How did the 1,100-year Republic of Venice end, according to Thomas Madden?

Thomas Madden said Venice, a merchant republic that lasted about 1,100 years, did not decay from within but was ended by an outside power. In 1797 Napoleon pointed his cannons at the city and demanded surrender. The Great Council followed its normal procedures and voted to dissolve the republic and admit French troops, the last doge removed his cap, and the French planted a liberty tree in Piazza San Marco.

• Madden said Napoleon believed the anti-myth of Venice as a dark, oppressive state, which Madden calls false.
• The doge's oath of office survives from about 1198 and kept growing as a list of things he could not do.
• Madden contrasts Venice's palaces, with big canal windows and no towers, with the fortress-like palazzi of Florence, Verona and Siena.

Source: our own transcription of the episode. The full conversation is on The Shawn Ryan Show (2026-11-02). Read the whole episode summary →

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