What role did merchants from venice, italy, play in the decline of the byzantine empire? they gained control over many byzantine trading routes. they gained positions in the byzantine court and misled the emperors. they advised the pope in his diplomatic efforts against the byzantines. they became allies of the muslim caliphates, financing the latter's armies.

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During the late Middle Ages, Northern and Central Italy became far more wealthy than the south of Italy, with the city-states, such as Venice and Genoa, among the richest in Europe. The Crusades had made lasting business links to the Levant, and the Fourth Crusade had done much to damage the Byzantine Roman Empire as an economic competitor to the Venetians and Genoese. The central trade tracks from the east crossed through the Byzantine Empire or the Arab lands and onwards to the ports of Genoa, Pisa, and Venice. Luxury goods got in the Levant, such as spices, dyes, and silks were shipped to Italy and then resold everywhere in Europe.

whose power in the senate is equal to the power of the speaker of the house?