WI: Venetian Industrial Revolution

[LordKalvan]

You need capital, and after the opening of the sea trade routes through the Portuguese this was a declining commodity in Venice. They were however offered a piece of this action, warehouses in Lisbon etc, and declined due to worrying about pissing off the Egyptian side of their own declining operations.

IMHO trade is the driving force for industrialisation, so Venice needs to continue to be able to exploit growing markets, not be forced into defending its position in shrinking markets.

Best Regards
Grey Wolf

We are quite in agreement. The alternatives appear to be making a deal with the Portuguese, with Venice inevitably ending up to play second fiddle to the Lusitan crown (and the pope) or accepting to become a vassal to the Ottomans or finding a way to make a deal with the Mamelukes. I don't think that either the first or the second option would be acceptable to the Signoria or to the people of Venice, so it must be the third one which is the only one which has the possibility of an upside. IOTL Venice got too much embroiled with the situation in Italy while pressed quite hard by the Ottomans in the east: they still tried to play the game as they had done for centuries, but the times were changed and when the Ottomans took Egypt the game was over.

ITTL it might be different: I would be quite confident of the outcome if Venice manages to prop up the short-lived Ambrosian republic and succeeds in forging an alliance of mutual benefit. Keeping Negroponte would also be good, in particular if the Ottomans get to have a round of civil wars (assuming that Mehmed II get killed, his sons are very young). The battle of Zonchio is also good but a bit late: the final outcome is still quite doubtful and requires a very impressive performance by Grimani (internal politics, diplomacy and economic results) when he gets the dogeship in 1501. Any of them would anyway buy some precious time for the Serenissima and might avoid the pernicious trend of OTL.

 

[Herzen's love-child]

I know what it is, why i said it x3

Others readers may not have. Your post was a little inscrutable. My post was for their benefit.

 

[Herzen's love-child]

I've accessed the official geophysical site of Friuli (in Italian) http://www.geoscienze.units.it/geositi/vedigeo1.php?ID_GEO=561
and my comment is taken from there. Additionally it states that coal seams were pretty variable in thickness (from 10 cm to 4 mt) and that the mine was operated at intervals in the 19th century (1810-1820, 1855-65, 1873-1900 nut not continuously). Production started again in 1939 (guess why) and definitively ceased in 1956. Anyway 7000 kCal is not a great heating value.

Ah, si, molto bene. That seems more up to date and definitive. So Venezia would have to be creative to address this lack. A chi vuole, non mancano modi. We just need to create a plausible source for that will.

As far as the 3 PODs I suggested, the last one is certainly the best: a "perpetual alliance" between Venice and Milan would be an agricultural and economic power. The problem is to hammer out a honest deal between them.

The battle of Negroponte would stop the Ottoman drive in the Egean as it started, weaken considerably them and avoid 20 years of continuous war. Venice could concentrate on the wooing of the Mameluks, and possibly start to penetrate in the Indian ocean.

The battle of Zonchio would ensure a better doge for Venice (and one that would rule until 1523 if nothing unexpected happens). Possibly butterfly away the war of the league of Cambrai and certainly weaken the mainland expansion party. It would again give to Venice a breathing space to concentrate seriously on Egypt (keeping the Ottomans out) and to deal in earnest with the Portuguese interlopers in India (maybe the alliance with Persia would go through this time).

In either case Venice would keep their merchantilistic approach and investing huge capitals on setting up estates on the mainland would be less attractive. If Goldfinger is true to his name, there will be a boom in Venice and the accumulation of venture capital may bring unexpected bonuses. IOTL Venice (thru Bartolomeo d'Aviano) tried to reform the army, relying not only on new arms but also rediscovering thru. humanists the organizational strengths of Roman armies. IOTL there was no time for this experiment to succeed. ITTL who knows?
Another point to make is that the conflagration that enveloped the 2 round ships at Zonchio had the side effect to make both Ottomans and Venetians quite distrustful of sailing ships (notwithstanding their better performance as gunnery platforms and the less intensive use of manpower). The sooner Venice breaks out of the galley mindset the better.

