Two of the largest and most famous geographic factions were the Castellani and the Nicolotti.
The Nicolotti lived on the west and were fishermen.
But their greatest clashes were the prearranged fights upon the citys numerous bridges.
These ritual encounters were known asbattagliole sui ponti.
Every Sunday, or on a holiday, bridges across Venice would betransformed into battlegrounds.
The restricted surface of the bridge made the duel more challenging.
On open land a duel can quickly turn into an unorganized melee.
Many Venetian bridge fights were waged with sharpened sticks and grievous injuries were common.
Competition at the bridge of fists in Venice by Joseph Heintz the Younger, dated 1673.
By the early 17th century, bridge fights became more civilized and organized.
The use of sticks and any other weapons were prohibited and fights became largely unarmed brawls.
The last war of the fist took place in September 29, 1705.
The crowd was so worked up that nobody noticed that the church of San Girolamo had caught fire.
The firemen were busy throwing punches.
The Council of Ten realized that the fist fights had gone too far and had it outlawed.
Few voiced their protests.
With fist fights gone, Venetians found other ways to channel their hunger for personal honor and factional loyalty.
Regatta, or rowing completion, was one of them.Forze d’Ercoleor human tower building, was another.
But the seething rivalry and tribalism underneath these seemingly innocuous displays sometimes ended in trouble.
After a particularly violent riot in 1810, even those competitions gradually declined.
One of the most famous of these is Ponte dei Pugni, which means bridge of fists.
Photo credit:Didier Descouens/Wikimedia Commons
