1 00:00:00,120 --> 00:00:01,920 Speaker 1: This Day in History Class is a production of I 2 00:00:02,000 --> 00:00:08,080 Speaker 1: Heart Radio. Hello and welcome to This Day in History Class, 3 00:00:08,080 --> 00:00:13,440 Speaker 1: a show that breathes new life into everyday history. I'm Gabeluzier, 4 00:00:13,640 --> 00:00:17,159 Speaker 1: and today we're looking at the extreme measures taken to 5 00:00:17,200 --> 00:00:29,120 Speaker 1: preserve the secrecy and profitability of Venetian glass. The day 6 00:00:29,440 --> 00:00:35,000 Speaker 1: was November eight, twelve nine. The Venetian Republic ordered all 7 00:00:35,159 --> 00:00:39,520 Speaker 1: local glassmakers to relocate to the nearby island of Murano. 8 00:00:40,520 --> 00:00:45,160 Speaker 1: Although this trade based form of exile was mandatory, it 9 00:00:45,200 --> 00:00:49,080 Speaker 1: wasn't intended as a punishment. The government said the action 10 00:00:49,240 --> 00:00:51,760 Speaker 1: was to avoid the risk of furnace fires in a 11 00:00:51,840 --> 00:00:57,320 Speaker 1: city composed of mostly wooden structures. However, many historians believe 12 00:00:57,440 --> 00:01:00,960 Speaker 1: the true motivation behind the move was to protect the 13 00:01:01,120 --> 00:01:06,440 Speaker 1: valuable trade secrets of Venice's most lucrative industry. The roots 14 00:01:06,480 --> 00:01:09,360 Speaker 1: of glassmaking in Venice can be traced back to the 15 00:01:09,480 --> 00:01:12,880 Speaker 1: Roman Empire, where glass was produced at least as early 16 00:01:12,880 --> 00:01:17,520 Speaker 1: as the first century. Roman glass was primarily molded rather 17 00:01:17,600 --> 00:01:21,119 Speaker 1: than blown, and as a result, was incredibly time consuming 18 00:01:21,160 --> 00:01:26,240 Speaker 1: and expensive to produce. Production methods gradually improved, but glass 19 00:01:26,280 --> 00:01:30,680 Speaker 1: remained a strictly high status material used primarily for drinking 20 00:01:30,760 --> 00:01:35,880 Speaker 1: vessels and to help illuminate bathhouses. By the late fourteenth century, 21 00:01:36,160 --> 00:01:39,920 Speaker 1: many citizens of the Roman Empire were under constant siege 22 00:01:39,959 --> 00:01:44,080 Speaker 1: by the marauding forces of the Huns. To escape the conflict, 23 00:01:44,319 --> 00:01:47,440 Speaker 1: some Romans began moving off the east coast of Italy 24 00:01:47,640 --> 00:01:51,120 Speaker 1: to the islands of the Venetian Lagoon. The city they 25 00:01:51,160 --> 00:01:54,920 Speaker 1: founded there later became the Republic of Venice, and former 26 00:01:55,040 --> 00:01:59,680 Speaker 1: Roman glassmakers were among its earliest settlers. As time went on, 27 00:02:00,040 --> 00:02:03,360 Speaker 1: they were joined by immigrants from the Byzantine Empire, who 28 00:02:03,400 --> 00:02:06,520 Speaker 1: added their own Eastern knowledge of glass arts to the mix. 29 00:02:07,200 --> 00:02:10,880 Speaker 1: By the eighth century, the blending of those different techniques 30 00:02:10,919 --> 00:02:14,120 Speaker 1: and skill sets had turned Venice into the most prominent 31 00:02:14,160 --> 00:02:18,960 Speaker 1: glass manufacturer in the world. Glass arts flourished in Venice 32 00:02:19,000 --> 00:02:21,800 Speaker 1: for a number of reasons, but key to its success 33 00:02:21,880 --> 00:02:25,360 Speaker 1: was the island's convenient location at the crossroads of trade 34 00:02:25,440 --> 00:02:28,920 Speaker 1: between East and West. That position made it the go 35 00:02:29,080 --> 00:02:32,239 Speaker 1: to source for quality glass for countries in both Europe 36 00:02:32,280 --> 00:02:36,000 Speaker 1: and Asia. Business was so good that by the late 37 00:02:36,040 --> 00:02:41,160 Speaker 1: twelve hundreds, glassmaking had become the city's primary industry. Its 38 00:02:41,200 --> 00:02:44,040 Speaker 1: importance to the region led to the establishment of the 39 00:02:44,040 --> 00:02:47,880 Speaker 