Understood. Some great what-ifs, you present.

Zonchio, aside, the Venetians were still capable of building and skillfully sailing "modern" sailing ships through the renaissance and later. Reinvigorated in the 17th C. I'm thinking of the exploits of Lorenzo Marcello, and to a lesser extent, Bartolomeo Contarini OTL. But generally, way too little way, too late. I'm thinking someone drawing different conclusions at the Venetian equivalent of the Admiralty could be a little POD with great effects.

There is fascinating information about the round ship tradition in Venice in "Venetian Ships and Shipbuilders of the Renaissance", by Frederic Chapin Lane. Some of which can be perused, here:
http://books.google.com/books?id=mU...Bw#v=onepage&q=venetian sailing ships&f=false

 

[SRT]

IOTL Venice (thru Bartolomeo d'Aviano) tried to reform the army, relying not only on new arms but also rediscovering thru. humanists the organizational strengths of Roman armies. IOTL there was no time for this experiment to succeed. ITTL who knows?.

Whoah, that sounds really cool, I'd like to know more about that. Any thoughts on what kind of practical information they could've gleaned and applied to their situation?

 

[Henriksson]

This thread is half what-if, half AH challenge. What would it take to get an industrial revolution to happen in the Most Serene Republic of Venice, and what would happen if it did?

Well... the industrial revolution reached northern Italy in the 1840's, so I guess the Republic just has to live longer?

 

[DominusNovus]

The Po valley is fairly useful for industrial purposes, especially when you consider the proximity to the Alps. I could definitely see any would-be industrial society utilizing waterpower to great extent in the area. Luckily, Venice did, at various points, control a decent chunk of the Po.

 

[W.W.A.F.T.]

I'm aware that my thoughts here may not be useful but, something occurs to me:

an earlier post said that there was good industrial coal located in southeast France, the part that used to be Italian. Venice is far away from these deposits, but Genoa is not. would it be possible for Venice to produce an industrial innovation on a small scale, workable given their issues with large scale industry, and have their Genoese rivals "anything you can do I can do better" it making use of their better access to industrial resources? and if this were to happen, would that in turn be enough to spur the Venetians into figuring out a solution to their problems?

 

[LordKalvan]

Ah, si, molto bene. That seems more up to date and definitive. So Venezia would have to be creative to address this lack. A chi vuole, non mancano modi. We just need to create a plausible source for that will.

IMHO the issue at the beginning will not be charcoal vs. coke: there is really a single major market for wrought iron, and it is the production of armaments (guns and arquebuses, with an obvious emphasis on guns casting). Treviso is the right place to start, given its history of bronze smelting and metallurgical artisans. They would need a more efficient smelting process, and the blast furnace (which is already known in the Flanders and is being disseminated in England) is the obvious answer. The bonus is that the blast furnace obviously is not useful just for smelting iron but also for other metals (tin, lead, bronze, copper). Charcoal is ok at the beginning (production will not be huge, although it will ramp up). Harnessing water power to operate the bellows should be also easy enough: the overshoot water wheel is known, and hydraulics was one of the most cherished subjects during Renaissance. Casting bronze guns will be the first thing that will benefit from the introduction of the blast furnace and bronze guns are much in demand for ships: maybe this will draw the attention of the Signoria and might end up with a sort of appointment of Treviso metallurgical complex as the "Arsenale delle Bombarde". I'm pretty sure that iron guns will start as OTL: wrought iron bars welded together and reinforced with wrought iron bands (the iron rings are slipped on the gun red hot: when they cool down they shrink and keep the wrought iron bands together). Boring a cast iron gun is a much harder process and requires high-carbon steel cutting tools and water-powered lathes (but they will come in due time). A very important development would be to develop a better gun carriage, in particular for naval guns: it looks not a great development on the face of it, but an effective gun carriage (with iron-rimmed wheels) dramatically improves the time between shots. A major break-through would be an early standardization of guns calibers: I'm somehow skeptic it may happen soon, but Venice might be the right place for it (the experience in standardizing galley construction in the Arsenale as well as the obsession of a merchantile republic with weights and measures). It's interesting that a study of Venetian carpentry works during the Renaissance has shown a high level of consistency in measures. The basic unit of linear measurement was the piede veneziano (venetian foot) somehow longer than the English one (34.8 cm) and divided in 16 fingers or 12 inches.

