Salve Venetia, gleanings from Venetian history; vol. ICrawford, F. Marion (Francis Marion)
History
Salve Venetia, gleanings from Venetian history; vol. I
Crawford, F. Marion (Francis Marion)
Venice (Italy) -- History
throw down their arms, and quit the territory of the Republic. The
negotiations were first attempted by some Milanese merchants, and then
by Giovanni Soranzo, who, as the father-in-law of Niccolò Quirini, the
latter having married his daughter Soranza, seemed to have a better
chance of being heard; but it was in vain. Tiepolo continued to resist
with mad obstinacy, and preferred anything rather than submission;
until at last one of the counsellors of the Doge, a certain Filippo
Belegno, succeeded in bringing about an understanding. Tiepolo consented
to retire from the island of Rialto, and to go into an exile which was
to last four years ‘in the Slavonic countries beyond the island of
Zara,’ but not in any country that was hostile to Venice; his noble
followers were also to be exiled during four years, and might reside in
any part of Italy that was outside the Venetian territories, but not
within the territories of Padua, Treviso, or Vicenza. They were informed
that if they were found beyond the limits to which they were assigned
they should pay for the indiscretion with their lives. By a decree of
the Great Council their wives were ordered to follow them into exile,
and were instructed to leave Venice within eight days. The other
conspirators, _i.e._ the servants of the nobles, and those who were
considered less responsible, were pardoned on condition that they would
submit and lead quiet lives. Thus of all those who had taken part in the
revolutionary movement, only Badoer and his friends were in the hands of
justice on the evening of the fatal day. When, according to the custom
of the times, they had confessed their crime under torture, Badoer was
beheaded, and the rest were all hanged between the columns. One-third of
the Quirini family property having been claimed by Giovanni, who had
taken no part in the conspiracy, the remaining two-thirds of the Quirini
palace on the Rialto were demolished, the share in the Cà Grande being
allowed to stand which had been Giovanni’s; but lest it should remind
posterity of the greatness of the family, the Republic bought out his
third part and turned it into a place for raising and killing poultry.
It is a singular circumstance, but quite authentically recorded, that
the government was just then without sufficient funds to pay Giovanni
for his share in the house, and it was actually proposed to pawn the
city’s silver trumpets, which were used in all public solemnities. The
government, however, succeeded in raising the sum in a more dignified
way.
[Sidenote: _Lazzari Guida, 171._]
The house of Bajamonte Tiepolo, at Sant’ Agostino, was levelled to the
ground, and on the spot a column recorded the traitor’s infamy. This
space is still open and desolate in our own time, after a lapse of six
hundred years.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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