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25-635: In 1300, in protest of the Serrata del Maggior Consiglio , Marin Bocconio conceived a plot to overthrow the current government of Venice . Marin Bocconio was a man of wealth but not of noble blood. The plot resulted in an incident where Bocconio and his followers knocked on the doors of the Great Council to claim their right to a voice in government of the state. The Doge invited the protesters in individually to let them speak their concerns. The protesters accepted

50-466: A demographic registry that included the names of all the eligible candidates aged 18 or above. The creation of the Golden Book was followed by the enactment of even stricter rules against up-starters ( homini novi ). The final lockout occurred in 1319. The election of new candidates was ultimately abolished and the status of Councillor became automatic for all male patricians aged 25 or above. An exception

75-643: A faction led by Bajamonte Tiepolo . The conspiracy was averted by the Doge Pietro Gradenigo. As a reaction to the conspiracy, the government instituted a new special court—that is, the Council of Ten , whose purpose was that of dealing with crimes against the constitution of the State. In 1315, the process of compiling lists of candidates was formalized thanks to the creation of the Golden Book ( Libro d'Oro ): namely,

100-508: A few ordinary citizens who helped in resisting the coup were prominently rewarded. The Council of Ten was established to deal with subversion of the patrician-led regime, initially as a temporary measure, but eventually establishing itself as one of the pillars of the Venetian government. During the 13th century, the Republic of Venice came increasingly to be dominated by its patrician class , at

125-589: A former Councilor. In order to better time the entrance of new members, 40 young men would be selected each year by means of a lottery, and their names inscribed in the list of candidates. The 1297 Provision empowered the Council of the Forty, granting it the following rights and duties with regards to the election of the Great Council: The Provision also made explicit the conditions for its annulment: The Act

150-467: A narrow majority. Finally, after new yearly elections (29 September 1296), the Council approved the bill on 28 February 1297 (that is, the last month of 1296, according to the Venetian Calendar ). The approved provision ruled that, in order to be eligible to be part of the Council, members were required to either have been Councilors at least once in the past four years, or to be patrilinealy related to

175-590: A tie-break with Marino Dandolo; the Tiepolo representing the newly prominent families that had risen in the aftermath of the Fourth Crusade and the expansion of Venice's commercial and colonial overseas empire , as well as middle-class artisans and guilds, while the Dandolo represented the established old merchant aristocracy. The danger of a Doge allying with the common people spurred the ruling oligarchs to reforms to limit

200-500: The Lockout of the Great Council . The coup failed due to a combination of bad coordination, adverse weather, and loyalist resistance, resulting in the death of Querini and his son, the execution of Badoer, and the permanent exile of Tiepolo and most of his patrician supporters. A policy of public damnation of the participants followed, with the houses of Tiepolo and Querini being torn down and admonitory monuments erected in their place, while

225-634: The Boccono's followers were unhappy at the 1289 election of Gradenigo as Doge rather than Lorenzo Tiepolo's son Giacomo, the commoners' preferred candidate. Gradenigo also presided over the disastrous attempt to capture Ferrara in 1308–1309, which led to a papal interdict and resulted in a humiliating retreat for the Republic. In 1310, a conspiracy was formed against Gradenigo and his government, spearheaded by three patricians: Bajamonte Tiepolo , son of Gradenigo's rival Giacomo and grandson and great-grandson of

250-616: The Doge's power through the six ducal councillors , prohibitions on bearing arms in the Piazza San Marco or the vicinity of the Doge's Palace , and restrictions on the activities of guilds and their members, effectively destroying their political power. The measures also included the creation of an elaborate system for the election of the Doge to prevent the repetition of 1229, although on its very first application in 1268, Giacomo's son Lorenzo Tiepolo

275-530: The Great Council, with the purpose of limiting its members to those who had already joined the Council or those whose paternal relatives held the position of Councilman. The proposal also required that candidates without family credentials could run for a position only upon joint approval on behalf of the Doge, the Minor Council , and the Council of Forty ( Quarantia ). After this bill was rejected, another bill

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300-457: The duty to nominate the Councillors. Over the years, the Great Council became the bone of contention between the people's party, which aimed to preserve the status quo , and the aristocratic party, which aimed to exclude up-starts from the government. On 5 October 1286, during the government of Doge Giovanni Dandolo , the aristocratic party presented a bill to reform the eligibility criteria for

325-447: The expense of the commoners. The main vehicle of patrician authority was the Great Council of Venice , originally elected by a popular assembly, but progressively restricted over the 13th century to a choice by electors, and eventually, in 1297, with the so-called "Lockout" ( Serrata ), to a small circle of patrician families. The Serrata not only served to exclude the commoners from power, but also helped address rivalries among

