1 00:00:00,680 --> 00:00:05,040 Speaker 1: Welcome to Noble Blood, a production of iHeartRadio and Grimm 2 00:00:05,080 --> 00:00:16,080 Speaker 1: and Mild from Aaron Manky listener discretion advised. Last year, 3 00:00:16,239 --> 00:00:19,279 Speaker 1: I was lucky enough to go on my honeymoon to Italy. 4 00:00:19,680 --> 00:00:23,160 Speaker 1: We began our trip in Venice, and after shaking off 5 00:00:23,200 --> 00:00:27,480 Speaker 1: the jet lag and enjoying our first Italian espresso, we 6 00:00:27,560 --> 00:00:31,240 Speaker 1: set off to the iconic Piazza San Marco or Saint 7 00:00:31,400 --> 00:00:36,599 Speaker 1: Mark's Square for a tour of the Doge's Palace. First 8 00:00:36,640 --> 00:00:39,919 Speaker 1: built in thirteen forty, it was the seat of the 9 00:00:39,920 --> 00:00:44,440 Speaker 1: government of the Venetian Republic and the residence of the 10 00:00:44,520 --> 00:00:48,920 Speaker 1: Doge himself for hundreds of years. But it's far from 11 00:00:48,920 --> 00:00:55,920 Speaker 1: your typical medieval palace. Its relatively simple, rectangular structure is 12 00:00:56,080 --> 00:01:00,720 Speaker 1: balanced by a delicate pattern of pink and white bricks, 13 00:01:01,240 --> 00:01:06,000 Speaker 1: with intricate stonework elements and plenty of arches along the 14 00:01:06,000 --> 00:01:10,960 Speaker 1: balcony and arcade below. Along with the basilica attached to it, 15 00:01:11,440 --> 00:01:15,319 Speaker 1: The palace dominates the eastern end of Piazza San Marco, 16 00:01:15,800 --> 00:01:21,039 Speaker 1: Venice's largest and most iconic square that for centuries was 17 00:01:21,200 --> 00:01:25,399 Speaker 1: the center of civic and religious life in the city. 18 00:01:26,000 --> 00:01:30,839 Speaker 1: The palace became a museum in nineteen twenty three. Each 19 00:01:31,000 --> 00:01:34,240 Speaker 1: room in the palace, from those making up the Doge's 20 00:01:34,319 --> 00:01:40,320 Speaker 1: apartments to the institutional chambers for the Republic's many governing bodies, 21 00:01:40,880 --> 00:01:45,639 Speaker 1: is adorned to an almost absurd extent. There are hand 22 00:01:45,800 --> 00:01:51,200 Speaker 1: carved furnishings, gilded accents, and on nearly every wall and 23 00:01:51,400 --> 00:01:56,600 Speaker 1: ceiling a mural painted by someone famous, though our tour 24 00:01:56,640 --> 00:02:01,600 Speaker 1: guide did note a few murals that were recreatedations Napoleon 25 00:02:01,680 --> 00:02:05,920 Speaker 1: having stolen the originals. Even the bridge from the main 26 00:02:06,080 --> 00:02:10,440 Speaker 1: palace to the now defunct prison has a breath taking 27 00:02:10,600 --> 00:02:14,600 Speaker 1: view of the lagoon. That bridge is aptly called the 28 00:02:14,639 --> 00:02:19,279 Speaker 1: Bridge of Size, because famously that was the sound reportedly 29 00:02:19,400 --> 00:02:23,919 Speaker 1: heard over the centuries from prisoners taking one last look 30 00:02:24,120 --> 00:02:28,040 Speaker 1: at the outside world before they were locked up. But 31 00:02:28,240 --> 00:02:32,440 Speaker 1: perhaps the most splendid room in the palace is the 32 00:02:32,560 --> 00:02:36,960 Speaker 1: Chamber of the Great Council. It's one of the largest 33 00:02:37,080 --> 00:02:40,240 Speaker 1: rooms in Europe, a fun fact that you might not 34 00:02:40,440 --> 00:02:44,560 Speaker 1: think much of until you're actually inside of it. It 35 00:02:44,680 --> 00:02:49,640 Speaker 1: is massive and imposing, almost one hundred and seventy five 36 00:02:49,840 --> 00:02:56,079 Speaker 1: feet long and over eighty feet wide, with fifteen foot ceilings, 37 00:02:56,600 --> 00:03:02,440 Speaker 1: and nearly every surface is covered either inornate gold, dramatic 38 00:03:02,639 --> 00:03:09,360 Speaker 1: dark wood, or an intricate, gigantic painted mural. It's easy 39 00:03:09,400 --> 00:03:12,920 Speaker 1: to get overwhelmed by the dizzying amount of art in 40 00:03:12,960 --> 00:03:16,480 Speaker 1: the chamber. You could strain your neck trying to take 41 00:03:16,520 --> 00:03:19,680 Speaker 1: in the twenty one murals that grace the walls alone, 42 00:03:20,160 --> 00:03:24,200 Speaker 1: featuring work by the likes of Tintoretto, Palma the Younger, 43 00:03:24,280 --> 00:03:27,680 Speaker 1: and Varones. But if you can tear your eyes away 44 00:03:27,720 --> 00:03:32,040 Speaker 1: from the big ticket art, right along the top of 45 00:03:32,160 --> 00:03:35,680 Speaker 1: the walls, going all the way around the room are 46 00:03:35,720 --> 00:03:41,280 Speaker 1: a series of smaller portrait freezes, all quite similar and 47 00:03:41,480 --> 00:03:46,000 Speaker 1: easy to miss if you aren't careful. The portraits, all 48 00:03:46,040 --> 00:03:51,880 Speaker 1: painted in the sixteenth century, immortalize the likenesses of seventy 49 00:03:52,000 --> 00:03:56,120 Speaker 1: six Doges who reigned in Venice from eight hundred and 50 00:03:56,160 --> 00:04:02,320 Speaker 1: four to fifteen fifty six portraits depict each Doge in 51 00:04:02,400 --> 00:04:07,560 Speaker 1: his regalia, each holding an obnoxiously long and wavy piece 52 00:04:07,600 --> 00:04:13,240 Speaker 1: of parchment bearing his greatest achievements during his reign. That is, 53 00:04:13,520 --> 00:04:18,360 Speaker 1: except for one there's a break in the parade of Doges. 54 00:04:19,000 --> 00:04:22,440 Speaker 1: Instead of a portrait, there's just a painting of a 55 00:04:22,560 --> 00:04:27,240 Speaker 1: black drape, as if to protect viewers from laying their 56 00:04:27,279 --> 00:04:31,919 Speaker 1: eyes upon some great shame, and to deny the fallen 57 00:04:31,960 --> 00:04:36,799 Speaker 1: doge the honor of being remembered. In thirteen fifty five, 58 00:04:37,360 --> 00:04:41,120 Speaker 1: the Doze in power decided that just being the head 59 00:04:41,120 --> 00:04:45,560 Speaker 1: of a republic wasn't enough, and he attempted to stage 60 00:04:45,600 --> 00:04:50,640 Speaker 1: a coup that would prove a disastrous and tragic failure. 