Page:Outlines of European History.djvu/611

 Medieval Towns — their Business and Buildings 519 In the fifteenth century Venice reached the height of its pros- perity. It had a population of two hundred thousand, which was very large for those days. It had three hundred seagoing vessels which went to and fro in the Mediterranean, carrying wares from the East to the West. It had a war fleet of forty- five galleys, manned by eleven thousand marines ready to Fig. 193. Senate Chamber in the Doge's Palace This is an example of the magnificent decoration of the rooms used by the Venetian government. It was adorned by celebrated painters in the sixteenth century, when Venice became famous for its artists fight the batdes of the republic. It still prospered when Con- stantinople fell into the hands of the Turks (1453), but when, later, the route to India by sea was discovered (see next section), Venice could no longer keep control of the trade with the East, and while it remained an important city, it no longer enjoyed its former influence and power. Although Venice was called a republic, it was really gov- erned by a very small group of persons. In 131 1, after a