453 - Attila the Hun crossed into the remains of the Roman Empire, the occupants of the Veneto, the mainland opposite the islands, abandoned their homes and took to the lagoon. Prior to the Fifth Century the Venetian Lagoon had been home only to hunters and fisherman. When the barbarians left many returned to their homes on the mainland but some stayed and made their homes.

568 - Permanent settlement was accelerated in as the Germanic Lombards crossed into the north of Italy led by Alboin. A loose conglomeration of island communities arose, each controlling a cluster of islands whose population was drawn from a particular area of the Veneto. Padua settled Malamocco and Chioggia, whilst Aquiliea settled Grado. Torcello, Burano and Murano were settled by Altino. Distinct economic, ecclesiastical and administrative centres evolved with Torcello the focus of Trading activity. Grado was the new home of the Bishop of Aquiliea and was thus the Church's base on the islands and Heraclea was the seat of government. The lagoon confederation was not autonomous however. It owed its allegiances to Byzantium. and until the end of the Seventh Century, its senior officials were the Maritime Tribunes who were effectively controlled by the Imperial hierarchy of Ravenna.

Under advice from the locals of the lagoon the settlers begged the two powerful faeries that controlled the lagoon to give them leave to settle the land. In formal Latin Daphne and Esme agreed if, in return, they would be given leave to walk on the islands if they should so chose. The settlers readily agreed. On occasion when the lagoon has flooded the streets or a line of wet footprints has been found with no culprit the Venetians look at each other and murmur about Daphne and Esme. However as time passed the rarely seen faeries faded into legend.

667 - 671 - Under the leadership of Grimoald the Lombard grip on the Veneto strengthened and the refugee population of the islands in the lagoon increased accordingly. After this last influx the islands took a big step towards independence. Tradition holds that a conference took place on Heraclea in 697 AD. The meeting, convened by the Patriarch of Grado saw to the election of the first Doge in order to unify the islands against the Lombard threat.
(Doge is the Venetian pronunciation of Dux or Duke.)
This is in fact a myth, in 726 the Lagoon settlers choose the first Doge when a wave of dissent against Emperor Leo III sweeps the entire Byzantine Empire. Orso Ipato is elected as the head of their provincial council.

742 - After a period during which there had been a return to the old form of government, with the Doge being appointed Consul by the Emperor, Teodato Ipato, Orso Ipato's son, was elected as the second Doge. The lagoon's administration was moved from Heraclea to Malamocco at this time but was still tied to the Byzantine Empire. Teodato's relationship with Byzantium was less subservient than that of his fathers but he none the less took orders from the capital. Even the fall of Ravenna to the Lombards in 751 did little to alter this. Due to maritime aid lent to the Byzantine Generals Belisarius and Narses, Venice had been accorded the rank of an independent city whilst still been part of the Byzantine Empire.

At the close of the Eighth Century, the Lombards were overrun by the Frankish Armies led by Charlemagne and in 810, the Emperor's son Pepin led a fleet into action against the lagoon settlers. Malamocco was quickly taken but the fleet failed in its pursuit of the settlers when they withdrew to the better protected islands of Rivo Alto, so named due to the deep channel running between them, and retreated with heavy losses. Now the seat of the government was shifted in the lagoon for the second and last time to Rivo Alto, the name by which the central cluster of islands was known until the late Twelfth Century when it became known as Venice. The Rialto district in the core of the city perpetuates the old name.

Two years after Pepin's defeat the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle was signed by Charlemagne and the Byzantine Emperor. In it Venice was declared part of the Eastern Empire. Despite this, Byzantine rule was little more than nominal.

828 - The traders and boatmen of the lagoon became less and less inclined to follow the lead of Byzantium and signalled their recalcitrance in with the theft of the body of Saint Mark from Alexandria. The two merchants responsible had replaced the body with that of the little known Saint Claudian. The Evangelist's body was then disguised in a load of pork meat to ward off any Muslim Port Officials that investigated the 'holy exhalations' produced by the saint's body. Once out to sea the body was hung from the yard arm of the ship in order to allow the crew to work safely in the ship. Saint Mark, whose posthumous arrival in Venice had been ordained to the saint in a vision when he passed the islands eight hundred years previously on the way to Rome,was made the Patron Saint of Venice - replacing Saint Theodore of Byzantium. A basilica was built alongside the Doge's Palace to house him and his holy relics in 832.

By the end of the Ninth Century, the population of Venice was increasing steadily. The magi of the Italian Houses of the Order of Hermes found a number of town houses in the city. Venice is now neutral territory for the wizards. The city was comprehensively protected by chains across the the entrance to major channels and fortified walls shielding the waterfront between the Palazzo Ducale and what would become the Church of Santa Maria Zobenigo.

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