Understood. Some great what-ifs, you present.

Zonchio, aside, the Venetians were still capable of building and skillfully sailing "modern" sailing ships through the renaissance and later. Reinvigorated in the 17th C. I'm thinking of the exploits of Lorenzo Marcello, and to a lesser extent, Bartolomeo Contarini OTL. But generally, way too little way, too late. I'm thinking someone drawing different conclusions at the Venetian equivalent of the Admiralty could be a little POD with great effects.

There is fascinating information about the round ship tradition in Venice in "Venetian Ships and Shipbuilders of the Renaissance", by Frederic Chapin Lane. Some of which can be perused, here:
http://books.google.com/books?id=mU...Bw#v=onepage&q=venetian sailing ships&f=false

Had a look at the book and it looks very interesting. I will have to find the time to read it.
However my point was not that the Venetians did not use round ships (and later carracks) for commerce. I was arguing that after Zonchio they were not using them in war (until they started using galleons and fluyits around mid 16th century). That is pretty surprising, since the Venetians were the first to employ naval guns (on galleys) and they were aware of the importance of a gunnery platform at sea (at Lepanto they employed 3 very large galleasses to this purpose). It may have been a case of tunnel vision or a conservative mindset (and to be honest in the Mediterranean the galleys were quite effective until mid 17th century), but it may also be that both the Ottomans and the Venetians were shocked by what happened at Zonchio.
Whatever the case, naos and caravels proved to be quite effective ships since the late 15th century: fast, nimble, very good gunnery platforms and requiring much less crew than galleys.
Venice started hiring Dutch ships about mid 1640s in the late phase of the war of Candia and they proved very effective during the blockade of the Dardanelles and the three naval battles against the Ottoman fleet sortieing into the Egean sea. They were too few, it was probably too late and even the best sea captain fighting for pay is always reluctant to risk his ship too much. It's sad that Venice was forced to sign the peace which lost her Candia in the moment she had gained technological superiority on the sea, but the war had lasted too long and the coffers of the republic were almost empty. By the time of the first war of Morea Venice was ready with her own sail ships, but the Ottomans too had converted to sail ships and it is very hard to force a decisive engagement with them.

 

[Herzen's love-child]

I understood what you were saying. I was simply stating that if the Venetians had drawn different conclusions that they had the technology and skills extant to continue using round ships and their successors more than they did after Zonchio in war. They of course remained important in commerce.

As for charcoal, its use on a larger scale will be problematic at some point, given the general problem of deforestation in the Venetian holdings. But initially...
It seems S.Indian ironworking techniques were brought to the low countries in the 16th C. And diffused throughout the Islamic world earlier. So several paths for this tech to make it to Venice. An alternative or supplement to Chinese sources. Re. Blast furnaces-- the earlier Catalan forge ( from 8th C) was just a hop and a skip to true blast furnaces-- which originally sprung up in Switzerland and Germany. Room for earlier adoption.

But one shouldn't just focus on metalworking to help create Jerad's POD. Waterworks and textiles need some love.

 

[LordKalvan]

Whoah, that sounds really cool, I'd like to know more about that. Any thoughts on what kind of practical information they could've gleaned and applied to their situation?

