to rely on trade for growth and prosperity.

What was the significance of the Venetian shipbuilding expertise during the Fourth Crusade?

The Venetian shipbuilding expertise was significant during the Fourth Crusade because the crusaders sought out the Venetians for their ships, highlighting the city's reputation for building merchant ships like the galley and the cog.

How did the Venetians manage to trade with the Islamic world despite religious and moral opposition?

The Venetians managed to trade with the Islamic world by finding ways around the opposition, such as employing a story about secretly transporting the body of St. Mark from Egypt, which allowed them to justify their trade relations.

What role did the Ottoman Empire play in Venice's economy?

The Ottoman Empire played a significant role in Venice's economy by providing essential goods such as grain and a special ash used in the production of Venetian glass. Additionally, the Ottomans facilitated trade by controlling key territories and allowing the Venetians to carry goods through the Mediterranean.

What was unique about the Ottoman Empire's ruling system?

The Ottoman Empire's ruling system was unique because it created a slave aristocracy, where they kidnapped Christian boys, converted them to Islam, and raised them to be either members of the elite military force, the Janissaries, or government bureaucrats, ensuring loyalty only to the Sultan.

How did the relationship between Venice and the Ottomans contribute to the European Renaissance?

The relationship between Venice and the Ottomans contributed to the European Renaissance by making Venice extremely wealthy, which was a prerequisite for funding the art and learning of the Renaissance. Additionally, the connection between Europe and the Islamic world facilitated the flow of ideas and knowledge.

Why did the Ottomans allow the Venetians to handle the trading and carrying of goods?

The Ottomans allowed the Venetians to handle the trading and carrying of goods because the Venetians had centuries of experience as mariners and a large fleet of boats, which allowed the Ottomans to benefit from the trade through taxation without directly managing it.

What was the devshirme system and how did it impact the Ottoman Empire?

The devshirme system was a program where the Ottomans kidnapped Christian boys, converted them to Islam, and trained them to be part of an elite military force or government bureaucrats. This system helped the Ottomans bypass the problem of hereditary nobles and created a ruling class that was loyal only to the Sultan.

How did the control of trade by the Venetians and Ottomans influence European exploration?

The control of trade by the Venetians and Ottomans forced other Europeans to seek alternative paths to the riches of the East, which led to increased investments in exploration and the eventual discovery of new sea routes to Asia and the Americas.

What was the significance of the Ottoman conquest of Egypt in 1517 for Venice?

The Ottoman conquest of Egypt in 1517 was significant for Venice because it secured the Ottomans' control over the grain trade, which was a vital resource for Venice, and further solidified the mutually beneficial relationship between the two powers.

Outlines

00:00

🏛️ The Venetian-Ottoman Relationship and Its Impact on History

In this paragraph, John Green introduces the historical relationship between Venice and the Ottoman Empire, highlighting its significance in shaping the European Renaissance and the voyages of Christopher Columbus. He humorously addresses the importance of geography in Venice's destiny as a trade hub, given its lack of natural resources and its reliance on maritime commerce. The Venetians' expertise in shipbuilding and their strategic trade agreements with various powers, including the Byzantines and the Ottomans after the fall of Constantinople, are emphasized. The paragraph also touches on Venice's early trade with the Islamic world, particularly in the pepper business, and the ingenious methods they used to circumvent religious and cultural barriers to trade, such as the story of St. Mark's body being smuggled in a shipment of pork to avoid Muslim inspection. The economic interdependence between Venice and the Ottomans, with Venice importing grain and special ash for glassmaking, is also discussed, drawing a parallel to the importance of mutual benefit in relationships.

05:02

👑 The Ottoman Empire's Unique Rule and Its Mutually Beneficial Relationship with Venice

This paragraph delves into the rise and governance of the Ottoman Empire, founded by Osman Bey and reaching its zenith under Sultans Mehmed the Conqueror and Suleiman the Magnificent. It discusses the empire's expansion into valuable territories, including Mesopotamia and Egypt, and its control over significant trade routes. The unique administrative system of the Ottomans, known as the 'slave aristocracy,' is explained, where devshirme—a system of kidnapping Christian boys to be raised as Janissaries or bureaucrats—was used to create a loyal ruling class. The paragraph also explores the mutual benefits of the relationship between the Ottomans and the Venetians, with Venice's maritime expertise complementing the Ottomans' control over land trade routes. The paragraph concludes by connecting this historical relationship to the broader context of European exploration and the search for alternative trade routes, which led to the Age of Discovery and the eventual circumnavigation of Africa and the voyages to the Americas.