61 00:04:51,520 --> 00:04:55,360 Speaker 1: In a room otherwise filled with color and detail and 62 00:04:55,880 --> 00:05:01,320 Speaker 1: glittering odes to the serene republic. The black out portrait 63 00:05:01,920 --> 00:05:05,279 Speaker 1: certainly makes it clear that this doge had made some 64 00:05:05,640 --> 00:05:09,799 Speaker 1: fatal error, but as if a big old black box 65 00:05:09,920 --> 00:05:13,880 Speaker 1: weren't signal enough that he screwed up. The drape also 66 00:05:14,040 --> 00:05:20,080 Speaker 1: has an inscription painted in bold gold letters that leaves 67 00:05:20,360 --> 00:05:24,760 Speaker 1: no doubt as to the Doge's fate. It reads, in Latin, 68 00:05:25,560 --> 00:05:32,279 Speaker 1: he asked locus Marini filetro decapititi po creminibus. This is 69 00:05:32,320 --> 00:05:38,479 Speaker 1: the place of Marino Faliero beheaded for his crimes. I'm 70 00:05:38,560 --> 00:05:47,839 Speaker 1: Dana Schwartz, and this is noble blood. The early history 71 00:05:47,920 --> 00:05:52,159 Speaker 1: of Venice is a blend of myth and reality, bolstered 72 00:05:52,200 --> 00:05:56,080 Speaker 1: by a lack of historical records and an abundance of 73 00:05:56,279 --> 00:06:00,719 Speaker 1: dramatic flare tradition has it that Venice was founded on 74 00:06:00,920 --> 00:06:04,240 Speaker 1: March twenty fifth, in the year four hundred and twenty 75 00:06:04,320 --> 00:06:10,080 Speaker 1: one CE, at exactly the stroke of noon. Three consuls 76 00:06:10,120 --> 00:06:13,640 Speaker 1: from nearby Padua were said to have founded the city 77 00:06:13,680 --> 00:06:17,520 Speaker 1: that would become an empire, with the establishment of a 78 00:06:17,640 --> 00:06:21,120 Speaker 1: trading post on the islands of the Rialto and the 79 00:06:21,200 --> 00:06:27,520 Speaker 1: consecration of a church dedicated to Saint James. The mainland 80 00:06:27,680 --> 00:06:30,960 Speaker 1: making up the coast of the Venetian Lagoon, which the 81 00:06:31,040 --> 00:06:34,679 Speaker 1: Venetians would come to call the Terra Firma, was likely 82 00:06:34,720 --> 00:06:39,200 Speaker 1: settled in the second century by Roman refugees from what 83 00:06:39,360 --> 00:06:42,400 Speaker 1: is now northern Italy, who ran to the coast as 84 00:06:42,440 --> 00:06:48,120 Speaker 1: they were fleeing Germanic and hun invaders. Successive invasions over 85 00:06:48,120 --> 00:06:53,839 Speaker 1: the course of several hundred years continue to push them further. Finally, 86 00:06:53,960 --> 00:06:57,360 Speaker 1: after the invasion of the Lombards in five hundred and 87 00:06:57,360 --> 00:07:01,240 Speaker 1: sixty eight, we begin to see references in documents to 88 00:07:01,320 --> 00:07:06,479 Speaker 1: the in Kalai Lacouni, or the Lagoon dwellers, those who 89 00:07:06,520 --> 00:07:09,560 Speaker 1: had not only begun to take refuge on the islands 90 00:07:09,560 --> 00:07:12,920 Speaker 1: in the Lagoon, but had fashioned them to their benefit 91 00:07:13,200 --> 00:07:17,559 Speaker 1: by building embankments, allowing them to thrive in what had 92 00:07:17,600 --> 00:07:26,280 Speaker 1: previously been an uninhabitable environment. According to legend, the lagoon 93 00:07:26,480 --> 00:07:31,760 Speaker 1: dwellers elected their first doge in six hundred ninety seven, 94 00:07:32,320 --> 00:07:35,920 Speaker 1: But the first doze for whom we have historical evidence 95 00:07:36,560 --> 00:07:40,440 Speaker 1: was elected by the twelve major families of Venice a 96 00:07:40,440 --> 00:07:45,000 Speaker 1: few decades later, in seven hundred twenty six or seven 97 00:07:45,080 --> 00:07:49,000 Speaker 1: hundred and twenty seven. But unlike most of the dukes 98 00:07:49,040 --> 00:07:51,880 Speaker 1: that you know, who tended to either answer to a 99 00:07:52,040 --> 00:07:56,960 Speaker 1: king or rule an area as sovereign, the Venetian Doge 100 00:07:57,000 --> 00:08:00,600 Speaker 1: from the very beginning, was intended as the head of 101 00:08:00,640 --> 00:08:04,560 Speaker 1: a republic. The doge was the head of state, but 102 00:08:04,760 --> 00:08:08,480 Speaker 1: a great deal of political power rested in the hands 103 00:08:08,520 --> 00:08:13,720 Speaker 1: of the Concho, the People's Assembly, which consisted originally of 104 00:08:13,840 --> 00:08:19,560 Speaker 1: all male citizens and patricians, that is, nobles of Venice. 105 00:08:20,040 --> 00:08:24,320 Speaker 1: The Concho initially had the responsibility of appointing the Doge. 106 00:08:24,840 --> 00:08:28,760 Speaker 1: The doge wasn't a hereditary position, but an elected one. 107 00:08:29,200 --> 00:08:32,319 Speaker 1: The same went for the members of the Great Council, 108 00:08:32,840 --> 00:08:36,080 Speaker 1: a group of so called wise men appointed by the 109 00:08:36,160 --> 00:08:40,880 Speaker 1: Concho to assist the Doge in governance. All this to say, 110 00:08:41,040 --> 00:08:45,720 Speaker 1: the history of Venice, and more importantly Venetian's idea of 111 00:08:45,760 --> 00:08:49,640 Speaker 1: the history of Venice was ever present as the Republic 112 00:08:49,800 --> 00:08:53,560 Speaker 1: continued to grow and change into the Middle Ages and 113 00:08:53,720 --> 00:08:59,240 Speaker 1: far beyond. Central to the Venetian civic identity was this 114 00:08:59,360 --> 00:09:03,280 Speaker 1: traditional story of a group of people coming together to 115 00:09:03,440 --> 00:09:08,200 Speaker 1: collectively defend themselves against a common enemy and to build 116 00:09:08,240 --> 00:09:13,040 Speaker 1: their city literally from the ground up together. It was 117 00:09:13,120 --> 00:09:17,640 Speaker 1: this steadfast commitment to the idea of the republic and 118 00:09:17,760 --> 00:09:22,920 Speaker 1: what it stood for that earned Venice its nickname La Serenissima, 119 00:09:23,240 --> 00:09:29,240 Speaker 1: meaning the most serene. However, contrary to this self given moniker, 120 00:09:29,840 --> 00:09:35,360 Speaker 1: medieval Venice was not without its rumblings. Marino Faliera was 121 00:09:35,400 --> 00:09:39,840 Speaker 1: born in twelve seventy four, and by that time Venice 122 00:09:39,880 --> 00:09:44,440 Speaker 1: had seen a number of significant political shifts as the 123 00:09:44,440 --> 00:09:49,120 Speaker 1: city wrestled between its republican ideals and the hunger of 124 00:09:49,160 --> 00:09:53,360 Speaker 1: a growing elite class who wanted more power. We know 125 00:09:53,800 --> 00:09:58,600 Speaker 1: very little, if anything, about Marino Falierro's early life. He 126 00:09:58,760 --> 00:10:02,640 Speaker 1: was the son of Yaho Capo Falieriro and Bariola Lurdon, 127 00:10:03,240 --> 00:10:06,760 Speaker 1: and was one of three sons. He had an uncle 128 00:10:06,840 --> 00:10:09,960 Speaker 1: who shared his name, which has led to some confusion 129 00:10:10,120 --> 00:10:13,200 Speaker 1: over the years. In the historical record, we know the 130 