[arminiusreturns]

I highly suggest reading up on the history of Venice, it's such an informative topic for me in studying history. For example, the War of the Legue of Cambrai is one of the most fascinating and illuminating wars that no one really knows about... a world war before the first world war. The origins of diplomacy (and espionage) there along with the banking and monetery systems alone are worth the study!

The oath of the council of ten? "Jura, perjura, secretum prodere noli" Swear, foreswear, and reveal not the secret.

[karatinversion]

The podcast "The Tides of History" had a bunch of episodes on early modern Italy in general and Venice in particular, which were really eye-opening.

The other interesting fact about the Italian mercantile city-states is that many of them lasted an amazingly long time. The republics in Venice and Genoa, for example, were only extinguished in 1797 by Napoleon!

[pmontra]

And if you go on vacation in the region around Venice (Veneto) you'll see so many historical buildings with engraved the San Marco's lion (the emblem of Venice) and flags that it feels like it ended in 1979. It also gives a feeling of the wealth of the Republic of Venice.

[kdeldycke]

More at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_of_the_League_of_Cambrai