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History Walks in Venice @info.historywalksvenice.com.ap.brid.gy · 09/10/2026

**Expulsion of the Venetians (c. 787)** In this letter from pope Adrian I to Charlemagne, dated to c. 787 or shortly after, the pope confirmed that, as requested by Charlemagne, he had ordered all Venetians expelled from the lands of the former […] [Original post on historywalksvenice.com]

A coloured illustration from the "Liber legum of Lupus of Ferrières", a manuscript from the late 800s or 900s. Charlemagne on the left is sitting on a throne, while Pepin stands in front of him, armed.

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History Walks in Venice @info.historywalksvenice.com.ap.brid.gy · 05/10/2026

**The “Galbaio” dynasty** The Galbaio dynasty ruled the Duchy of the Venetians from 764 until 804, through three generations and with two dukes on the traditional list of doges of Venice. Mauricius was the seventh doge, rising to power after the […] [Original post on historywalksvenice.com]

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History Walks in Venice @info.historywalksvenice.com.ap.brid.gy · 01/10/2026

**Adrian I — Liber Pontificalis** Venice and the Venetian duke Mauricius are mentioned in the passing in the _Liber Pontificalis_ for Adrian I, related to an episode taking place in 772. Following the demise of the Exarchate of Ravenna in 750–752, at […] [Original post on historywalksvenice.com]

Part of a medieval manuscript on yellowed parchment, with a large initial letter A.

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History Walks in Venice @info.historywalksvenice.com.ap.brid.gy · 28/09/2026

**Domenicus Monegarius** Domenicus Monegarius was the sixth doge of Venice, following the deposition and blinding of duke Galla, who in turn had blinded and deposed duke Deusdedit. He, too, was deposed and blinded after eight years on the ducal […] [Original post on historywalksvenice.com]

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History Walks in Venice @info.historywalksvenice.com.ap.brid.gy · 25/09/2026

**Galla — a most wicked man** Galla was the fifth doge of Venice, but according to tradition he only served one year and two months, before he was deposed, just as he had deposed the previous doge, Deusdedit Hypatos. He ruled from 755 to 756 […] [Original post on historywalksvenice.com]

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History Walks in Venice @info.historywalksvenice.com.ap.brid.gy · 23/09/2026

**Deusdedit Hypatos** Deusdedit was the fourth doge of Venice on the traditional list, ruling from 742 to 755 in the chronology established in the 1340s by Andrea Dandolo. Our sources for his life and reign are just as scarce as for the previous […] [Original post on historywalksvenice.com]

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History Walks in Venice @info.historywalksvenice.com.ap.brid.gy · 21/09/2026

**The five “magistri militum”** After the first three doges of Venice, there was a kind of interregnum, which lasted five or six years. In this period, between 737 and 742 in the traditional reckoning, rather than having a duke or doge chosen for […] [Original post on historywalksvenice.com]

Page of a medieval manuscript, black ink on parchment, Vat.lat.5269, foglio 1r, incipit Istoria Veneticorum by John the Deacon

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History Walks in Venice @info.historywalksvenice.com.ap.brid.gy · 19/09/2026

**Doges of the 700s — Chronica per extensum descripta** The authoritative source for the early political history of Venice was — from time of Andrea Dandolo until the 1800s — the Chronica per extensum descripta, written in the 1340s. The _Chronica […] [Original post on historywalksvenice.com]

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History Walks in Venice @info.historywalksvenice.com.ap.brid.gy · 17/09/2026

**Doges of the 700s — John the Deacon** Most of the little we know about the doges of Venice in the 700s, we have from the Istoria Veneticorum by John the Deacon, which was written around the year 1000. The relevant paragraphs for the doges between […] [Original post on historywalksvenice.com]

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History Walks in Venice @info.historywalksvenice.com.ap.brid.gy · 14/09/2026

**Hildeprand in Ravenna — Chronica per extensum descripta** In the early-700s, a series of events around Ravenna involved, to varying degrees, the Exarchate of Ravenna, the Papacy of Rome, the Lombards and the Venetians. In the early 720s, the […] [Original post on historywalksvenice.com]

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History Walks in Venice @info.historywalksvenice.com.ap.brid.gy · 12/09/2026

