The Phantom Menace
How Venice instigated the Protestant Reformation.
“The overall Venetian policy was to foment wars of religion between the Lutherans, Calvinists, and Anglicans on the one hand, and the Jesuit-dominated Catholic Counter – reformation of the Council of Trent on the other. The Venetians had spawned both sides of this conflict, and exercised profound influence over them.” – Webster G. Tarpley.1
In 1508, The Republic of Venice provoked Pope Julius II by appointing her own candidate to the vacant bishopric of Vicenza. In response, the Pope called for all Christian nations to join him in an expedition to subdue Venice.2 This became known as the War of the League of Cambrai, fought from 1508 to 1516. Many suspect the real purpose of this alliance was to suppress the Republics growing financial power, territorial ambitions, and danger posed by their Council of Ten.
During the first two years of conflict, Venice stood alone against the combined might of nearly every significant power in Western Europe; including the Papal States, the Kingdom of France, the Holy Roman Empire, and the Spanish Empire.
Author Webster G. Tarpley provides an insight into the Republic’s precarious situation: “The Venetians were driven all the way down the Po to Padua, and they soon lost that as well. Machiavelli exults that on the day of Agnadello, the Venetians lost everything that they had conquered in more than 800 years… With nothing left but the lagoons, the Venetian position was desperate.”3
But Venice would ultimately emerge victorious, due in part to their skill in diplomacy and espionage, even managing to turn the belligerents against one another. This was mostly accomplished by their powerful secret service apparatus – The Council of Ten.