350-456: The invitation, after which each was seized and individually killed, to a number of ten. Promptly after this event, protest of the new government ceased from news of this event. Differing accounts suggest that conspirators were arrested before plans were fully matured, and that leaders were individually executed at the columns near the Porta della Carta . However it may have occurred, Bocconio's revolt

375-525: The most profitable aspects of long-distance trade. This diminished the ability of members outside the hereditary aristocracy from participating in political decisions and in economic processes such as the colleganza . This stratification in political and economic power led to a fundamental shift from political openness, economic competitiveness, and social mobility and lead to political closure, extreme economic inequality, and social stratification and stiffness. Tiepolo conspiracy The Tiepolo conspiracy

400-552: The patrician elites, by enlarging membership to such a degree that the council could not be dominated by a single faction, and conversely guaranteeing the elites a seat at the table, thus helping Venice avoid the zero-sum factional conflicts plaguing other Italian cities of the time. Venice itself had experienced such a rivalry in the 13th century between the Tiepolo and Dandolo families and their respective adherents, when Giacomo Tiepolo won election as Doge of Venice in 1229 through

425-516: The people's assembly ( Concio ). Once it obtained sovereign power in 1172, the Council came to be known as Great Council . It originally functioned as an extension of the people's assembly, and its members were elected on a yearly basis, with the general election usually falling on the day of Saint Michael (29 September). Later, in 1207 the election system was changed; the Concio was required to elect three representatives (up to seven since 1230), who had

450-524: The plot's membership. Querini and Tiepolo had personal grievances, while some of the patricians, including Badoer and the Querini, also had extensive estates in Ferrara and possibly shared opposition to the war. The conspirators from the clergy were likely also driven by opposition to the war that had brought the papal interdict, while the commoners may have been motivated by patronage ties to patricians, opposition to

475-533: The two Tiepolo doges, his father-in-law Marco Querini  [ it ] , who had been defeated and scapegoated in the War of Ferrara, and Badoero Badoer . They amassed a considerable following: 77 patricians took part from no fewer than 28 families (although the Querini, Tiepolo, Badoer , and Barozzi provided almost half of them), along with 23 clerics and unknown numbers of commoners. The motives of both leaders and followers are unclear, and were likely as diverse as

500-420: Was a conspiracy of disaffected Venetian patricians that led to an attempted coup against the Republic of Venice on the night of 14–15 June 1310. Led by Bajamonte Tiepolo , Marco Querini  [ it ] , and Badoero Badoer , various motives have been attributed to the conspiracy, from personal ambition to a populist reaction to the increasingly exclusive, aristocratic nature of the Venetian polity after

525-486: Was crushed, and the Doge took advantage of it to render admission to the ruling political class more difficult. In the future, no new name could be added to the Great Council unless the individual had obtained upwards of 20 votes from the Council of Forty . Serrata del Maggior Consiglio When the Commonwealth of Venice was formed, the Doge was assisted by a Council of Wise Men ( Consilium Sapientium ) elected by

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550-524: Was elected; much to the rejoicing of the commoners and the chagrin of the old elites, but to no real political effect. The settlement of the Serrata was challenged by a conspiracy led by the commoner Marino Boccono or Bocho in 1300 against Doge Pietro Gradenigo —who had been responsible for the Serrata —but little detail is known about it other than Boccono and his followers failed and were condemned to death. At least one later source however claims that

575-506: Was made every year for 30 young patricians , randomly chosen on the day of Saint Barbara , who were allowed to join at the age of 20. Since then, the Great Council positions remained hereditary. Eventually, this led to the dismissal of the obsolete people's assembly ( Concio ) in 1423. According to Diego Puga and Daniel Trefler, the Serrata del Maggior Consiglio (which parliamentary participation hereditary) lead to barriers to participation in

600-402: Was proposed, which required new entrants to be subject to approval on behalf of outgoing Councilmen. However, even this proposal was rejected. On 25 November 1289, Pietro Gradenigo , who was the leader of the aristocratic party, was elected Doge of the Republic. After 6 years he submitted a new lockout provision drawing on drafts of the previous ones. On 6 March 1296 the proposal was rejected by

625-573: Was ratified in September 1298, and again in 1299. Its approval caused unrest among the people's party, which eventually led to Marin Bocconio 's 1300 attempted coup. The failure of his conspiracy triggered the approval of a new provision (22 March 1300), which raised the threshold for the admission of upstart candidates by the Council of Forty (requiring 20 votes instead of the former 12 needed for election). A second wave of limitations occurred in 1307. This led to another attempted coup (1310), on behalf of

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