1. Venice
Where is it and what was it like in the 16th centry?
Venice is in Veneto Italy and in the 16th centry Venice became one of the most important musical centers of Europe. It was marked by a characteristic style of composition (the Venetian school) and the development of the Venetian polychoral style.
After the Italian turrmoil of the early 16th century, Venice entered a long and gradual period of decline. Losings its political will, Venice found the new role which it enjoyed ever since- as a place of pleasure and delight, Europe's most sparkling tourist attraction. The city has the world's first opera house, which opened in 1637
What was its economic status at that time?
The landscape of Venice is as much a product of its economic activities, past and present, as of its physical environment. The enduring foundation of Venetian wealth was maritime commerce, initially in local products such as fish and salt from the lagoon, but rapidly expanding to include rich stores of merchandise as Venice became the entrepôt between Europe and the Middle East and Asia.
Venice became the first and the biggest trading power in the world. That is, the world before the great expeditions during the fifteenth and the sixteenth century. Through trade the Venetians prospered and Venice rapidly accumulated wealth. Venetians merchants established monopolies and used the Crusades as a tool to increase their trading power. At the beginning of the sixteenth century, the Portuguese arrived in the Indies and the Venetians had to face the loss of their monopoly of spices. At the same time that Venice had to face the end of its trading status, it reached its artistic pinnacle, both in architecture and painting.
What was the Venetians relationship with the Turks?
They were at war. Crete and Cyprus were important Venetian possessions, that Venice needed for trade and commerce.
One of the biggest confrontations between the Turks and Venice was the battle of Lepanto, 1571, when she defeated the Turks with the help of ships from Spain and (I think) the Pope.
Sometimes this is seen as a crucial event in the decline of the Ottoman Turkish empire, but the Turkish response was very quick and decisive. The Turks were able to rebuild the fleet in record speed, and soon took the island of Cyprus off Venice; an event that serves as the backdrop to Shakespeare's play, Othello. The loss of Cyprus proved, in the long run, far more important than the naval defeat.
2. Cyprus
Where is it?
It is a Eurasian island country in the Eastern Mediterranean, south of Turkey and west of Syria and Lebanon.
What was its importance in the 16th century?
At the time of the 16th century, the Ottoman Empire would have been at its height. Cyprus was eventually part of this Empire in the 16th century. So the politics of this area was a Muslim Sultanate. In terms of importance, it would have been shipping. A lot ships passed in this area.
•Turkish – Venetian War (1570 – 1573)
◦Cyprus was initially under the rule of the Republic of Venice
■Venice annexed it in 1498
◦Turks had been raiding Cyprus’s coast on and off
◦July 2, 1570 - first real fight occurred: Turks sent 60,000 troops to Lissamol
◦Nicosia was the first major city in Cyrus to fall (Domino Effect)
■Nicosia’s fall = Cyprus Massacre
■Kyrenia fell next (no shots fired because of Massacre)
■Followed by Famagusta (all key cities of Cyprus)
◦The Fall of Famagusta marked the beginning of Turkish Rule in Cyprus
◦Cyprus remained under Ottoman rule for three centuries after defeat
•Cyprus Massacre (Ottoman rise to power) - (Wikipedia)
◦Occurred on September 9, 1570 because of the Turkish – Venetian War
◦A massacre of an unknown amount (20,000) of Christians in Cyprus
◦Massacre allowed Turks to conquer Kyrenia easily
•Ottoman Rule in Cyprus - (Wikipedia/History)
◦1570, the Turks took over Cyprus
◦Lala Mustafa Pasha became the first Turk governor in Cyprus
◦Original Cyprus inhabitants looked to Europe for help to over thrown the Turks
◦Between 1572 and 1668, 28 uprisings to over thrown the Ottoman Empire occurred
■All failed
How far is it from Venice?
2,107.83 kilometres
What were the politics of the countries nearest it?
3. Moors
Who are they?
Where did they come from?
What were they doing in Europe in the 16th century?
Are there religious or cultural practices associated with them?
4. Turks.
What was the Elizabethan attitude to foreigners in general and non-Christians such as Turks in particular?
5. Epilepsy.
What are the symptoms of epilepsy? How was it treated and regarded in the Renaissance? Now?
Are there conditions which render an epileptic vulnerable to a seizure?
