Chronology

	DOMESTIC AND MAINLAND	DATE
	Fourth Crusade sails from Venice	1202
By the end of the thirteenth century the Venetian Republic had established its independence, evolved its system of aristocratic government, and made a start in building the city of Venice as we know it now.
	Church of San Zanipolo begun	1234
	Establishment of patrician autocracy	1297
Throughout the fourteenth century Venice was involved in a vicious struggle with its chief commercial rival, Genoa, against a background of political instability at home. It ended triumphantly with the defeat of the Genoese at Chioggia, on the threshold of Venice, and the consolidation of patrician oligarchy in the capital.	Tiepolo conspiracy against the Republic Frari church begun Present Doge’s Palace begun Doge Marin Faliero beheaded for treason Genoese surrender at Chioggia	1310 1330 1340 1355 1380
	Venice acquires Bassano, Belluno, Padua, Verona	1403-5
With Genoa defeated the Venetians seized for themselves territories on the adjacent mainland and by the middle of the fifteenth century had established a mainland empire reaching almost to Milan. The end of the century was the climax of their success, exciting the envy as well as the admiration of all Europe.	Birth of Gentile Bellini Birth of Giovanni Bellini Venice acquires Treviso, Friuli, Bergamo, Ravenna Birth of Carpaccio	c.1429 c.1430 1454 c.1460

DATE	IMPERIAL AND OVERSEAS
1202	Fourth Crusade subdues Zadar
1204	Constantinople captured
1204-10	Venice acquires Crete, Euboea, Koroni, Methon: Venetian citizens acquire Cyclades	At the time of the Fourth Crusade, though the Venetians were already commercially powerful in the eastern Mediterranean, their overseas territories were limited to scattered seaports on the coast of Dalmatia. The Crusade gave them a string of fortresses, islands and seaports in and around the Aegean and made them an imperial Power.
1386	Venice acquires Corfu
1388 1420	Venice acquires Nauplia Venetian control of Dalmatia confirmed	The defeat of their rivals, the Genoese, in home waters gave the Venetians extra freedom of movement, and through the fourteenth century, and well into the fifteenth, their imperial expansion continued.
1453	Turks take Constantinople
1464	Venice acquires Monemvasia
1470	Turks take Euboea

	DOMESTIC AND MAINLAND	DATE
	Birth of Giorgione	c.1471
	European League of Cambrai against Venice	1508
	Birth of Tintoretto	1518
	Birth of Veronese	c.1528
During the last three centuries of her history, despite periods of astonishing artistic fertility, Venice consistently declined in power and virility at the centre. Though her constitution remained inviolate, her strength was whittled away by shifts in world power and the burdens of her commitments. In the eighteenth century she subsided into carnival and excess until Napoleon Bonaparte, declaring himself an Attila to the State of Venice, contemptuously abolished the Republic.	Church of the Salute begun Birth of Tiepolo Birth of Canaletto	1630 1696 1697
	FALL OF THE VENETIAN REPUBLIC	1797

DATE	IMPERIAL AND OVERSEAS
1482 1489 1500	Venice acquires Zakinthos Venice acquires Cyprus Turks take Koroni and Methoni Venice acquires Cephalonia	The rise of Turkish power, though, was already threatening them and the fall of Constantinople to the Muslims was soon followed by the first loss of Venetian territory, in Euboea. Although this was really the turning-point of their imperial history, they continued to acquire new possessions, pragmatically, until the end of the fifteenth century.
1540 1566 1571 1571 1650 1669 1684-7	Turks take Monemvasia and Nauplia Turks take Naxos and Cyclades Turks take Cyprus Battle of Lepanto Turks besiege Iraklion Turks take Crete Venice takes Peloponnese from Turks	The last three centuries of the Venetian Empire were centuries of retreat. Despite the part the Venetians played in the Christian victory over the Turks at Lepanto, and despite a brief resurgence of imperial energies in Greece, and later in action against the Muslim corsairs of North Africa, Venice was outclassed by the superpowers of east and west. With the loss of her eastern colonies one by one to the Turks, by the time of the fall of the Republic she was hardly more than an Adriatic seaport once again.
1715	Turks take Tinos
1716	Venice surrenders Peloponnese to Turks
1785	Venetians bombard Tunis
1797	END OF THE VENETIAN EMPIRE