Maritime Republics - Overview

Overview

The maritime republics were city-states. They were generally republics in that they were formally independent, though most of them originated from territories once belonging to the Byzantine Empire (the main exceptions being Genoa and Pisa). All these cities during the time of their independence had similar (though not identical) systems of government in which the merchant class had considerable power.

The maritime republics were heavily involved in the Crusades, providing transport and support but most especially taking advantage of the political and trading opportunities resulting from these wars. The Fourth Crusade, notionally intended to "liberate" Jerusalem, actually entailed the Venetian conquest of Zadar and Constantinople.

Each of the maritime republics over time had dominion over different overseas lands, including many of the islands of the Mediterranean and especially Sardinia and Corsica, lands on the Adriatic, Aegean Sea, and Black Sea (Crimea), and commercial colonies in the Near East and North Africa. In this respect Venice stands out from the rest in that she maintained enormous tracts of land in Greece and Cyprus until as late as the mid-17th century.