1: Glassmaker's Guild, which set up rules and regulations for all 40 00:02:47,960 --> 00:02:51,800 Speaker 1: the craftsmen to follow. Chief among those guidelines was the 41 00:02:51,840 --> 00:02:55,760 Speaker 1: need for secrecy. After all, if glassmaking was to remain 42 00:02:55,880 --> 00:02:59,120 Speaker 1: the most profitable industry in Venice, then the secrets to 43 00:02:59,200 --> 00:03:03,160 Speaker 1: its success had to be safeguarded. But the Guild wasn't 44 00:03:03,240 --> 00:03:06,520 Speaker 1: the only one to recognize the need for discretion. In 45 00:03:06,600 --> 00:03:10,040 Speaker 1: twelve seventy one, the Venetian government acted to protect the 46 00:03:10,040 --> 00:03:14,160 Speaker 1: glass industry by blocking the importation of foreign glass and 47 00:03:14,520 --> 00:03:18,240 Speaker 1: the employment of foreign glass workers. This was done to 48 00:03:18,320 --> 00:03:22,839 Speaker 1: prevent Venetian glassmakers from forming ties with competitors and potentially 49 00:03:22,919 --> 00:03:28,000 Speaker 1: leaking their secrets. However, the Republic didn't stop there. The 50 00:03:28,080 --> 00:03:31,880 Speaker 1: more successful the glass trade became, the harder authorities tried 51 00:03:31,960 --> 00:03:36,560 Speaker 1: to sequester it. On November eight, twelve nine, those efforts 52 00:03:36,560 --> 00:03:40,640 Speaker 1: culminated in the passage of a new, even more restrictive law. 53 00:03:41,600 --> 00:03:44,720 Speaker 1: At the time, the glass industry was concentrated in the 54 00:03:44,760 --> 00:03:48,560 Speaker 1: center of Venice, with numerous glass workshops crowded together on 55 00:03:48,720 --> 00:03:52,400 Speaker 1: just a handful of streets. Authorities pointed to the danger 56 00:03:52,520 --> 00:03:55,560 Speaker 1: of having so many furnaces concentrated in the heart of 57 00:03:55,560 --> 00:03:59,560 Speaker 1: an overpopulated and highly flammable city, so they passed a 58 00:03:59,600 --> 00:04:04,440 Speaker 1: new law ostensibly to solve that problem. The decree ordered 59 00:04:04,480 --> 00:04:07,600 Speaker 1: all the furnaces used for glassmaking to be moved from 60 00:04:07,680 --> 00:04:11,400 Speaker 1: Venice to the adjacent island of Morano, and of course 61 00:04:11,560 --> 00:04:14,480 Speaker 1: all the glass workers and their families would have to 62 00:04:14,480 --> 00:04:17,880 Speaker 1: go with them. While the threat of wide scale fires 63 00:04:17,920 --> 00:04:22,120 Speaker 1: did exist in Venice, many believe the real reason glassmakers 64 00:04:22,160 --> 00:04:25,679 Speaker 1: were pushed to Morano was to further isolate them, making 65 00:04:25,720 --> 00:04:28,520 Speaker 1: them more reliant on the government and less likely to 66 00:04:28,600 --> 00:04:33,039 Speaker 1: interact with foreigners. That theory would be seemingly confirmed just 67 00:04:33,240 --> 00:04:37,040 Speaker 1: four years later, when a subsequent law prohibited glassmakers from 68 00:04:37,120 --> 00:04:41,960 Speaker 1: traveling beyond Venice without first obtaining express permission. Those who 69 00:04:42,080 --> 00:04:45,800 Speaker 1: left without permission would be expelled from the guild and 70 00:04:45,880 --> 00:04:50,440 Speaker 1: barred from returning to Morano. It's worth noting that Morano 71 00:04:50,640 --> 00:04:54,360 Speaker 1: is actually a cluster of seven small islands linked by bridges, 72 00:04:54,640 --> 00:04:57,880 Speaker 1: and at the time, none of those bridges connected to Venice. 