Tiepolo conspiracy

Tiepolo Conspiracy

Depiction of the armed clashes and the fall of Tiepolo's standard during the attempted coup, by Giuseppe Lorenzo Gatteri
Duration	15 June 1310
Location	Republic of Venice
Type	Coup d'état
Cause	Rivalries between Venetian nobles, Venetian defeat in the War of Ferrara
Organised by	Bajamonte Tiepolo Marco Querini Badoero Badoer
Outcome	Failure of the coup Death of Querini, execution of Badoer, exile of Tiepolo and other patricians Creation of the Council of Ten

The Tiepolo conspiracy was an attempted coup against the Republic of Venice on the early morning of 15 June 1310. Headed by the disaffected patricians Bajamonte Tiepolo, Marco Querini, and Badoero Badoer, various motives have been attributed to the conspiracy, from personal ambitions to a populist reaction to the increasingly exclusive, aristocratic nature of the Venetian state after the Serrata of the Great Council that excluded the lower classes from power. 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 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.

Background

During the 13th century, the Republic of Venice came increasingly to be dominated by its patrician class, at 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 Serrata (lit. 'lockout'), to a small circle of patrician families. The Serrata not only served to exclude the commoners from power, but also helped address rivalries among 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 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 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 was elected; much to the rejoicing of the commoners and the chagrin of the old elites, but to no real political effect.

Gold zecchino, with Doge Pietro Gradenigo kneeling before St. Mark

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 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's long tenure as Doge was not tranquil nor very successful in foreign policy. A conflict with Venice's traditional rival, Genoa, ended inconclusively after the Venetians suffered a shattering defeat at the Battle of Curzola in 1298, and while a brief conflict with Padua over the salt monopoly was more successful, the Doge's 1306 treaty with Charles, Count of Valois to launch a crusade for the reconquest of Constantinople and the re-establishment of the Latin Empire went nowhere.

Gradenigo also spearheaded, ignoring the other executive councils of the Venetian government, the disastrous attempt to capture Ferrara in 1308–1309, which led to a papal interdict and resulted in severe financial losses and a humiliating retreat for the Republic. At the same time, Venice was embroiled in conflict with the Patriarchate of Aquileia (1309) and faced a revolt in the Dalmatian city of Zara (1310). Both the war with Ferrara and the Serrata polarized Venetian society into two opposed parties. The divisions came to the fore during a debate of the Great Council on the Ferrarese question in October 1308, when the Papal interdict was announced: the debate descended into chaos, as insults and even blows were exchanged. The two factions even adopted the "Guelphs and Ghibellines" labels, referring to the opposition and pro-government parties respectively. Much of the opposition's ire focused on Doge Gradenigo, who was held personally responsible for the Republic's state of affairs—arguably so for the Ferrarese war, less justifiably so in the case of the Serrata, as he was mostly the figurehead for the conservative aristocrats who had sponsored his election and were the driving force behind the changes to the Great Council.

Conspiracy

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 the two Tiepolo doges, his father-in-law Marco Querini, and Badoero Badoer. Querini, an elderly but able and ambitious man, had fought in the War of Ferrara and been scapegoated for the government's failures there; he was a chief figure in the opposition to the current regime, joined by his brothers Pietro, and Jacopo. Pietro, who had formerly served as Bailo of Negroponte, was of an irascible temper, while Jacopo had a record of public opposition to Gradenigo and his policies stretching back to the Doge's election, but was by inclination a moderate. Tiepolo was young and popular with the common people, who called him the 'Great Cavalier' and idolized him on account of his illustrious ancestry. His official career began inauspiciously, as he was convicted of embezzling a large sum of money during his tenure as governor of Modon and Coron in 1300. Tiepolo attributed this to political machinations, and although he was elected to the Council of Forty in 1304, in the subsequent years he appears to have withdrawn from politics to his country villa near Treviso.

The conspirators 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 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 the costly war of which they bore the brunt of losses, or by the image of the Tiepolos as champions of the common folk and Bajamonte as the man to reverse the Serrata once in power.