**Hildeprand in Ravenna — John the Deacon** In the early 740s, Hildeprand, nephew of king Liutprand, and Peredeo, duke of Vicenza, managed to take Ravenna, the capital of the Exarchate of Ravenna. Eutychius, the Byzantine exarch, sought refuge in […] [Original post on historywalksvenice.com]

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History Walks in Venice @info.historywalksvenice.com.ap.brid.gy · 10/09/2026

**The death of Paulicius — Chronicon Altinate** The _Chronicon Altinate_ contains an account of how duke Paulicius was killed in a factional fight between people from Equilo and Metamauco on one side, and the inhabitants of the _Civitas Nova_ of […] [Original post on historywalksvenice.com]

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History Walks in Venice @info.historywalksvenice.com.ap.brid.gy · 07/09/2026

**Pactum Lotharii (840)** The _Pactum Lotharii_ was a treaty between the Duchy of the Venetians and the Holy Roman Empire, or parts thereof, from 840. The Holy Roman emperor — and king of Italy — at the time was Lothair I, and the doge of the […] [Original post on historywalksvenice.com]

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History Walks in Venice @info.historywalksvenice.com.ap.brid.gy · 04/09/2026

**Ursus Hypatos — third and first doge of Venice** _Ursus Hypatos_ — or _Orso Ipato_ in Italian — was the third doge on the traditional list of doges of Venice, but probably the first to be chosen by the Venetians. The nominally first, Paulicius, most […] [Original post on historywalksvenice.com]

Drawing of an imaginary combat scene of the Venetians taking Ravenna in the 730s.

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History Walks in Venice @info.historywalksvenice.com.ap.brid.gy · 01/09/2026

**The letters of Cassiodorus** The earliest written source we have about the residents of the Venetian lagoons, is an official letter — dated around September 1st, 537 — from the Roman aristocrat _Flavius Magnus Aurelius Cassiodorus Senator_ (c.487–c […] [Original post on historywalksvenice.com]

Portrait of Ezra from the Codex Amiatinus, which is belived to be a copy of, or inspired by, the Codex Grandior, produced in the Vivarium, a monastery founded by Cassiodorus.

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History Walks in Venice @info.historywalksvenice.com.ap.brid.gy · 30/08/2026

**Hildeprand in Ravenna — Paul the Deacon** In the 730s or early 740s, Hildeprand, nephew of king Liutprand, and Peredeo, duke of Vicenza, managed to take Ravenna, the capital of the Exarchate of Ravenna. Eutychius, the Byzantine exarch, sought […] [Original post on historywalksvenice.com]

Mosaic showing the Royal Palace of Theodoric, King of the Ostrogoths, located in the Basilica di Sant'Apollonare Nuovo in Ravenna, Italy.

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History Walks in Venice @info.historywalksvenice.com.ap.brid.gy · 27/08/2026

**The demise of the Exarchate** Towards the end of the 600s, the Byzantine Empire had plenty of issues on many fronts, but the Lombards in Italy wasn't one of the worst. In fact, things were rather quiet on the western front. From the death of king […] [Original post on historywalksvenice.com]

Detail of a Byzantine protective cover for a book, carved in ivory, with several panels with human figures.

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History Walks in Venice @info.historywalksvenice.com.ap.brid.gy · 24/08/2026

**The Exarchate and the Papacy** The presence of the Exarchate of Ravenna was a fixture in the world of the Venetians in the 600s and into the 700s. _Venetia_ was a Byzantine duchy under the Exarchate of Ravenna, which was how the Eastern Roman […] [Original post on historywalksvenice.com]

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History Walks in Venice @info.historywalksvenice.com.ap.brid.gy · 22/08/2026

**Zachary — Liber Pontificalis** The Lombard king Liutprand invaded the territory of the Exarchate of Ravenna in the "tenth indiction" during the reign of Pope Zachary, that is, between September 741 and August 742. The Byzantine exarch Eutychius […] [Original post on historywalksvenice.com]

Part of a medieval manuscript on yellowed parchment, with a large initial letter Z.

