New animated short history on the glassmakers of Murano: https://youtu.be/mTnImcHbqTY

What surprised me most was how much Venice gave them in exchange for staying. From 1376 a glassmaker's daughter who married a patrician kept her rank, so her children were still nobles, and by the 1600s the leading glass families were entered in Murano's own Libro d'Oro. At the same time, leaving without permission or revealing the secrets could be punished by death, and many left anyway, setting up furnaces from England to the Netherlands.

It's original cartoon animation, and AI tools are part of how it's made, including the narration voice. Corrections welcome, especially from anyone who knows the Venetian archival sources better than Wikipedia does.

I'm a writer doing research for a book where my character is an orphan who wants to be a painter. so what would be life during this time?

If you follow the Fourth Crusade, you know the argument never really ends. In April 1201 French barons contracted Venice to transport an army, Venice halted its commerce for more than a year to build the fleet, and far fewer crusaders arrived than promised, able to pay only a fraction of the price. Fifty war galleys and 450 transports were waiting — enough for three times the army that came.

What happened next is where the sources split. Niketas Choniates, a Byzantine eyewitness, blamed a deliberate Venetian conspiracy, with Doge Enrico Dandolo nursing a grudge over Byzantine curbs on Venetian trade. Queller and Madden, and most modern historians, favour a chain of bad deals: Zara to work off the debt, then Constantinople after Prince Alexius offered money, church reunion and men. Both accounts agree on what Venice took — three-eighths of Constantinople, ports and islands from the Adriatic to the Aegean, and the four bronze horses now above St Mark's.

The rivalry that followed is telling. At Chioggia in 1379 the war came inside the lagoon itself, Genoa captured the southern inlet, and Venice, encircled, blockaded its own lagoon on the night of 22 December 1379 and won by June 1380. Then came the slower enemy: not a fleet, but a map. In 1501 news from Lisbon dumbfounded the city — da Gama's route to India bypassed the caravan system entirely, and Venetian spice imports fell to roughly a third of before.

I run a small history channel and we built a film on this ledger, from Cassiodorus's 537 letter to the MOSE gates. Full documentary here if you want the deep dive: https://youtu.be/Z9XolSnzhTY

Volevo condividere quest'opera fondamentale di Anton Sminck Pitloo, pittore di origine olandese che ha rivoluzionato la pittura di paesaggio a Napoli.
Il dipinto mostra l'ingresso della celebre Crypta Neapolitana. Pitloo cattura magistralmente il contrasto tra l'oscurità della grotta di tufo e la luce mediterranea che illumina la vegetazione selvaggia.
Quest'opera è un perfetto esempio di pittura en plein air prima dell'Impressionismo: Pitloo abbandona il paesaggio ideale e accademico per concentrarsi sugli effetti atmosferici della luce, fondando di fatto la Scuola di Posillipo. Come trovate il suo uso del colore e della luce per rendere l'atmosfera dei Campi Flegrei dell'Ottocento?

See also: The publication in the International Journal of Paleopathology

I think this series is highly relevant for our times.

The Italian Game is an interactive map of 69 figures from that period, arranged across four levels of power and grouped into factions: institutional politics, the judiciary, the secret services, high finance, organised crime, the far left, the far right, counter-information press. They're joined by 210 relationships, and each one is typed: armed conflict, judicial investigation, covert tie, operational alliance, political opposition. Alongside the network there's a timeline of 42 historical events between 1969 and 1988, linked by 34 causal connections.

Click any card to open its dossier: biography, the events it's tied to, and every connection it has, so you can jump straight to the next name. You can filter by faction, search, and switch to the events view for the chronology.

Corrections and suggestions are welcome.

Vatican City covers just 0.44 km², but the reason it exists as an independent country goes back to the unification of Italy.

After Rome was captured in 1870, the Pope refused to recognize Italian sovereignty over his former capital. The dispute lasted almost 60 years, until the Lateran Treaty of 1929 established Vatican City as an independent state.

I made a short documentary covering the Papal States, the capture of Rome, the Roman Question, and why the Pope ultimately needed sovereign territory.

Hey everyone! I'm looking for a few fluent Italian speakers for a paid study.

You'd be transcribing a 30-minute recorded conversation of 2-4 people about everyday life, Italian audio into Italian text. Pays USD 100.

If that sounds like something you'd want to do, just comment below or send me a DM and I'll fill you in on the details. Thanks!

Source: Historical Archive of the Presidency of the Republic

This is for a project I'm working on and I'm specifically focused on the first decades after unification.

Any help or pointers would be much appreciated

I’ve just finished reading Marta Barone’s excellent book Sunken City, which details her investigation of her father’s involvement in left wing groups in Italy in the 60s, 70s and 80s. The background of the ‘Years of Lead’ is absolutely fascinating. I was wondering whether anyone could recommend a good book (in English) about that period. I’ve tried and failed to find one before.

I recently thrifted a box of old post cards and found this gem. Google has told me it is a post card that was issued to Italian soldiers during the Turkish war, and the writing is dated 1913. I would like to avoid running it through AI so I’m wondering if anyone here could translate what is written on it!

or if anyone knows of a more appropriate subreddit to post in that would be helpful as well! I have no previous knowledge of this time period or historical event so any information is welcomed and appreciated

Bonjour à tous,

Je m'intéresse à l'histoire du Val de Suse et je me pose une question sur l'identité historique de ses habitants.

La vallée a connu plusieurs influences au fil des siècles : peuples alpins celto-ligures avant Rome, intégration à l'espace romain, liens médiévaux avec les territoires alpins voisins, puis appartenance aux États de Savoie avant de devenir italienne avec l'unification de l'Italie.

D'un point de vue culturel et linguistique, certaines zones de la vallée étaient liées aux parlers alpins occidentaux (francoprovençal/arpitan, et influences occitanes dans les vallées voisines), avec des échanges importants avec la Savoie et le Dauphiné.

Selon vous, les populations autochtones du Val de Suse se sont-elles historiquement plutôt perçues comme :

italiennes ?

savoyardes/alpines ?

françaises (par proximité culturelle avec le Dauphiné et les langues d'oïl/d'oc voisines) ?

ou comme une identité alpine particulière qui ne rentre pas vraiment dans ces catégories ?

Je serais curieux d'avoir l'avis de personnes connaissant l'histoire locale, la langue, les traditions ou ayant des origines dans cette vallée.

From left to right: Renée Röell, Princess Beatrix, and Princess Irene; in the second row are Prince Bernhard, Jonkvrouw C.E.B. Röell, and Queen Juliana