Recherches sur la nuit vénitienne à la fin du moyen âge

An important conclusion emerges from an examination of Venetian public acts of the late middle ages: noclurnal supervision became, from the thirteenth century onward, a necessary and permanent pre-occupation of government. This calls for a study of the definition of night-time and of the administrative framework, which reveals an evolution from traditional structures to magistratures specifically charged with maintaining public order. A question arises: fear of the night is ancient and profound; why did the desire to control and master it emerge so late? It seems that the Republic feared real violence less than political violence in the widest sense of the term. Because the night represented a kind of freedom, it had to be brought under control. This found its place within the more general plan of regulating behaviour, a logical result of the constitution of the Venetian state.