Divided from the rest of Italy by the lagoons, and directed by her commerce to the Eastern shores of the Mediterranean, Venice took no part in the factions which rent the rest of the peninsula, and had comparatively little to fear from foreign invasion.

Her attitude was one of proud and almost scornful isolation.
In the Lombard Wars of Independence she remained neutral, and her name does not appear among the Signataries to the Peace of Constance.

Both the Papacy and the Empire recognized her independence.

Her true policy consisted in consolidating her maritime empire and holding aloof from the affairs of Italy.

As long as she adhered to this course, she remained the envy and the admiration of the rest of Europe.[1] It was only when she sought to extend her hold upon the mainland that she aroused the animosity of the Italian powers, and had to bear the brunt of the League of Cambray alone.[2] Her selfish prudence had been a source of dread long before this epoch: when she became aggressive, she was recognized as a common and intolerable enemy.
[1] De Comines, in his _Memoirs of the Reign of Charles VIII._ (tom.
ii.