Role of Venice in the 12th Century Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Role of Venice in the 12th Century - Essay Example which in turn facilitated trade to Padua, Vicenza, Treviso, Belluno, Ferrara, Mantua, and Verona. These towns carried the city’s merchandise to the central and southern parts of the peninsula in caravans where there were sure and ready market (Wiel  82-83). Another source of income for Venice was rental of its boats and ships. Venice became famous throughout the known world because of its trade and textile industry. During this period Venice also traded spice, salt, grain and wine with Egypt, Syria, Southeast Asia, Iran and China. Due to the spice trade, the city was able to expand its textile manufacturing. This type of commerce proved to be beneficial to the city; not only was it able to learn new arts to improve ship-building, Venice was also able to obtain from the countries it traded with new ways to improve the city. The skills that the Venetian sailors earned were almost unparalleled and the voyages they undertook to trade and to discover new places and things were un matched (Wiel  85), while the wars that they engaged in (or at least their fleets) placed them in high esteem. During the 12th century Venice also constructed a large national shipyard, now known as the Venetian Arsenal. Through the construction of these new and powerful fleets they were finally able to take control of the eastern Mediterranean. Venice also knew how to take advantage of historical circumstances. Despite the fact that it belonged to Christendom, the city still managed to retain trade with the Muslims (even establishing an agreement with the Khalif of Bagdhad). The year 1096-1172 saw the city of Venice engagement in the â€Å"Holy Crusade† the rest of the Christian world had been partaking in. For two years the city has found various excuses not to take part in the crusade, but this time they were unable to refuse. The pope and various Christian leaders appealed to Venice to aid in the crusade by transporting the crusaders in their ships to Palestine (Wiel  85). A fleet of two hundred, or possibly more, warships were fitted for battle and sailed under the command of Giovanni (the son of the Doge) and Enrico Contarini (Bishop of Castello) (Wiel 86). During this period Venice met with a force that could rival her own. The republic of Pisa and Genoa, had steadily been gaining strength and now proved to be a threat to Venice. The first engagement between the rivals happened at Rhodes, with the city of Venice emerging as the victor (Wiel 86). The cities of Venice and Genoa both relied heavily on trade for economic growth. The two often engaged in competition over overseas trade routes (Fratianni and Spinelli  13). The war between these two cities lasted between 1256 and 1381 and occurred in four open war fares. After their last war which happened in 1378 to 1381, Venice dominated the trade routes to the east and left the west to the Genoese. Venice often demonstrated strength when Genoa and Pisa, often in alliance, challenged the rule ov er the trading route and emerged as the victor every time. Both cities have also developed extensive trade agreements in western Mediterranean. Venice has always been described to be the more politically and economically stronger city state between the two. Although both were known to be finance centers, traditional accounts on international trade gave more credit to Venice. Later on this is to

TheLife and Influence of Kate Chopin Research Paper

TheLife and Influence of Kate Chopin - Research Paper Example The Life of Kate Chopin Kate Chopin was born in February of 1851. Her Father was a noble business man who was successful at his work. Unfortunately, he died when Chopin was only 4 years old, leaving her in the care of her mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother. It can be assumed that being raised by these three powerful women in the absence of a man had a great impact on Chopin’s perceptions about life. To her, life was not only in the hands of a man to command, but women had power too. While watching her mother and grandmothers work and successfully maintain surely a strong sense of feminism developed in the young Chopin. As a child, Chopin loved to read. Her family mostly kept encyclopedias and Bibles in the home library, but Chopin did not limit herself to these. She came to have many favorite authors and regularly read the works of scientific authors like Darwin in order to train her own rational thinking. The author that had the most impact on Chopin’s writing was Guy de Maupassant, a French writer whom she admired for his â€Å"nonjudgmental and unsentimental appreciation of reality† (Skredisrig 1975; p. 90). ... Following the example of her mother, Chopin continued to manage her husband’s business alone. Eventually, she returned to St. Luis, the city that she had called home since birth. Chopin wrote in order to provide for her family. During her writing career, Chopin produced a few works that have earned some notoriety, including At Fault (1890), Bayou Folk (1894), The Story of an Hour (1894), A Night in Acadie (1897), and The Awakening (1899). However, Chopin wrote constantly and is responsible for many other works. She has written 100 short stories, a play, some poetry, various essays, sketches, literary reviews, journals, letters, translations, and some nonfiction material (Skredsrig 1975; p. 89). Of her written works it was said that the reflected the needs, despairs and desires of the people in her society that she was able to observe (Ostman 2008; p.10). The Influence of Chopin Even though her book, The Awakening, had been criticized for lack of morals and open sexuality by ma ny, there was some who found appreciation for it. Her other works were not as harshly scrutinized. She was a popular enough writer in her day to be able to support her large family with the money that she made writing. The Awakening was the last piece that Chopin ever published. She died a few years after the work. While many think that Chopin had ceased to write because of the harsh judgments that she faced because of this last work, the truth is that there are other short stories written by Chopin after this time that were never published. Possibly, if she had not died, there would have been other works from her that were published. It took about five more decades before The Awakening could lose its bad reputation and be better appreciated. In the 1950’s with the activism that