The leading conspirators—Tiepolo, Badoer, and the Querini brothers and a few others—met in the first week of June 1310 at the Querini palace to discuss their next moves. Marco Querini launched a diatribe against Gradenigo, followed by Tiepolo, who after revisiting the injustices heaped upon them by the current regime, urged them to move to practical measures to "obtain a good prince, who might preserve the national liberty". This course was steadfastly objected to by Jacopo Querini, recently appointed ambassador to Constantinople, who was reluctant to risk his and his family's lives on such a risky endeavour and argued for prudence and moderation. Despite several attempts to win him over, he would only be satisfied by a pledge that they would abandon such plans, else he threatened to lay down his ambassadorship; in the end, the other conspirators agreed to give him that pledge. As soon as Jacopo departed, however, they resumed their deliberations to mount a coup and install Tiepolo as ruler by force of arms. Apart from their own supporters in the city, Badoer was to make use of his family's influence in Padua—many Badoers had resided in the suburb of Peraga or held office in the local commune—to gather men for the coup.

Attempted coup

Painting of the clashes during the coup by Gabriele Bella; the painting anachronistically shows the St Mark's Clocktower, which was erected in the late 15th century

On 14 June, Badoer left for Peraga, where his men had gathered, while the others began to gather at the Querini and Tiepolo palaces. Initially planned for the same night, the execution of the coup was postponed for the dawn of the next day, the feast of Saint Vitus. The conspirators and their men, amidst cries of "Liberty" and "Death to Doge Gradenigo" divided into two columns that would converge on the Piazza San Marco and seize the Doge's Palace: one headed by Tiepolo, approaching from the Mercerie area, and the other, led by Marco Querini and his sons Nicolo and Benedetto, starting from the San Moisè area. The conspirators failed to heed the weather, with heavy rain delaying Badoer and his men in crossing the Brenta River and the Venetian Lagoon, as well as possible opposition: on the night of 14 June, Doge Gradenigo was warned by a commoner, Marco Donato, who informed him of the conspirators' plans. The Doge reacted with alacrity: all senior officials of the state were summoned to him—apart from one, Andrea Doro, who had resigned and joined the rebels—called upon his followers and friends to arm thelseves and their servants and come to the Piazza San Marco, barricaded the square's entry points. Antonio Dandolo and Baldovino Dolfino were named as the Doge's lieutenants, while orders went out to the governors of the nearby islands of the Lagoon, Murano, Torcello, and Chioggia, to raise their militia and come to Venice as soon as possible.

The forces thus gathered by the Doge were not very numerous, but they were unknown to the conspirators. As a result, when the Querini column arrived at the square, it was shocked to encounter a formed body of men laying in wait. A brief standoff ensued as both sides encountered each other, broken when the loyalists under Marco Giustiniani launched their attack on Querini's men with loud cries. In the ensuing battle amidst the raging thunderstorm, Marco Querini and his son Benedetto were killed, and his supporters dispersed. Many of Querini's followers tried to reform at Campo San Luca, but volunteers from the Scuola Grande della Carità set upon them and dispersed them again, taking many prisoner.

Tiepolo, in the meantime, had moved much slower than his father-in-law, so that combined with Badoer's delay the loyalists were afforded the advantage of dealing with each rebel force in isolation. According to one report, some Milanese merchants appeared before him and tried to offer to mediate with the Doge, but Tiepolo, as yet unaware of Querini's death and Badoer's delay, rejected it. Tiepolo and his men had barely reached the Church of Saint Julian in the Merceria when they were informed of what befell the Querini column. Tiepolo hesitated, seeking refuge from the rain and holding council under a large elder tree; but in the end he decided to press on regardless, hoping to gain a decisive victory before the arrival of the loyalist reinforcements from Chioggia. Tiepolo thus divided his own men in two so as to attack the square from two sides, one proceeding on the original course along the Merceria and the other coming from the direction of San Basso. The ensuing fight was fierce and bloody, with the rebel troops being pelted with stones from the windows by the locak inhabitants, until they began to retreat. At this point took place an event which entered Venetian folklore: close to now the St Mark's Clocktower stands, a commoner, named Giustina or Lucia Rossi, threw down a mortar at Tiepolo. It failed its target but hit the rebels' standard-bearer on the head and killed him. The man fell down and the standard, bearing the inscription 'Liberty', went down with him, disheartening the rebels who began to flee.

