|[L2 201]Before AD568 Fishermen and salt workers of the Italic tribe, the Veneti, live in the lagoons at the northern end of the Adriatic Sea.
|AD421 March 25 The legendary foundation of Venice.
|AD568 The Lombard tribe invades northern Italy. People from Aquileia, Caorle, and Altino flee to the islands around
[L2 202]the Venetian lagoon, forming the origins of Venice. They first settle on the islands of Torcello in the Venetian lagoon and Grado in the Marano lagoon. They then settle on Malamocco Island, about half a mile out to sea.
|[L2 203][M 009]c.AD584 The Exarchate of Ravenna is created as a province of the Byzantine Empire. Venice is incorporated into this region and ruled by the [G 11 / Exarch] of Ravenna, the Italian representative of the Byzantine emperor. Maritime tribunes are appointed by the Exarch to administer Venice.
|AD639 The [G 03 / Basilica] of Santa Maria Assunta is built on the island of Torcello in the Byzantine Ravennate style, showing the influence Byzantium has on Venetian architecture.
|AD641 Derzo, the last free city of the Byzantines, is invaded by the [G 21 / Lombards]. The Veneto-Byzantine region is now ruled from the island of Cittanova Eracliana in the Venetian lagoon. This area is able to trade with the other Byzantine territories, but is isolated from them politically.
|AD697 The various island communities are united for the first time under an elected leader - [G 09 / the 'doge'], although they are still subject to Byzantine rule. This united group of lagoon-island communities is centered on the island of Malamocco.
|AD751 The Exarchate of Ravenna disintegrates and factional fighting follows in Venice. Pro-Byzantine groups fight those who want independence from the Byzantine Empire and the Roman Catholic Church also tries to gain power in the region. Doge Obelerio and his brother Beato free Venice from Byzantine rule by allying with the [G 14 / Franks] of Italy led by King Pepin. The Rialto Islands are settled by exiles and become the center of government.
|AD774 The Franks defeat the Lombards and dominate the Italian mainland.
|[L2 205]AD809 King Pepin attacks Venice.
|AD810 Pepin, king of the Franks, dies.
The Rivo Alto is now the center of government.
|AD812 Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle gives Venice more independence from Byzantium, enabling Venice to become [L2 206]more powerful as an independent state, with its wealth increasingly based on trade.
|AD814 The doge's palace is built.
|AD829 Venetian agents steal the remains of St Mark from Alexandria in Egypt and bring it to Venice. St Mark becomes the patron saint of Venice.
|AD830 The Basilica of St Mark is built to house the mortal remains of the Evangelist Mark. Ravenna provides the [P 005]main stylistic influence. St Mark and his winged lion become the symbol of Venice.
|AD840 The Doge of Venice is an independent negotiator for Venetians in international affairs. Venice is essentially free from Byzantine control, although this is never officially recognized.
|c. AD850 onwards The government becomes more institutionalized and the power and duty of the doge codified. A small group of aristocrats, whose wealth comes from trade, receive public offices. Trade increases, allowing merchants to amass private wealth which is used to build churches and palaces.
|c. AD880 Doge Orso Parteciaco I, makes some basic civil reforms. Five [G 04 / bishoprics] are formed.
|AD887 The doge is now chosen by popular election.
The islands of the Rialto are formally called the City of Venice.
|[L2 207]AD960 The Dalmatians raid Venice and force the Venetians to pay tribute.
|AD976 Uprising against Doge Pietro Candido IV see the Doge's Palace and St. Mark's Chapel (the [G 03 / Basilica]) burned. They are rebuilt.
|AD997 Venice refuses to pay further tribute to Dalmatia. Doge Pietro Orseolo leads a fleet to Dalmatia and defeats them.
|1001 Otto III, the Western Emperor, visits Venice to observe a city that is growing increasingly rich and powerful.
|c. 1020 The [G 22 / Normans] begin expanding their empire under Robert Guiscard, threatening to cut Venice's communications southwards. During the next 60 years, the Venetians fight the Normans for control of the Dalmatian coast and the Adriatic.
|1032 - 1042 Doge Domenico Flabanico initiates changes that bring about a more sophisticated form of government.
|[I 010]1063 The Basilica of St Mark is built in Romanesque style mixed with Byzantine and Moorish influences. It is completed in 1073, replacing the earlier Church of St Mark. The first palaces are built by rich merchants along the canals.
|1082 The Byzantine emperor Alexius I Comnenus grants Venice free trade throughout the whole Byzantine Empire. This privilege was of enormous benefit to Venetian merchants who expanded their commercial activities in the east.
