The ''Savii'' or ''Savi del Consiglio dei Pregadi'' (), also known as the ''Savi Grandi'' ('Great Sages'), were senior magistrates 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 ...

History

The positions were created in 1380 to assist the councils comprising the government of the Republic. Their duty was to "prepare

he government's He or HE may refer to: Language * He (pronoun), an English pronoun * He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ * He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets * He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' ...

agenda, frame resolutions, defend them, and supervise their execution". Their number was not fixed in the beginning, but was eventually set at six. They were chosen from the members of the

Venetian Senate The Senate ( vec, Senato), formally the ''Consiglio dei Pregadi'' or ''Rogati'' (, la, Consilium Rogatorum), was the main deliberative and legislative body of the Republic of Venice. Establishment The Venetian Senate was founded in 1229, or le ...

, or , whence their name. As with other higher magistracies of Venice, restrictions were placed on the eligibility to the office: the members served a term of six months and could not be re-elected to the same office for six months thereafter. To ensure continuity, the appointments to the office were staggered: three took office on 1 October, three on 1 January, three on 1 April, and three on 1 July. They rotated through their duties, with holding office for a week. Like all boards of , the office did not carry a salary, but could be held in tandem with other public offices. The were always present in, and in charge of the agenda of, the daily deliberations of 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 ...

(the Venetian cabinet). They were also obliged to be present in all sessions 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 ...

that had to do with foreign affairs. Consequently, and since no proposal could appear for vote before the Senate without having first been reviewed by the College, the came to be part of a small core of officials who exercised the most control over the governance of the Republic, alongside the

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 ...

, the six

ducal councillors The Minor Council ( it, Minor Consiglio) or Ducal Council was one of the main constitutional bodies of the Republic of Venice, and served both as advisors and partners to the Doge of Venice, sharing and limiting his authority. Establishment The Mi ...

, and the heads of the Ten. The post was accordingly given exclusively to the most highly regarded members of the Venetian patriciate.

References

Sources

* * * * {{Republic of Venice topics Government of the Republic of Venice 1380 establishments 14th-century establishments in the Republic of Venice