Title attached to a number of European states through history
This article is about the title of sovereign states. For the Canadian indie rock band, seeThe Most Serene Republic.
Most Serene Republic (Latin:Serenissima Respublica;Italian:Serenissima Repubblica;Polish:Najjaśniejsza Rzeczpospolita) is a title attached to a number ofEuropean states through history. By custom, the appellation "Most Serene" is an indicator ofsovereignty (see alsoSerene Highness or Most Serene Highness for a sovereign prince). When used in the past, the title "Most Serene Republic" emphasized the sovereignty of the republic.
Currently, no country officially calls itself a "Most Serene Republic": Only two modern independent nations are still sometimes referred to by this style:San Marino, officially "the Republic of San Marino" (Italian:Repubblica di San Marino).[1]Poland, while officially "the Republic of Poland" (Polish:Rzeczpospolita Polska), is also at times called "the Most Serene Republic of Poland" (Polish:Najjaśniejsza Rzeczpospolita).[2]
The Most SereneRepublic of Venice (Venetian:Serenìsima Repùblega de Venexia; Italian:Serenissima Repubblica di Venezia), a city-state that existed from 697 to 1797 based in the city ofVenice with continuously controlled territory along the eastern Adriatic and Greece at its strongest period. The phraseLa Serenissima ("The Most Serene") was also popularly used as a specific reference to the Venetian government or state authorities.[3]
The Most SereneRepublic of Lucca (Italian:Serenissima Repubblica di Lucca), acity-state that existed from 1119 to 1799 based in the city ofLucca, in northernTuscany,Italy. Lucca was the third largest Italian city state (afterVenice andGenoa) with a republican constitution (comune) to remain independent over the centuries.[5]
^Dauverd, Céline (2014).Imperial Ambition in the Early Modern Mediterranean: Genoese Merchants and the Spanish Crown. Cambridge, UK:Cambridge University Press. p. 318.ISBN9781107062368.
