Since 1967 the History Department has sent a group of final year students to study in Venice in the autumn term. While they are in Italy, they take a module on the history of Venice in the Renaissance which is taught by Warwick staff. The students are given a unique opportunity to study the history of a great Mediterranean city while living in it, and Venice is well-suited for the purpose, since its overall appearance and structure have changed so little in the last four hundred years. Seminars are held in our impressive new base in the Palazzo Giustinian Lolin.

Site visits are at the heart of the History Department's teaching in Venice. We take our students to the island of Torcello, where the human settlement of the Venetian Lagoon began. In the Doge's Palace we stand in the spaces in which Venetian politics took place. A tour of the Rialto area reveals the economic activities on which Venetian power rested.

Visits to two of the Palladian villas demonstrate the cultural, economic, and political importance of Venice's mainland empire. The significance of foreign communities to Venice is shown in a tour of the Ghetto. Using the memoir of a murderer, we walk in the footsteps of him and his victims across the city. A visit to the Gallerie dell'Accademia illustrates the evolution of the visual arts in Venice as well as economic, political, religious, and social developments. A trip to Mantua allows students to compare Venice with one of the great princely courts of Europe. Finally, the Scuola Grande di San Rocco and the Frari church display the cultural and social aspects of popular piety in the Renaissance as well as the impact of plague.

Jonathan Davies, History