|1095 The First Crusade is launched against the Moslems of Palestine. The Venetians are the first to organize group pilgrimages to the shrines of the Holy Land for cash.
|12th century The Banco Giro is the first state bank to be opened in Venice. The Rialto, a stretch along the Grand Canal, develops as an area where money lenders and European merchants congregate as Venice becomes the trade link between east and west.
|1140 - 1160 The monarchial power of the [G 09 / doge] is taken away and he becomes a state official.
|[L2 208]1172 The Great Council is set up to help the doge rule the expanding Venetian Empire. It consists of the most important aristocrats in Venice.
|[L2 209]1177 Pope Alexander III flees to Venice from the army of Emperor Frederick Barbarossa. The Venetians negotiate a peace between Frederick and the Pope.
|1178 The Small Council is established to assist the doge in ruling.
|1179 The Supreme Court of the Republic is set up to assist in ruling Venice.
|[M 008]13th century: Venetians enjoy a monopoly over the Near East spice trade.
|[I 004]c. 1200 Palaces, churches and houses begin to be built in the Gothic / Byzantine style characteristic of Venetian architecture well into the 15th century.
|1202 The Fourth Crusade is launched against the Islamic invaders of the Holy Land. The Pope asks the Venetians to provide ships to transport the Christian armies. The Venetians agree to ship 35,000 men to Palestine for a fee of 85,000 silver marks.
In addition to the fee for using Venetian ships, the Doge Enrico Dandolo insists that the [G 07 / Crusader] troops be used to subdue Venetian provinces on the Dalmatian coast.
|[L2 210]1204 Dandolo leads the Crusaders in the sack of Constantinople.
|1242 Jacopo Tiepolo regulated civil and economic relations.
|c. 1254 Marco Polo, the famous Venetian explorer is born.
|[I 009]1271 - 1275 Marco Polo accompanies his father and uncle on a journey from Acre along the Silk Road into Central Asia and China. They arrive at the court of [G 20 / Kubilai Khan] in China and Marco Polo enters his service, travelling throughout the Mongol Empire.
|[P 024][V 005]1291 The Venetian glass making furnaces are moved to the island of Murano.
|1295 Marco Polo returns to Venice with his uncle and father via Sumatra and southern India.
|1297 The power of the doge is superseded by the aristocracy when they are given the right to appoint all major offices in Venice including the doge. The Great Council is increased to include more than 1,000 members, all from noble families.
Venice escapes the civil war, leaving them free to put their energies into commerce.
|1298 Marco Polo is captured by the Genoese during a naval battle. He is imprisoned and during this time he writes a book about his travels in the east, which is read widely in Europe.
|[L2 901]1310 Baiamonte Tiepolo leads an aristocratic rebellion against the doge. He fails and is executed.
The Council of Ten is established.
|1347 The Black Death hits Europe, including Venice. Around 60,000 people - half the population - are killed.
|1355 Doge Marin Faliero is accused of treason by the Council of Ten. He is found guilty of trying to become an absolute ruler and beheaded.
|[L2 215]1373 Jews first settle in Venice.
|[L2 216]1379 In an attempt to capture Venice, the Genoese take Chioggia in the southern part of the lagoon, but are then defeated and captured.
|1381 The Peace of Turin is concluded between Genoa and Venice to end years of fighting. Genoa no longer has any control of the Mediterranean and the East. Venice is the strongest power in the region, controlling the sea routes to the east in the Mediterranean.
|1382 A plague epidemic kills 20,000 Venetians.
|1403 - 5 Venice acquires Bessano, Belluno, Padua and Verona.
|1416 The Moslem Turks sack the island of Eubea and the Cyclades Islands which are part of the Venetian Empire. Turkish power begins to overshadow Venetian power in the Mediterranean.
|1418 Carlo Zeno, a great Venetian admiral dies. He is regarded as a Venetian hero.
|1425 The Lombard wars begin as Venice pushes south across the Lombardy Plain in search of food, wood and metal. Florence, Milan and Naples form an alliance against Venice to prevent them from trying to control the whole Italian peninsula.
|1430 The Church of SS. Giovanni e Paolo is begun for the Dominicans.
|[L2 217]1453 The Turks of the Ottoman Empire take Constantinople.
|1454 Venice acquires Ravenna, Treviso, Friuli and Bergamo.
|1489 A Venetian noblewoman, Caterina Corner, marries King James II of Cyprus.
