Venice was a hot bed of spies, plots and counterplots. On the edge of civilised and stable Christendom, Venice was where East met West and where the forces of Christianity and Islam hid their mutual distrust and hatred behind smiling diplomacy.

There were four major powers arrayed on the field of Venetian foreign politics :

The Habsburgs, both Spanish and Austrian

The Papacy

Ottoman Turks.

England

France

Holland

The Holy Roman Empire (The Germanic States)

Only England and France had embassies in Venice and the English Embassy stood empty since Cromwell took control of the country and summoned the ambassador home.

Spain The Spanish Plot in 1617 was so far reaching that 300 people were executed as the Grand Inquisitor purged the plotters from Venice. The policy of Spain towards Venice had a number of facets :

To monitor the other powers of Europe.

Whilst the Austrians were theoretically their allies by blood, both Spain and Austria were ruled by the Habsburg family, their relationship smacked of sibling rivalry and Venice was definitely a source of contention.

The Spanish and French had been fighting a war on and off for the better part of the last few decades and were 'secretly' agreeing a peace treaty. In Venice, agreed neutral territory for the French and the Spanish there was a great deal of politicking and espionage going on between the two.

The English and Dutch, both protestant states were enemies of Spain as well as each other. Spain had a policy of keeping the two fighting in the hope they would tear themselves apart.

After their failiure in 1617 they were more determined than ever to take Venice.

If they took Venice they could control the seas around Italy : the Tyrrenhean Sea from Naples and the Adriatic from Venice. With the seas theirs they could go on to take the petty kingdoms piecemeal and unify Italy under their rule.

To keep the Turks, a generally accepted threat to all Christendom, in check.

Austria
The Austrians were the second branch of the Habsburg Dynasty and like their Spanish cousins they too desired Venice. Their last attempt had hinged on encouraging the Uskok Pirates to raid Venetian shipping and weaken the Republic. When the Venetians had retaliated against the pirates and their backers the situation had escalated almost to the point of open conflict. War had been avoided when the Austrians relented at the last moment. The Uskoks were betrayed to the Venetians and harried from their traditional ports. Ever since the Uskoks have been waning as a power in the Adriatic, attacking only smaller ships and few convoys.

The Austrians are fixated on two things :

What their Spanish cousins were up to

Spain and France were in the process of negotiating a peace treaty. France had allied in almost indecent haste to Cromwell's Puritan England and Venice had been recognised as 'neutral territory' for the discussions. The Austrian Habsburgs would dearly loved to see this treaty wrecked.

The situation in France.

The French were ruled by the Regency of Queen Anne, Spanish Anne of Austria, and her advisor Guilio Mazarini, Cardinal and First Minister of France. Tempers are fraying and there is another Fronde brewing.

The Papacy
The city and its republic were always unconcerned by religion on a grand scale and the Popes of recent years had often regarded them as proto-protestants. With Pope Innocent X believing himself snubbed, the Papacy finally decided to bring the arrogant Venetians to heel and lands that had been taken from them by the Venetians returned. The instrument for this correction was an obvious choice. The Jesuits were expelled by the Doge during the later years of the Inquisition when Venice took one of its first stands against the dictates of the Papacy. The reason for the expulsion was that the Jesuits were endangering the security of the State and under Venetian Law the priests had to obey the Republic first and Rome second.

Ottoman Empire
Whilst The Habsburgs and the Jesuits wanted Venice itself, the Turks were more interested in the Republic's territories and their intelligence gathering was aimed towards this end.
The Ottoman Turks' policy towards Venice was a simple one :

Conquer all of its territories and then finally the city itself.

Suitably fortified the city could provide a floating fortress from which to launch attacks into Italy and Mainland Europe, bypassing both the natural and unnatural barriers of the Balkans. A working agreement had been reached by Sultan Ibrahim and Monsignor Hernandez of the Jesuits to bring Venice to its knees, an end desired by both sides and where their interests lay together they cooperated up to a point. Neither trusted the other and they would betray one another in an instant if it furthered their cause. Once the Republic had crumbled into the sea they would fight over its remains.

France
Venice is the neutral territory for the Franco-Spanish negotiations and both are heavily engaged in espionage activities against each other.

England
With Cromwell in power there was something of a vacuum in Venice.
The English Ambassador had received orders to return home a day before the news of Charles I's execution reached the city. His whereabouts after departure were never known. Cromwell would show little interest in Venice or the Italian States.

Holland
The Dutch had not long been a nation and had yet to establish any embassy in Venice. All communications were carried by merchants heading in the direction of Venice. Flemish craftsmanship in everything from woollen garments to firearms was in such demand throughout Europe that the messages are passed through regularly. Even the war between France & the Holy Roman Empire did little to stop the Dutch who trade with both sides. The Dutch foreign policy was focussed on far flung corners of the globe and it would only be a few years before the conflicts between the Dutch and English East Indies Companies would bring both countries to the brink of war.

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