73 00:04:58,360 --> 00:05:01,200 Speaker 1: So even though Morano is only about a mile off 74 00:05:01,279 --> 00:05:04,600 Speaker 1: the city's coast, its residents were largely cut off from 75 00:05:04,640 --> 00:05:08,160 Speaker 1: the rest of society, and anyone caught sharing the secrets 76 00:05:08,160 --> 00:05:11,360 Speaker 1: of glass production with outsiders was liable to be put 77 00:05:11,400 --> 00:05:16,240 Speaker 1: to death. Despite those harsh restrictions, the glassmakers on Murano 78 00:05:16,360 --> 00:05:20,560 Speaker 1: were hardly prisoners. In fact, they actually enjoyed several social 79 00:05:20,600 --> 00:05:24,680 Speaker 1: privileges that other crafts people lacked. For instance, the daughters 80 00:05:24,720 --> 00:05:28,440 Speaker 1: of glassmakers were allowed to marry members of the Venetian nobility, 81 00:05:28,720 --> 00:05:32,800 Speaker 1: providing a rare chance to elevate their status. And unlike 82 00:05:32,839 --> 00:05:36,839 Speaker 1: other citizens, glassmakers were permitted to carry swords in public 83 00:05:37,080 --> 00:05:40,360 Speaker 1: and were granted immunity from the prosecution of minor crimes. 84 00:05:41,080 --> 00:05:44,640 Speaker 1: Those incentives were a clever play by the Venetian government. 85 00:05:45,040 --> 00:05:47,440 Speaker 1: Not only did the perks soften the blow of the 86 00:05:47,480 --> 00:05:51,920 Speaker 1: forced relocation, they also helped ensure that glassmakers would encourage 87 00:05:51,920 --> 00:05:55,200 Speaker 1: their children to carry on the family business, because if 88 00:05:55,240 --> 00:05:58,480 Speaker 1: it's a choice between one craft guild or another, you 89 00:05:58,600 --> 00:06:01,279 Speaker 1: might as well join the one lets you carry a sword. 90 00:06:02,240 --> 00:06:05,600 Speaker 1: Morano was already home to a few glass furnaces when 91 00:06:05,600 --> 00:06:08,360 Speaker 1: the law was passed, but the island's economy had been 92 00:06:08,440 --> 00:06:12,839 Speaker 1: driven mostly by fishing and salt mining up to that point. However, 93 00:06:13,040 --> 00:06:16,880 Speaker 1: that changed quickly once the Venetian glass workers arrived. Soon 94 00:06:17,160 --> 00:06:21,039 Speaker 1: Morano established itself as the leading glass manufacturer of the 95 00:06:21,080 --> 00:06:23,800 Speaker 1: Middle Ages, a position it would hold for the next 96 00:06:23,839 --> 00:06:27,800 Speaker 1: several centuries. In that sense, the efforts of the Venetian 97 00:06:27,839 --> 00:06:31,839 Speaker 1: government were hugely successful, even in ways they hadn't expected. 98 00:06:32,320 --> 00:06:36,200 Speaker 1: For example, concentrating all the region's glass masters and one 99 00:06:36,279 --> 00:06:40,440 Speaker 1: small area led to an amazing interchange of ideas and abilities. 100 00:06:40,920 --> 00:06:44,160 Speaker 1: The result was a series of innovations that further refined 101 00:06:44,200 --> 00:06:47,440 Speaker 1: the processes of glass production and pushed it to new 102 00:06:47,480 --> 00:06:50,800 Speaker 1: heights as an art form. One of the biggest breakthroughs 103 00:06:50,839 --> 00:06:55,400 Speaker 1: came from glass master Angelo Barrowviere. In the fifteenth century, 104 00:06:55,640 --> 00:06:59,000 Speaker 1: he discovered how to make the world's first cristallo, or 105 00:06:59,320 --> 00:07:03,440 Speaker 1: clear glass s. That development allowed Morano to become the 106 00:07:03,480 --> 00:07:08,200 Speaker 1: sole supplier of mirrors in Europe. Morano glassmakers are also 107 00:07:08,320 --> 00:07:11,520 Speaker 1: credited with a host of other advances, including the production 108 00:07:11,560 --> 00:07:17,000 Speaker 1: of enameled glass, gold threaded glass, multicolored glass, and milk glass, 109 00:07:17,320 --> 00:07:21,960 Speaker 1: which mimicked the look of Chinese white porcelain. Morano also 110 00:07:22,080 --> 00:07:25,760 Speaker 1: supplemented the income from its fine art sales by producing 111 00:07:25,880 --> 00:07:30,800 Speaker 1: large amounts of glass trade beads. These smooth, brightly colored 112 00:07:30,840 --> 00:07:34,600 Speaker 1: bits of glass were widely used by European explorers to 113 00:07:34,680 --> 00:07:40,640 Speaker 1: barter for gold gems, and even enslaved people. Breakthrough techniques 114 00:07:40,720 --> 00:07:44,280 Speaker 1: and new streams of revenue made Morano the top producer 