Sanudo Diaries June 3,5, 16: Turks, the plague, information

For Venice in the 14-1500's, the primary, perennial force that remained both a threat and very lucrative to the city, was the Turk.  Information was a quantity the city would work at to stay in control of in all matters possible, but this fact of controlling information extended into many different spheres for them as well as us.

Editor's Note: "Because of the complex, ambivalent relationship with the Turks, some associations between their representatives and Venetian patricians was permitted, but only if the occasion was an official courtesy and did not involve giving sensitive information." p. 216

Sanudo Diaries: June 5, 1522: (33:278-9)  "I note that the Turkish ambassador named ____ has been to this city on a previous occasion. At that time, ser Zuan Francesco Mocenigo, who now holds the dual post of civil and military governor of Mestre, was a savai ai ordeni [ the same 'Senate' that Sanudo had been a member of]. The two of them became great friends, and now the ambassador is asking for him and has written to Mestre to say that he wishes to see him. The governor invited him to supper there, and he said that he would come to supper and dinner. Thus on the morning of the 5th he went there to dinner, and he stayed for supper and spent the night. The governor paid him great honor. "

June 16, 1522: (33: 309); "It should be known that there was a great deal of complaining and talk in the Council of Ten about ser Valerio Marzello, the former savio di Terraferma and the owner of the Corner house at San Samuel, where the Turkish ambassador was staying. [Marzzello], having made friends with the ambassador, had given him a map of Dalmatia and Istria [lands habitually understood as being under Venetian control]. This matter has caused great displeasure on the part of the entire Collegio, and he came very close to being put on trial for it."

nedits: More on these types of segregated info later. But with friendlier times came more gentle representations with the showing and giving of opulent gifts by even the most exalted of officers.

Sanudo Diaries June 3, 1530: (53:253); "Then came the ambassador from the Turkish sultan. He disembarked at the quay near the Ducal Palace because it was raining. A handsome, tall and dignified man, he was dressed in a cloth of gold ... and was accompanied by twelve Turks wearing turbans and fourteen patricians dressed in scarlet.... When he arrived in the Collegio, the doge rose and came forward [to him]. The ambassador, through an interpreter, said that the great lord and the pashas sent a greeting to the doge and the Signoria, and the lord in person had sent him and given him the letter that he presented, and the lord had sent him here to invite the  doge to Constantinople to attend the celebration for the circumcision of the sultan's four sons because of the friendship that the lord feels for the doge and the Signoria.... The doge with a kindly expression, responded: "Would God that we could come, but we cannot walk, and we are too old." And he spoke laughingly, so that even the ambassador laughed. And then the doge said: "Our ambassador will be there in our name." And the Turk urged that the Venetian ambassador be sent soon; the doge said, "It will be done." To be noted: the Turkish ambassador is given ten gold Venetian ducats for his daily expenses."

Editor's footnote: "The ambassador was also given five hundred ducats as a parting gift and clothes for his attendants. He appears frequently in vol. 53 of the diaries." p.217.

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nedits: When plague struck, the city could combat that pestilence with experience-honed administrative measures that remind me of how the Feds have worked against terrorism. Seal the borders for certain people, send the afflicted victims or potential victims off to an isolated place, quarantine buildings. Controlling information so rumors don't get out of hand etc.

Editor's note: "The plague recurred at various times during the fifteenth century, and by the end of that era a contagion theory had been developed and methods of dealing with the disease had been devised. Houses in which the plague had appeared were immediately quarantined for fifteen to forty days and/or their inhabitants sent to the Lazzaretti. The Lazzaretto Vecchio was founded in 1423 on the island of Santa Maria di Nazareth, near the Lido, as one of the earliest permanent hospitals for the cure of plague victims. The Lazzaretto Nuovo was decreed by the Senate in 1468 on the island of Sant' Erasmo for the isolation of those suspected of having the disease. In addition, a magistracy, the Magistrato alla Sanita, was established in 1468 to enforce the rules and to take further measures to prevent the spread of the disease, which recurred at intervals of five to six years during this period. p. 330

Editor's footnote 119: "While a theory of contagion existed by this time, it was also thought that the plague could be spontaneously generated by the putrefaction of corpses or spoiled food and that famine contributed to its spread." p. 330

Sanudo's Diaries, June 5, 1497: (1:645); "In recent days many cities in Italy have been in grave danger from the plague. The disease had already taken hold in some places, facilitated by the wars and the food shortages.  For that reason, our Signoria took every due precaution to prevent our city from becoming infected, may God spare us.  Three proveditori sora la sanitawere designated to handle these matters, and in the past few days two were elected to fill vacancies.... They have announced publicly that no one arriving from the affected cities may enter our city until forty days have passed, at the risk of incurring very severe penalties.... "

nedits: A list of these cities follows, including Rome, Naples, Florence, Pisa, Durazzo in Albania, Salonica in Macedonia and Cologne in Germany.

Editor's footnote 121: "Ambassadors and merchants abroad - and the towns and areas mentioned were all part of Venice's economic network - were required to report to the Signoria on the presence of the plague." p. 330

All quotes as Sanudo Diaries or Editor's notes or Editor's Footnotes from Venice, Cita Excellentissima, Selection from the Renaissance Diaries of Marin Sanudo translated by Linda L Carroll,  editors: Patricia H LaBalme and Laura Sanguineti White, published by Johns Hopkins University Press, 2008