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History Walks in Venice @info.historywalksvenice.com.ap.brid.gy · 18/08/2026

**John VI — Liber pontificalis ecclesiae Ravennatis** John VI, bishop of Ravenna from 726 to 744, had an eventful reign, which is recounted here from the _Liber pontificalis ecclesiae Ravennatis_ — the Book of the Pontiffs of Ravenna — written around […] [Original post on historywalksvenice.com]

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History Walks in Venice @info.historywalksvenice.com.ap.brid.gy · 16/08/2026

**Gregory II — Liber Pontificalis** The _Liber Pontificalis_ — the Book of the Popes — contains short biographies of the early popes of Rome. The entry for Gregory II (_Gregorius_), pontiff from 715 to 731, recounts in great detail — and without any […] [Original post on historywalksvenice.com]

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History Walks in Venice @info.historywalksvenice.com.ap.brid.gy · 14/08/2026

**Iconoclasm — Paul the Deacon** Iconoclasm was a religious-cultural conflict within Byzantine society, over whether it was proper and acceptable to worship religious images. The dispute lasted for much of the 700s and 800s. An edict from emperor […] [Original post on historywalksvenice.com]

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History Walks in Venice @info.historywalksvenice.com.ap.brid.gy · 11/08/2026

**Marcellus — Byzantine or Venetian?** The second doge, Marcellus, took over peacefully from Paulicius in 727. That, at least, is what John the Deacon wrote in his unnamed chronicle, but often called the _Istoria Veneticorum_ , around the year 1000 […] [Original post on historywalksvenice.com]

A part of a medieval manuscript, without any particular decorations. At the bottom of the page, the start of the papal letter of 723.

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History Walks in Venice @info.historywalksvenice.com.ap.brid.gy · 09/08/2026

**The Dogado and the first doges** Early Venice, as a political entity, started as a duchy — what the Venetians later called the _dogado_. There was nothing odd in that. This was the normal form of territorial organisation both in the Exarchate of […] [Original post on historywalksvenice.com]

Drawing of an imaginary scene of the election of the first doge.

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History Walks in Venice @info.historywalksvenice.com.ap.brid.gy · 06/08/2026

**Doge Paulicius** The first doge of Venice was _Paulicius_ , or _Paoluccio Anafesta_ , who ruled Venice from 697 to his death in 717. That, at least, is the official story, but how much do we actually know about a person who lived thirteen centuries […] [Original post on historywalksvenice.com]

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History Walks in Venice @info.historywalksvenice.com.ap.brid.gy · 03/08/2026

**The first doges — Chronicon Altinate** The first book of the _Chronicon Altinate_ — which is by an unknown author, of an unknown date — contains a list of the early doges of Venice. The oldest part of the list is no doubt taken from the Istoria […] [Original post on historywalksvenice.com]

Part of a page of the manuscript Vat. Lat. 5273, with the start of the list of the doges of Venice. Black caligrafhy on yellow parchment.

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History Walks in Venice @info.historywalksvenice.com.ap.brid.gy · 31/07/2026

**The first doges — Chronica per extensum descripta** The official list of the doges of Venice originates mostly from the _Chronica per extensum descripta_ , written by the doge _Andrea Dandolo_ in the 1340s. The rank and authority of its author made […] [Original post on historywalksvenice.com]

Part of a medieval manuscript with a very elaborate initial P.

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History Walks in Venice @info.historywalksvenice.com.ap.brid.gy · 27/07/2026

**The “Chronica per extensum descripta” by Andrea Dandolo** The __Chronica per extensum descripta__ by _Andrea Dandolo_ — doge of Venice 1343-1354 — was an influential early chronicle of the history of Venice, from the mythical foundations to the […] [Original post on historywalksvenice.com]

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History Walks in Venice @info.historywalksvenice.com.ap.brid.gy · 12/07/2026

**The first doges — John the Deacon** The elections of the first doges of Venice are shrouded in mystery, both as to who they were, and why, how and by whom they were chosen. The Istoria Veneticorum by _John the Deacon_ is our earliest source for […] [Original post on historywalksvenice.com]

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History Walks in Venice @info.historywalksvenice.com.ap.brid.gy · 09/07/2026

**Venetia et Histria** The name Venice comes from the Roman district of _Venetia_ , and that name, in turn, from the first known inhabitants of the area, the tribe of the _Veneti_ or _Venetici_. The Veneti people were as indigenous as was possible in […] [Original post on historywalksvenice.com]

Ancient ruins. In the foreground an open area with broken columns and fragments of floor mosaics. In the background, a line of partially upright columns

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History Walks in Venice @info.historywalksvenice.com.ap.brid.gy · 05/07/2026

**Lagoon settlements in the early Middle Ages** The lagoon was not empty and uninhabited when the Lombards arrived in Italy, and pushed the Byzantine aligned Venetians into the coastal areas. We know that when Attila and the Huns sacked Aquileia in […] [Original post on historywalksvenice.com]

Black and white etching of a ruined medieval church, tall walls, the apse in the background, no roof, with two small human figures standing in the middle for scale.

