ABSTRACT
In July 1261, the leaders of the Empire of Nicaea conquered Constantinople and re-established Byzantium. Venice managed to keep her colonial possessions and naval bases in Crete, Negroponte, Modon, Coron and Cerigo, but she had lost her privileged position in Constantinople. The new economic and social landscape in the Mediterranean boosted the economic roles of both Venice and Genoa, but also further fuelled the persistently lurking antagonism between them. The protracted period of war had given rise to state policies that paved the way for the transformation of Venice's economic and social landscape, with the emergence and subsequent prevalence of capitalist relations. During the Genoese wars, Venice's state-owned shipyard, the Arsenal, became the city's largest manufactury. A major consequence of the proletarianization of oarsmen and ordinary seamen was, as already mentioned, a reduced supply of maritime labour.