00:10:13,240 --> 00:10:18,600 Speaker 1: Faliero family was patrician, which was particularly important given that 131 00:10:18,800 --> 00:10:23,160 Speaker 1: in twelve ninety seven, when Faliero was twenty three, the 132 00:10:23,280 --> 00:10:26,960 Speaker 1: nobles of Venice orchestrated what came to be known as 133 00:10:27,440 --> 00:10:32,400 Speaker 1: the Great Lockout. The Great Council moved to make membership 134 00:10:32,480 --> 00:10:37,840 Speaker 1: in its ranks hereditary rather than elected, essentially stripping the 135 00:10:37,880 --> 00:10:42,199 Speaker 1: Concho of its power, including the power to elect the Doge, 136 00:10:42,600 --> 00:10:47,160 Speaker 1: and creating a closed noble class in the city. Venice 137 00:10:47,320 --> 00:10:50,800 Speaker 1: continued to call itself a republic, but it was now 138 00:10:51,160 --> 00:10:56,600 Speaker 1: very much an oligarchy. Despite our sparse history of his 139 00:10:56,720 --> 00:11:00,360 Speaker 1: early life, we do know that Falierro's early polite medical 140 00:11:00,440 --> 00:11:04,960 Speaker 1: career was defined by dealing with the aftermath of that lockout. 141 00:11:05,559 --> 00:11:09,920 Speaker 1: His first documented appearance in the historical record finds him 142 00:11:10,040 --> 00:11:16,600 Speaker 1: rising in these now closed ranks. On October tenth, thirteen fifteen, 143 00:11:17,080 --> 00:11:19,960 Speaker 1: at forty one years old, he was on the newly 144 00:11:20,120 --> 00:11:25,520 Speaker 1: formed Council of ten, an inquisitorial arm of the Venetian government, 145 00:11:25,960 --> 00:11:29,640 Speaker 1: when it decided to reward the man who had killed 146 00:11:29,760 --> 00:11:33,400 Speaker 1: Niccolo Quarini, who had played an instrumental role in an 147 00:11:33,440 --> 00:11:36,720 Speaker 1: attempted coup that had taken place a few years prior 148 00:11:37,440 --> 00:11:41,800 Speaker 1: that conspiracy had happened in thirteen ten, when Niccolo Quarini, 149 00:11:42,280 --> 00:11:47,400 Speaker 1: Baiamonte Tiepolo and other conspirators had attempted to overthrow the 150 00:11:47,480 --> 00:11:51,360 Speaker 1: Venetian government in order to restore the power of the concho. 151 00:11:52,200 --> 00:11:55,960 Speaker 1: For a number of reasons, including poor planning and bad weather, 152 00:11:56,480 --> 00:12:01,000 Speaker 1: their plan failed. The Council of Ten, which Falierra was on, 153 00:12:01,559 --> 00:12:05,640 Speaker 1: was originally formed to deal with the aftermath of that conspiracy, 154 00:12:06,160 --> 00:12:10,880 Speaker 1: instituting the election of you guessed it, ten noblemen who 155 00:12:10,920 --> 00:12:17,120 Speaker 1: were tasked with prosecuting crimes against the state. When Tiepolo surrendered, 156 00:12:17,280 --> 00:12:20,800 Speaker 1: the ten exiled him and sentenced him to be quote 157 00:12:21,120 --> 00:12:25,360 Speaker 1: condemned in memory. This was a legal punishment at the 158 00:12:25,400 --> 00:12:28,240 Speaker 1: time that could be pretty wide ranging in what it 159 00:12:28,320 --> 00:12:32,280 Speaker 1: actually looked like, but the intended effect was to remove 160 00:12:32,360 --> 00:12:37,400 Speaker 1: a person from official accounts or public memory. The punishment 161 00:12:37,480 --> 00:12:41,839 Speaker 1: of being condemned in memory was not really about complete erasure, 162 00:12:41,920 --> 00:12:46,360 Speaker 1: though it was more symbolic than anything else, meant mostly 163 00:12:46,520 --> 00:12:51,200 Speaker 1: as a social punishment to a person's descendants and associates, 164 00:12:51,640 --> 00:12:55,640 Speaker 1: and a cautionary tale to anyone who would dare challenge 165 00:12:55,679 --> 00:13:00,520 Speaker 1: the nobility's power. So think less nineteen eighty four and 166 00:13:00,679 --> 00:13:05,000 Speaker 1: more burn from the musical Hamilton. Eliza knows that her 167 00:13:05,160 --> 00:13:07,960 Speaker 1: burning her letters won't mean that no one will ever 168 00:13:08,160 --> 00:13:11,199 Speaker 1: know who her husband was in the future. But without 169 00:13:11,280 --> 00:13:13,920 Speaker 1: those letters, the story that we tell about him will 170 00:13:13,960 --> 00:13:17,880 Speaker 1: be different. Forgive the musical theater reference, but it seemed 171 00:13:17,920 --> 00:13:22,640 Speaker 1: fitting for Tiapolo being condemned in memory meant that his 172 00:13:22,760 --> 00:13:26,600 Speaker 1: house was demolished, and in its place a so called 173 00:13:27,080 --> 00:13:31,800 Speaker 1: column of infamy was erected, the column which a henchman 174 00:13:31,880 --> 00:13:35,960 Speaker 1: of Tiapolo's would later lose his eyes and a hand 175 00:13:36,040 --> 00:13:42,200 Speaker 1: for attempting to destroy. Read roughly translated, this land belonged 176 00:13:42,280 --> 00:13:47,080 Speaker 1: to Baiamante, and now for his inquisitous betrayal, this has 177 00:13:47,160 --> 00:13:50,920 Speaker 1: been placed to frighten others and to show these words 178 00:13:50,960 --> 00:13:55,040 Speaker 1: to everyone forever. If all this sounds a little, I 179 00:13:55,080 --> 00:14:00,840 Speaker 1: don't know familiar, hold that thought. Marino Follieri remained on 180 00:14:01,000 --> 00:14:04,240 Speaker 1: the Council of Ten for another five years after his 181 00:14:04,360 --> 00:14:08,880 Speaker 1: first appearance in its records. Over the following decades, Falierro 182 00:14:08,960 --> 00:14:12,800 Speaker 1: continued to be appointed to various government positions that saw 183 00:14:12,880 --> 00:14:16,800 Speaker 1: him accumulate a good deal of power and a great 184 00:14:16,840 --> 00:14:20,400 Speaker 1: deal of respect. He would actually go on to serve 185 00:14:20,520 --> 00:14:24,720 Speaker 1: on the Council of Ten several more times, occasionally at 186 00:14:24,760 --> 00:14:30,440 Speaker 1: its head, interspersed with stints engaging in mercantile trade, serving 187 00:14:30,480 --> 00:14:36,440 Speaker 1: on a tribunal, mediating disputes between commoners, captaining a galley ship, 188 00:14:36,640 --> 00:14:41,640 Speaker 1: and representing Venice abroad as a diplomat. In thirteen forty three, 189 00:14:41,800 --> 00:14:44,240 Speaker 1: he was in the running for Doge, but in a 190 00:14:44,360 --> 00:14:49,440 Speaker 1: shocking upset, thirty seven year old Andrea Dandolo was elected instead. 