The epoch-making victory of Charles Martel over the Arabs at Tours drew the eyes of all Europe to France and to a mighty race of princes destined to change the face of the continent.

In 752, the restless Lombards reoccupied Ravenna and the Pentapolis, and the Pope turned to the new Carlovingian dynasty for protection. Pepin answered the call, wrested the cities from the Lombards, and bestowed them upon the Pope — thus establishing the papacy as a temporal sovereign.

Twenty years later, the papacy was once again compelled to seek aid. Charlemagne, Pepin’s son, crossed the Alps by the Great St Bernard Pass and fell like a thunderbolt upon the Lombards. In 774, their dominion was finally crushed with the capture of Desiderius, their king, and Pavia, their royal city.

Venice and the Fall of the Lombards

Romanin argues, from the silence of contemporary chroniclers, that the Venetians took no active part in the siege of Pavia. Yet an old Venetian inscription — hammered onto a thin plate of lead and now preserved in the British Museum — tells another story.

According to this record, at Charlemagne’s invitation, Venice sent:

• A fleet of twenty-four galleys
• Four nobles skilled in the arts of war (saveva far la guara)

The Venetians even had the honour of guarding the captive Lombard king.

Throughout the struggle, Venice watched events closely, seizing every opportunity to extend the trading privileges on which her survival depended. Through her merchants in Constantinople, she secretly informed the Church of a plot to recover the Exarchate for Byzantium — a scheme thus thwarted forever.

The Rise of Frankish Power and Internal Division

By 781, Pepin, son of Charlemagne, had been crowned King of Italy by the Pope. The growing power of the Franks and their alliance with a territorial papacy alarmed the Heraclean party in Venice.

They believed a wiser course was alliance with the weaker — but distant — Byzantine Empire, rather than submission to the Franks.

In 778, Doge Maurizio Galbaio, pleading infirmity, associated his son Giovanni with him in office. Upon Maurizio’s death, Giovanni succeeded him directly — a subtle but momentous change in the nature of the Dogeship, deeply offensive to the democratic party.

Trade, Slavery, and Papal Intervention

Venetian merchants had acquired territory near Ravenna and established trading centres in neighbouring cities. They were, however, notorious slave traders.

A generation earlier, Pope Zacharias, moved by compassion at the sight of Christian slaves in Rome destined for pagan Africa, had purchased and freed them at his own expense.

Charlemagne, having issued an edict against the slave trade, now urged Pope Hadrian to act. The result was decisive:

• Venetians were expelled from Ravenna and the Pentapolis

Ecclesiastical Conflict and Political Violence

In 797, the see of Olivolo, newly created to meet the city’s growing population, became vacant. The Doge appointed Christophorus Damiatus, a young Greek, as bishop.

The Patriarch of Grado, a leader of the Frankish party, refused consecration, excommunicating both bishop and doge.

The Doge’s response was swift and brutal. His son Maurizio led a fleet against Grado:

• The city was stormed
• The Patriarch was captured
• Thrown from a tower and dashed to his death

To appease public outrage, Fortunatus, the Patriarch’s nephew, was appointed in his place.

The Return of Fortunatus and the Triumph of the Franks

Far from subdued, Fortunatus proved resourceful and relentless. After a failed conspiracy, he fled to the court of Charlemagne, now Holy Roman Emperor, and stirred Frankish hostility against Venice.

A rebellion followed. The Doge and his son were exiled to Mantua, and in 804, Obelerio of Malamocco was proclaimed Doge. The Frankish party triumphed.

But the victory was short-lived. Civil fury broke loose:

• Jesolo was nearly destroyed
• Heraclea suffered similar vengeance

At last, a general assembly of the entire dogado resolved that peace required drastic action. The remaining populations of Heraclea and Jesolo were transported to Malamocco.

Byzantine Intervention and the Threat of War

Fortunatus, enriched under Frankish favour, traded widely under imperial patronage and regained the see of Grado through diplomacy. Yet the Heracleans appealed to Byzantium, and a Greek fleet entered the Adriatic.

In 809, Venice openly supported her suzerain with a fleet — unsuccessfully — and thereby enraged both Pope and Emperor.

A clash was now inevitable.

A great empire aspiring to universal dominion cannot tolerate a free and independent state upon its borders.

The Siege of the Lagoons

Faction fell silent in the face of danger. A provisional government of national defence was formed under Angelo Participazio, tribune of Rivoalto.

Preparations were feverish:

• Ships were built
• Fortifications raised
• Channels blocked with chains and sunken hulks
• Provisions stockpiled

Churches filled with men fasting and praying for divine aid.

The निर्णσιve Struggle and the Move to Rialto

King Pepin advanced with fleet and army. One by one:

• Grado fell
• Brondolo, Chioggia, and surrounding settlements were taken
• Fire and sword ravaged the land

The capital Malamocco was threatened. At this moment, a decision of historic importance was taken:

Malamocco was abandoned, and the people withdrew to Rivoalto (Rialto) — the compact cluster of islands safer from attack.

For nearly six months, a desperate struggle raged along the lidi. Pepin claimed them as subjects; the Venetians replied:

“We will be subject to the Emperor of the Romans — not to thee.”

Though Malamocco was captured, it lay deserted. Frankish pontoons faltered in the shallow channels. Venetian boats harried them relentlessly, driving them onto shoals and into ambush.

Summer heat and disease ravaged the invaders. A Greek fleet threatened Pepin’s rear, and he was forced to negotiate.

Victory and the Birth of Venice

Pepin agreed to:

• Withdraw his forces
• Restore captured territories
• Reaffirm ancient trading privileges

In exchange, Venice would pay an annual tribute.

Thus, from the trial by fire and water, Venice emerged:

• United
• Victorious
• Firmly established at Rialto

The State of Venice was now permanently rooted in the lagoons.