Keywords

💡Venice

Venice is a city renowned for its unique architecture and location, built on a group of islands in the northern Adriatic Sea. It played a pivotal role in maritime trade during the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. In the script, Venice is highlighted for its shipbuilding expertise and its strategic trade relationships, particularly with the Ottoman Empire, which contributed to its wealth and cultural significance.

💡Ottoman Empire

The Ottoman Empire was a powerful and long-lasting state that spanned three continents and lasted for over six centuries until the early 20th century. It is characterized by its blend of nomadic roots and sophisticated statecraft. In the video, the Ottomans are depicted as having a significant influence on trade and geopolitics, with their control over key territories facilitating a mutually beneficial relationship with Venice.

💡European Renaissance

The European Renaissance was a period of cultural, artistic, and intellectual rebirth following the Middle Ages. It was marked by a resurgence of interest in classical learning and the creation of masterpieces in various art forms. The script mentions that the wealth accumulated by Venice through trade was a prerequisite for the Renaissance, indicating the economic underpinnings of this cultural movement.

💡Christopher Columbus

Christopher Columbus was an Italian explorer who completed four voyages across the Atlantic Ocean, opening the way for widespread European exploration and eventual conquest of the Americas. The script humorously notes Columbus's travels, emphasizing the broader impact of Venetian and Ottoman control of trade routes, which spurred European nations to seek new paths to the East.

💡Trade Treaties

Trade treaties are formal agreements between nations or entities to conduct trade under certain conditions. In the context of the video, Venice established trade treaties with various powers, including the Byzantines and later the Ottomans, to facilitate and regulate commerce, which was crucial for Venice's economic growth and survival.

💡Shipbuilding

Shipbuilding is the construction of ships and other floating vessels. It was a key industry for Venice, as highlighted in the script, where the Venetians' expertise in shipbuilding, including the creation of merchant ships like the galley and the cog, was instrumental in their success in maritime trade.

💡Janissaries

The Janissaries were an elite military force within the Ottoman Empire, known for their loyalty to the Sultan and their role as an innovative fighting unit, being among the first to use firearms in a significant way. The script mentions the devshirme system, through which Christian boys were taken, converted to Islam, and trained as Janissaries, illustrating the unique military structure of the Ottomans.

💡Slave Aristocracy

The term 'slave aristocracy' refers to the unique ruling class within the Ottoman Empire, composed of individuals who were not born into nobility but rose to positions of power and influence due to their service to the Sultan. The script explains how the Ottomans created this class by taking Christian boys through the devshirme system, converting them to Islam, and training them as either Janissaries or bureaucrats.

💡Eunuchs

Eunuchs in the Ottoman context were individuals who were castrated, often serving in roles that required trust and loyalty, such as harem guards or high-ranking officials. The script humorously discusses the role of Ottoman eunuchs, noting their importance and wealth, and how they turned their circumstances into positions of power.

💡Mutually Beneficial Relationship

A mutually beneficial relationship is one where all parties involved gain some form of advantage or benefit. The script emphasizes the relationship between Venice and the Ottomans as a prime example of this, where Venice's maritime expertise and the Ottomans' control over key territories created a symbiotic partnership that enriched both parties.

💡Exploration

Exploration refers to the act of traveling into unknown or unvisited regions for discovery or investigation. The script discusses how the control of trade routes by the Venetians and Ottomans prompted other European nations to invest in exploration, leading to significant voyages like those of the Portuguese and Spanish in search of alternative routes to the East.

Highlights

The relationship between Venice and the Ottoman Empire is discussed as a historical example of a mutually beneficial relationship.

Venice's geographical location made it an ideal city for ocean-going trade, leading to a reliance on shipbuilding and trade treaties.