First and foremost source was De Re Militari, by Vegetius. The text was already known in Middle Ages but enjoyed a new popularity in a moment of very momentous change (both technological and political) in the art of war. Emphasys was put on Roman training, organization, planning, preparation but also on the reward of merit rather than birth, the disadvantages of excessive reliance on mercenaries, ways of ensuring discipline and obedience to orders. This popularity was not just restricted to Italy: the king of France ordered that 8 "Legions" be raised, each one from a different territory of the kingdom.

There was also the problem of how to better integrate firearms (arquebuses and guns) with traditional pikes and cavalry. How to go from order of march in columns to deployment on the fields (squares of pikes with firearms located on the corners, guns to the front, cavalry on the wings). More importance was given to sergeants (the modern centurions) and field manuals were often issued with mathematical tables and different examples of deployment (depending on the different mix of the armies and the numbers involved).

 

[LordKalvan]

I understood what you were saying. I was simply stating that if the Venetians had drawn different conclusions that they had the technology and skills extant to continue using round ships and their successors more than they did after Zonchio in war. They of course remained important in commerce.

As for charcoal, its use on a larger scale will be problematic at some point, given the general problem of deforestation in the Venetian holdings. But initially...
It seems S.Indian ironworking techniques were brought to the low countries in the 16th C. And diffused throughout the Islamic world earlier. So several paths for this tech to make it to Venice. An alternative or supplement to Chinese sources. Re. Blast furnaces-- the earlier Catalan forge ( from 8th C) was just a hop and a skip to true blast furnaces-- which originally sprung up in Switzerland and Germany. Room for earlier adoption.

But one shouldn't just focus on metalworking to help create Jerad's POD. Waterworks and textiles need some love.

Waterworks are well known in Italy since medieval times, both Lombardy and Venetia have abundant water (and btw some effort should be also put in agriculture: an economic progress will always require a surplus of food).

Textiles for sure: once again, water power is important and water communications too. Wool can be imported from England, cheap enough. Flax is available. Cotton too, even if I don't believe it will be a mainstay of the textile industry at least for now. There is a silk industry in Venice: the silkworms were introduced in Lombardy under Marie Therese and became one of the major industries there. I wonder if this cannot be anticipated by a couple of centuries.
However there is a major point to be made: demand must drive wages up if the manufactory owners are to be convinced to invest capital into innovation. Otherwise the traditional trap of closed guilds and day laborers working for a pittance cannot be broken.
My focus on the metallurgical industry is because there is a demand for armaments and there is also an obvious interest of the Signoria into developing this field.

 

[Herzen's love-child]

Jerad. Getting any ideas from this? Were you considering authoring a TL or leaving this a thought experiment?

 

[Jared]

Thanks for everyone, especially Herzen's love-child and LordKalvan, for all of the ideas which have been suggested in this thread. I'm still writing lots of notes and trying to turn them into more specific ideas for what may be a timeline (or more likely, a mini-timeline).

In general, though, it sounds like there are several ideas / requirements, some of which may be somewhat contradictory:

(i) Get the Venetian elite to stay more interested in commerce, rather than landed estates in the Venetian hinterland; though this may contradict the next idea, which was
(ii) Build up an earlier and greater sericulture industry within the Venetian hinterland, to act as a supply of fibre for high-end silk textiles which will initially be created in Venice itself, but then the techniques will diffuse using water-powered mills along the Po Valley and other suitable waterways;
(iii) Whether through better diplomacy (i.e. alliance with Milan) or more focus on commerce, keep Venice from getting too bogged down with maintaining territory in Italy itself, ideally leading to
(iv) Finding a way (diplomacy? neutrality?) for Venice to avoid having regular armies moving destructively through its hinterland, and thus wrecking any proto-industrial enterprises and accumulation of capital in those regions
(v) Through whatever means, Venice needs to keep up some involvement with Egypt (the Mameluks), to avoid having the Ottomans become an overwhelming pressure in the eastern Med, and also for better access to markets.

