Venice
No, even if Venice saved the Byzantines from the Vikings,Venetian ships and merchants soon controlled most of the empire's trade. That meant a great loss of income for the Byzantines.
The Byzantine Empire did not recover from the fall of Constantinople to the Turks because the Turks were a strong local power which captured all of the remaining byzantine territory. Whereas the 4th Crusaders were few in number after they divided up the empire and they only captured part of the Byzantine Empire, the remainder of the Empire split into independent Byzantine powers, one of which the Empire of Nicaea eventually recaptured Constantinople and restored the Byzantine Empire.
Venice was a dependency of the Byzantine Empire when it gained control of Italy. This continued after the Byzantines lost northern Italy because of the Lombard invasion and survived the takeover of Italy by the Franks. This kept Venice separate from the Holy Roman Empire and kept her linked to Constantinople, even though she gradually gained effective independence. The first crusade, which was fought to help the Byzantines, and where Venice and the other Italian sea republics supplied the navy, increased commercial ties with the Byzantine Empire. Venice was the prime trading link between Constantinople and Western Europe.
The Ottoman Empire and Venice controlled existing trade routes to Asia and made European merchants pay taxes.
Venice
No, even if Venice saved the Byzantines from the Vikings,Venetian ships and merchants soon controlled most of the empire's trade. That meant a great loss of income for the Byzantines.
Venice
Venice
The Byzantine Empire did not recover from the fall of Constantinople to the Turks because the Turks were a strong local power which captured all of the remaining byzantine territory. Whereas the 4th Crusaders were few in number after they divided up the empire and they only captured part of the Byzantine Empire, the remainder of the Empire split into independent Byzantine powers, one of which the Empire of Nicaea eventually recaptured Constantinople and restored the Byzantine Empire.
Venice was a dependency of the Byzantine Empire when it gained control of Italy. This continued after the Byzantines lost northern Italy because of the Lombard invasion and survived the takeover of Italy by the Franks. This kept Venice separate from the Holy Roman Empire and kept her linked to Constantinople, even though she gradually gained effective independence. The first crusade, which was fought to help the Byzantines, and where Venice and the other Italian sea republics supplied the navy, increased commercial ties with the Byzantine Empire. Venice was the prime trading link between Constantinople and Western Europe.
The Ottoman Empire and Venice controlled existing trade routes to Asia and made European merchants pay taxes.
The city that was the center of trade with Constantinople was Venice. Its strategic location and extensive network of waterways allowed Venice to become a major hub for commerce between Europe and the Byzantine Empire. The city's merchants played a crucial role in facilitating trade in goods such as spices, silk, and other luxury items. Venice's wealth and influence grew significantly due to its trade relations with Constantinople.
Vassil Gjuzelev has written: 'Medieval Bulgaria, Byzantine Empire, Black Sea-Venice-Genoa' -- subject(s): History
they became merchants
Other than the Greeks themselves, from the Macedonian conquest of Greece in the 330s B.C.E. until Greece became independent in the 1820s, Greece was ruled by the Macedonian Empire, the Roman Empire, the Byzantine Empire, the Republic of Venice, and the Ottoman Empire. The Nazi Germans also conquered Greece for a short time in the 1940s.
The Merchant of Venice is one, but their are references in other works.