The Venetians' expertise in shipbuilding was instrumental during the Fourth Crusade, highlighting their reputation for merchant ships like the galley and the cog.

Trade concessions with the Byzantine Empire and later with the Ottomans after the fall of Constantinople were crucial for Venetian trade expansion.

Venice's early trade with the Islamic world, particularly in the pepper business with Egypt's sultan, contributed to its economic growth.

The story of how Venice acquired the body of St. Mark through a clever ruse involving a shipment of pork is recounted.

Venice's economy was diverse, including the production of textiles and glass, with the latter requiring a special ash imported from the Ottomans.

Venice was a republic with elected leaders, including the doge, who had to answer to the property-owning male populace.

The Ottoman Empire's longevity and wealth are attributed to its unique blend of pastoral nomadic roots and empire building.

The devshirme system, which involved the kidnapping and conversion of Christian boys to serve as Janissaries or bureaucrats, is explained.

The role of Ottoman eunuchs in the empire's administration and their rise to wealth and importance is discussed.

The mutually beneficial relationship between the Ottomans and Venetians allowed for the control of Mediterranean trade and the flow of ideas.

Venice's wealth from trade was a prerequisite for the European Renaissance, funding art and learning.

The established connections between Europe and the Islamic world facilitated the exchange of ideas, including preserved Greek knowledge.

The Venetian and Ottoman control of trade led to other Europeans seeking alternative routes to the East, sparking exploration and the Age of Discovery.

The production of the Crash Course series is credited to Stan Muller, Danica Johnson, Raoul Meyer, and the Thought Bubble team.

Transcripts

Hi, I'm John Green, this is Crash Course World History and today we’re going to talk about

a relationship. No, not you, college girlfriend. No, not that kind of relationship either.

No. STAN, THIS IS A HISTORY CLASS. We’re gonna talk about the relationship between

a city, Venice, and an empire, the Ottomans, and in doing so, we're going to return to

an old theme here on Crash Course World History: How studying history can make you a better

boyfriend and/or girlfriend. Probably or, but I’m not here to judge.

Mr. Green! Mr. Green! No offense, but you don’t really seem like an expert in how to get girls to like you.

Here’s something amazing, Me From the Past. You know that girl, Sarah, in 10th grade,

who’s super super smart?

Yeah, she’s really hot. She’s like three or four leagues hotter than I am.

Yeah, I married her. So shut up and listen.

[theme music]

Ten minutes from now, I’m hoping you’ll understand how one mutually beneficial relationship, between

the Venetians and the Ottomans, led to two really big deals: the European Renaissance and Christopher

Columbus. Not like his birth, I mean he wasn't like a half-Ottoman, half-Venetian baby, his travels!

So Venice is a city made up of hundreds of islands at the northern tip of the Adriatic

Sea, but walking around it, you can’t help but feel that the city is essentially a collection

of floating buildings tied together by some canals. If ever there was a place where geography

was destiny, it was Venice. Venice was literally built for ocean-going trade. As you can imagine,

Venice didn’t have a lot of natural resources — except for fish and mustaches — so if

they wanted to grow, they had to rely on trade. Let’s go to the Thought Bubble.

First, Venetians became experts in shipbuilding. Remember that when the crusaders needed ships

for their crazy Fourth Crusade, they headed to Venice, because the Venetians were famous

for their ships, including merchant ships like the galley and the cog. Not only could

they build ships; they could also sail them to pleasant locales like Constantinople and

the Levant, so the Venetians formed trade treaties, sometimes called concessions, with

the Byzantines, and then when Constantinople fell to the Ottomans and became Istanbul,

the Venetians were quick to make trade treaties with their new neighbors, famously saying

that while Istanbul had been Constantinople, the matter of Constantinople getting the works

was nobody’s business but the Turks.

But even before the Ottomans, Venice had experience trading with the Islamic world: It initially

established itself as the biggest European power in the Mediterranean thanks to its trade

with Egypt’s sultan in the outlandishly lucrative pepper business. Can’t blame the

Europeans, really, that stuff is delicious. Oh, you mean like actual pepper? Ah, that’s

good too, especially since it masks the taste of spoiled meat, which most meat was in the

days before refrigeration. Due to some awkward… Crusades… the Egyptian merchants weren't

terribly welcome in…ya know...Europe. But they had all the pepper, because the Egyptians

imported it from India and controlled both overland and oversea access to the Mediterranean.