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History Walks in Venice @info.historywalksvenice.com.ap.brid.gy · 02/07/2026

**The Medieval Landscape** The Venetian lagoon, as we know it, is just a small part of the lagoons which once were, both north and south of the estuary and delta of the River Po. The current-day Venetian lagoon is about 50km long, but in the early […] [Original post on historywalksvenice.com]

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History Walks in Venice @info.historywalksvenice.com.ap.brid.gy · 28/06/2026

**The settlements of the lagoons — John the Deacon** This chapter from Istoria Veneticorum by John the Deacon is the earliest Venetian description of the main settlements in the lagoons from Grado to Cavarzere. While it purports to describe the […] [Original post on historywalksvenice.com]

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History Walks in Venice @info.historywalksvenice.com.ap.brid.gy · 25/06/2026

**Exarchs of Ravenna** The _Exarchate of Ravenna_ was an _ad hoc_ organisation of the Byzantine dominions in Italy, established c.584, in the face of the Lombard invasion and gradual conquest of much of the Italian peninsula. The list of the exarchs […] [Original post on historywalksvenice.com]

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History Walks in Venice @info.historywalksvenice.com.ap.brid.gy · 21/06/2026

**Venetian refugees** Following the Lombard invasion in 568-569, and the subsequent conquest of Byzantine Venetia, mostly in the first half of the 600s, a part of the Venetian population of the mainland cities fled or left for the settlements in the […] [Original post on historywalksvenice.com]

A marble altar in a niche, with a low marble wall in front. On the altar some flowers, and three windows behind. Naked brick walls. Very austere, with some simple geometric designs on parts of the marblework.

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History Walks in Venice @info.historywalksvenice.com.ap.brid.gy · 18/06/2026

**The conquest of Venetia — Paul the Deacon** These excerpts from books IV and V of the Historia Langobardorum by Paul the Deacon refer to the Lombard conquest of Byzantine Venetia following the initial Lombard invasion of Italy in 568–569. The […] [Original post on historywalksvenice.com]

Portrait of a man standing in a medieval manuscript.

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History Walks in Venice @info.historywalksvenice.com.ap.brid.gy · 18/06/2026

**The conquest of Venetia — Paul the Deacon** These excerpts from book IV and V of the Historia Langobardorum by Paul the Deacon refer to the Lombard conquest of Byzantine Venetia following the initial Lombard invasion of Italy in 568–569. The […] [Original post on historywalksvenice.com]

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History Walks in Venice @info.historywalksvenice.com.ap.brid.gy · 15/06/2026

**The conquest of Venetia** The invasion of the Lombards in 568 was only the start of their conquest of much of Italy. It was, however, not a centrally planned process, and it would take almost a century before Byzantine _Venetia_ was under Lombard […] [Original post on historywalksvenice.com]

Miniature from a medieval manuscript, showing a bearded enthroned man surrounded by soldiers an servants. Source: Codices Cavenses, Cod.4 Codex legum Langobardorum -- 15v

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History Walks in Venice @info.historywalksvenice.com.ap.brid.gy · 12/06/2026

**The “Istoria Veneticorum” by John the Deacon** The chronicle of John the Deacon — often called the _Istoria Veneticorum_ — is the first work of Venetian historiography, from around 1008. As the first Venetian chronicle, it has been hugely […] [Original post on historywalksvenice.com]

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History Walks in Venice @info.historywalksvenice.com.ap.brid.gy · 08/06/2026

**Chronology of the Lombard invasion** These are some of the main events of the Lombard conquest of Venetia and other parts of Italy. #histodons #Invasions #Lombards #Venezia #Venice Read more here: historywalksvenice.com/list/chronol…

The "Tempietto Longobardo" in Cividale di Friuli

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History Walks in Venice @info.historywalksvenice.com.ap.brid.gy · 04/06/2026