191 00:14:50,000 --> 00:14:54,320 Speaker 1: The position of Doge, although elected, was traditionally given to 192 00:14:54,440 --> 00:14:58,800 Speaker 1: the eldest and most experienced member of the patriciate, and 193 00:14:58,920 --> 00:15:03,320 Speaker 1: Faliero outr ranked Dandolo in both regards. It must have 194 00:15:03,360 --> 00:15:06,920 Speaker 1: been a real blow to the older man's ego, but 195 00:15:07,040 --> 00:15:10,880 Speaker 1: if it was, he never let on. Valiero continued to 196 00:15:11,000 --> 00:15:16,360 Speaker 1: serve Venice faithfully. By September seventh, thirteen fifty four, when 197 00:15:16,440 --> 00:15:20,760 Speaker 1: Dandolo died at only forty eight years old, Marino Falieriro 198 00:15:20,920 --> 00:15:24,800 Speaker 1: was in Avignon, serving as the ambassador of Venice to 199 00:15:25,000 --> 00:15:30,280 Speaker 1: Pope Innocent the sixth. Meanwhile, Venice buried the Doge, and 200 00:15:30,560 --> 00:15:34,880 Speaker 1: then the Great Council began the comically complicated process of 201 00:15:34,960 --> 00:15:39,440 Speaker 1: selecting his successor put in place to attempt to prevent 202 00:15:39,600 --> 00:15:43,200 Speaker 1: any one noble from making a power grab. The process 203 00:15:43,280 --> 00:15:47,520 Speaker 1: began with the convening of the council and now bear 204 00:15:47,600 --> 00:15:52,120 Speaker 1: with me for a system that seems almost insanely baroque 205 00:15:52,160 --> 00:15:57,000 Speaker 1: and complex. So once the Great Council had convened, the 206 00:15:57,080 --> 00:16:01,480 Speaker 1: youngest councilor present would be sent outside palace to choose 207 00:16:01,520 --> 00:16:04,560 Speaker 1: a random eight to ten year old child off the 208 00:16:04,640 --> 00:16:08,840 Speaker 1: street who would serve essentially as the Vana White of 209 00:16:08,920 --> 00:16:14,320 Speaker 1: the Dojal election. This random child was responsible for drawing 210 00:16:14,640 --> 00:16:19,560 Speaker 1: smooth metal balls called belote where the word ballot comes from, 211 00:16:19,880 --> 00:16:24,040 Speaker 1: with the names of councilors written on them. Thirty council 212 00:16:24,080 --> 00:16:27,640 Speaker 1: members would be chosen this way, and then from those thirties, 213 00:16:28,040 --> 00:16:32,440 Speaker 1: the child would choose nine names. Those nine councilors would 214 00:16:32,520 --> 00:16:36,440 Speaker 1: choose of their own volition forty councilors, and then out 215 00:16:36,520 --> 00:16:40,480 Speaker 1: of those forty, the random street child would choose twelve. 216 00:16:41,040 --> 00:16:44,880 Speaker 1: The twelve would then choose twenty five councilors, and then 217 00:16:45,000 --> 00:16:49,160 Speaker 1: from those the child would draw nine. Those nine would 218 00:16:49,240 --> 00:16:53,160 Speaker 1: choose forty five, and the child of those forty five 219 00:16:53,320 --> 00:16:57,280 Speaker 1: would randomly draw eleven, and then those eleven would choose 220 00:16:57,320 --> 00:17:02,000 Speaker 1: forty one, and then the those forty one people would 221 00:17:02,080 --> 00:17:06,760 Speaker 1: elect the doge, and of those forty one electors, thirty 222 00:17:06,840 --> 00:17:11,119 Speaker 1: five this time around voted for Marino Faliero, one of 223 00:17:11,160 --> 00:17:15,119 Speaker 1: the oldest and most honorable members of the Venetian nobility 224 00:17:15,480 --> 00:17:18,639 Speaker 1: who had given decades of service to the Republic. A 225 00:17:18,720 --> 00:17:22,320 Speaker 1: messenger was soon sent to Avignon to retrieve him, and 226 00:17:22,400 --> 00:17:26,399 Speaker 1: a group of twelve ambassadors met him in Verona to 227 00:17:26,640 --> 00:17:31,560 Speaker 1: formally give him the good news. He was eighty years old, 228 00:17:31,720 --> 00:17:37,080 Speaker 1: but Marino Faliero was finally, finally the Doge of Venice. 229 00:17:37,600 --> 00:17:41,480 Speaker 1: He had reached the pinnacle, the ultimate goal of any 230 00:17:41,680 --> 00:17:45,560 Speaker 1: noble Venetian. How victorious he must have felt on that 231 00:17:45,720 --> 00:17:50,320 Speaker 1: boat coming into his city, watching Venice emerge slowly over 232 00:17:50,359 --> 00:17:54,720 Speaker 1: the water as if to welcome him home. But perhaps 233 00:17:55,200 --> 00:17:59,840 Speaker 1: his serenity, like the Republic whose honorific he now shared, 234 00:18:00,440 --> 00:18:05,240 Speaker 1: also had the sense that something else was bubbling under 235 00:18:05,400 --> 00:18:12,560 Speaker 1: the surface. Marino Faliero returned to Venice in October thirteen 236 00:18:12,680 --> 00:18:16,920 Speaker 1: fifty four as the ruler of a city in turmoil. 237 00:18:17,600 --> 00:18:21,359 Speaker 1: The Republic had been at war with Genoa again, and 238 00:18:21,480 --> 00:18:26,240 Speaker 1: barely two months into Faliero's tenure as Doge, Venice faced 239 00:18:26,280 --> 00:18:30,879 Speaker 1: an embarrassing naval defeat against Genoa in the Battle of 240 00:18:30,960 --> 00:18:34,880 Speaker 1: Porto Lungo, the result of poor strategy on the part 241 00:18:34,960 --> 00:18:39,280 Speaker 1: of the Venetian naval forces. While Genoa gathered power in 242 00:18:39,320 --> 00:18:43,360 Speaker 1: the wake of its victory, the Venetian people grew restless. 243 00:18:43,960 --> 00:18:48,400 Speaker 1: Resentment against the nobility had been brewing since the Great Lockout, 244 00:18:48,960 --> 00:18:52,560 Speaker 1: but it seemed now to be reaching a boiling point. 245 00:18:53,200 --> 00:18:56,520 Speaker 1: It was in this environment of tension, with the threat 246 00:18:56,640 --> 00:19:00,119 Speaker 1: of the Genoese on the horizon, that things began to 247 00:19:00,160 --> 00:19:05,120 Speaker 1: take a turn toward the treasonous for Marino Faliero almost 248 00:19:05,160 --> 00:19:10,040 Speaker 1: immediately after his reign as Doge began. There is much 249 00:19:10,160 --> 00:19:12,800 Speaker 1: we do not know for sure about the lead up 250 00:19:12,840 --> 00:19:16,280 Speaker 1: to what has been termed the Faliero Coup. There is 251 00:19:16,520 --> 00:19:20,360 Speaker 1: uncertainty even about why he did it at all. At 252 00:19:20,400 --> 00:19:25,040 Speaker 1: first glance, it seems at odds with Falierro's character and history. 