32 elisabeth crouzet-pavan
naval victories came one after the other.”18 Finally, to cite the work of
Filiasi which appeared in the early 19th century:
the lagoons, at the gates of Italy, at the foot of the nearby Alps, within the
reach of all the Alpine and Danubian countries, are dedicated to commerce.
These estuaries have always been populated by sailors and merchants. On
the threshold of the sixth century, the Venetians were already engaged in
significant trade.19In this text that reflects an entire historical production, Filiasi elevates
geographical determinism to the level of necessity, and it assumes the role
that the purposes of God had played in the writing of previous authors.
But regardless of who the master of history may be, it is a unique destiny
that has been vested in Venice. In sum, these texts, whether they were
written in the 16th or the 19th century, created and consolidated a myth
that the power of Venice would at one time render almost true. The his-
tory of Venice turned its back to the land. It would be the same for its
coherence and its profound meaning, for the command of the waves had
been given to the lagoon city.
In sum, the long-fueled legend of the origins transformed what was an
ungrateful environment, bodies of water and mud, into a site that is seen
to be more suitable than any other. That is, insular Venice is born free
and unique, before becoming, thanks to maritime adventures, both pow-
erful and rich, and its insularity guarantees the community’s freedom and
influence.
Third, and last, the historical narrative has over time also sought to
establish the fiction of the primacy of Rialto-Venice over the other com-
munities. The barrier beaches and islands of lagunal Venice were grouped
under the authority first of a military leader, then a doge. The seat of
the duchy, which had been transferred in the 8th century from the first
capital, Eraclea-Cittanova, to the barrier beach of Malamocco, moved yet
again and was established in 810 in Rialto-Venice. But starting in the 12th
century, the narrative tradition confers upon the archipelago of Rialto
primitive hegemonic position.20 History, often written in the vicinity of
18 Paolo Morosini, Historia della città e repubblica di Venetia di Paolo Morosini senatore
veneziano distinta in libri vintiotto (Venice, 1637), pp. 7–12.
19 G. Filiasi, Ricerche storico-critiche sull’opportunità della laguna veneta pel commercio
sull’arti e sulla marina di questo stato (Venice, 1803), pp. 3–8.
20 Vittorio Lazzarini, “Il preteso documento della fondazione di Venezia e la cronaca
del medico Jacopo Dondi,” Atti dell’Istituto veneto di scienze, lettere ed arti 75/2 (1915–16),
pp. 1263–81; Martino da Canale, Les Estoires de Venise, Cronaca veneziana in lingua francese