|1498 The Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama sails to India around the Cape of Good Hope. With the discovery of this new route to the east, the Venetian spice monopoly is broken.
|1499 The Turks and Venetians suffer terrible losses in the naval Battle of Navarrino.
|1503 Venice gives up some of her Albanian and Greek ports to the Turks.
|1508 Spain, Germany, Savoy, Ferrara, Hungary, the Pope and France form the League of Cambrai against Venice. Venice is defeated at the Battle of Agnadello. The war continues for seven years, and although Venice regained most of her north Italian territories, she gave up ambitions of controlling Italy, as the empire of Charles V grew stronger. He went on to control much of Italy in the 16th century.
|1516 The Jews in Venice are made to live around Campo di Ghetto Nuovo, a small island in the northwest part of the city where iron foundries had concentrated.
|1529 The Ottoman Turks conquer Algiers.
|1539 The Council of Three replaces the Council of Ten.
|c. 1550 The Arsenale produces ships for war against the Turks. At the height of production, a new galley is completed each day for 100 days.
|1571 The Turks are defeated by the Holy League of Christians at the Battle of Lepanto. The Christian fleet includes many Venetian vessels. The Venetians lose Cyprus to the Turks.
|[L2 218][I 006]1574 King Henry III of France visits Venice. Celebrations put on by the city are lavish in the extreme, illustrating the Venetian love of elaborate ceremony.
|1575 - 77 Plague epidemics kills one third of Venetians.
|1577 - 1592 Church of Il Redentore on La Giudecca is built.
|1606 Pope Paul V quarrels with the Republic of Venice and places it under an interdict, preventing priests from celebrating mass. [L2 219]Paolo Sarpi, the Venetian scholar and theologian defends Venice against the pope.
|1637 The first opera house in Europe is opened in Venice and Venice becomes one of the foremost cultural centers of Europe.
|1669 Venice gives up Crete to the Turks.
|1703 - 1741 Antonio Vivaldi, a native Venetian, is music master of the Ospedale of Sta. Maria della Pieta, famous for its choral singing.
|[L2 220]1751 The Murazzi sea-walls around the lagoon are completed after 38 years.
|1792 Teatro la Fenice is built.
|[L2 221]1797 Napoleon takes Venice without any real opposition from the Venetians.
|1797 October Napoleon formally hands Venice over to Austria.
|1805 Napoleon defeats Austria at the Battle of Austerlitz and reoccupies Venice as part of his Kingdom of Italy.
|1815 Napoleon is defeated at the Battle of Waterloo.
Austria occupies Venice again until 1866. The Austrians restore some of Venice's artistic treasures to the city.
|1807 [G 03 / Basilica] di San Marco becomes the city's Cathedral, replacing S. Pietro di Castello.
|1810 Napoleon orders the building of Nuova Fabbrrica.
|1836 A fire damages the Teatro la Fenice. It is restored and many of the great operas of the 19th century are premiered here, including Rossini's Tancredi in 1813, Verdi's Ernani in 1844, Rigoletto in 1851, and La Traviata in 1853.
|1846 Austria builds a railway linking Venice with the mainland.
|[L2 222]1848 Daniele Manin, a Venetian lawyer leads a rebellion against the Austrians. The Austrians are driven out and the Republic of Venice is proclaimed.
|1849 August 22 Venice capitulates to the Austrians. Marshal Joseph Radetzky is restored as governor of Venice and Manin goes into permanent exile in Paris.
|1866 Austria is defeated by Prussia. The Kingdom of Italy is formed in which Venice is included.
|1867 A fire in the SS. Giovani e Paolo Church destroys its Titian and Bellini altarpieces.
|[L2 801][N 002]1902 The Campanile di San Marco (St Mark's Bell Tower) collapses.
|1931 A causeway linking Venice with the mainland is completed.
|1945 The British army enters Venice three days before the armistice is signed ending the Second World War.
|[M 001]1946 The Italian monarchy is abolished and Italy is proclaimed a republic.
|1958 - 1968 40,000 Venetians leave their homes to find new houses on the mainland. The city's inhabitants are increasingly drawn to Mestre for jobs that can be found in the nearby industrial district of Marghera while jobs become scarcer in Venice.
|1960 Marco Polo airport is built, accelerating the increase of international tourism in Venice.
|1966 Terrible floods affect Venice. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) begins fundraising to save a sinking Venice, submerging at a rate of 12 inches per century.
|1979 Venice, Marghera and Mestre inhabitants are given the option to split into three townships. They vote to remain one.
