威尼斯共和國的故事：西歐的屏障與文明的窗口

by William H. McNeill, 威廉·麥克尼爾, 許可欣 (Translator)

公元一0五四年，東西方基督教(拜占庭與羅馬)分裂以後，歐洲政治的分界線從南北劃分基督教世界與蠻族天地，變成東部的東正教與西半部的天主教，威尼斯的地理位置正好落在交會之處。1453年第二羅馬-拜占庭陷落於奧斯曼土耳其人之手後，威尼斯扮演過保衛基督教世界的角色，更一舉在1571年的雷龐多(Lepanto)海戰讓奧斯曼喪失地中海權。

威尼斯的貢獻不只是面具、嘉年華、貢多拉船，還有葡萄酒(馬爾瓦吉亞酒)、肥皂(戰時也可以在敵方船上阻擾敵人的運動)、玻璃與眼鏡、蕾絲(生產地在慕拉諾島)、出版業(1495~1497全歐洲出版了1821本，447本由威尼斯出版，第二名的巴黎只貢獻了181本) 、專利制度(1474年起給予10年的保障)、保險制度。

他們沒有如熱那亞赫赫威名的冒險家—哥倫布；她們也不像翡冷翠(佛羅倫斯)那樣天才輩出—達文西；更沒有羅馬城的歷史光輝與教宗的光環。但是這群務實、腳踏實地，在孤懸海外一隅、靠魚鹽維生的人民，經歷數百年的時光卻能造就海上強權的事業。這個城市遭逢多次生死關頭的危難，卻不曾分裂、內亂，反而更加團結在聖馬可旗幟下，更見淬煉！

她的國策符合地緣條件，她參與建構了現代意義的外交體系，她扮演地中海東西兩方商品、技術、知識、美學、文化交流的橋樑，促成西歐從封建體制走向現代。她是威尼斯，一個我們耳熟能詳的觀光城市，曾經在歷史上成就不平凡偉業的小城大國！

Genres: History, Italy, Cities, Religion, Philosophy, Geography, Cultural

400 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1974

About the author

William Hardy McNeill was a historian and author, noted for his argument that contact and exchange among civilizations is what drives human history forward, first postulated in The Rise of the West (1963). He was the Robert A. Milikan Distinguished Service Professor Emeritus of History at the University of Chicago, where he taught from 1947 until his retirement in 1987.
In addition to winning the U.S. National Book Award in History and Biography in 1964 for The Rise of the West, McNeill received several other awards and honors. In 1985 he served as president of the American Historical Association.
In 1996, McNeill won the prestigious Erasmus Prize, which the Crown Prince of the Netherlands Willem-Alexander presented to him at Amsterdam's Royal Palace.
In 1999, Modern Library named The Rise of the West of the 100 Best Nonfiction Books of the 20th century.
In 2009, he won the National Humanities Medal. In February 2010, President Barack Obama, a former University of Chicago professor himself, awarded McNeill the National Humanities Medal to recognize "his exceptional talent as a teacher and scholar at the University of Chicago and as an author of more than 20 books, including The Rise of the West: A History of the Human Community (1963), which traces civilizations through 5,000 years of recorded history".

Reviews

[Song · Rating 5 out of 5]

撇开内容不谈，这本书对我而言有特别的意义，开始看这本书是被封闭在家前两天，而真正读完已经是三个月之后了。

威廉·麦克尼尔是全球史的奠基人物，基本上从他开始，才真正出现了“世界史”这个现代历史学的研究方向和作品。而他那本《世界史》，更是每个对世界历史感兴趣的读者绝对不会错过的名山作品。

这本《威尼斯》是麦克尼尔的早期作品，是他在研究全球史时产生的一个有趣问题：威尼斯共和国的历史，是研究世界史绕不开的一个主题，而威尼斯自身的历史，就是一个缩小版的世界史。从地理位置看，威尼斯地处西欧和拜占庭、奥斯曼等东方诸帝国的交汇之处。她早早就建立了城邦共和制度，因为土地狭小贫瘠，因此航海和通商就是威尼斯的出路。因此，威尼斯经由海上航路，扮演了东西方之间文化经济传播的角色。她那具有现代工业化生产雏形的兵工厂，以及因此而兴起的威尼斯海军，高效合理的合伙人制度分担海洋贸易的风险和利润，同时又强调和平通商，中立，不侵略土地，经济优先的政治策略，让威尼斯对世界史的形成和发展起到了极其关键的推动作用。而威尼斯共和国的帕多瓦大学，更是对现代医学知识的发现与传播，以及对希腊天主教和东欧东正教的哲学影响和宗教传播，起到了至为关键的作用。

