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The Council of Ten ( it, Consiglio dei Dieci; vec, Consejo de i Diexe), or simply the Ten, was from 1310 to 1797 one of the major governing bodies of the
Republic of Venice The Republic of Venice ( vec, Repùblega de Venèsia) or Venetian Republic ( vec, Repùblega Vèneta, links=no), traditionally known as La Serenissima ( en, Most Serene Republic of Venice, italics=yes; vec, Serenìsima Repùblega de Venèsia ...
. Elections took place annually and the Council of Ten had the power to impose punishments upon
nobles Nobility is a social class found in many societies that have an aristocracy. It is normally ranked immediately below royalty. Nobility has often been an estate of the realm with many exclusive functions and characteristics. The character ...
. The Council of Ten had a broad jurisdictional mandate over matters of state security. The Council of Ten and the
Full College The Full College ( vec, Pien Collegio) was the main executive body of the Republic of Venice, overseeing day-to-day governance and preparing the agenda for the Venetian Senate. Composition The Full College comprised the Doge of Venice and the ...
constituted the inner circle of
oligarchical Oligarchy (; ) is a conceptual form of power structure in which power rests with a small number of people. These people may or may not be distinguished by one or several characteristics, such as nobility, fame, wealth, education, or corporate, r ...
patricians The patricians (from la, patricius, Greek: πατρίκιος) were originally a group of ruling class families in ancient Rome. The distinction was highly significant in the Roman Kingdom, and the early Republic, but its relevance waned after ...
who effectively ruled the Republic of Venice.


Origins

The Council of Ten was created in 1310 by Doge Pietro Gradenigo.David Chambers & Brian Pullan with Jennifer Fletcher (eds.). ''Venice: A Documentary History, 1450-1630'' (2001, reprinted 2004). University of Toronto Press/ Renaissance Society of America. p. 55. Originally created as a temporary body to investigate the plot of Bajamonte Tiepolo and Marco Querini, the powers of the Council were made formally permanent in 1455.Edward Muir (1981). ''Civic Ritual in Renaissance Venice''. Princeton University Press p. 20. The Council was composed of ten patrician magistrates elected by the Great Council to one-year terms.David Chambers & Brian Pullan with Jennifer Fletcher (eds.). ''Venice: A Documentary History, 1450-1630'' (2001, reprinted 2004). University of Toronto Press/ Renaissance Society of America. p. 54. Until 1582, an additional ''zonta'' of around 15 to 20 members also served on the Council. No more than one member of the same family could serve on the Council at any one time, and members could not be re-elected to successive terms.


Composition

Elections took place annually in August and others in September. The Council, which met at least weekly, had the power to impose punishments upon nobles, including
banishment Exile is primarily penal expulsion from one's native country, and secondarily expatriation or prolonged absence from one's homeland under either the compulsion of circumstance or the rigors of some high purpose. Usually persons and peoples su ...
and
capital punishment Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to conclude that ...
. On the council's orders, Doge
Marino Faliero Marino Faliero (1274 – 17 April 1355) was the 55th Doge of Venice, appointed on 11 September 1354. He was sometimes referred to simply as Marin Falier ( Venetian rather than standard Italian) or Falieri. He was executed for attempting a coup ...
was executed in 1355, and the Count of Carmagnola in 1432. The body's deliberations were highly secretive, and members of the Council of Ten took an oath of secrecy. Thomas Madden wrote: "The three capi of the Ten served for a month at a time and, to avoid any opportunity for bribery, were forbidden to leave the
Ducal Palace Several palaces are named Ducal Palace (Italian: ''Palazzo Ducale'' ) because it was the seat or residence of a duke. Notable palaces with the name include: France *Palace of the Dukes of Burgundy, Dijon * Palace of the Dukes of Lorraine, Nancy * ...
during their tenure of office."


