1. Main trends in the history of the city and of its dominions (15th-18th centuries). 2. The international political, diplomatic and economic context of Venetian history. 3. The cultural dimension (learned and popular alike), including the role played by Venice as a centre of religious dissent. 4. A comparative approach to the Venetian political system.
• The structure of the Venetian state
• The Venetian patriciate
• Markets and the economy
• The administration of justice
• Society and ways of life (material culture, systems of belief)
• Venice in the international context
• Religion (the Church and popular religion; Inquisition and heresy)
• Publishing and the book trade
• The public sphere and its control (newspapers and gazzette, ridotti and caffè, ambassadors, forbidden books, etc.)
• Culture (arts and sciences, academies, printing, popular culture)
• Leisure (space and times)
• Venice myth and antimyth
oral interview