253 00:19:25,640 --> 00:19:29,040 Speaker 1: How could this man who had seemingly spent decades in 254 00:19:29,119 --> 00:19:33,159 Speaker 1: service of Venice without causing any trouble turn on his 255 00:19:33,280 --> 00:19:39,639 Speaker 1: beloved republic so suddenly In classic Venetian fashion. There is 256 00:19:39,760 --> 00:19:44,119 Speaker 1: a traditional story on one hand, and a less interesting, 257 00:19:44,400 --> 00:19:48,880 Speaker 1: more complicated, but ultimately more likely theory. On the other 258 00:19:49,760 --> 00:19:54,320 Speaker 1: we'll start with the juicy story. Obviously not long into 259 00:19:54,480 --> 00:19:59,280 Speaker 1: Falierro's reign, it seems early thirteen fifty five Faliero married 260 00:19:59,280 --> 00:20:03,840 Speaker 1: a woman named Alquina Grattenigo, the daughter of a former doge, 261 00:20:03,880 --> 00:20:08,960 Speaker 1: Pietro Grottenigo. This was not Faliero's first marriage, but we 262 00:20:09,080 --> 00:20:12,919 Speaker 1: don't know much about his first wife. She may have 263 00:20:13,000 --> 00:20:17,040 Speaker 1: been named Thomasina Contarini, and it seems that they had 264 00:20:17,080 --> 00:20:21,440 Speaker 1: two daughters, Lucia and Pinola. In any case, Alquina, at 265 00:20:21,440 --> 00:20:24,920 Speaker 1: forty five years old, was much younger than her husband, 266 00:20:25,359 --> 00:20:29,399 Speaker 1: only slightly more than half of Faliero's age. The truth 267 00:20:29,440 --> 00:20:33,000 Speaker 1: is we know pretty little about her too, but the 268 00:20:33,119 --> 00:20:39,960 Speaker 1: story tends to paint her as a fourteenth century gold digger, beautiful, vivacious, 269 00:20:40,000 --> 00:20:45,439 Speaker 1: and most of all licentious. According to the story, she 270 00:20:45,640 --> 00:20:49,679 Speaker 1: was rumored to have been engaging in affairs with numerous 271 00:20:49,800 --> 00:20:54,919 Speaker 1: members of the patrician class. During a carnival celebration at 272 00:20:54,960 --> 00:20:59,000 Speaker 1: the Doge's palace in thirteen fifty five, it is said 273 00:20:59,200 --> 00:21:04,000 Speaker 1: that Doge Faliero observed one of these nobles, the twenty 274 00:21:04,040 --> 00:21:09,240 Speaker 1: four year old Michel Steno flirting with the Dogaressa, or 275 00:21:09,359 --> 00:21:13,240 Speaker 1: possibly flirting with one of her ladies in waiting. Either way. 276 00:21:13,400 --> 00:21:18,200 Speaker 1: Incensed at the disrespectful actions of the young noble, Faliero 277 00:21:18,440 --> 00:21:23,159 Speaker 1: kicked Steno out of the festivities. The incident would have 278 00:21:23,359 --> 00:21:28,280 Speaker 1: certainly rankled the aging doge to see his beautiful, younger 279 00:21:28,280 --> 00:21:32,400 Speaker 1: wife receiving attention from a much younger man, But the 280 00:21:32,400 --> 00:21:38,040 Speaker 1: real kicker came reportedly hours later, when Steno snuck back 281 00:21:38,080 --> 00:21:41,400 Speaker 1: into the palace under cover of night and carved an 282 00:21:41,440 --> 00:21:45,880 Speaker 1: insult into Faliero's chair in the chamber of the Great Council. 283 00:21:46,680 --> 00:21:49,520 Speaker 1: It got right to the heart of the matter. Quote 284 00:21:49,720 --> 00:21:54,080 Speaker 1: Marino Falliero with the beautiful wife, he maintains her and 285 00:21:54,280 --> 00:21:59,520 Speaker 1: others enjoy her. For this act, the story goes, Steno 286 00:21:59,680 --> 00:22:04,840 Speaker 1: was a rested, but still Falierro wasn't satisfied. He wasn't 287 00:22:04,920 --> 00:22:09,320 Speaker 1: just angry at Steno, but at the entire Patricia. After 288 00:22:09,440 --> 00:22:12,680 Speaker 1: his decades of service, this was how they were paid 289 00:22:12,760 --> 00:22:16,840 Speaker 1: him by sleeping with his wife and defacing the symbols 290 00:22:16,880 --> 00:22:20,520 Speaker 1: of his office. He thought of the other city states 291 00:22:20,520 --> 00:22:25,600 Speaker 1: of Italy, whose dukes commanded almost absolute power in comparison 292 00:22:25,640 --> 00:22:29,480 Speaker 1: to his they would never have been humiliated in that way, 293 00:22:29,680 --> 00:22:33,120 Speaker 1: and if they were, the punishment would have surely been 294 00:22:33,160 --> 00:22:39,120 Speaker 1: more severe. Well maybe it could be. Of course, there 295 00:22:39,200 --> 00:22:44,600 Speaker 1: isn't really much actual historical evidence to support this salacious 296 00:22:44,680 --> 00:22:49,800 Speaker 1: revenge story, and it seems to have begun spreading much later, 297 00:22:50,040 --> 00:22:54,040 Speaker 1: which is generally a good historical indicator that the story 298 00:22:54,320 --> 00:22:59,320 Speaker 1: didn't really happen. It's more likely that Falierro's quarrels with 299 00:22:59,359 --> 00:23:04,080 Speaker 1: the nobility were political in nature and bolstered by the 300 00:23:04,160 --> 00:23:08,280 Speaker 1: class tensions brought on by the lockout and stoked by 301 00:23:08,320 --> 00:23:12,240 Speaker 1: the war with Genoa. If indeed he looked to the 302 00:23:12,320 --> 00:23:16,160 Speaker 1: other city states and to the absolute power wielded by 303 00:23:16,359 --> 00:23:21,199 Speaker 1: their dukes, Faliero was probably thinking less about punishing his 304 00:23:21,280 --> 00:23:26,440 Speaker 1: personal enemies and more about how a singular, powerful doge 305 00:23:27,040 --> 00:23:32,480 Speaker 1: might benefit Venice. We also can't discount simple greed or 306 00:23:32,640 --> 00:23:37,200 Speaker 1: hunger for power. At his trial, Falierro seemed to regret 307 00:23:37,480 --> 00:23:40,159 Speaker 1: the coup and framed it more as a crime of 308 00:23:40,280 --> 00:23:45,440 Speaker 1: passion than a calculated political scheme, never mentioning any belief 309 00:23:45,520 --> 00:23:50,240 Speaker 1: that absolute rulership would benefit Venice. It's possible he simply 310 00:23:50,320 --> 00:23:54,399 Speaker 1: saw an opportunity to have it all and tried to 311 00:23:54,480 --> 00:23:58,600 Speaker 1: take it. Whatever the reason, it seems that the conspiracy 312 00:23:58,760 --> 00:24:01,760 Speaker 1: began to take shape in in the early spring of 313 00:24:01,880 --> 00:24:06,199 Speaker 1: thirteen fifty five. It was then that Faliero connected with 314 00:24:06,400 --> 00:24:11,560 Speaker 1: Bertuccio Isirello and Filippo Calendario, two men who were among 315 00:24:11,600 --> 00:24:15,439 Speaker 1: the class of Venetians who were respected and wealthy, but 316 00:24:15,560 --> 00:24:20,520 Speaker 1: still excluded from the closed noble class. We don't know 317 00:24:20,640 --> 00:24:24,800 Speaker 1: much about Isorello, but Calendario was an architect and was 318 00:24:24,880 --> 00:24:28,639 Speaker 1: in fact among the designers of the DOJ's Palace that 319 00:24:28,840 --> 00:24:32,679 Speaker 1: you can still see today. The plot had less the 320 00:24:32,720 --> 00:24:35,600 Speaker 1: air of a popular revolution and more the air of 321 00:24:35,640 --> 00:24:40,040 Speaker 1: a pyramid scheme. The idea was that Faliero and Isorello 322 00:24:40,119 --> 00:24:43,480 Speaker 1: would each recruit twenty men to their cause, and each 323 00:24:43,520 --> 00:24:47,879 Speaker 1: of those men were going to recruit another forty after that, 324 00:24:48,000 --> 00:24:52,399 Speaker 1: though the plot becomes very very simple in a manner 325 00:24:52,440 --> 00:24:58,359 Speaker 1: of speaking, kill all the nobles and their families. The 326 00:24:58,440 --> 00:25:01,959 Speaker 1: plan was to wait until in April fifteenth at dawn, 327 00:25:02,480 --> 00:25:06,320 Speaker 1: attacking at the stroke of the bells from San Marco. 