sneer at the Eastern
Empire, it must be remembered with respect as the last treasure
house of the inheritance bequeathed by Rome and Greece during the
dark centuries of barbarian and Saracen. Even in its ruin it sent its
fugitives westward with the manuscripts of a language and literature
then little known, the Greek, and thereby added greatly to the
growing impetus of the Renaissance. It is significant also that
during its thousand years of life, as long as it kept its hold on
the sea it stood firm. When it yielded that, its empire dwindled
to a mere city fortress whose doom was assured long before it fell.

REFERENCES

CAMBRIDGE MEDIEVAL HISTORY, Vol. II., 1913.
THE HISTORY OF THE SARACENS, E. Gibbon & S. Ockley.
HISTORY OF THE DECLINE AND FALL OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE, Edward
Gibbon, ed. by J. B. Bury.
THE BYZANTINE EMPIRE, E. A. Foord, 1911.
MILITARY AND RELIGIOUS LIFE IN THE MIDDLE AGES, Paul Lacroix,
1874.
HISTORY OF THE LATER ROMAN EMPIRE, J. B. Bury, 1889.
HISTORY OF THE EASTERN ROMAN EMPIRE, J. B. Bury, 1912.

CHAPTER V

THE NAVIES OF THE MIDDLE AGES [_Continued_]: VENICE AND THE TURK

The city-state of Venice owed its origin to the very same barbarian
invasions that wrecked the old established cities of the Italian
peninsula. Fugitives from these towns in northern Italy and the
outlying country districts fled to the islets and lagoons for shelter
from the Hun, the Goth, and the Lombard. As the sea was the Venetians'
barrier from the invader, so also it had to be their source of
livelihood, and step by step through the centuries they built up
their commerce until they practically controlled the Mediterranean,
for trade or for war.

As early as 991 a Doge of Venice made a treaty with the Saracens
inaugurating a policy held thereafter by Venice till the time of
Lepanto; namely, to trade with Mohammedans rather than fight them.
The supreme passion of Venice was to make money, as it had been of
ancient Phoenicia, and to this was subordinated every consideration
of race, nationality, and religion. The first important step was
the conquest of the Dalmatian pirates at the beginning of the 11th
century. This meant the Venetian control of the Adriatic. When the
Crusades began, the sea routes to the Holy Land were in the hands
of the Venetians; indeed it was this fact that made the Crusades
possible. As the carrying and convoying agent of the Crusaders,
Venice developed greatly in wealth and power. With