Doge

Having take the exercise of legislative power, the former Doges governed in the manner of sovereigns, dealing with foreign princes like a king treats an equal. The Venetians gave the doge the titles of most serene, of most excellent, of most elevated, of fortissimo, of potentissimo, and with two choirs on the days of main holidays they sang his praises in the churches: for this purpose one choir sang: exaudi Christe, Christus regnat, Christus vicit, Christus imperat » and the other replied « Serenissimo et excellentissimo principi et domino nostro gratiosissimo Dei gratia inclyto Duci Venetiarum salus, honor vitae, ac perpetua victoria. »¹ The emperors and kings called the doge glorious, most glorious, magnificent, illustrious, most illustrious. ¶²

The diadem, or rather the red velvet cap (later called Horn) used by doge,³ his purple dalmatic, or consular tunic, the purple shoes were the same as those of the Lombard dukes and kings, like the majestic collar of ermine or white squirrel, which fell over his robe; as such, the doge had special guards, and officers, who supervised the cultivation of his lands, and to the collection of incomes and taxes; as such, the doge had a chapel in his palace; as such, he got up before dawn in order to attend the divine services celebrated by own chaplains. ¶

The Lombard kings forced the natives of the conquered countries to pay them a third part of the fruits of the land, and the Venetian doges demanded censuses of herbs, fruits, salt, birds, fish and marten skins, receiving for cutting of wood in the woods a tax called stirpatico, for the pasture of the pigs another called glandaritio. ¶

A great privilege between the Lombards, and only of the important individuals, was the right to hunt in some reserved sites, hence even the Doge used it in some certain forests, the antlers of deer all belonged to him, the head and feet of killed boars, which as proof of skill and virtue were hung on the walls of the ducal halls, It can therefore be said that the first doges lived in the same style as their contemporary kings. ¶

Except that, as the nation became aware that the supreme authority of the doges, and an almost absolute exercise thereof, could have jeopardised, and highly, the interests of the nation, it gradually came to narrow the limits thereof, which left the doges with nothing but a vain appearance of sovereignty. ¶

It was granted to the Doge to preside over all the Councils, and to propose them any business, but in the deliberations he had only one vote. ¶

His name was found imprinted on all the coins, but he was forbidden from having his own effigy and coat of arms imprinted on them. ¶

The edicts and proclamations always started with the phrase « The Most Serene Prince let it be known, »⁴ and the letters of accreditation of the ambassadors of the republic to the courts were written in the name of the doge, but he was not allowed to sign neither the first nor the latter, nor to affix his own seal to them.

The dispatches of the said ambassadors were addressed to the Doge himself, but they could only be opened by him in the presence of his Councillors,⁵ who, moreover, were not barred from reading them, and to respond to them even without notifying the Doge. ¶

He could not leave Venice without permission from the aforesaid Councillors, but, leaving, this pleasure of freedom costed him the mortification of not being recognised then as doge and being considered only as a simple private individual. ¶

It was forbidden the Doge receiving gifts from foreign princes; he was subject, equally as any other member of the State, to the Council of Ten ; his children and brothers were excluded from the most important positions of government, and they could neither ask for nor accept benefits from the Roman court. ¶

The doge no longer had guards: a person called Knight of the Doge, which was properly a master of ceremonies, a steward, and sixteen squires made up his noble family.⁶ ¶

Abolished were, finally, the sumptuous titles given to the doge in ancient times, and he was called exclusively the Most Serene prince. ¶

In conclusion, the quality of doge did not confer any power superior that that of other citizens, or rather the doge, instead of commanding as a master as he had once done, was subjected to all the aforementioned limitations, he was devoid of any whatsoever, even honest pleasure, and without enjoying any fruit of sovereignty, forced to suffer the many annoyances of a magnificent representation, always desired, however, by the republic in order to keep alive in the eyes of the people the majesty of the empire. ¶

A patrician raised to this illusory dignity immediately went, with his forty-one Electors,⁷ to the Senate hall to receive the congratulations of the Signoria : there the Great Chancellor placed a squat cap on his head, then he passed into the other hall named the Four Doors to sit to dine with the said Electors.⁸ ¶