328 00:25:06,400 --> 00:25:09,760 Speaker 1: Without the nobility, power in Venice would shift back to 329 00:25:09,840 --> 00:25:14,600 Speaker 1: where it belonged to the people, or perhaps more accurately, 330 00:25:15,000 --> 00:25:18,160 Speaker 1: to the one noble who wouldn't be killed, the Doge 331 00:25:18,440 --> 00:25:25,520 Speaker 1: leading the people. Things started off well enough. The conspirators 332 00:25:25,560 --> 00:25:30,040 Speaker 1: found sympathy, especially with those working in maritime trade, who 333 00:25:30,080 --> 00:25:33,520 Speaker 1: were particularly resentful of the nobility in the wake of 334 00:25:33,600 --> 00:25:36,840 Speaker 1: the Battle of Porto Lungo. The best part was that, 335 00:25:37,119 --> 00:25:41,440 Speaker 1: given the recruitment structure of the coup, the Doge's involvement 336 00:25:41,600 --> 00:25:44,960 Speaker 1: was really only known to the inner circle of a 337 00:25:45,080 --> 00:25:49,520 Speaker 1: few trusted men. It was that lack of transparency, though, 338 00:25:49,640 --> 00:25:54,159 Speaker 1: that would ultimately prove to be Faliero's downfall. On the 339 00:25:54,280 --> 00:25:57,440 Speaker 1: night before the coup was set to take place, one 340 00:25:57,440 --> 00:26:01,000 Speaker 1: conspirator who had been roped into the pyramid scheme, a 341 00:26:01,040 --> 00:26:05,919 Speaker 1: man named beltrom attempted to warn the Procurator of San Marco, 342 00:26:06,280 --> 00:26:11,400 Speaker 1: Niccolo Leone of the impending danger. Beltrommee had no knowledge 343 00:26:11,440 --> 00:26:15,879 Speaker 1: of Falierro's involvement, and so Leon of course went straight 344 00:26:15,920 --> 00:26:20,640 Speaker 1: to the Doze with his concerns. When Falierro dismissed them, however, 345 00:26:21,119 --> 00:26:25,199 Speaker 1: suspicion began to set in. Beltrommee seemed to have his 346 00:26:25,359 --> 00:26:29,679 Speaker 1: information on good authority. Why did the Doze just brush 347 00:26:29,760 --> 00:26:34,200 Speaker 1: them off? Leon brought his concerns to a few trusted 348 00:26:34,359 --> 00:26:38,320 Speaker 1: members of the Great Council. It turned out that Beltroma 349 00:26:38,560 --> 00:26:42,600 Speaker 1: was not the only conspirator who had squealed, and several 350 00:26:42,640 --> 00:26:46,760 Speaker 1: other nobles had also been warned of the plot. It 351 00:26:46,840 --> 00:26:51,760 Speaker 1: was becoming clear that something was very, very wrong, and 352 00:26:51,920 --> 00:26:55,320 Speaker 1: that Faliero may have had something to do with it. 353 00:26:56,080 --> 00:26:59,840 Speaker 1: Within hours, the Council of Ten was convened, along with 354 00:27:00,240 --> 00:27:06,920 Speaker 1: every major magistracy in the Republic except the Doge. As 355 00:27:07,160 --> 00:27:11,439 Speaker 1: nobles filed into the Piazza San Marco, armed to the 356 00:27:11,560 --> 00:27:18,280 Speaker 1: teeth and awaiting reinforcements, Philippo Callandario and Bertucci Isirello were arrested. 357 00:27:19,040 --> 00:27:23,879 Speaker 1: Under interrogation and likely torture, they revealed the names of 358 00:27:24,040 --> 00:27:29,399 Speaker 1: many of their fellow conspirators, including that of Marino Faliero, 359 00:27:29,920 --> 00:27:34,320 Speaker 1: the Doge of Venice. On April fifteenth, the day that 360 00:27:34,400 --> 00:27:39,800 Speaker 1: would have changed Venetian history forever, nine of the conspirators, 361 00:27:39,840 --> 00:27:44,399 Speaker 1: including Calendario and Isarello, were hanged from the arches of 362 00:27:44,480 --> 00:27:48,200 Speaker 1: the Doge's palace. Legend has it that they were hanged 363 00:27:48,560 --> 00:27:51,760 Speaker 1: with bits in their mouths so that they couldn't use 364 00:27:51,840 --> 00:27:55,680 Speaker 1: their last words to shout to the crowd watching from 365 00:27:55,720 --> 00:27:59,600 Speaker 1: the square. Below and stir up even more anti patrician. 366 00:27:59,760 --> 00:28:06,840 Speaker 1: Several other conspirators were sentenced to life imprisonment. With that done, 367 00:28:07,000 --> 00:28:10,840 Speaker 1: the nobles had to turn their attention to their greatest betrayal, 368 00:28:11,480 --> 00:28:15,560 Speaker 1: the Doge himself. The Council of Ten, the very council 369 00:28:15,640 --> 00:28:19,879 Speaker 1: from which Falierro himself had prosecuted a similar conspiracy just 370 00:28:20,000 --> 00:28:24,480 Speaker 1: forty years earlier, presided over the trial, along with the 371 00:28:24,520 --> 00:28:28,399 Speaker 1: Minor Council and the Zonta, which were all tasked with 372 00:28:28,600 --> 00:28:33,640 Speaker 1: mitigating the Doja's authority. The trial was quick and somber, 373 00:28:34,119 --> 00:28:36,920 Speaker 1: and by the next day a verdict had been reached. 374 00:28:37,440 --> 00:28:42,720 Speaker 1: The Doge's fate was sealed on April seventeenth, thirteen fifty five, 375 00:28:43,240 --> 00:28:46,680 Speaker 1: after fewer than seven months in office, and just two 376 00:28:46,760 --> 00:28:50,080 Speaker 1: days after he thought he would be the Lord of Venice, 377 00:28:50,720 --> 00:28:56,040 Speaker 1: Marino Faliero was sentenced to death. This would not be 378 00:28:56,200 --> 00:29:00,520 Speaker 1: a public execution. If Venetians knew anything was how to 379 00:29:00,600 --> 00:29:03,680 Speaker 1: spin a story, and they knew the difference between a 380 00:29:03,760 --> 00:29:07,480 Speaker 1: trader and a martyr is often a matter of optics. 381 00:29:08,280 --> 00:29:11,840 Speaker 1: They had made a display of the commoners they executed. 