By the afternoon, Tiepolo and many of his men managed to withdraw to the Rialto market area, torching the offices of the Cinque alla Pace and Ufficio del Frumento boards, though not before securing a large sum of money from the latter; they then crossed the wooden Rialto Bridge, tore or burned it down to delay pursuit, and occupied and barricaded the buildings on the other side. Securely ensconced beyond the Grand Canal, Tiepolo awaited the arrival of Badoer's reinforcements, but in vain: Badoer and his men were confronted and quickly defeated by the loyalist podestà of Chioggia, Ugolino Giustinian, on their way to Venice, with Badoer himself being taken prisoner. Badoer's capture ruined any chances Tiepolo may have still had for success, but he still a strong position that would require much bloodshed to take. As a result, during the evening the Doge sent offers of a negotiated settlement to Tiepolo. The first embassy was rejected, but at length the aged and respected ducal councillor Filippo Belegno managed to persuade Tiepolo to accept terms.

The terms, confirmed by the Great Council on 17 June, were that Tiepolo and his most prominent followers—those being members of the Great Council or holding rank sufficient for a candidacy—would leave the city unharmed and stay in exile in designated places in Dalmatia or northern Italy for four years; the exiles were forbidden from approaching Zara, Padua, Vicenza, Treviso, or from finding refuge in any territory hostile to the Republic. The commoners that followed the patricians into rebellion were amnestied, provided that they declared their submission to the government, and all treasure or other property looted during the uprising was to be restored to the state or the private owners. The exception was Badoer, since he not only had participated in a conspiracy, but engaged in high treason by hiring foreigners and risking another war between Venice and Padua. On 18 June, he was tried and condemned by the Council of Forty, and on the 22nd a session of the Great Council ordered his decapitation. His Paduan accomplices were likewise tried and condemned on the next day, with most also being executed as a result.

Aftermath

Gradenigo lost no time in conveying the news of the coup's defeat to the Venetian officials overseas, as well as putting his own spin on events, demonizing Tiepolo—described as "the vilest traitor and seducer of iniquities"—and his followers, who were dismissed as "exiles, foreigners, and rogues". The wives of those condemned or exiled were also banished from the city and all its dominions for the duration of their husbands' lives; Venice and its subject lands within eight days. They were not permitted to return while their husbands were alive, or they remarried to someone else. The exiles who obeyed the terms of their exile were allowed to retain their rights, but those that did not were branded traitors and persecuted. Among them was Tiepolo and his closest followers, who quickly began to plot against the Republic: in 1311, Tiepolo was in Padua plotting with local magnates, while in 1325 he was at Zara and in contact with Bologna. Orders went out to the Venetian governors in Dalmatia to have him captured, and in January 1329, the Venetians decided to assassinate him. Tiepolo died sometime after that, possibly from an assassination. Other followers of Tiepolo were even less fortunate: one of the original conspirators, Nicolò Querini, was captured in 1320 and executed at Padua, and his wife was confined to a nunnery; while the patrician Stefano Manolesso, who had covertly met Tiepolo, was sentenced to death.

Plaque commemorating the "crone of the mortar", preparing to throw the mortar that cast down Tiepolo's standard-bearer

The palaces of Tiepolo and Querini were ordered torn down as a sign of their infamy. Tiepolo's was levelled on 25 July 1310. In 1364, during the Revolt of Saint Titus in Crete, a column was erected with the inscription: "This plot of land was Baiamonte's and now, because of his evil betrayal, it has been made common land to frighten others, and forever show all people [the benefits of] good sense". A follower of Tiepolo's, Francesco Fantebon, later tore down the column, being punished for this with cutting off of a hand, blinding, and exile. The column was re-erected, and is now in the Museo Correr. A plaque is still present at the column's former location, with the Latin inscription "loc[us] col[umnae] bai[amontis] the[upoli] MCCCX". The demolition of the Querini Ca' Grande palace was delayed, as it was commonly owned by Marco and his two brothers, Pietro and Giovanni Querini; while Pietro was involved in the conspiracy, Giovanni was not. Unable to clearly delineate the boundaries of the brothers' properties, in the end, the government bought out Giovanni's share in the house, and tore it down except for two arches that were incorporated in 1339 in the building of the Ufficiali alle Beccherie, the officials responsible for supervising the butchers. Finally, in December 1310 all other members of the Tiepolo and Querini families were ordered to change their coats of arms, and take responsibility for effacing all the older versions throughout the city.