For the particular fields of technology, well, metallurgy, textiles and agriculture all need some boosting, one way or another. For metallurgy, yes, the blast furnace sounds like it's the key. Whether that means an earlier spread from the Low Countries, a direct adaptation from the Catalan forge equivalents in Switzerland/Germany, or acquiring knowledge from China or South India, I'm not sure. Having one of the Chinese texts on metallury make its way to Venice earlier would be great, although I'm not sure whether that would rely on being its own PoD, or if it could be a plausible butterfly of an earlier PoD (e.g. supporting the Ambrosian republic, freeing up attention from the western border, then refocusing their efforts in Egypt, leading to greater trade there, including eventually some Chinese texts).

For textiles, I'm still not sure whether it would be better for Venice to have its own supply of fibre (sericulture in the hinterland), or rely on imported fibres (wool from England). The OTL textile industrial revolution used imported fibre, of course, but perhaps an alternative would be for that silk to be produced in the hinterland, then "imported" to Venice, where skilled workers there produced fabrics for export. With skilled workers in short supply in Venice itself, and with silk having rather a high demand value elsewhere in Europe, there may be enough wages pressure to avoid the guild trap, and allow investment in innovation. (If that works, then I'll be looking at early adoption of the technologies developed in the French silk industry later, for inspiration).

For agriculture, well... I'm not sure, really. Perhaps as a spin-off of better metallurgy (however that's achieved), there's earlier invention of iron agricultural tools, and maybe even the seed-drill. I don't know enough (read: any) about northern Italian agriculture during the period to know whether there's other crops or technologies that could be imported (or spin-off developments of metallurgy) to allow for improved agricultural productivity. I don't even know (yet) whether northern Italy had much in the way of crop rotation at this point.

One other general topic I still need to look into is canals. What are the prospects of Venice building earlier and better canals throughout their hinterland? This would help with both transportation and agriculture, access to markets and so forth, if it's feasible.

And on a general note, a Venetian Industrial Revolution does not, of course, have to look too much like our one. A combination of silk textiles, hydropower and better metallurgy (but limited use of coal) won't develop as far or as fast as the OTL Industrial Revolution went, but it would still be interesting to explore.

For a specific PoD (thanks LordKalvan for the options), I lean more toward the support of the Ambrosian republic. Partly because it seems to give the most options for later development, and also because this would have a convenient link to the name I have in mind for if this turns into a timeline (see below).

For some of the particular topics which people have raised:

Do you still have a link to the soc.history.what-if threads?

Most of the threads can still be found by searching for "East Meets West" in google groups: https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/soc.history.what-if

Another way to get an industrial revolution kicking in Venice is if you can keep it relevant and powerful later than it did, so it could ride the coattails of an Industrial Revolution that has sprung up elsewhere similarly to the time and place of the OTL.

Could the Ottomans not have used middle eastern oil and coal from the Balkans and iron deposits from Algeria, Syria or Turkey to start their own industrial age?

While both a later surviving Venetian Republic and an Ottoman Industrial Revolution would be interesting topics in themselves, I'm specifically interested in any potential for an indigenous Venetian Industrial Revolution. If it can be achieved, great. If not, it will still have been an interesting exercise in exploring the possibility.

Jerad. Getting any ideas from this? Were you considering authoring a TL or leaving this a thought experiment?

Plenty of ideas. Potentially this could turn into a timeline, if it turns out to be plausible. I already have a timeline name in mind: The Arsenal of Democracy.

If I do write a timeline, though, it will be deliberately shorter and more focused than my previous (and currently ongoing) timelines. Probably a dozen or so focused posts on the development of a Venetian Industrial Revolution.

 

[Faeelin]

You know, I wonder if the result of this is not an industrial Venice, but rather an industrial Holy Roman Empire as ideas stimulate to the German Free cities and the Low Countries.

 

[Herzen's love-child]

You know, I wonder if the result of this is not an industrial Venice, but rather an industrial Holy Roman Empire as ideas stimulate to the German Free cities and the Low Countries.

