In the autumn of 1354, Marino Faliero of San Apostoli, Count of Valdemarino, although seventy-six years old, and having already served the Republic in several important offices, was elected Doge. At this time he was Venetian Legate at Avignon, and an envoy extraordinary was sent to inform him of his election and attend him on his return. At Verona he was met by an escort of honor, and the Bucentaur awaited him at Chioggia, that he might make his entrance into Venice as became his dignity; but as the State barge neared the city, a dense fog made it unsafe to proceed with so large a ship, and the ducal party was forced to take small boats to land. The gondola in which Faliero was seated drew up at the Molo, exactly between the Columns of Executions, which was thought by the Venetians to be a sinister augury in the beginning of a reign, and was frequently recalled in later years. During the forty-two years in which Faliero had filled positions of honor, at home and abroad, he had become accustomed to deciding important questions on his own responsibility; his life had not prepared him to be a lay figure and enjoy it, and he soon found that a Doge was now little more than this. Faliero, too, was of a quick temper, and had not hesitated to box the ears of a bishop who had kept him waiting on a public occasion when he was Podestà at Treviso. He was vigorous in health and {141} youthful in fooling, and had married, late in life, a second wife, who was young and beautiful; and his jealousy led him to believe that she was admired and coveted by every gentleman who had the privilege of her acquaintance. Naturally, her position as Dogaressa brought her in contact with all the nobility of Venice, and the gay and dashing young cavaliers soon discovered the weakness of the old husband. On Carnival Thursday, April 2, 1355, the old-time ceremony of immolating an ox and twelve boar-pigs, which symbolized the Patriarch of Aquileia and his canons, was celebrated in the Piazza, which was filled with a brilliant assemblage; the court looked on from the palace windows, and later the Dogaressa gave a magnificent entertainment to the rank and beauty of Venice. In the course of the festivities a knot of gay young fellows who surrounded the maids of honor grew boisterous, and indulged a freedom of conduct which aroused the wrath of the Doge. He singled Michele Steno as the victim of his displeasure, and commanded his exclusion from the scene.