Marino Faliero (1274 – 17 April 1355) was the 55th
Doge of Venice
The Doge of Venice ( ; vec, Doxe de Venexia ; it, Doge di Venezia ; all derived from Latin ', "military leader"), sometimes translated as Duke (compare the Italian '), was the chief magistrate and leader of the Republic of Venice between 726 a ...
, 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 d'etat.
Early life
Faliero was the son of Iacopo Marin and Beriola Loredan. He had an uncle of the same name with whom he is often confused.
In 1315 Faliero was one of the three heads of the
Council of Ten
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. Elections took place annually and the Council of Ten had the power to i ...
when it was punishing the organizers of the 1310 conspiracy by
Bajamonte Tiepolo
Bajamonte Tiepolo (died after 1329) was a Venetian noble, great-grandson of Doge Jacopo Tiepolo, grandson of Doge Lorenzo Tiepolo, son of Giacomo Tiepolo. Bajamonte's wife was the Princess of Rascia. Marco Querini, a fellow conspirator, was his f ...
. Faliero continued as a member of the council until 1320 and held the office of chief and inquisitor several times. In 1320 he was charged with Andrea Michiel to organize the killing of Tiepolo and Pietro Querini, the only two leaders of the conspiracy still at large.
In 1323 Faliero was appointed captain and bailiff of
Negroponte. In 1326 he was again in Venice as a member of the Council of Ten, but the following year he left for
Bologna
Bologna (, , ; egl, label= Emilian, Bulåggna ; lat, Bononia) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in Northern Italy. It is the seventh most populous city in Italy with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nat ...
on a mission to the prior of the
Servites
The Servite Order, officially known as the Order of Servants of Mary ( la, Ordo Servorum Beatae Mariae Virginis; abbreviation: OSM), is one of the five original Catholic mendicant orders. It includes several branches of friars (priests and brothe ...
who had a dispute with Venice. Back again in the Ten, he left shortly after to be elected one of the Five Elders to Peace, another group of Venetian magistrates. After a few years of absence from public life, he reappears again in 1330 as a member of the Council of Ten.
In 1333 he became captain of the galleys of the Major Sea and of Constantinople and protected the merchants going to
Tanais
Tanais ( el, Τάναϊς ''Tánaïs''; russian: Танаис) was an Ancient Greece, ancient Greek city in the Don River (Russia), Don river delta, called the Maeotian Swamp, Maeotian marshes in classical antiquity. It was a bishopric as Tana ...
in the
Black Sea
The Black Sea is a marginal mediterranean sea of the Atlantic Ocean lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bounded by Bulgaria, Georgia, Roma ...
. In 1352 Faliero was sent on a diplomatic mission and met with the
Bulgaria
Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedon ...
n Tsar
Ivan Alexander in
Nicopolis
Nicopolis ( grc-gre, Νικόπολις, Nikópolis, City of Victory) or Actia Nicopolis was the capital city of the Roman province of Epirus Vetus. It was located in the western part of the modern state of Greece. The city was founded in 29 ...
, giving him a letter from the doge
Andrea Dandolo
Andrea Dandolo (13067 September 1354) was elected the 54th doge of Venice in 1343, replacing Bartolomeo Gradenigo who died in late 1342.
Early life
Trained in historiography and law, Andrea Dandolo studied at the University of Padua, where ...
.
Doge of Venice
Faliero was a naval and military commander and then a diplomat before being elected doge in succession to
Andrea Dandolo
Andrea Dandolo (13067 September 1354) was elected the 54th doge of Venice in 1343, replacing Bartolomeo Gradenigo who died in late 1342.
Early life
Trained in historiography and law, Andrea Dandolo studied at the University of Padua, where ...
.
He learned of his election while he was on a diplomatic mission to the
papal court at Avignon.
The populace of Venice was at that time disenchanted with the ruling aristocrats who were blamed for a recent naval defeat by the fleet of the
Republic of Genoa
The Republic of Genoa ( lij, Repúbrica de Zêna ; it, Repubblica di Genova; la, Res Publica Ianuensis) was a medieval and early modern maritime republic from the 11th century to 1797 in Liguria on the northwestern Italian coast. During the Lat ...
at the 1354
Battle of Portolungo during the
Third Venetian–Genoese War.
[Grignola, p. 48]
Within months of being elected, Faliero attempted a ''
coup d'etat'' in April 1355, aiming to take effective power from the ruling aristocrats. According to tradition, this came about because the dogaressa, Faliero's second wife,
Aluycia Gradenigo
Aluycia Gradenigo (died 1385) was the Dogaressa of Venice by marriage to the Doge Marino Faliero (r. 1354–1355).
Aluycia was the daughter of Nicolo Gradenigo and related to doge Pietro Gradenigo. She was known for her beauty and her love lif ...
, had been insulted by
Michele Steno
His tomb in Venice.
Michele Steno (''Michiel Sten'' in Venetian Language; 1331 – December 26, 1413) was a Venetian statesman who served as the 63rd Doge of Venice from December 1, 1400 until his death. He is remembered as the ruler crucial ...
