THE MERCHANTS OF VENICE

Venice was a nation founded on trade. It owed its phenominal success to the small size of the Republic and Venice itself. Confined to such a restricted space, it created in the Venetians a unique sense of spirit of cohesion and cooperation in the handling day-to-day affairs.

Amongst the Venetian merchant aristocracy everyone knew each other, and close acquaintance led to a mutual trust of a kind that in other cities seldom extended outside the family circle. Consequently, the Venetians were unique for their capacity for quick, effecient business administration.

Trading ventures that involved great amounts of money and had several years of duration with considerable risk could be arranged in the matter of hours in the Rialto. The system enabled short-term partnerships to evolve through which any Venetian with a little money could have a share in the trade.

Known as a Colleganza, these agreements enabled Artesans, widows, the sick and aged to enjoy the possibility of high profits. It's presumed that Shakespeare based his plot for the Merchants of Venice on the collapse of one of these Colleganza.

The Rialto was the commercial center of Venice. Where luxury goods would arrive from the East, while raw materials would arrive from northern Europe. Typical of Venetian palaces, the many that line the Grand Canal were half homes and half warehouses used to store goods in transit.

Other pages on the history of Venice