Venice and the Veneto in the Early Renaissance

Book excerpt: John Law is concerned here with the administration of the Venetian state in the late 14th and 15th centuries, and specifically with its possessions on the mainland of Italy. These gave Venice dangerously exposed and lengthy land frontiers, and also included a number of cities whose loyalties were not to be taken for granted. Verona, Friuli and the Trentino are the focus of several articles, while others look at the people and families involved, and at Venice's relations with its powerful neighbours, from Milan to Hungary. The studies demonstrate the substantial nature of Venetian involvement with the 'Terraferma', well-established by the start of the 15th century, and examine the impact on the Venetian government itself of these mainland dominions.