Powers

Historian Edward Wallace Muir Jr. wrote: "The Council of Ten stood somewhat apart from the hierarchy of offices but was proverbially powerful. With its secret funds, system of anonymous informers, police powers, and broad jurisdictional mandate over matters of state security, the members of the Council of Ten, along with those of the Collegio, rotated offices among themselves and constituted the inner circle of oligarchical patricians who, in effect, ruled the republic." During the War of the League of Cambrai, for example, the Council had responsibility for finding ways to pay for the state's military expenses. From the 1490s through the 1530s, the Council of Ten and other Venetian authorities enacted sumptuary laws. In 1506, the Ten enacted an anti-
banqueting A banquet (; ) is a formal large meal where a number of people consume food together. Banquets are traditionally held to enhance the prestige of a host, or reinforce social bonds among joint contributors. Modern examples of these purposes i ...
law, seeking to prevent ambitious noblemen from engaging in vote buying by hosting lavish dinner parties at the ''compaginie della calza'' (exclusive social societies). The law specifically prohibited women other than the wives of members from attending such dinners. The Council was formally tasked with maintaining the security of the Republic and preserving the government from overthrow or corruption. However, its small size and ability to rapidly make decisions led to more mundane business being referred to it, and by 1457 it was enjoying almost unlimited authority over all governmental affairs. In particular, it oversaw Venice's diplomatic and intelligence services, managed its military affairs, and handled legal matters and enforcement. By the end of the sixteenth century, the Council of Ten had become Venice's spy chiefs, overseeing the city's vast intelligence network. The Council utilized ''bocche dei leoni'' (lion's mouths) placed around the city which allowed Venetians to report suspected illegal activities by placing a written note into the mouth. The lion's mouths were seen by later observers such as
Mark Twain Samuel Langhorne Clemens (November 30, 1835 – April 21, 1910), known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American writer, humorist, entrepreneur, publisher, and lecturer. He was praised as the "greatest humorist the United States has pr ...
to represent an oppressive autocratic government that spied on its citizens, but in reality the reports placed in lion's mouths were examined and only credible reports were investigated.


State Inquisitors

In 1539 the Council established the State Inquisitors, a tribunal of three judges chosen from among its members to deal with threats to state security. The Inquisitors were given equal authority to that of the entire Council of Ten, and could try and convict those accused of
treason Treason is the crime of attacking a state authority to which one owes allegiance. This typically includes acts such as participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to overthrow its government, spying on its military, its diplo ...
independently of their parent body. To further these activities, the Inquisitors created a large
espionage Espionage, spying, or intelligence gathering is the act of obtaining secret or confidential information ( intelligence) from non-disclosed sources or divulging of the same without the permission of the holder of the information for a tang ...
network of spies and informants, both in Venice and abroad. Inquisitors could conduct
secret trial A secret trial is a trial that is not open to the public or generally reported in the news, especially any in-trial proceedings. Generally, no official record of the case or the judge's verdict is made available. Often there is no indictment. ...
s with a low standard of proof, and the inquisitors' practices bore strong similarities to those of the
Roman Inquisition The Roman Inquisition, formally the Supreme Sacred Congregation of the Roman and Universal Inquisition, was a system of partisan tribunals developed by the Holy See of the Roman Catholic Church, during the second half of the 16th century, respons ...
, which was established three years later. From 1624 onward, the Council of Ten was charged with the prosecution of all
crime In ordinary language, a crime is an unlawful act punishable by a state or other authority. The term ''crime'' does not, in modern criminal law, have any simple and universally accepted definition,Farmer, Lindsay: "Crime, definitions of", in C ...
s involving the private lives of Venetian patricians.De Vivo, Filippo (2007) ''Information and Communication in Venice: Rethinking Early Modern Politics''. Oxford University Press. p. 34.


References


Sources

* {{Republic of Venice Government of the Republic of Venice 1310 establishments in Europe 14th-century establishments in the Republic of Venice 1797 disestablishments in the Republic of Venice