Introduction

The success of Venetian merchants in the trade between Asia and Europe made Venice one of the main gateways between East and West during the medieval age and the early modern period. Venetians were involved in the long-distance trade that allowed oriental spices and goods to arrive in European ports to be sold to the richest part of the population, and equally for European manufactured goods to be exported to the Middle East ports, from where they were transported to continental Asia. This system, based on private and public navies, reached its apogee during the fifteenth century. However, towards the end of that century, although the galley system, the system of laws and the organization of the arsenale seemed to be running correctly, certain flaws began to surface and became increasingly evident. The same elements that had made Venice one of the most important and richest cities of the ‘Old World’ started to decline and show their weaknesses. The decline of the public mude (convoys), changes within the noble mercantile class and the latent status of war with the Ottoman Empire, later followed by the ascent of the Atlantic powers, seem to have been the antecedents of the slowing down of the Venetian economy.