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 Exarchate around Ravenna and in the Pentapolis.

The expulsion of the Venetians from the lands of the papacy happened in the early years of the reign of duke Giovanni (787–804).

According to the letter, the Venetians were to be expelled, lose all established rights of residence and trade, and have all property, including church property, confiscated.

If the decision was carried out as described in the letter, it must have had a notable impact of the Venetian economy, as it would severely restrict Venetian trade along the Adriatic coast and up the river Po, to the entirety of the vast Po valley.

The usual Venetian sources for the period don’t mention the events at all, which leaves the sensation that whatever happened, the outcome wasn’t exactly glorious for the Venetians.

Source: the Latin text is from Gundlach, Wilhelm and Ernst Dümmler (eds.). Epistolae Merowingici et Karolini aevi (I) in Monumenta Germaniae historica. Hannoverae : impensis Bibliopolii Hahniani, 1892, p. 622–623.

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Letter from Adrian I to Charlemagne (c. 787)

To the most excellent Lord, our son in spirit and fellow countryman Charles, King of the Franks and Lombards and patrician of the Romans, from Pope Hadrian.

We have informed the most gracious royal excellence, for while your royal command was issued in celebration of victory, ordering the Venetians to be expelled from the regions of Ravenna and the Pentapolis for trading, we immediately sent emissaries to those regions, fulfilling your royal will.

Moreover, I also directed that the archbishop be ordered that in any of our territories under the holy church of Ravenna, where the Venetians should have rights, presences, and possessions, that they should expel them completely and thus hold the rights of their church in his own hands.

…omissis…

May the safety of your gracious excellency be preserved by divine favour.

Click to reveal the Latin text

Domino excellentissimo filio nostroque spiritali campatri Carolo, regi Francorum et Langobardorum atque patricio Romanorum, Hadrianus papa.

Ad aures clementissimae regalis excellentiae vestrae intimantes innotescimus, quia, dum vestra regalis in triumphis victoria praecipiendum emisit, ut a partibus Ravennae seu Pentapoliis expellerentur Venetici ad negotiandum, nos ilico partibus illis emisimus, vestram adimplentes regalem voluntatem.

Insuper et ad archiepiscopum prae­cipiendum direxim us, ut in quolibet territorio nostro iure sanctae Ravennate ecclesiae ipsi Venetici presidia atque
possessiones haberent, omnino eos exinde expelleret et sicuti ecclesiae suae iura manibus suis tenere.

…

Incolumen excellentiain vestram gratia superna custodiat.