这本书是麦克尼尔献给威尼斯城邦共和国的一部自传。它记载了威尼斯共和国辉煌的过往和在全球历史中的地位。同时它也表明，一个弱小，资源匮乏的城邦，并不一定注定是历史上的弱者和输家，她完全可以凭借高效合理的制度，先进开放的思想，勇于探索的贸易精神，在人类的文明史上留下光辉的篇章。而不必像俄罗斯那样，贪婪地占有土地，却永远都只是一个二流的专制国家。

[Eressea · Rating 3 out of 5]

好久沒讀紙本書了
習慣電子閱讀器的輕薄
好難想像我以前都把紙本當kindle一樣到處帶著
隨時有空都在看
現在想起來超不方便的
尤其是這種需要一直前後翻看註解的書
這本只有晚上睡前翻幾頁，速度慢很多

開頭直接從第一次十字軍東征開始寫
也沒有緒論大概說明威尼斯的歷史
威尼斯衰亡之後也沒也結論總結全書
難怪七年前看了一半就放棄了
現在有基礎認識再來讀就沒那麼難懂了
這本書得要對威尼斯歷史和東歐南歐近東都有了解
才能看懂作者想表達的，不是本好讀的書

以我淺薄的見識看完全書
全書一直反復強調開放與容忍異端思想的重要
土耳其人自從穆罕默德二世去世之後就對西歐思想關上大門
天主教也日趨保守
威尼斯夾在強權之間，國勢日衰，思想也慢慢不自由
都被作者認為是衰弱的主因之一

威尼斯做為西歐與東歐的中轉站
運用地緣優勢串起東正教世界和天主教世界
在奧斯曼稱霸地中海之後
仍然為土耳其治下的希臘人提供了很多認識西歐的機會
甚至蘇丹統治希臘人的工具東正教的全基督教牧首
也有出身威尼斯帕多瓦大學的，更不用說牧首的幕僚了
因為這樣，就算到了十七世紀之後
威尼斯國勢衰弱，在文化上仍然有很重要的地位
就這樣一直到一七九七被拿破崙滅國

難懂的書啊~
需要讀更多背景資料

[Julián · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bit of a chore to get through. It goes into military and religious history of south east europe from 1200 up to roughly 1750. Focuses mostly on how venice affected regions around it rather than the history of the city itself. In particular it has very little on art, architecture or the way politics worked. It is partially satisfactory to anyone wondering what on earth was happening to greeks and greek land from 1453 to 1800.

[Daniel Macgregor · Rating 5 out of 5]

A broad survey of the happenings of Venince from his early start to its ultimate demise, this text provides valuable insight into this sometimes overlooked city state that greatly impacted Southern Europe and beyond. The early sections of the text focus mainly on Venice's expansion, social institutions, and external conflicts (especially with its rival Genoa). McNeill provides an insightful perspective on Venice's social and political instituions and how they both helped the city state grow powerful and than due to changing political and economic landscapes hindered the small city state. However, the second half of the text is just as if not more focused on Russia and Eastern Europe, as Venice has become insignficant it seemed that McNeill give its diminishing page space to how the city state impacted the cultural and religious traditions of the Russians and the Greeks. If it was anything other author this would most likely be a negative aspect (as it would be seen as a way to fill a page requirement). However, as someone who is experienced with McNeill's work, it is clear that this is a continuation of his historical goal of demonstarting the impact that exchange, from political, social, to economic, has on fuelling historical change and the development of civilisations. Thus his extensive attention on Venice's impact on eastern European regions can be seen as an case study in the exchange of culture from one entity to another.

[Steve · Rating 5 out of 5]

Published oh so many years ago when I was a graduate student in history at the University of Chicago, this is a large-scale analysis and synthesis of broad patterns of political, social, economic and cultural developments linking Venice and Eastern Europe from the 11th to the 18th century. Nothing here of the trivia and minutae and politically correct anachronism that passes for much of academic history these days.

[Bob Croft · Rating 5 out of 5]

Masterful history of high medieval and Renaissance eastern Med., with Venice as the epicenter. Trade, war, religion, technology, art and society.