Didn’t this result in the election of Enrico Dandolo, who directed the 4th crusade to sack Constantinople, one of the most self-destructive acts of Western Civilization?
Yes, Venice elected Enrico Dandolo. I’m not sure if “this” elected him, because he was of the intermediate period 1176-1268, but probably a multi-tier voting system.
It depends on your definition of “the West.” Some people insist that Byzantium is not part of the West. This is probably the point where Venice joined the West. But is “self-destructive” a natural category? Wars are destructive. Would it have been less barbaric for the Crusade to follow its original plan and conquer Muslims? What does it matter that you, a millennium later, see Venice and Byzantium as one? That didn’t stop Constantinople from enslaving its Venetian population in 1171.
Some people attribute the Renaissance to Greek manuscripts fleeing Constantinople when it fell a 250 years later. I imagine you condemn the sack because you think it lead to that fall. Was Constantinople doing anything with those manuscripts? They weren’t having their own Renaissance. My impression was that already in 1200 Venice was the greater center of learning.
Anyhow, Byzantium wasn’t his constituency. As I said, the voting system elected a leader with wide support who didn’t use the mercenaries to sack his local rivals. Also, it achieved what Coscott asked for: a highly capable leader, who saved his city from an idle army, improvised a use for it, and, as a blind centenarian, lead the army to great victories.
For a millennium, Venice had a multi-layer system that alternated voting for voters and drawing lots for voters.
But they were probably more interested choosing a consensus leader who would be fair than a capable leader.
Edit: maybe only half a millennium. For the first half there were simpler elections.
Didn’t this result in the election of Enrico Dandolo, who directed the 4th crusade to sack Constantinople, one of the most self-destructive acts of Western Civilization?
Yes, Venice elected Enrico Dandolo. I’m not sure if “this” elected him, because he was of the intermediate period 1176-1268, but probably a multi-tier voting system.
It depends on your definition of “the West.” Some people insist that Byzantium is not part of the West. This is probably the point where Venice joined the West. But is “self-destructive” a natural category? Wars are destructive. Would it have been less barbaric for the Crusade to follow its original plan and conquer Muslims? What does it matter that you, a millennium later, see Venice and Byzantium as one? That didn’t stop Constantinople from enslaving its Venetian population in 1171.
Some people attribute the Renaissance to Greek manuscripts fleeing Constantinople when it fell a 250 years later. I imagine you condemn the sack because you think it lead to that fall. Was Constantinople doing anything with those manuscripts? They weren’t having their own Renaissance. My impression was that already in 1200 Venice was the greater center of learning.
Anyhow, Byzantium wasn’t his constituency. As I said, the voting system elected a leader with wide support who didn’t use the mercenaries to sack his local rivals. Also, it achieved what Coscott asked for: a highly capable leader, who saved his city from an idle army, improvised a use for it, and, as a blind centenarian, lead the army to great victories.