After the dinner, the doge, wearing the Dogalina,⁹ moved to the Maggior Consiglio to receive new congratulations, that is those of the nobility and of his relatives, while to the people were widely distributed bread, and given wine, and thrown money. ¶

In the evening there was a feast in the Banquet hall, fireworks were set off. in the square, and masks were allowed, and these pastimes also continued the following two evenings. ¶

On the next day, at the sound of the Terza,¹⁰ the new doge, accompanied by the Electors, relatives and friends, went to the basilica of San Marco, where, between the two eldest Electors, he showed himself to the people from the ambone of the choir, while the bells rang to his glory from the famous tower. ¶

Descended from the said ambone, he swore, at the greater altar, on the gospels, the observance of the privileges of the basilica, and received the banner of San Marco from the Primicerio,¹¹ which was presented to him with these words: « Consignamus Serenitati vestrae vexillum sancti Marci in signum veri et perpetui ducatus. »¹² ¶

The doge replied « Accipio »¹³ and the standard was immediately passed to the admiral of the arsenal.¹⁴ ¶

Together with whom, adding three or four closest relatives, and the Ballottino¹⁵ the doge entered in a certain wooden pulpit, called Pozzetto,¹⁶ in which, supported on the backs of the Arsenalotti,¹⁷ he went around the whole square, scattering a good amount of money among the people: the admiral, with the banner of Saint Mark, stood behind the doge and the other persons. ¶

Lowered the Pozzetto at the foot of the main staircase of the ducal palace, called of the Giants, the doge climbed it, and, as he reached the landing he swore to observe the Promission ducale,¹⁸ which was given to him by the oldest of his Councillors, who immediately placed on his head, all bejewelled, the diadem, or Corno Ducale, saying ; « Accipe coronam ducatus Venetiarum. »¹⁹ ¶

Thus crowned, once the Doge had showed himself again to the people, under the third arch of the loggia, which internally encircles the courtyard of the palace, he went to sit on the throne in the hall called the Piovego,²⁰ accompanied by the Signoria, and by his forty-one Electors, the eldest of which reminded him, that that being the place where one day he would have to account to God and the government for his works; in that room, it was customary to expose the statue of the deceased doge as we will see. ¶

Finally on the following day, after the pontifical mass celebrated by the Primicerio in the basilica of San Marco, to the sound of trumpets and other instruments, the Ambrosian hymn was sung, which in the coming years was repeated on the ecclesiastical holiday closest to the anniversary of the coronation. ¶

Perfectly aligned with the fantasy of sovereignty of the doge, his prerogatives were truly ridiculous. ¶

As he exercised absolute mastery over the Basilica of San Marco, and over the churches of San Gallo, San Filippo and Giacomo, dell’ Ascensione, San Giovanni and San Giacomo di Rialto, it was his right to appoint all the people destined for the service of said churches, including that of the preachers for Lent, even dispensing for four blind beggars as many places in the basilica of San Marco. ¶

He approved the election of the abbot of the monks of the Olivolo at Santa Elena,²¹ the prior of the convent of San Cristoforo della Pace,²² and of the abbess of the monastery of the Virgins;²³ he designated a prelate for the spiritual government of the Sisters of Santa Teresa,²⁴ elected the chaplain and two confessors for the hospital of the foundlings, called the Pietà, distributed the fifty-six places existing in the pious women’s shelter of the Ca di Dio. ¶

Coming to the civil part, beyond the nomination of the people of his noble family, and of the Comandadori,²⁵ of the Ballottini etc., he also had that of his six pipe players, of the guardians of the strong prisons,²⁶ the civil ones, and the new ones, of the barber of the palace, of the cook and of the porters at the service of public banquets. ¶

However, when appearing in front of the people, his effective authority restricted to things of no importance, and to equally inconsequential, or even abject characters, he appeared surrounded with the greatest magnificence. ¶

Having always kept his purple shoes, the Doge wore the dogalina with a cloak and mozzetta²⁷ : a camauro²⁸ of Reims linen exactly covered his head, a camauro, which by a very singular privilege, was not removed when the Doge attended the mass, nor even at the moment of the consecration ; above the camauro was the cap, or ducal diadem commonly called Corno, which, according to the circumstances, was made of gold and silver brocade, scarlet cloth, damask, satin or crimson velvet, noting that the value of that used on the day of the coronation amounted to the sum of one hundred and fifty thousand ducats, so that it was diligently kept in the Tesoro of the Basilica of San Marco. ¶