, a member of an aristocratic family,
[Grignola, p. 49] but in a study of doges of Venice Antonella Grignola suggests that Faliero's move was consistent with a prevailing trend in Italian cities to move away from
oligarchic
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 ...
government to absolute, dynastic rule.
The plot intended to murder the chief patricians on 15 April and proclaim Faliero prince of Venice. It was badly organised, with poor communication between the conspirators, and was quickly discovered thanks to some of the conspirators having made revelations. The Council of Ten proceeded to arrest the ringleaders and to place armed guards all over the town. Several of the conspirators were condemned to death and others to various terms of imprisonment. Faliero pleaded guilty to all charges and was
behead
Decapitation or beheading is the total separation of the head from the body. Such an injury is invariably fatal to humans and most other animals, since it deprives the brain of oxygenated blood, while all other organs are deprived of the i ...
ed on 17 April
[ and his body mutilated. Ten additional ringleaders were hanged on display from the ]Doge's Palace
The Doge's Palace ( it, Palazzo Ducale; vec, Pałaso Dogal) is a palace built in Venetian Gothic style, and one of the main landmarks of the city of Venice in northern Italy. The palace was the residence of the Doge of Venice, the supreme auth ...
in Piazza San Marco
Piazza San Marco (; vec, Piasa San Marco), often known in English as St Mark's Square, is the principal public square of Venice, Italy, where it is generally known just as ''la Piazza'' ("the Square"). All other urban spaces in the city (exc ...
.
Legacy
Faliero was condemned to ''damnatio memoriae
is a modern Latin phrase meaning "condemnation of memory", indicating that a person is to be excluded from official accounts. Depending on the extent, it can be a case of historical negationism. There are and have been many routes to , includi ...
'', and accordingly his portrait displayed in the Sala del Maggior Consiglio (Hall of the Great Council) in the Doge's Palace was removed and the space painted over with a black shroud, which can still be seen in the hall today. A Latin language
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through ...
inscription on the painted shroud reads: ''Hic est locus Marini Faletro decapitati pro criminibus'' ("This is the space reserved for Marino Faliero, beheaded for his crimes").
The story of Faliero's failed plot was later made into plays by Lord Byron
George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron (22 January 1788 – 19 April 1824), known simply as Lord Byron, was an English romantic poet and Peerage of the United Kingdom, peer. He was one of the leading figures of the Romantic movement, and h ...
( Marino Faliero, Doge of Venice in 1821) and Casimir Delavigne
Jean-François Casimir Delavigne (4 April 179311 December 1843) was a French poet and dramatist.
Life and career
Delavigne was born at Le Havre, but was sent to Paris to be educated at the Lycée Napoleon. He read extensively. When, on 20 Marc ...
(in 1829).[Lefevre, Carl]
"Lord Byron's Fiery Convert of Revenge"
''Studies in Philology'' , Vol. 49, No. 3 (July 1952), pp. 468–487 The latter's inspired by the former's version was adapted into an eponymous opera scored by Gaetano Donizetti
Domenico Gaetano Maria Donizetti (29 November 1797 – 8 April 1848) was an Italian composer, best known for his almost 70 operas. Along with Gioachino Rossini and Vincenzo Bellini, he was a leading composer of the '' bel canto'' opera style dur ...
in 1835.[Ashbrook, William]
"Marino Faliero"
''The New Grove Dictionary of Opera, Oxford Music Online, accessed 17 June 2012 All three present the traditional story that Faliero was acting to defend his wife's honour. Prussian author E. T. A. Hoffmann used a different approach in his 1818 novella '; German composer Robert Schumann
Robert Schumann (; 8 June 181029 July 1856) was a German composer, pianist, and influential music critic. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest composers of the Romantic era. Schumann left the study of law, intending to pursue a career a ...
contemplated writing an opera based on Hoffmann's story. Eugène Delacroix
Ferdinand Victor Eugène Delacroix ( , ; 26 April 1798 – 13 August 1863) was a French Romantic artist regarded from the outset of his career as the leader of the French Romantic school.Noon, Patrick, et al., ''Crossing the Channel: Britis ...
's 1826 painting '' The Execution of the Doge Marino Faliero'' is based on Lord Byron's play.
His home, Palazzo Falier
Palazzo Falier is a civil building located in Venice, Italy in the Cannaregio district. The palazzo is particularly known for having been the home of Marin Falier, Doge of the Republic of Venice, who was executed for attempting a coup d'état.
Hi ...
, still exists in Venice, being one of the oldest structures there.
Notes
Bibliography
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*
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*— (1893) "M. Faliero avanti ii Dogado," ''ibid.''
*— (1897) "M. Faliero, la Congiura," ''ibid.''
*
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Faliero, Marino
1274 births
1355 deaths
14th-century Doges of Venice
14th-century executions
Damnatio memoriae
Executed heads of state
Executed Italian people
Medieval Italian diplomats
People executed by decapitation
People executed by the Republic of Venice
Republic of Venice military personnel
14th-century diplomats
Burials at Santi Giovanni e Paolo, Venice