115 00:07:44,320 --> 00:07:48,120 Speaker 1: of both commercial and luxury glass products in Europe throughout 116 00:07:48,160 --> 00:07:52,640 Speaker 1: the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. That period turned out to 117 00:07:52,680 --> 00:07:55,960 Speaker 1: be the peak of Morano class production. Beginning in the 118 00:07:56,000 --> 00:08:00,280 Speaker 1: seventeenth century, the islands glass began to gradually decline line 119 00:08:00,280 --> 00:08:03,880 Speaker 1: and popularity. That was partly due to a growing conflict 120 00:08:03,880 --> 00:08:07,720 Speaker 1: in Europe, which eventually resulted in Napoleon's conquest of Venice 121 00:08:07,880 --> 00:08:12,800 Speaker 1: and the abolishment of craft guilds, including that of the classmakers. However, 122 00:08:13,200 --> 00:08:17,320 Speaker 1: military occupation was only part of the problem. Despite the 123 00:08:17,360 --> 00:08:20,840 Speaker 1: best efforts of the guild and the Venetian government, Morano's 124 00:08:20,880 --> 00:08:24,120 Speaker 1: glass making secrets did in fact get off the island, 125 00:08:24,400 --> 00:08:28,000 Speaker 1: chipping away at the region's monopoly and making fine glass 126 00:08:28,120 --> 00:08:32,600 Speaker 1: more accessible than ever before. Today, there are only about 127 00:08:32,600 --> 00:08:37,199 Speaker 1: a thousand glassmakers left on Morano, representing about a fifth 128 00:08:37,200 --> 00:08:40,800 Speaker 1: of the island's full time population. That's a far cry 129 00:08:40,880 --> 00:08:44,480 Speaker 1: from the industries heyday, but the reputation of Morano glass 130 00:08:44,600 --> 00:08:48,240 Speaker 1: is still as sterling as ever, from intricate blown glass 131 00:08:48,320 --> 00:08:53,000 Speaker 1: jewelry to extravagant chandeliers Morano glass is still one of 132 00:08:53,040 --> 00:08:56,839 Speaker 1: the most highly prized luxury goods in the world, so 133 00:08:56,960 --> 00:08:59,680 Speaker 1: not much has changed in that regard, and the same 134 00:08:59,720 --> 00:09:04,040 Speaker 1: as for the process behind the glasses creation. The tools 135 00:09:04,080 --> 00:09:07,600 Speaker 1: and techniques used on morano haven't changed much and all 136 00:09:07,600 --> 00:09:11,880 Speaker 1: this time, every piece, no matter how ornate, still begins 137 00:09:11,920 --> 00:09:14,160 Speaker 1: as a clump of molten sand on the end of 138 00:09:14,160 --> 00:09:18,959 Speaker 1: a blowpipe. From there, the glassmaker expertly twirls and smooths 139 00:09:19,000 --> 00:09:22,280 Speaker 1: that shapeless mass, blows into it to give it form, 140 00:09:22,559 --> 00:09:25,600 Speaker 1: and then exposes it to flame to seal its shape. 141 00:09:26,000 --> 00:09:29,199 Speaker 1: The result of that age old process is something useful 142 00:09:29,520 --> 00:09:33,080 Speaker 1: or beautiful, or both, the culmination of a talent and 143 00:09:33,080 --> 00:09:37,040 Speaker 1: tradition that's been sheltered and revered since the Middle Ages. 144 00:09:39,200 --> 00:09:42,480 Speaker 1: I'm Gabe Bluesier and hopefully you now know a little 145 00:09:42,480 --> 00:09:46,360 Speaker 1: more about history today than you did yesterday. If you 146 00:09:46,400 --> 00:09:48,280 Speaker 1: want to keep up with the show, you can follow 147 00:09:48,360 --> 00:09:51,400 Speaker 1: us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram at t d I 148 00:09:51,880 --> 00:09:55,600 Speaker 1: HC Show, and if you have any comments or suggestions, 149 00:09:55,840 --> 00:09:58,480 Speaker 1: feel afraid to send them my way at this day 150 00:09:58,760 --> 00:10:02,400 Speaker 1: at I heeart media dot com. Thanks to Chandler Mays 151 00:10:02,440 --> 00:10:04,840 Speaker 1: for producing the show, and thanks to you for listening. 152 00:10:05,120 --> 00:10:07,800 Speaker 1: I'll see you back here again tomorrow for another day 153 00:10:08,040 --> 00:10:09,000 Speaker 1: in history class.