Varying, in accordance with the solemnities, the quality of the cloths, the garments and the leather of the mozzetta. ¶

For example, on the day of the Circumcision the dogalina, the mantle and the corno were of gold and silver brocade, and the mozzetta of zibellini; for the carnival, crimson velvet with lynx was used; on Good Friday scarlet cloth (the dogalina however in satin) with ermine; on the feast day of Saint Mark gold brocade; on that of the Ascension, of Corpus Domini, and of the Redeemer gold and silver brocade with coloured silk flowers; on the day of the Presentation of Our Lady also gold and silver brocade with lynx; on the eve of the Christmas of Our Lord crimson velvet with the same lynx; at Christmas the gold and silver brocade with zibellini; finally, on the day of Saint Stephen, a gold foil cloth with a crimson background, with lynx. ¶

Nor will we fail to notice that in private the Doge would wear a Romana²⁹ either of velvet or satin or of crimson camel wool, with a stocky cap, and assisting at the Councils he used another robe, called Collegial, either of damask, or of satin, or of crimson tabì,³⁰ keeping the corno on the head. ¶

The Doge was in the most solemn functions preceded by the Captains of the Council of Ten, by eight Comandadori with as many silk banners (two white, two red, two blue, two green, in times of peace the whites before the others, in times of war the reds, in times of alliance with any prince the blues, in times of truce the greens), by six other Comandadori with silver trumpets, by the remaining body of the Comandadori themselves, by the pifferi, by the squires, by the Cavaliere, who had on his right the Missier grando, or chief of the police, and on the left by the steward, by the cleric of the doge, by six canons of the basilica of San Marco, in cope, by two ducal stewards, by four secretaries of the senate, by the chaplain carrying a candle, by two inferior Chancellors, finally by the Great Chancellor placed between two squires, one of whom carried a golden chair, the other a cushion of gold cloth. ¶

The doge followed, the train of whose mantle held by four train-bearers; the Papal Nuncio was on his right, the ambassador of the Holy Roman Empire on his left, the other legates surrounding him. ¶

Immediately following came another squire with a umbrella of gold cloth, then a gentleman, once elected to rule any province, holding a rapier in its sheath. ¶

These, the banners, the silver trumpets, the candle, the chair and the umbrella or are said to be signs of recognition from Pope Alexander the Third towards the Doge Sebastiano Ziani. ¶

The Giudice del Proprio,³¹ the Councillors, the Heads of the Quaranta, the Avogadori, the Heads of the Ten, the Censors and the Knights of the Golden Stole³² closed the group. ¶

Once the doge died, the Cavaliere went to announce it to the College saying: Most Serene Prince. The Serenissimo of immortal memory has passed from this to a better life, mourned by all orders for his rare and singular virtues. I present to Your Serenity the royal seal and the keys of the treasury by command of his Most Excellent relatives, and as the duty of my most humble ministry. » ¶

They replied to the Cavaliere: « With great regret we heard of the death of the Most Serene prince of so much piety and goodness; however, we will elect another. » ¶

In the meantime, preparations were made for the exhibition in the ducal hall of the Shield,³³ of the statue of the deceased doge.

It was a puppet dressed in a red dogalina, with a cloak of gold brocade, with mozzetta of ermine, and with corno likewise of brocade; he had his hands covered in white gloves, golden spurs at his heels, he held the rapier on the right with the hilt backwards, and he lay in a coffin placed on a platform decorated with black drapes. ¶

At the head side of the statue was placed the banner of the School of San Nicolò of the sailors,³⁴ from that of his feet were the two of the arsenals, with the coat of arms of the family upside down, on the four sides of the platform burned on candelabras as many torches of extraordinary size. ¶

From the hall of the Shield the statue was transported in the afternoon hours to the other hall of the Piovego, and this with a very solemn procession. ¶

