Venice and its MinoritiesBenjamin ravidiBefore dealing with specific minorities in Venice, it is necessary to clarify
what is meant by a minority. as a broad working definition for this essay,
i would suggest that it consists of those immigrants into Venice and their
descendants who continued to maintain aspects of their non-Venetian
identity as a identifiable group, primarily by retaining the religious rites
or aspects of the culture of their place of origin. While all members of
minority groups in Venice were immigrants or descendants of immigrants,
conversely, not all immigrants or descendants of immigrants remained
members of a minority group.
Many factors combined to attract to Venice not only foreign visitors
and temporary residents who came for numerous different reasons and
stayed for varying lengths of time but also immigrants, thereby making
the city one of the most populous in europe. Most basically, helping to
account for the large size of the population of Venice were immigrants
from the Venetian holdings on the italian mainland and from its over-
seas possessions in the east, which the ottoman empire was gradually
conquering, who were naturally attracted to the capital city of Venice
because of the very wide range of possibilities that it offered. Factors that
made Venice attractive not only to these Venetian subjects but also to
individuals residing beyond the boundaries of the Venetian state included
the position of Venice as europe’s leading emporium that attracted mer-
chants with goods to sell from all over the known world and purchasers
eager to acquire them; the role of Venice as the major link between West
and east; the general opportunities offered by Venice as a port city; the
industrial and manufacturing activities of Venice, whose decline has been
somewhat exaggerated in the past; and the numerous cultural opportu-
nities and advantages that the city provided in many spheres, including
art, music, theater and the possibility of publishing books in various lan-
guages and typefaces. Finally, many poor and indigent individuals without
any skills came to Venice to seek to improve their lot in the large capital
city. Philippe de commynes, the envoy of the French king charles Viii,