Consegio de Diese
Giuseppe Boerio (1754-1832) published his Dizionario del Dialetto Veneziano (Dictionary of the Venetian Dialect) in 1829 (2nd ed. 1856, 3rd ed. 1867). It is an invaluable tool for anybody who reads texts from the time of the Republic of Venice.
CONSEGIO DE DIESE, Council of ten, composed of ten Senators and six Councillors under the presidency of the Doge, to whom all matters of State and very serious criminal cases committed in the State had been delegated.
CAI DEL CONSEGIO DE DIESE,1 the Heads of the Council of Ten, who were called CANOCHIE COL CORAL2 because over the purple robe or toga they wore the red stole.
Translator’s notes
- In the Dizionario del Dialetto Veneziano this bit is under the entry for Cao / Cavo. ↩︎
- The Venetian expression means a mantis shrimp with eggs. The mantis shrimp is a ferocious animal, whose eggs are bright read. This is a bit of popular humour, but the Cai del Consegio de Diese were very powerful men, so maybe for the common man on the street it was better to laugh than to cry. ↩︎
Italian original
CONSEGIO DE DIESE, Consiglio de’ dieci, composto di dieci Senatori, e de’ sei Consiglieri sotto la presidenza del Doge, a cui erano state delegate tutte le materie di Stato e i casi criminali gravissimi commessi nello Stato.
p. 189
Under the entry for Cao:
CAI DEL CONSEGIO DE DIESE, li Capi del Consiglio de’ dieci, i quali eran detti per antonomasia CANOCHIE COL CORAL, perchè sopra la vesta o toga violacea portavano la stola rossa.
p. 131
Related articles
- State institutions of the Republic of Venice
- Consiglio dei Dieci — ASV Indice
- Consiglio dei Dieci — Lessico Veneto
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