Published on May 20, 2026 (Episode 455)
Introduction
“It was a cold January afternoon when I first came to the ghetto. I got there much later than I’d hoped. I’d spent much of the day elsewhere and had just lost track of time. It was already beginning to get dark. The campo seemed deserted. Shutters were closed, and apart from the tinkling of water in the wells, there was hardly a sound. There were no streetlights, barely even the glimmer of a lamp. But in the branches of the trees, thousands of tiny lights were shining.”
That is the opening paragraph of my guest Alexander Lee’s new book, The First Ghetto: Venice and the Origins of Modern Antisemitism, in which he traces both the history of the Venetian ghetto and, through it, the history of modern antisemitism. In our conversation we discuss the origins of the word “ghetto,” the peculiar politics of the Venetian Republic, Jewish moneylending and commerce, the arrival of Iberian Jews fleeing persecution, the vibrancy of ghetto culture during its “golden age,” and how following the collapse of the Republic how segregation and antisemitism mutated into the twentieth century.
About the Guest
Alexander Lee is a historian of Renaissance Italy and the author of numerous books, including Machiavelli: His Life and Times. He is also a columnist for History Today.
For Further Investigation
Alexander Lee, The First Ghetto: Venice and the Origins of Modern Antisemitism (Basic Books, 2026)
Franco Mormando, The Preacher’s Demons: Bernardino of Siena and the Social Underworld of Early Renaissance Italy (University of Chicago Press, 1999)
Thomas F. Madden, Venice: A New History (Viking, 2012)
Meredith F. Small, Inventing the World: Venice and the Transformation of Western Civilization (Pegasus Books, 2020)
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Cloak and Dagger and Gondola: Ioanna Iordanou on the Secret Service of the Republic of Venice, and organizing intelligence in the Renaissance
Medieval Mediterranean Slavery: Hannah Barker on the Black Sea slave trade and the networks that bound the medieval Mediterranean
Mass Expulsion: Rowan Dorin on how medieval kingdoms came to expel Jews and others they saw as undesirable
Brilliant Commodity: Saskia Cohen on Jewish involvement in the international gem trade
Tags
Venice; Jewish History; Antisemitism; Renaissance Italy; Early Modern Europe; Venetian Republic; Ghettos; Religious History; Alexander Lee; Historical Thinking
