Page:History of merchant shipping and ancient commerce (Volume 1).djvu/526

 under their protection, are appointed to be tried by their own laws, and by judges of their own appointment."

Nor were the Venetians in all cases satisfied with a moiety of the spoils of war beyond their gains by trade. Historians say that, when Tyre was besieged by the united forces of the republic and of Varemond, bishop of Jerusalem, the Venetians stipulated that on its reduction they should receive two-thirds of the spoil and property captured. Indeed, the troops on shore complained loudly that while all the fatigue, dangers, and hardships of the two months' siege fell upon them, the Venetians lay at ease in their ships, deriving large profits on everything they supplied, and exacting their full portion of the plunder agreed upon before the operations commenced. Thus riches poured into Venice securing for her a position far beyond that of any other republic. Having brought under subjection the people inhabiting the shores of the Adriatic, she claimed its dominion; the declaration of Pope Alexander III. when he visited Venice confirmed her claims; and other nations admitted them when they asked permission to pass their merchandise and ships through the Gulf. But when the Pope exclaimed to the Doge, "That the sea be subject to you, as the spouse is to her husband, since you have acquired it by victory," he had little idea that the Venetians would consider its dominion as more than an honorary title, much less that they would compel