Falier chandelier Murano glass

Description

The Doge Marin Falier As for damnatio memoriae the Venetians of 1300 were certainly not second to the ancient Romans. After executing the death sentence imposed on the Doge Marin Falier, the Council of Ten ordered that the bell rung to announce to the citizens that justice had been done, that the clapper had been removed and that it had never been used again. I mean, not even a din-don-dan had to remember that traitor Falier. Marin Falier no longer has a face, but on the other hand he will become one of the most well-known Doges of the Republic of Venice, despite the fury of the Council of Ten. Because the vicissitudes of the doge traitor have gone through the centuries and inspired various artists of the 19th century: the romantic Lord Byron dedicates a tragedy to him, Gaetano Doninzetti an opera (both pro-Falier), while some painter represents his beheading.

What had Marin Falier done so badly – the only doge in the history of the Republic of Venice to be executed – that he deserved the death sentence and the damnatio memoriae? In 1355 he plotted a conspiracy (or otherwise participated) to overthrow the Republic and become “lord” of Venice. What still makes us discuss, after so many centuries, is the motivation: what could have pushed the incumbent doge, a character with great personal and family prestige, very rich and ahead of his time, to get in the middle of such a matter? Apparently personal motives, insulting phrases addressed by some boys of the nobility to the Dogaressa, the beautiful and young Alcuina Gradenigo.

During a ball at the Ducal Palace some aristocratic offspring behave badly and are driven away. The boys don’t like it, so, just for the fun of it, they write a few words of appreciation about the Doge’s wife.  Rags, for which the authors are sentenced to very light sentences. The leader of the group, Michele Steno (future doge) gets away with ten days in prison (a month according to some sources), and perhaps some lashing. Is the Doge’s honor worth so little? He really thinks not, and so he plots that conspiracy that should have made him “Signor a bacchetta”, the master of the city, with the considerable advantage of ensuring his family the domination of Venice.

This is a much more plausible motive: power for himself and his descendants, in this case his nephew Fantino.

The historical context of those years justifies this last hypothesis. In the rest of Italy many municipalities become Signorie, while the Republic of Venice for years suffered the conflict with rival Genoa. The defeats suffered during the war provoked economic instability and brought down trade, the main resource of the city. Here Falier rides the wave of popular discontent, in particular that of the wealthy bourgeoisie, and plots a conspiracy that involves getting rid of the incapable Venetian aristocracy. Get rid in the most bloody sense of the term: on the night of April 15, the conspirators would have killed all the members of the aristocracy lured to St Mark’s Square by the ringing of the bell, rang by the Doge himself with the false news of an attack by the Genoese.

The nobles left in their homes would be found and killed soon after.