This was made up of the Councillors, the Head of the Quaranta,³⁵ the Grand Chancellor, the Inferiors, the ordinary Secretaries of the Senate, the extra-ordinaries of the Chancellery, the ducal Stewards, all the clergy of the basilica, the Comandadori, the squires and the Cavaliere: twelve Arsenalotti, and as many brothers of the School of San Nicolò of the sailors proceeded with torches; four navy captains, and twelve with sword and staff, the first carried the coat of arms always upside down, the others the coffin, which, int the same was as it was located in the Scudo hall, was placed in the other Piovego hall. ¶

The funeral procession having finished there, the priests sang the vespers of the dead. ¶

Then in the evening of the day following the loss of the Doge to the living, the corpse was transferred to the domestic tomb, without any pomp whatsoever, and with the sole escort of the canons of the basilica, and of the people of his noble family.

The statue of the dead doge was displayed in the Piovego hall for three days, in each of which funerals were celebrated in the basilica, and while absolutions were carried out around the simulacrum, three inquisitors were elected, and three correttori of the Promission ducal, the first ones responsible for evaluating the life of the dead prince, the others to propose to the Great Council the changes believed necessary for the same Promissione. ¶

Three hours before the evening on the last of the said three days the public funeral began. ¶

First of all appeared all the priests of the city, then, with an infinite number of double candlesticks, came the six Scuole grandi,³⁶ or brotherhoods, then all the navy captains and the craftsmen of the arsenale carrying lighted torches. Following these the coat of arms, already mentioned, and soon after, under a canopy, the coffin with the statue. ¶

Then followed the family members, the ambassadors of the princes, the Councillors, the Heads of the Quaranta, the Avogadori, the Heads of the Ten, the Censors, the Great Chancellor, the inferiors, the secretaries of the Senate, and the Senate. ¶

The closest relatives of the dead prince disguised in black clothes (V. Scorrozosi), stood to the right of the ambassadors, and, if it happened that these were missing, of the Avogadori, of the Ten and of the Censors. ¶

Finished the tour around St. Mark’s Square, as the coffin arrived in front if the main door of the basilica, those who carried it raised it and lowered it to the ground nine times, the meaning of that being to have the puppet, representing the body of he who had formerly been master of the same basilica, and in which, just elected, he had been shown to the people, show him a last homage. ¶

Resuming movement, the procession moved to the church of the Dominican friars of Saints Giovanni e Paolo, where the coffin was placed on a large catafalque resplendent with innumerable torches, and one of the most illustrious men of letters in the city made the oration in praise of the deceased. ¶

When the ecclesiastical ceremonies were finally over, the statue of the doge was brought to the chapel of the Rosario to be stripped of the ducal insignia, which the church clerics returned to the family of the deceased, for a contribution of ten ducats: the head and the wig remained owned by the Guardiano, or head, of the Scuola di San Marco.

