Lesson 3: Literacy, Libertines, Lasciviousness, and the Lido (Renaissance Venice)
Venice has long been notorious for licentiousness. Young lords from many countries, including those English ones that we write so much about, went to Venice on their Grand Tours of Europe and enjoyed the wine, the women, and the song.
When Napoleon marched into Venice, he repeatedly commanded them to close their churches… but the churches weren’t in very active service, anyway! It is said that too much descent into pleasure in the 18thcentury is what finally led to Venice’s ruin. So devoted were they to enjoyment that not enough people were minding business affairs and the military, and they weren’t able to put up much resistance when Napoleon came for them. (Source: a puppet show I saw in Venice – some more long-winded sources below.)
From the English perspective, Venice was the place they went to get drunk and sow wild oats. Byron was famous for having swum from the Lido to the mainland with a hangover.
But that was later. From the Renaissance Venetian perspective, the salons of the courtesans were not all about getting drunk and having sex.
They were places to enjoy pleasure and beauty, yes, but also intellectualism, business, and diplomacy. Salons were huge by-invitation-only parties where both women and men could discuss ideas, both frivolous and important. Veronica Franco, one of the most admired courtesans of her time, was known as much for her poetry and intellect as for her beauty and grace. In 1575 she published Terze Rime,a book with 17 of her own sonnets, and 8 other sonnets, which may have been by her principal lover, Marco Venier, or perhaps other authors.
Here are a few quotes from her work, translated into English. As you can see, she was publicly allowed to be both brilliant andsexy.
“When we too are armed and trained, we can convince men that we have hands, feet, and a heart like yours; and although we may be delicate and soft, some men who are delicate are also strong; and others, coarse and harsh, are cowards. Women have not yet realized this, for if they should decide to do so, they would be able to fight you until death; and to prove that I speak the truth, amongst so many women, I will be the first to act, setting an example for them to follow.
—Veronica Franco 1546-1591”
—Veronica Franco 1546-1591”
“So sweet and delicious do I become,
when I am in bed with a man
who, I sense, loves and enjoys me,
that the pleasure I bring excels all delight,
so the knot of love, however tight
it seemed before, is tied tighter still.”
― Poems and Selected Letters
when I am in bed with a man
who, I sense, loves and enjoys me,
that the pleasure I bring excels all delight,
so the knot of love, however tight
it seemed before, is tied tighter still.”
― Poems and Selected Letters
She also gained a great deal of political power and was able to introduce intelligent ideas into the way Venice was governed. She was considered an important ambassador in Venice’s international relations with France, and participated in important peace talks.
So naturally… when a woman gains a lot of power, what comes next? Someone tries to take it away from her!
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