Relations With Byzantium Deteriorate
In 1171 the Genoese settlement in Constantinople was attacked and largely destroyed. The Byzantine Emperor Manuel Comnenus blamed the Venetians and on March 12, 1171, orders were given for all Venetian citizens on Byzantine territory to be arrested, and their ships and property confiscated. The old alliance between Venice and Byzantium was over. In order to finance a war against the Eastern Empire, the six districts of Venice were founded to tax the Venetian citizens: San Marco, San Polo, Santa Croce, Dorsoduro, Castello and Cannaregio. In September 1171, Doge Vitale Michiel II led an armada of 120 ships out of the Lagoon to attack Byzantium. Venetian ambassadors met Byzantine representatives and agreed a truce, which was a stalling tactic by Manuel. As talks dragged on through the winter, the Venetian fleet waited at Chios. An outbreak of the plague struck down thousands of the Venetians. The Venetian ambassadors then returned empty-handed from Constantinople, their mission had been a total failure.
In May 1172, Doge Vitale Michiel II faced a General Assembly at the Ducal Palace to defend his actions. He had presided over the near total destruction of the Venetian fleet, and was accused of gullibility over falling into the Byzantine trap. He also stood accused of bringing the plague back to the City. The Assembly was against him, and an angry mob gathered outside the Palace. He attempted to flee to the convent of S. Zaccaria over the Ponte della Paglia, but near the Calle della Rasse he was stabbed to death by one of the mob. Venice had not lost a Doge by murder at home for more than 200 years, a fact that caused much soul-searching by the citizens, and led to constitutional reform.
Doge Vitale Michiel II's rule had lasted 16 years. For 15 years of those years, he had led the Most Serene Republic well in a difficult period, balancing Venice between the Western and Eastern Empires. His son, Nicolo, married the Hungarian princess Maria, daughter of Ladislaus II.
Today there is no monument in Venice to Doge Vitale Michiel II, but until relatively recently there was at least evidence of his downfall. His murderer had been found and executed, and his house destroyed. A decree was then passed that no stone building should ever be built on the site again. Right up to 1948 the decree was followed: pictures and photographs prior to that year show only small and simple wooden buildings on one of the most strategic sites in all Venice.
Read more about this topic: Vitale II Michele
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