382 00:29:12,120 --> 00:29:14,600 Speaker 1: It was also important to show the might of the 383 00:29:14,680 --> 00:29:18,560 Speaker 1: republic against those who would destroy it. But a doze 384 00:29:18,600 --> 00:29:23,000 Speaker 1: who had turned on his own government was another matter entirely. 385 00:29:23,640 --> 00:29:27,240 Speaker 1: There would be no opportunity for Marino Faliero to become 386 00:29:27,280 --> 00:29:31,360 Speaker 1: a popular hero in death. Instead, the sentence would be 387 00:29:31,440 --> 00:29:35,600 Speaker 1: carried out in Falieriro's own home, in the courtyard of 388 00:29:35,640 --> 00:29:41,680 Speaker 1: the Doge's palace. Despite its privacy, however, the execution was 389 00:29:41,960 --> 00:29:46,560 Speaker 1: very much a performance in the presence of the entire nobility, 390 00:29:47,000 --> 00:29:50,080 Speaker 1: the men with whom Falierro had worked with for decades 391 00:29:50,520 --> 00:29:54,680 Speaker 1: and then betrayed. The fallen Doze was led by procession 392 00:29:54,880 --> 00:29:58,560 Speaker 1: into the courtyard. Members of the Council of Ten stripped 393 00:29:58,640 --> 00:30:02,120 Speaker 1: him of his royal regale before he was beheaded with 394 00:30:02,240 --> 00:30:06,320 Speaker 1: a sword to complete the story and likely also to 395 00:30:06,520 --> 00:30:10,960 Speaker 1: satisfy curious commoners. Once the deed was done, one of 396 00:30:11,000 --> 00:30:14,240 Speaker 1: the ten leaned out of a balcony with a bloody 397 00:30:14,320 --> 00:30:17,560 Speaker 1: sword in one hand and Faliero's head in the other. 398 00:30:18,240 --> 00:30:22,480 Speaker 1: He announced their victory. Look justice has been done to 399 00:30:22,560 --> 00:30:27,360 Speaker 1: the trader. On that day in thirteen fifty five, Marino 400 00:30:27,400 --> 00:30:32,360 Speaker 1: Faliero's new legacy was cemented, but his punishment was far 401 00:30:32,440 --> 00:30:37,640 Speaker 1: from over. Like Baiamante Tiapolo before him, Falieriro was sentenced 402 00:30:37,680 --> 00:30:43,680 Speaker 1: to dominetio memorie, being condemned in memory. In addition to 403 00:30:43,720 --> 00:30:47,640 Speaker 1: his removal from official records, the day of his conviction, 404 00:30:47,840 --> 00:30:52,680 Speaker 1: April sixteenth, would be marked every year, and subsequent dojes 405 00:30:52,720 --> 00:30:56,880 Speaker 1: would hold a precession and ceremony in Piazza San Marco 406 00:30:57,320 --> 00:31:03,200 Speaker 1: to remember Falierro's tragic betrayal and inevitable defeat. Legend has 407 00:31:03,280 --> 00:31:06,960 Speaker 1: it that all of the coinage from Faliero's reign, which 408 00:31:07,000 --> 00:31:11,280 Speaker 1: would have borne his likeness, was melted down, although it's 409 00:31:11,360 --> 00:31:15,000 Speaker 1: more likely that, given how short his reign was, it 410 00:31:15,080 --> 00:31:20,560 Speaker 1: simply hadn't been minted yet. But Marino Faliero's sentence wouldn't 411 00:31:20,600 --> 00:31:25,680 Speaker 1: really be complete until eleven years later, in thirteen sixty six, 412 00:31:26,160 --> 00:31:29,360 Speaker 1: when the Council of Ten decreed that his portrait in 413 00:31:29,440 --> 00:31:33,120 Speaker 1: the Chamber of the Great Council should be painted over 414 00:31:33,760 --> 00:31:38,760 Speaker 1: and an inscription placed in its stead hic fuits locus 415 00:31:38,760 --> 00:31:45,080 Speaker 1: ser Marina Feletri decapitated pro crimine pro di tiones. This 416 00:31:45,400 --> 00:31:49,120 Speaker 1: was the place of Sir Marino Fallieri beheaded for the 417 00:31:49,160 --> 00:31:53,560 Speaker 1: crime of treason. You may have noticed that that's not 418 00:31:54,040 --> 00:31:57,760 Speaker 1: quite the inscription I read at the beginning of this episode. 419 00:31:58,240 --> 00:32:02,120 Speaker 1: That's because in fifteen seven twenty seven, over two hundred 420 00:32:02,200 --> 00:32:08,040 Speaker 1: years after Marina Fellieri's execution, a fire destroyed significant portions 421 00:32:08,080 --> 00:32:12,000 Speaker 1: of the DOJ's Palace, including the chamber of the Great Council. 422 00:32:12,560 --> 00:32:15,680 Speaker 1: When it was rebuilt, new paintings had to be commissioned 423 00:32:16,080 --> 00:32:20,160 Speaker 1: to replace the old, including the set of portraits and 424 00:32:20,400 --> 00:32:23,600 Speaker 1: the portrait that had been painted over that had been 425 00:32:23,640 --> 00:32:27,960 Speaker 1: present in the previous iteration of the chamber. Instead of 426 00:32:28,040 --> 00:32:32,960 Speaker 1: simply omitting his portrait, the Venetian government chose to keep 427 00:32:33,120 --> 00:32:38,760 Speaker 1: the spirit of Falierro's condemnation, commissioning the black drape with 428 00:32:38,840 --> 00:32:42,520 Speaker 1: the inscription. As you can still see today, there's no 429 00:32:42,680 --> 00:32:46,760 Speaker 1: portrait under the new painting. However, with the fire, the 430 00:32:46,880 --> 00:32:50,960 Speaker 1: last vestiges of the memory of who Marino Faliero had 431 00:32:51,000 --> 00:32:57,040 Speaker 1: been before the coup, devoted politician, defender of Venice, long 432 00:32:57,160 --> 00:33:01,560 Speaker 1: and faithful servant to the republic, had finally been erased, 433 00:33:02,160 --> 00:33:07,440 Speaker 1: leaving only Marino Fallieri, the trader and his punishment in 434 00:33:07,560 --> 00:33:21,200 Speaker 1: his place. That's the story of Marino Faliero's ill fated conspiracy. 435 00:33:21,600 --> 00:33:25,560 Speaker 1: But stick around after a brief sponsor break to hear 436 00:33:25,760 --> 00:33:37,520 Speaker 1: about how an unexpected historical figure helped to resurrect his memory. 