source of income from marine and bird life and from salt pans. The lagoon has
served as protection (the Venetians defeated the Genoese in 1380 through their
superior knowledge of the navigable channels) and as a natural sewerage system,
with the tides flushing out the city’s canals twice daily (Madden 2013).
But the lagoon requires careful husbandry to prevent it from threatening the very
existence of Venice. The deepening of channels in the twentieth century, the overextraction of fresh water from mainland aquifers, the rising of the Adriatic Sea, and
the geologic sinking of the Po River basin have all combined to lower the land level,
creating a serious flooding problem. On a regular basis, when high tides combine
with winds from the south and east, the waters of the lagoon rise and flood the city,
creating the acqua alta (“high water”) so familiar to Venetians, and elaborate raised
platforms are laid out in main squares to allow tourists and others to walk around
the city.
Though first settled circa 569, Venice began to establish itself as a trade power
after a treaty in 814 between the Franks and the Byzantines established its independence from the Carolingian empire without requiring any special emphasis on
its obligation to Constantinople. Thus Venice became part of both worlds, east and
west, yet without obligation to either. It is perfectly placed between the Mediterranean and the mountain passes up through the Alps into northern Europe, and poised
to prosper from trade. In return for help against Norman marauders, the Byzantine
emperor granted Venice an astonishing concession in 1082: free trade throughout
the Byzantine empire, without being liable for any dues or customs. Fortune was
guaranteed.
Soon extra trade routes opened along the coasts of the Byzantine empire and
beyond. In 1096 the First Crusade set off eastwards to recover the holy places of
Christendom from the Muslims, resulting in a great increase in trade, travel and
pilgrimage to the eastern Mediterranean. Venice, which had the skills to provide the
transport and an already established trade concession, was perfectly placed, and
reaped the benefits of these developments (Fig. 36.8).
36.3 Bruges, Belgium: In Comes the Competition
The history of Bruges stretches far back to Julius Caesar who was responsible for
the construction of the earliest fortifications there in the first century BC. These
were erected in an attempt to defend the Roman Empire against the very real threat
of pirate attacks. In the ninth century AD, the Count of Flanders, Baldwin I
(or Baldwin the Iron Arm), strengthened the Roman walls and built a castle to
protect against Viking raids. The town of Bruges eventually grew around this castle.
Bruges has a long history as a port. For centuries the Zwin (the southwesternmost channel of the estuary of the river Scheldt) linked Bruges to the sea.
At 17 km (10.5 miles) inland from the North Sea it is not in a naturally perfect
setting for a sea port but the area is made up of ever shifting sands. Beginning in the
eleventh century, fierce coastal storms opened and closed access to the sea. A 1040
36 Venice-of-the-North’s Ups and Downs: A Brief History of the Port. . .
605
served as protection (the Venetians defeated the Genoese in 1380 through their
superior knowledge of the navigable channels) and as a natural sewerage system,
with the tides flushing out the city’s canals twice daily (Madden 2013).
But the lagoon requires careful husbandry to prevent it from threatening the very
existence of Venice. The deepening of channels in the twentieth century, the overextraction of fresh water from mainland aquifers, the rising of the Adriatic Sea, and
the geologic sinking of the Po River basin have all combined to lower the land level,
creating a serious flooding problem. On a regular basis, when high tides combine
with winds from the south and east, the waters of the lagoon rise and flood the city,
creating the acqua alta (“high water”) so familiar to Venetians, and elaborate raised
platforms are laid out in main squares to allow tourists and others to walk around
the city.
Though first settled circa 569, Venice began to establish itself as a trade power
after a treaty in 814 between the Franks and the Byzantines established its independence from the Carolingian empire without requiring any special emphasis on
its obligation to Constantinople. Thus Venice became part of both worlds, east and
west, yet without obligation to either. It is perfectly placed between the Mediterranean and the mountain passes up through the Alps into northern Europe, and poised
to prosper from trade. In return for help against Norman marauders, the Byzantine
emperor granted Venice an astonishing concession in 1082: free trade throughout
the Byzantine empire, without being liable for any dues or customs. Fortune was
guaranteed.
Soon extra trade routes opened along the coasts of the Byzantine empire and
beyond. In 1096 the First Crusade set off eastwards to recover the holy places of
Christendom from the Muslims, resulting in a great increase in trade, travel and
pilgrimage to the eastern Mediterranean. Venice, which had the skills to provide the
transport and an already established trade concession, was perfectly placed, and
reaped the benefits of these developments (Fig. 36.8).
36.3 Bruges, Belgium: In Comes the Competition
The history of Bruges stretches far back to Julius Caesar who was responsible for
the construction of the earliest fortifications there in the first century BC. These
were erected in an attempt to defend the Roman Empire against the very real threat
of pirate attacks. In the ninth century AD, the Count of Flanders, Baldwin I
(or Baldwin the Iron Arm), strengthened the Roman walls and built a castle to
protect against Viking raids. The town of Bruges eventually grew around this castle.
Bruges has a long history as a port. For centuries the Zwin (the southwesternmost channel of the estuary of the river Scheldt) linked Bruges to the sea.
At 17 km (10.5 miles) inland from the North Sea it is not in a naturally perfect
setting for a sea port but the area is made up of ever shifting sands. Beginning in the
eleventh century, fierce coastal storms opened and closed access to the sea. A 1040
36 Venice-of-the-North’s Ups and Downs: A Brief History of the Port. . .
605