Maritime republics

(noun)

City-states that flourished in Italy and across the Mediterranean. From the 10th to the 13th centuries, they built fleets of ships both for their own protection and to support extensive trade networks across the Mediterranean, giving them an essential role in the Crusades.

Related Terms

Examples of Maritime republics in the following topics:

  • Europe's Early Trade Links

    • The Red Sea was barely known and only trade links with the Maritime republics, the Republic of Venice especially, fostered collection of accurate maritime knowledge.
    • The fleets visited Arabia, East Africa, India, Maritime Southeast Asia and Thailand.
    • But the journeys, reported by Ma Huan, a Muslim voyager and translator, were halted abruptly after the emperor's death and were not followed up, as the Chinese Ming Dynasty retreated in the haijin, a policy of isolationism, having limited maritime trade.
    • Most were Italians, as trade between Europe and the Middle East was controlled mainly by the Maritime republics.

  • Louis XIV's Wars

    • However, a Triple Alliance of England, Sweden, and the Dutch Republic forced  France to give most of it back in the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle.
    • The most important consequence of the war, however, was the changed attitude of Louis XIV towards the Dutch Republic.
    • Continuing his mission to isolate and attack the Dutch Republic, which Louis considered to be trading rivals, seditious republicans and Protestant heretics, the French king made another move on the Spanish Netherlands.
    • Sweden agreed to indirectly support the invasion of the Republic, by threatening Brandenburg-Prussia if that state should intervene.
    • The Maritime Powers (England and the Dutch Republic) were also financially exhausted and when Savoy defected from the Alliance, all parties were keen for a negotiated settlement.

  • The Second French Republic

  • The Weimar Republic

  • The Soviet Socialist Republics

  • The Libyan Arab Republic

  • The United Arab Republic

  • The Republic of China

  • Chairman Mao and the People's Republic

  • The Old Republic