**The “Chronicon Altinate”** The _Chronicon Altinate_ — the Chronicle of Altino — is not, despite the name, a chronicle, but rather a collection of various texts, which treats a wide variety of topics. We don’t know the author — or authors — of the […] [Original post on historywalksvenice.com]

A part of a medieval manuscript, black ink on yellowed parchment, with the first part of the first book of the "Historia Langobardorum"

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History Walks in Venice @info.historywalksvenice.com.ap.brid.gy · 28/05/2026

**Kings of the Lombards** The Kingdom of the Lombards played a major role in early Venetian history, as it was the Lombard invasion of Italy in 568 which started the migration of the _Veneti_ from the mainland into the settlements of the lagoons […] [Original post on historywalksvenice.com]

A map of the Mediterranean and Balkans, with the Byzantine provinces coloured, and markers for the location of the Longobards, Gepids and Avars.

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History Walks in Venice @info.historywalksvenice.com.ap.brid.gy · 23/05/2026

**Main sources for early Venice** The primary sources for the early history of Venice are — in the nature of things — manuscripts written in Latin, and sometimes in Greek. They are not easy to approach. Many are published, and some translated, which […] [Original post on historywalksvenice.com]

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History Walks in Venice @info.historywalksvenice.com.ap.brid.gy · 19/05/2026

**Liber Pontificalis — John III** The _Liber Pontificalis_ — the Book of the Popes — contains short biographies of the early popes of Rome. Compilation of the _Liber Pontificalis_ started in the mid-500s. The entry for John (Iohannes, Giovanni) III […] [Original post on historywalksvenice.com]

Part of a medieval manuscript on parchment, with an extract of the Liber Pontificalis for pope John III, mentioning the Langobardi

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History Walks in Venice @info.historywalksvenice.com.ap.brid.gy · 18/05/2026

**Did Narses invite the Lombards?** The Lombards, led by their king Alboin, invaded Byzantine Italy in 568, in a movement which was well-prepared in advance. The move was not a response to an emergency or an attack by another group. It was a planned […] [Original post on historywalksvenice.com]

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History Walks in Venice @info.historywalksvenice.com.ap.brid.gy · 15/05/2026

**The Lombard Invasion** The Lombard invasion of Byzantine Italy was a pivotal event in Venetian history. The invasion, and the conquests that followed, led to an increased importance of the lagoon settlements, to a slow demise of Byzantine control […] [Original post on historywalksvenice.com]

Part of a medieval manuscript with a Latin text which mentions Venetia

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History Walks in Venice @info.historywalksvenice.com.ap.brid.gy · 08/05/2026

**Pliny the Elder on Venetia** In his monumental _Naturalis Historia_ (Natural History), Pliny the Elder (_Gaius Plinius Secundus_ , 23–79) also wrote about the _Regio X Venetia et Histria_ — the region of Italy instituted at the time of Augustus […] [Original post on historywalksvenice.com]

Fragment of a medieval manuscipt with the Latin text of book III, chapter XVIII

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History Walks in Venice @info.historywalksvenice.com.ap.brid.gy · 27/04/2026

**The Justinian plague — Paul the Deacon** This excerpt from book II of the Historia Langobardorum by Paul the Deacon describes the effect of the Justinian plague in Italy. Based on archaeological DNA samples, the epidemic has recently been verified […] [Original post on historywalksvenice.com]

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History Walks in Venice @info.historywalksvenice.com.ap.brid.gy · 25/04/2026

**The “Historia Langobardorum” by Paul the** The _Historia Langobardorum_ — The History of the Lombards — by _Paul the Deacon_ is the oldest chronicle relevant to the history of Venice. It probably dates to the 780s or 790s. As the name implies, it […] [Original post on historywalksvenice.com]

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History Walks in Venice @info.historywalksvenice.com.ap.brid.gy · 23/04/2026

**Officiali alle Rason Vecchie e Rason Nuove — ASV Indicepen** The offices of _Rason Vecchie e Nuovo_ were from 1368 auditors of many other offices of the republic, and accountants of the central offices of state. The word _rason_ can best be […] [Original post on historywalksvenice.com]

Cover of L’Archivio di Stato di Venezia: indice generale, storico, descrittivo ed analitico

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