Of all the rich pageantry that so characterised the Medieval heyday of
the Venetian Republic, the most famous ceremony of all was the Festa della
Sensa. This grand occasion, celebrated each year on Ascension Day was marked by
the progress of the Doge aboard the state barge, the Bucentaur. The barge would make its way out to the edge of the
Venetian lagoon, accompanied by a bustling flotilla of the great and the good,
all festooned with banners and in their finery. Here, where the waters of the
Adriatic lapped against the islands of the Lido, the Doge would stand upon the
magnificent gilded prow of his barge and cast into the waters a ring,
symbolising the marriage of his city to the sea; provider and protector of
Venice’s wealth.
The rich symbolism of this ceremony, legend had it, had been endowed
during the heady days of the ‘Peace of Venice’; a few weeks in the summer of 1177
when the Republic had played host to the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick
Barbarossa and Pope Alexander III. Emperor and Pope had chosen Venice as the
ideal neutral setting in which to set aside their differences and bury the
hatchet after years of bitter struggle which had brought misery to Italy. As
the blessings of peace descended, the Pope expressed his gratitude to Doge Ziani
by presenting him with that first consecrated ring.
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The origins of the ceremony went back further than this celebrated
occasion however to the reign of the man who arguably set Venice on her path to
greatness. Doge Pietro Orseolo II.
Orseolo came to power at a time when factional strife was rife amongst
the leading Venetian families and relations with both the Byzantine Empire to
the east and the resurgent Holy Roman Empire under the Ottonian Dynasty were somewhat
shaky. Venice had assisted in Emperor Otto II’s failed attempt to seize
Byzantine territories in the south and had then come within a whisker of being
invaded by Imperial forces when Otto had been drawn into the machinations of
the Coloprini family. In return for Otto’s assistance in ousting their deadly
rivals the Morosini, the Coloprini had been willing to trade the freedom of the
city and enfief Venice to the emperor. Otto’s death had curtailed the Imperial
campaign against Venice. Nevertheless when Orseolo, (whose father had formerly
been Doge and was subsequently canonised), was elected to office in 991,
relations with both empires remained frosty.
Doge Orseolo set out at once to restore Venice’s international
reputation; agreeing a treaty with Byzantine Emperor Basil II ‘The Bulgar
Slayer’ which promised the support of the formidable Venetian fleet for his
prodigious military efforts. In return Basil granted the Venetians a raft of
trading privileges in Constantinople and beyond which formed the basis for
Venice’s domination of eastern Mediterranean trade.
Orseolo next turned his persuasive charms on the new sixteen year old
Emperor of the West Otto III. Otto, who dreamed of a restored Roman Empire with
himself at its head and later moved his court to Rome, was dazzled by his
reception as the guest of the Doge when he visited the city and soon granted
similar privileges to Venetian merchants throughout his territories.
Having won the good will of the leaders of the Christian world Orseolo
did not stop there but dispatched envoys to every Muslim court around the
Mediterranean, happy to engage in diplomacy at a time when most of the princes
of Christendom would have scorned parleying with the infidel. The Venetians
were generally well received and profitable commercial relations were
established. Orseolo, it seemed, was happy to do business with anybody. For
those who would steal from the Republic however, he had only cold steel.
In the year 1000 Orseolo set out at the head of his fleet bound for the Dalmatian
coast, where he determined to put an end to the Croatian pirates who plagued
the settlements and shipping there. From his mast head flew for the first time
in anger the banner of St Mark.
The whirlwind campaign through the Dalmatian islands scoured the pirates
from their nests and all resistance was crushed. The last diehards held out in
the fortress of Lagosta which surrendered following a bold assault by the
Venetians. Having received the submission of all the settlements of the
Dalmatian coast Orseolo returned to a hero’s welcome. It was in celebration of
this achievement that the Ascension Day ceremony, in which the Doge would offer
up a prayer for calm waters and a blessing on all Venetian maritime endeavors,
was inaugurated.
In 1004 Orseolo once more led the Venetian fleet into action, this time
against the Saracens who were besieging the Byzantine city of Bari in southern
Italy. Orseolo’s fleet broke the blockade and successfully brought supplies to
the beleaguered city before engaging the Saracen fleet in three days of combat
which ended in Venetian victory. The gratitude of Emperor Basil II was such
that it secured a Byzantine royal bride for Orseolo’s son and heir
Giovanni. The arrival of the Princess
Maria caused a considerable stir in Venice and there was scandal at her
oriental extravagance, daily bathing, exotic perfumes and most shocking of all,
her use of a fork to eat her meals.
Tragedy struck the Orseolo family within a year of the Princess’
arrival. Plague broke out in the city and carried off both Giovanni and Maria.
Heartbroken, Pietro retired from public life, having raised his younger son
Otto to share power with him. He died in 1008. His achievements had secured the
good will of both empires and had served to make Venice the pre-eminent commercial
power in the Mediterranean; a position she would retain for centuries to come.
It was fitting therefore that as the Venetians set out in pomp and splendour
each year to renew their special relationship with the sea, that they
remembered their first great Doge; Pietro Orseolo II.
The Festa Della Sensa
The Peace of Venice 1177
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