They have their own unique issues (and arguably strengths). The Low Countries would be a better bet perhaps.

 

[Herzen's love-child]

Jerad -- canals. There was quite the inland waterway system OTL in Lombardy. Beginning in the 12th C., construction of a network of canals in conjunction with parts of the Po eventually allowed barge traffic ( I believe horse drawn) from Locarno to the Adriatic by late renaissance times. Da Vinci designed or oversaw construction of some of its later links. There was the Brenta canal between Venezia and Padova and a lateral from the Po to the Venetian lagoon (Chioggia).

Imagine it earlier/bigger with Milanese-Venetian cooperation. As it was Milan was a major "port" during the late Renaissance (and later?) and its canals important enough for a mention in one of Shakespeare's plays.

I think the Po Valley lends itself very well for canals being a major carrier of raw materials (coal! iron!)in an Industrial Revolution TL, as they did carry marble and stone, historically. The ease of water transport also could (and probably did) retard development of a rail system in the region (not to mention frequent flooding). Probably not fertile ground for developing the steam engine for locomotives. (But....steamboats?)

 

[LordKalvan]

Jerad -- canals. There was quite the inland waterway system OTL in Lombardy. Beginning in the 12th C., construction of a network of canals in conjunction with parts of the Po eventually allowed barge traffic ( I believe horse drawn) from Locarno to the Adriatic by late renaissance times. Da Vinci designed or oversaw construction of some of its later links. There was the Brenta canal between Venezia and Padova and a lateral from the Po to the Venetian lagoon (Chioggia).

Imagine it earlier/bigger with Milanese-Venetian cooperation. As it was Milan was a major "port" during the late Renaissance (and later?) and its canals important enough for a mention in one of Shakespeare's plays.

I think the Po Valley lends itself very well for canals being a major carrier of raw materials (coal! iron!)in an Industrial Revolution TL, as they did carry marble and stone, historically. The ease of water transport also could (and probably did) retard development of a rail system in the region (not to mention frequent flooding). Probably not fertile ground for developing the steam engine for locomotives. (But....steamboats?)

Quite so. The Naviglio Grande (which connects Milan to the Ticino river, from where you can go north toward the Lake Maggiore or south toward the confluence into the Po) was started middle 12th century; the Naviglio Pavese (from Milano to Pavia and again into the Ticino) was started under Gian Galeazzo; The Naviglio Martesana (connecting Milano to the Adda river and the lake of Como) was built under the Sforzas. A branch of Naviglio Grande reavhed piazza Santo Stefano, not far from the Duomo, and was used, among other things, to bring marble and stone to Milan for the construction of the cathedral. The Milanese terminus of the Naviglio Pavese is still named "porto di Milano", and was in commercial use until the 1950s, IIRC.
The technology for all these infrastructures was obviously available, and the need for them was well recognised (besides transportation of goods, the canals were used to irrigate agricultural land, to drain marshes and to bring water to the cities).
Similar developments were also created around Mantua (to allow barge navigation toward the lake of Garda and also to mitigate the danger of flooding) and Venice-Padua (where one the aims was to avoid silting of the Venetian lagoon). I found a map for the latter ( http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bf/Fiumi_medio_veneto.svg ).
Milan controlled the roads toward northern Europe, the pass of Sempione and the Valtellina (which later became known as the Spanish Road, taking Spanish troops from Italy to the Flanders).
Venice controls the Lake of Garda and the road to the Brenner pass in the west, and the Tarvisio pass in Friuli.
If there are both economic prosperity and political stability the canal system can be completed (and possibly even improved) much faster than OTL.
Looking at the attached map it looks reasonable to improve navigation in the delta of the Po river, and it is quite likely that at least one of the small towns on the map (porto Viro, Porto Tolle or Goro) will become a major commercial port, where goods coming from overseas can be transhipped to barges for fluvial navigation (and viceversa).