And when others cited moral or religious opposition to trade, the Venetians usually found a way.

Which is why the whole freaking town is made of marble. Thanks, Thought Bubble.

To avoid the sticky situation of having to consort with the heathen Egyptians, the Venetians

employed a handy story. This is the Piazza San Marco, the #1 Destination in the Entire

World for People Who Like to Be Pooped on by Pigeons. It’s also home to this church,

which includes some bronze horses you may remember that were looted from Constantinople.

And it contains the body of St. Mark, author of the Gospel According to St. Mark, who had

once been the bishop of Alexandria, in Egypt.

So naturally he died and was buried in Alexandria, but the Venetians claimed him as their own,

because apparently one time he visited Venice, and these two merchants hatched a very clever

plan. They went to Alexandria on business, stole St. Mark’s body and then hid it in

a shipment of pork, which the Muslims didn’t check very carefully because, you know, they were disgusted by it.

You can even see a version of this on the mosaics in the Basilica of St. Mark, complete

with the Muslims shouting an Arabic version of “ewww gross.” And then, forever after,

the Venetians were like, “Listen, we HAVE to trade with these guys. We use it as a secret

way to ferry saint bodies out of Egypt. We don’t WANT to become fantastically wealthy.

It’s just a necessary byproduct of our saint-saving.”

So what did Venice import? Lots, but notable for us, they imported a lot of grain, because

if you've ever been to Venice, then you might have noticed that it is basically made out

of marble and therefore kind of difficult to farm. The Ottomans, on the other hand,

had abundant grain, even before they conquered Egypt and its oh-so-fertile Nile River in

1517. Also, while trade was certainly the linchpin of Venice’s economic success, they

had a diverse economy. They also produced things like textiles and glass. And in fact,

Venice is still known for its glass, but they couldn’t produce it without a special ash

that they used to make the colors. And you’ll never guess where the ash came from. The Ottomans.

Am I making you a better boyfriend yet? You have to add to your partner’s life. You

have to color their glass. That sounds like a euphemism. but it’s not-- BACK TO HISTORY.

One last thing about Venice that makes it special, at least for its time. Venice was

a republic, not a monarchy or, god forbid, an empire. So its leaders were elected, and

had to answer to the populace- I mean, at least the property-owning male populace. The

ruler was the doge and he got to live in a very nice house and wear a funny hat.

The Sultan of the Ottoman empire also got to live in a nice house and wear a funny hat,

but there the similarities end. To begin, the Ottomans were an empire that lasted from

around 1300 CE until 1919, making it one of the longest-lasting and richest empires in

world history. The Ottomans managed to blend their pastoral nomadic roots with some very

un-nomadic empire building, and some really impressive architecture, like this and this

and this, making them very different from, wait for it, the Mongols.

The empire, or at least the dynasty, was founded by Osman Bey, and Ottoman is a Latinization

of Osmanli, which basically means like the House of Osman. No, Stan, the house, y-, yes.

Oh my Gosh. The Ottomans were greatest in the 15th and 16th centuries under two famous

sultans: First, Mehmed the Conqueror ruled from 1451 to 1481 and expanded Ottoman control

to the Balkans, which is why there are Bosnian Muslims today. But Ottoman expansion reached

its greatest extent under Suleiman the Magnificent, who ruled from 1520 to 1566. He took valuable

territory in Mesopotamia and Egypt, thus securing control over the western parts of the Asian

trade – both overland and oversea. He also defeated the king of Hungary and laid siege

to Vienna in 1526. And he turned the Ottomans into a huge naval power. Also, judging from

his hat, he had the largest brain in human history.

The Ottomans basically controlled about half of what the Romans controlled, but it was

much more valuable because of all the Indian Ocean trade you’ll remember from last week.

