DAI CASTELLI DEI VENETICI A VENEZIA (VI-X SECOLO). TRA FONTI SCRITTE E ARCHEOLOGIA, Academica Libertas. Essais en l’honneur du professeur Javier Arce, Paris, 2020, p. 293-313. (original) (raw)

This paper compares the written sources (which are late and controversial) with the material data (which are more substantial every year) on the origins of Venice, focusing on three problems. The first is the history of the settlement, during the second half of the 6th and the 7th century, in the High Adriatic coastal lagoons, between Chioggia and Grado, which remained under the control of the Eastern Roman Empire, in spite of the progressive expansion of the Lombards towards the coast. The second problem is the characteristics of the “Venetian” centres, in particular the presence or absence of defences against external threats, established at first to counter the Lombard attacks, then the Saracen and Slav raids, and finally Pepin’s conquest in 809. The third problem is the progressive stages of the development of the Rialto Archipelago, made possible by the role played by Venice between the Carolingian and the Ottonian worlds.