I don't think the presence of an effective system of canals will delay much the raise of railways when the moment comes (which will not be too soon, even in the best of possible scenarios). This did not happen in England nor in the north-east USA IOTL. The railway from Milan to Venice was chartered in 1835 (and completed 20 years later, but with major interruptions due the 1848-49 events). No danger of flooding either. The main line runs well above the Po river, on a line from Milan to Bergamo-Verona-Vicenza-Padua-Venice.

 

[LordKalvan]

You know, I wonder if the result of this is not an industrial Venice, but rather an industrial Holy Roman Empire as ideas stimulate to the German Free cities and the Low Countries.

The link between Venice and the Flanders dates back to the high middle ages, and there has been a continuous cross pollination of culture and ideas between the two termini. From Flanders it will also affect (positively) the lands of the upper Rhein. I also believe that England will benefit a lot, both for the wool trade and the extraction of coal and iron (in particular if my idea of producing pig iron sows in western England for export comes to fruition).

Is it a problem? I'd see it rather like an opportunity: Venice-Lombardy and Flanders would start well in advance, and this advantage would not be eaten up so easy. In any case I certainly prefer an industrial revolution that spreads to the whole of Europe and beyond and creates generalised wealth to an unlikely dystopy where two rich and advanced smalllish regions lord over the unwashed peasants of the rest of Europe (not that it would be very likely to get such a result).

 

[LordKalvan]

Jared, I think you have got most of the points.
IMHO you have not forgotten a few industries which are typically Venetians and would flourish in an early Industrial Revolution:

• shipbuilding (and the adoption of advanced rigging, borrowing from the Atlantic and the Indian ocean)
• glass (branching out into lens grinding)
• printing (which brings also paper making)
• jewelry (with cross pollination to metallurgical industry, eg metal wire production)

I suggest you to also consider the possible impact of the existing universities in the blossoming of an industrial revolution: Padua and Pavia (conveniently one near Venice and the other close to Milan). Bologna could also play a significant role. If there is serious money interested in practical applications they could act as magnets attracting students and proto-scientists from all over Europe.

The Chinese influence can best come at a later stage: an entrepreneurial and mercantilist Venice would certainly reach China, and bring home ancient texts.

In terms of textile industry my view is that keeping options open is certainly the best: imported wool, locally-grown flax and sericulture are a good package. Sericulture will pick up slowly: as a minimum the landowners must be convinced the investment is sound, peasants must be taught and lots of mulberry trees must be planted to feed the silk worms. Cotton - as far as I can see - will not be an immediate development. However in due time it can become profitable (very profitable) to import cotton thread from India (and later from Egypt).
On a different issue, look into the feasibility of growing sugar cane in Cyprus (which is Venetian) or Egypt: there is a huge market for it (and OTL it was one of the kicking points of the age of navigation: Portuguese and Spaniards were looking for islands in the Atlantic suitable for sugar cane plantations).

I fully endorse your choice of POD: it's the most fascinating and the one promising better upsides. I'm certainly eager to see how you are going to manage this development because in many ways it is very difficult to achieve.
If Milan ends up with the short-end of the stick the alliance will not last; if Venice cannot be made to understand that the rights of the population of the stato de tera and of the stato de mar must be recognised and upheld it will not work.

 

[Herzen's love-child]

No danger of flooding either. The main line runs well above the Po river, on a line from Milan to Bergamo-Verona-Vicenza-Padua-Venice.

Thanks for filling in the details. Nice post.

I was thinking of historic floods like the 1951 Polesine flood which destroyed so much infrastructure but, yes, the main line ran North of this event.

There were OTL large sugar cane plantings in Cyprus at least under Venetian rule. Also on Crete. Unfortunately slave labor was employed.
Some info and pics, here:
http://www.fergusmurraysculpture.co...-i-ix/sweet-salt-the-medieval-sugar-industry/