So all this land brought a lot of wealth, but it needed to be ruled. The Ottomans could

have followed the Roman model, where you send out generals and nobles to rule over conquered

territories, or they could’ve demanded the allegiance of client kings like the Persians,

or developed a civil service system like the Chinese, but instead, they created an entirely

new ruling class, a system that some historians call the slave aristocracy.

So if you are a King, one of your main problems is hereditary nobles, because they always

want to replace you, and they don’t want to give you your money, & they want their

ugly sons to marry your gorgeous daughters, etc. One way to deal with this problem is

to make them part of the government so they feel included and shut up. Another way is

to kill them. That’s what they usually do in Russia. I’m whispering so Putin doesn’t hear me. Ahh! Putin!

The Ottomans just bypassed the problem of hereditary nobles altogether by creating both

an army and a bureaucracy from scratch so they would be loyal only to the Sultan. How?

The devshirme, a program in which they kidnapped Christian boys, converted them to Islam, and

raised them either to be members of an elite military fighting force called the Janissaries,

or to be government bureaucrats. Incidentally, which of those gigs would you prefer? Because

I think that says a lot about you as a person. Either way, you weren’t allowed to have

kids, which prevented the whole hereditary nobles problem, and also ensured that the

Ottoman government would contain quite a lot of Eunuchs. Oh, it’s time for the Open Letter?

An Open Letter to Ottoman Eunuchs. But first, let’s see what’s in the secret compartment

today. Oh, its a blow up globe. See what quitting smoking will get you, Me From the Past?

Hey there Ottoman Eunuchs, How’s it hanging? I’m just kidding, that was mean. Listen,

there’ve been eunuchs all around this great planet of ours. But you’re special. I’m

not going to give you the details why, because they’re horrifying. I’m just going to

link to an article in the video info.

You started out just being harem guards, Ottoman Eunuchs, which is kind of an obvious gig for

you, but then, you expanded. As had happened in China, you made yourselves indispensable,

and you were often the center of palace intrigue.

In fact, few people in the Ottoman Empire were as wealthy and important as many of you

were. Way to turn lemons into lemonade. I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have brought up lemons.

Best wishes, John Green

This system eventually broke down as Janissaries (who had guns) lobbied to be allowed to have

families. But until that happened, the Ottomans system of using a mix of slave administrators

and Eunuchs to run everything worked incredibly well. But to return to the relationship between

the Ottomans and the Venetians: After the Ottomans captured Egypt, they pretty much

controlled the flow of trade through the Mediterranean, but the Venetians had centuries of experience

as mariners, and also lots of boats. Speaking of ships, I ship these guys. So the Ottomans

were content to let the Venetians do all the like, trading and carrying of goods, and they just made

their money from taxes. And that worked because both Venice and the Ottomans added value to each other.

Healthy relationships — listen up, Me From the Past — aren’t about extracting value;

they have to be mutually beneficial to work. And boy, was that a mutually beneficial relationship.

For instance, Venice became super rich, and being super rich was a prerequisite for the

European Renaissance because all that art and learning required money, which is why

Venice was a leading city at the beginning of the European Renaissance before being eclipsed

by Florence, Rome, and I don’t know, say Rotterdam.

Also, this relationship established firm connections between Europe and Islamic world, which allowed

ideas to flow again especially old Greek that ideas had preserved and built upon by Muslims. I mean,

I guess those connections had existed for a long time, but crusades aren’t a great way to exchange ideas.

But perhaps the most crucial result of the Venetian and Ottoman control of trade was

that it forced other Europeans to look for different paths to the riches of the East.

And that fueled huge investments in exploration. The Portuguese sailed south and east around

the southern tip of Africa, and the Spanish went west, believing that the Indies and China

were much closer than they turned out to be. Thanks for watching. I’ll see you next week.

Crash Course is produced and directed by Stan Muller, our script supervisor is Danica Johnson.

The show is written by my high school history teacher Raoul Meyer and myself. And our graphics

team is Thought Bubble. Last week’s Phrase of the Week was: "Unfortunately they didn't

have pizza." If you want to suggest future phrases of the week or guess at this week’s,

you can do so in comments where you can also ask questions about today's video that will

be answered by our team of historians.

Thanks for watching Crash Course. And as we say in my hometown, Don't Forget To Be Awesome.