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
The column was set up in 1314, and it bore the following inscription,
which is one of the most ancient specimens of Venetian dialect. It is in
the form of a rhymed quatrain: ‘This ground belonged to Bajamonte, and
now for his infamous treachery it has been turned common, that all may
look upon it now and ever, and be afraid.’
[Sidenote: _Cecchetti, Dubbii._]
It is not long since writers of democratic tendency still attempted to
make Tiepolo seem a martyr to liberty. The Provisional Government of
Venice, on July 13, 1797, invited the citizens to restore to honour the
memory of those heroes, born in times of tyranny, who had fallen victims
to their own generous efforts, and much more in the same manner. It was
proposed to set
[Sidenote: _Rom. iii. 39, note 2._]
up a statue to Tiepolo, as well as to the proto-martyr, Marin Bocconio;
but in the end, even the democratic government was obliged to concede
that its hero had been nothing but a seditious egotist, and the name of
Bajamonte has not lost the odium it deserves even to our own time; for
in spite of his standard blazoned with the word ‘Liberty,’ he had really
meant to seize the government of his country and to make the dogeship
hereditary in his family. After the conspiracy the public feeling
against the Tiepolo and Quirini families was so strong that those
branches of the Tiepolo which had remained faithful to the republic
changed their coats-of-arms. The innocent branches of the Quirini,
however, resorted to an expedient which is quite unique in heraldry, so
far as I know. In Italian ‘bono’ means ‘good’; the Quirini simply
charged their coat with a capital B, to show how good they had been!
Marco Donà, the man who had revealed the plot, was rewarded by being
admitted to the Great Council, and his name was inscribed in the ‘Golden
Book,’ making the honour hereditary. The woman who had killed
Bajamonte’s standard-bearer, and whose name was Rossi, on being asked
what reward she would prefer, requested to be allowed to fly the
standard of Saint Mark from her window on the day of Saint Vitus (June
15), and on the other solemn festivals of the year; and that neither she
nor her descendants should ever be required to pay a higher rent for the
house in which she lived, and which belonged to the patrimony
[Sidenote: _Fulin, Arch. Ven. (1876), and Soranza Soranzo._]
[Sidenote: _Molmenti, Dogaressa._]
of the Basilica of Saint Mark. There exists under date of the year 1468
the protest of a certain Rossi, her descendant, whose rent had been
raised from fifteen ducats to twenty-eight. He won his case. The house
is called in our own time the ‘House of the Miracle of the Mortar.’ It
is in the Merceria, at the corner of the Calle del Cappello. The
standard which Lucia Rossi used to display at her window is preserved in
the Correr Museum.
The Rector of the guild of painters also received special honours, as
well as the brethren of the Carità, who had lent armed assistance.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account