Translator’s notes

1. To the Most Serene and Most Excellent Prince and to our Most Gracious Lord, by the grace of God, to the health, honour of life, and perpetual victory of the Duke of Venetians.  ↩︎
2. The original text used very long paragraphs (c.4000 words in four paragraphs), which made for difficult reading. I have split the long paragraphs in several shorter ones, making the added breaks with ¶ pilcrows.  ↩︎
3. The Corno Ducale is the distinctive headgear of the doge.  ↩︎
4. See the article A Venetian Law for an example.  ↩︎
5. The Consiglio del Doge — or the Serenissima Signoria — was imposed on the Doge by the Consiglio Maggiore to curb his powers.  ↩︎
6. The term noble family refers not to the actual family of the doge, but to his household staff within the Palazzo Ducale.  ↩︎
7. The election of the doge was rather complicated, but ended in a commission of 41 patricians of which at least 25 had to vote for the new doge — see the article The Doge for a short explanation of the electoral process.  ↩︎
8. The halls of the Pregadi (Senate) and the Quattro Porte (Four Doors) are both on the third floor of the Palazzo Ducale.  ↩︎
9. DOGALINA. Sort of robe of black cloth or silk down to the heels, with narrow sleeves, which was used in public appearances of half ceremony by the patrician Venetian Representatives of the State, and also by the Judges or Assessors of the Courts, under the ceased Republican Government — from Boerio, Giuseppe. Dizionario del dialetto veneziano. Venezia : coi tipi di Andrea Santini e figlio, 1829.  ↩︎
10. One of the bells of the Paron — the bell tower of the Basilica di San Marco — which at 9am rang to mark the start of the working day in ancient Venice.  ↩︎
11. The head priest of the Basilica di San Marco, in its function as palace chapel, was appointed directly by the doge, without any intervention of the church hierarchy, and had the title of Primicerio — see Mutinelli (1851), p. 314.  ↩︎
12. We consign to your Serenity the banner of St. Mark as a mark of true and perpetual leadership.  ↩︎
13. I accept.  ↩︎
14. The “Admiral of the Arsenale” was the highest ranking craftsman of the Venetian navy docks. From Mutinelli (1851), p. 25: He was the first orderly employee of the arsenal, charged, together with the first naval architect, with arranging, assigning and supervising the works, answering for the ability and activity of the workers.  ↩︎
15. BALOTIN DEL DOSE. A title that was commonly given to that boy, who was chosen by privilege by the new Doge, and who therefore assumed by right the rank of Ducal Notary, that is, Royal Secretary — from Boerio (1829).  ↩︎
16. Pozzetto means a well, because the waist high wooden structure looked like a Venetian well head.  ↩︎
17. The arsenallotti were the workers of the navy docks in the Arsenale. They also served as a kind of guard at the Palazzo Ducale when the Maggior Consiglio was in session.  ↩︎
18. The Promissione Ducale was a written oath that the doge had to sign, going back to the Middle Ages. It was another means to curb the excessive powers of the early doges.  ↩︎
19. Accept the Crown of the Duchy of the Venetians.  ↩︎
20. The Sala del Piovego is on the first floor of the south wing of the Palazzo Ducale. ↩︎
21. The church and monastery of St Elena was on a lagoon island, not far from the episcopal church of San Pietro di Castello on the Olivolo island. The shallow lagoon area between Venice and St Elena was reclaimed in the early 1900s, and it is now part of Venice.  ↩︎
22. The island and monastery of San Cristrofero disappeared with the creation of the cemetery on San Michele in the early 1800s.  ↩︎
23. The Monastero delle Vergini was later suppressed, demolished and the area included in the Arsenale in the 1800s as a prison. It was at times one of the rowdier nunneries in Venice.  ↩︎
24. This monastery was close to the Chiesa di San Nicolò dei Mendicoli in Dorsoduro.  ↩︎
25. The Comandadori were heralds, charged with making public decrees and laws of the state. There’s an example on the law table on the wall at the Scuola Grande di San Marco.  ↩︎
26. The term “strong prison” — prexon forte — meant the high security prison for enemies of the state. See also Prigioni — Lessico Veneto. ↩︎
27. A mozzetta is a short, elbow length, mantel still in use with Catholic clergy today.  ↩︎
28. The camauro is a light linen cap, which the doge wore under the corno ducale.  ↩︎
29. Cloak derived from the tabarro and short black silk kilt, worn in the eighteenth century in Venice only by the bourgeois the first and the nobles the second (Treccani).  ↩︎
30. Ancient name of a heavy silk, similar to taffeta, marbled, used for dresses or as a lining of fine garments (Treccani).  ↩︎
31. The Giudice del Proprio presided over a tribunal for disputes over real estate and dowries. It translates literally as Judge of Property.  ↩︎
32. Venice only had one order of knights — the Cavalieri di San Marco — and the patrician knights wore a golden stole over their tunic.  ↩︎
33. The Sala del Scudo is in the Palazzo Ducale, on the second floor of the east wing.  ↩︎
34. This confraternity of sailors were at the Chiesa di San Nicolò di Castello, which was demolished to make room for the Giardini Pubblici.  ↩︎
35. See State institutions of the Republic of Venice for some of these.  ↩︎
36. See Scuole Grandi.  ↩︎

Original Italian text

Related articles

• The Doge
• Doge — ASV Indice
• Dose — Dizionario
• Doges of Venice
• Cavalieri di San Marco — ASV Indice
• However, we’ll make another — newsletter Venetian Stories
• State institutions of the Republic of Venice

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