The day of Saint Vitus was declared a public holiday in memory of the "salvation of the Republic", celebrated with a procession led by the Doge to the—now destroyed—Church of Saint Vitus, which was embellished with the pilasters of Tiepolo's palace, as well as new altar vessels. Commoners who had remained loyal or participated in the revolt's suppression were generously and conspicuously rewarded: some of the more prominent commoners were enrolled in the Great Council, while others received minor offices or other advantages and preferments. Giustina or Lucia Rossi's act—likely at least partly legendary—was celebrated as evidence of popular adherence to the Republic's institutions, and she and her descendants were granted the honour of displaying the Gonfalon of Saint Mark yearly on the feast of Saint Vitus, while the rent of her house, which belonged to the Procurators of Saint Mark, ceased to be collected until the Fall of the Republic of Venice in 1797. A plaque of the "crone of the mortar" (Vecia del Morter or Vecchia del Mortajo) with the date 15 June 1310 was placed in the Mercerie in 1841, while a piece of white marble in the pavement is traditionally held to be where Tiepolo's standard-bearer died. Similarly, the religious confraternity of the Scuola Grande della Carità, along with the painters' guild, who had helped battle Querini's followers at Campo San Luca, were allowed to hoist their corporations' emblems next to the banner of Saint Mark on that site.

The most important and long-term consequence of the revolt, however, was the establishment of the Council of Ten. Founded on 10 July 1310 as an initially temporary body to monitor the activities of the exiled conspirators instead of the Council of Forty, it soon proved its efficacy in thwarting any reaction to patrician rule. Being a small body, it was able to act more speedily compared to the much larger, and therefore slower, councils like the Great Council or the Venetian Senate. As a result, its existence was extended again and again until it was made a permanent institution of the Republic in 1339, the last of the major executive councils of the Venetian state to be established.

Sources

• Gullino, Giuseppe (2016). "QUERINI, Marco". Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani, Volume 86: Querenghi–Rensi (in Italian). Rome: Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana. ISBN 978-8-81200032-6.
• Hazlitt, W. Carew (1915). The Venetian Republic: Its Rise, its Growth, and its Fall, 421–1797. Volume I, 409–1457 (Fourth ed.). London: Adam and Charles Black.
• Nicol, Donald M. (1988). Byzantium and Venice: A Study in Diplomatic and Cultural Relations. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-34157-4.
• Pozza, Marco (2019). "TIEPOLO, Lorenzo". Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani, Volume 95: Taranto–Togni (in Italian). Rome: Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana. ISBN 978-8-81200032-6.
• Ravegnani, Giorgio (2017). Il traditore di Venezia: Vita di Marino Falier doge (in Italian). Bari and Rome: Editori Laterza. ISBN 978-88-581-2715-5.
• Romano, Dennis (2024). Venice: The Remarkable History of the Lagoon City. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19085998-5.
• Rossi, Franco (2002). "GRADENIGO, Pietro". Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani, Volume 58: Gonzales–Graziani (in Italian). Rome: Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana. ISBN 978-8-81200032-6.

Further reading

• Faugeron, Fabien (1997). "Quelques réflexions autour de la conjuration de Baiamonte Tiepolo Des réalités socio-politiques à la fabrication du mythe (1297-1797)". In Fontana, Alessandro; Saro, George (eds.). Venise 1297–1797: la république des Castors (in French). Lyon: ENS Éditions. pp. 37–71. ISBN 978-2-902126-29-3.