How the Venetians Stole the Relics of Saint Mark

The Story of Italy: Rome, Renaissance, and the Birth of Modern Europe — Fexingo History · May 28, 2026 · 8m · transcript

In 828 AD, two Venetian merchants pulled off one of the most audacious heists of the Middle Ages: they smuggled the body of Saint Mark the Evangelist out of Muslim-controlled Alexandria and brought it to Venice. This episode tells the story of that theft — the motives, the method, and the consequences. We look at how Venice, a rising maritime republic with no apostolic foundation, used the stolen relics to claim divine legitimacy, build the Basilica of San Marco, and cement its identity as a Christian power. Along the way, we explore the politics of relic theft in the medieval world, the…