Reflecting on Rebellion in Venetian History Writing: Caroldo on the Revolt of San Tito

• In Event: (Dis)Order and Popular Politics in Renaissance Venice: Actions and Representations I

Abstract

Venetian patricians, like many other European elites, did not typically write resistance to their rule into the official historical record. This absence became particularly striking at the turn of the 16th century, decades that saw not only the beginnings of an official urban historiography but increasing economic instability, recurring wars, and a wave of popular uprisings across the mainland and maritime domains. Gian-Giacomo Caroldo, a Venetian citizen and secretary who represented the Republic in both the war of Cambrai and on Crete, authored a chronicle of Venice from its origins to 1382 that treated the Cretan Revolt of San Tito (1363-65) in detail. This paper explores Caroldo’s representation of past rebellion as an expression of Venetian concern with 16th-century resistance to patrician authority, suggesting that history writing served as a site of reflecting on rebellion in an indirect way for Venetian elites.

Author

• Monique O'Connell, Wake Forest University