In the story of the Venetian conspiracies no mention is ever found of the two famous factions, the Castellani and the Niccolotti, although the most bitter hatred was alive between them at the very time when Tiepolo was conspiring against Gradenigo. It is interesting to follow the rough and strong threads of those famous popular factions through the woof and web of Venetian history; and it is curious to find oneself convinced that they never did the slightest harm to the government of the Republic, for the reason that both of them loved their country sincerely. [Illustration: THE GREAT LAMP, ST. MARK’S] The reader may remember that in the days of Paulus Anafestus, the first Doge elected by the popular assembly, a violent dispute arose between the inhabitants of the islands of Heraclea and Jesolo, which turned into a pitched battle in the woods of Equilio, so that the stream which became the Canal Orfano was red with blood. The former combatants, finding themselves shut up within the walls of one city, cherished their ancient grudges from generation to generation, and for more than five hundred years they gave vent to their hatred as best they could, keeping themselves divided, first as separate parties, then as separate wards, and finally both in wards and districts, according to the later divisions of the city; and fighting freely with one another whenever the public games brought them into conflict, under the names of Castellani and Cannaruoli, taken from the parts of Venice they inhabited--the one in the three districts of Castello, Saint Mark, and Dorsoduro, the other in those of Santa Croce, San Paolo, and Canarreggio at the other end of the city. They had continued their separate existence about three hundred years without, seriously disturbing the public peace, never intermarrying, never even entering the cathedral by the same door. But in the year 1307 a certain Ramberto Polo was the bishop of Castello, and the bishop of Castello was ex officio the bishop of Venice, and depended from the patriarch of Grado. Now this Ramberto attempted to exact certain tithes which his predecessor had considered it right to renounce. Five districts of Venice, and among them that of Saint Nicolas, refuse to pay these tithes. The bishop insisted, and in spite of the threats of the people, who had grown [Illustration: THE CANARREGGIO] riotous, he determined to visit the church of Saint Nicolas, situated in that quarter, and to go on foot. At the turn of the street, being accompanied only by a few persons, he was attacked and cruelly put to death. That part bears to this day the name of ‘Malcantone,’ the ‘Evil Corner.’ Those of the Castellani who were held responsible for this murder were promptly [Illustration: THE HOUSE OF THE SPIRITS]