437 00:33:38,400 --> 00:33:41,719 Speaker 1: A few months after spending a couple of rainy days 438 00:33:41,760 --> 00:33:46,080 Speaker 1: writing scary stories with his fellow romantics at Villa Diadatti, 439 00:33:46,600 --> 00:33:51,440 Speaker 1: the famed poet and noble blood favorite Lord Byron found 440 00:33:51,520 --> 00:33:55,320 Speaker 1: himself in Venice for the first time. It was the 441 00:33:55,360 --> 00:34:00,600 Speaker 1: winter of eighteen sixteen. The abdication of the last Doge 442 00:34:00,640 --> 00:34:05,040 Speaker 1: of Venice, who had capitulated to Napoleon, had happened not 443 00:34:05,280 --> 00:34:10,080 Speaker 1: quite ten years prior. Although the city's millennium or so 444 00:34:10,280 --> 00:34:15,840 Speaker 1: long tenure as a serene republic was well and truly over, 445 00:34:16,520 --> 00:34:21,120 Speaker 1: the memory of its glittering, powerful past was still very 446 00:34:21,200 --> 00:34:25,600 Speaker 1: much alive. Byron didn't intend to stay in Venice for 447 00:34:25,719 --> 00:34:30,400 Speaker 1: too long, but on brand as ever, he met a girl, 448 00:34:31,120 --> 00:34:35,160 Speaker 1: several girls, actually, all of them married, and that's a 449 00:34:35,200 --> 00:34:39,560 Speaker 1: story for another episode maybe, But because of his illicit 450 00:34:39,680 --> 00:34:44,600 Speaker 1: romantic pursuits, Byron ended up staying in Venice longer than planned, 451 00:34:45,120 --> 00:34:48,719 Speaker 1: three years in fact, and it ended up having a 452 00:34:48,840 --> 00:34:54,200 Speaker 1: significant impact on his work. Between swimming at the beach 453 00:34:54,320 --> 00:34:59,000 Speaker 1: on Ledo, learning Armenian from a community of monks, and 454 00:34:59,160 --> 00:35:03,840 Speaker 1: of course, arming married women in their fancy Venetian palazzos. 455 00:35:04,400 --> 00:35:08,080 Speaker 1: Byron had the opportunity to spend some time in the 456 00:35:08,200 --> 00:35:13,200 Speaker 1: Doge's Palace, which at the time still housed some administrative 457 00:35:13,239 --> 00:35:18,600 Speaker 1: and cultural offices. It's clear that the palace stuck with him. 458 00:35:18,800 --> 00:35:22,400 Speaker 1: In fact, it was Byron who gave the bridge of size, 459 00:35:22,760 --> 00:35:29,200 Speaker 1: translated from the Italian Pontide Soupire its famed English moniker, 460 00:35:29,600 --> 00:35:33,080 Speaker 1: when he wrote about it in his verse poem Child 461 00:35:33,200 --> 00:35:38,400 Speaker 1: Harold's Pilgrimage. I stood in Venice on a bridge of size, 462 00:35:38,800 --> 00:35:43,040 Speaker 1: a palace and a prison on each hand. But something 463 00:35:43,080 --> 00:35:47,279 Speaker 1: else in the Doje's Palace struck our dear Byron, the 464 00:35:47,480 --> 00:35:51,080 Speaker 1: black veil painted in the chamber of the Great Council. 465 00:35:51,719 --> 00:35:55,759 Speaker 1: He would later write that seeing Marino Faliero's absent portrait, 466 00:35:56,239 --> 00:36:00,320 Speaker 1: along with the great staircase leading into the courtyard where 467 00:36:00,560 --> 00:36:05,640 Speaker 1: the Doge had been executed, had quote struck forcibly upon 468 00:36:05,719 --> 00:36:10,000 Speaker 1: his imagination, so much so that in fact, in eighteen 469 00:36:10,120 --> 00:36:16,759 Speaker 1: twenty he published a tragic play dramatizing Marino Faliero's strange 470 00:36:16,800 --> 00:36:21,800 Speaker 1: and tragic story. To Byron, who had spent time reading 471 00:36:21,920 --> 00:36:26,680 Speaker 1: Venetian chronicles, hunting for the Doge's grave and learning everything 472 00:36:26,719 --> 00:36:31,359 Speaker 1: he could about Venetian history. Marino Faliero was quote a 473 00:36:31,480 --> 00:36:35,920 Speaker 1: man of talent and courage, but also a quote fiery 474 00:36:36,120 --> 00:36:43,080 Speaker 1: character plagued by an ungovernable temper. A failure as a ruler, perhaps, 475 00:36:43,480 --> 00:36:48,160 Speaker 1: but as a compelling dramatic figure. Byron could think of 476 00:36:48,280 --> 00:36:54,160 Speaker 1: no one better suited to the position. Byron's play, Marino Faliero, 477 00:36:54,320 --> 00:36:57,839 Speaker 1: Doge of Venice was meant mostly to be read, and 478 00:36:57,920 --> 00:37:00,560 Speaker 1: it was, but it was also performed in in London 479 00:37:00,680 --> 00:37:05,719 Speaker 1: shortly after its publication in eighteen twenty one. Two middling reviews. 480 00:37:06,160 --> 00:37:09,759 Speaker 1: Byron maintained that critics who disliked the play were just 481 00:37:09,960 --> 00:37:14,520 Speaker 1: disappointed there wasn't a romance plot in it. Nevertheless, the 482 00:37:14,600 --> 00:37:19,719 Speaker 1: play was influential. The painter Eugene Delacroix's gruesome depiction of 483 00:37:19,800 --> 00:37:24,800 Speaker 1: Falierro's beheading on the Giant Staircase, completed in eighteen twenty 484 00:37:24,880 --> 00:37:29,480 Speaker 1: five or twenty six, was drawn from Byron's writing. A 485 00:37:29,560 --> 00:37:33,480 Speaker 1: later performance of Byron's play in eighteen twenty nine would 486 00:37:33,560 --> 00:37:37,640 Speaker 1: also inspire the playwright Casimir Delvin to offer his own 487 00:37:37,960 --> 00:37:41,760 Speaker 1: spin on the Faliero story, which would in turn inspire 488 00:37:41,840 --> 00:37:47,520 Speaker 1: Gaetano Donizetti's opera Marino Faliero, which premiered in Paris in 489 00:37:47,640 --> 00:37:52,959 Speaker 1: eighteen thirty five. Byron's curiosity and the play that came 490 00:37:53,000 --> 00:37:58,600 Speaker 1: of it restored some piece of Marino Faliero's life and legacy. 491 00:37:58,960 --> 00:38:03,880 Speaker 1: Though certainly not the paragon of historical accuracy, it allowed 492 00:38:04,080 --> 00:38:08,280 Speaker 1: generations of people to think beyond the blacked out portrait 493 00:38:08,840 --> 00:38:12,560 Speaker 1: and the boogeyman story of the evil doge who almost 494 00:38:12,719 --> 00:38:17,880 Speaker 1: destroyed Venice. What we've been left with, funnily enough, is 495 00:38:17,920 --> 00:38:23,239 Speaker 1: a figure who is elusive and dramatic, part fiction and 496 00:38:23,640 --> 00:38:43,960 Speaker 1: part fact, in other words, unmistakably Venetian. Noble Blood is 497 00:38:44,000 --> 00:38:49,160 Speaker 1: a production of iHeartRadio and Grim and Mild from Aaron Mankee. 498 00:38:49,600 --> 00:38:53,360 Speaker 1: Noble Blood is created and hosted by me Dana Schwartz, 499 00:38:53,719 --> 00:38:58,520 Speaker 1: with additional writing and researching by Hannah Johnston, hannah's Wick, 500 00:38:58,960 --> 00:39:03,360 Speaker 1: Mira Hayward, Courtney Sender, and Lori Goodman. The show is 501 00:39:03,560 --> 00:39:07,880 Speaker 1: edited and produced by Noemi Griffin and rima Il Kahali, 502 00:39:08,360 --> 00:39:13,640 Speaker 1: with supervising producer Josh Thain and executive producers Aaron Manke, 503 00:39:14,040 --> 00:39:18,960 Speaker 1: Alex Williams, and Matt Frederick. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio 504 00:39:19,440 --> 00:39:24,000 Speaker 1: visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you listen 505 00:39:24,040 --> 00:39:25,440 Speaker 1: to your favorite shows.