BAJAMONTE TIPOLO
Il Gran Cavaliere | The Great Knight
“Tiepolo, as they present him to us, is a restless, ambitious, and turbulent noble, aiming at the overthrow of an excellent paternal government for the sole purpose of satisfying his individual appetite for sovereignty.”
In 1310 the Doge of Venice, Pietro Gradenigo, representating the “new aristocracy” against the “old houses,” was becoming increasingly hated by the people. His war of aggression against Ferrara resulted in the Pope (with his own interests in Ferrara) excommunicating the entire state of Venice.
“The clergy left the city; the sacraments were refused; burial, even, with religious rites was denied. The sentence weighed heavily on the people. But worse was to follow.”
The Pope followed up the excommunication by granting liberty and indulgence to anyone who attacked Venetian
subjects or property. Throughout Europe, Venetian merchants were sacked; counting houses, banks, and factories were looted and destroyed.
With a Doge besieged by failure and popular discontent, the opposition party, the “old houses,” lacked
only one thing: a popular leader.
Enter Bajamonte Tiepolo.
Bajamonte was
the scion of one the greatest of the “old houses,”
grandson of Doge Lorenzo Tiepolo, and, by marriage, the great-grandnephew of the Emperor of Byzantium.
“When the invitation of his brother nobles reached him…[Bajamonte] readily answered their appeal. [He] was a man of strong, impetuous, and decided character, the owner of vast wealth and of an almost unbounded popularity with the people, who called him the gran cavaliere [great knight], while, on the other hand, he was connected with most of the noble families who were strenuously opposing the new aristocracy.”
The conspirators met at Marco Querini’s palace. Querini hammered away at the injustice of the Closing of the Great Council, which excluded noble and common citizen alike from participating in the government of the Republic.
Bajamonte replied:
“Let us leave words on one side now, and come to deeds. Let us place a good prince at the head of this state; one who shall be acceptable to all classes, beloved by the people, ready so to act that our city may be restored to her ancient ordinances, that public freedom may be preserved and increased.”
“The Conspiracy of Bajamonte Tiepolo” by Gabriel Bella depicts the scene outside St. Mark’s Square. The clocktower is an anachronism; it was not yet built in 1310.
June 15, 1310. Streetfighting as Tiepolo’s contingent proceeds toward
St. Mark’s Square.
The conspirators laid plans to converge on St. Mark’s
Square, assault the Doge’s Palace, and assassinate the Doge on June 15, 1310.
They didn’t know that the Doge had learned of their plans and massed his troops to defend the palace from assault.
The conspirators were divided into three groups. One group, under Bajamonte, marched across Rialto Bridge to St. Mark’s Square. The second group, under Marco Querini, took an alternate route to the Square. The third group, under Badoer Badoer had massed recruits on the mainland and planned to transport them by boat to St. Mark’s Square.
“All was ready for the start, when a violent
storm broke over Venice; wind, thunder, lightning, and rain descending in torrents. The storm seemed ominous and terrified Tiepolo’s followers. He delayed his departure, hoping that it might pass.
But the rain did not cease…”
Querini’s contingent, not knowing about Bajamonte’s delay, reached the Square first. They were met by the Doge’s troops. Querini and his two sons were killed straight off, before Bajamonte reached the Square.
Bajamonte arrived at St. Mark’s during the rout of Querini’s men; his standard-bearer was slain by a mortar flung from a balcony. His banner proclaiming “Liberty” was trampled in the mud. Bajamonte’s men panicked and raced back toward Rialto, crossed the bridge and burned it behind them.
The fate of the missing third contingent eventually reached Bajamonte. The storm drove their boats aground and the governor of nearby Chioggia, dispatched by the Doge, captured them all.
“The game had been played and lost. Nothing remained but to make such terms as they could with [Doge Gradenigo] and his victorious party.”
The “column of infamy,” placed where Bajamonte’s palace once stood, was inscribed “This land belonged to Bajamonte and now for his iniquitous betrayal, this has been placed to frighten others, and to show these words to everyone forever.”
Too popular to be summarily executed, Bajamonte Tiepolo was banished in perpetuity and disappears from the stage of history, like his home, which was razed to the ground and the ground beneath it sowed with salt.
“[Bajamonte’s] object had been to preserve the old constitution of Venice; for in it he and his order, by long prescriptive right of birth and rule, were powerful. But [they] failed to make common cause with the people, they neglected to win their confidence, and they went down before the younger and stronger order. The new aristocracy triumphed and proceeded to follow unimpeded the law of its growth.”
The “column of infamy” was later removed and this marble plaque in the pavement marks the spot where it stood.
THE COUNCIL OF TEN IS CREATED.
The most significant outcome of the Tiepolo Conspiracy was the creation of the Council of Ten, first constituted for a term of days to investigate and prosecute the conspirators. The term was renewed for two months, then for five years, and, on July 20, 1355 the Council of Ten became permanent, creating the most powerful and secretive committee in the Republic.
“The lord, the Signore, the tyrant of Venice, more terrible than any personal despot, because impalpable, impervious to the dagger of the assassin. It was no concrete despotism, but the very essence of tyranny. To seek its overthrow was vain… Evasive and pervasive, this dark, inscrutable body ruled Venice with a rod of iron. For good or for bad the Council of Ten was the very child of the new aristocracy, which had won its battle against both the people and the old nobility. The Ten determined the internal aspect of Venice for the remainder of her existence.”
The Council of Ten.
The Hall of the Ten in the Doge’s Palace, by Gabriel Bella ca. 1750