The Commune of Venice ( Latin : Commune Veneciarum ) is the title with which the government of the city of Venice and its Republic was designated from 1143. The municipality, similar to other medieval municipalities , was based on the popular power of the assembly, called Concio in Venice. It represented the patriciate of the city with a system of assemblies including the Great Council , Minor Council , Senate and the Council of Forty .
17-518: Unlike other Italian cities, Venice retained some vestiges of their previous institution of the monarchy embodied by the Doge for setting bounds for power that such assemblies were developing. The leading groups of most of the towns gathered at the time around the core of the ancient patrician families, creating a new merchant aristocracy with the Serrata del Maggior Consiglio of 1297 and actually took over
34-585: A new lockout provision drawing on drafts of the previous ones. On 6 March 1296 the proposal was rejected by a narrow majority. Finally, after new yearly elections (29 September 1296), the Council approved the bill on 28 February 1297 (that is, the last month of 1296, according to the Venetian Calendar ). The approved provision ruled that, in order to be eligible to be part of the Council, members were required to either have been Councilors at least once in
51-706: A relevant change in the constitution of the Republic . This resulted in the exclusion of minor aristocrats and plebeians from participating in the government of the Republic. Although formerly provisional, the Ordinance later became a permanent Act, and since that time it was disregarded only at times of political or financial crisis (e.g. after the war against the League of Cambrai ). When the Commonwealth of Venice
68-592: Is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Serrata del Maggior Consiglio The Great Council Lockout ( Italian : Serrata del Maggior Consiglio ) refers to the constitutional process, started with the 1297 Ordinance, by means of which membership of the Great Council of Venice became hereditary. Since it was the Great Council that had the right to elect the Doge , the 1297 Ordinance marked
85-515: The Serrata del Maggior Consiglio , Marin Bocconio conceived a plot to overthrow the current government of Venice . Marin Bocconio was a man of wealth but not of noble blood. The plot resulted in an incident where Bocconio and his followers knocked on the doors of the Great Council to claim their right to a voice in government of the state. The Doge invited the protesters in individually to let them speak their concerns. The protesters accepted
102-525: The Doge, the Minor Council , and the Council of Forty ( Quarantia ). After this bill was rejected, another bill was proposed, which required new entrants to be subject to approval on behalf of outgoing Councilmen. However, even this proposal was rejected. On 25 November 1289, Pietro Gradenigo , who was the leader of the aristocratic party, was elected Doge of the Republic. After 6 years he submitted
119-753: The Serrata del Maggior Consiglio (which parliamentary participation hereditary) lead to barriers to participation in the most profitable aspects of long-distance trade. This diminished the ability of members outside the hereditary aristocracy from participating in political decisions and in economic processes such as the colleganza . This stratification in political and economic power led to a fundamental shift from political openness, economic competitiveness, and social mobility and lead to political closure, extreme economic inequality, and social stratification and stiffness. Marin Bocconio In 1300, in protest of
136-479: The conditions for its annulment: The Act was ratified in September 1298, and again in 1299. Its approval caused unrest among the people's party, which eventually led to Marin Bocconio 's 1300 attempted coup. The failure of his conspiracy triggered the approval of a new provision (22 March 1300), which raised the threshold for the admission of upstart candidates by the Council of Forty (requiring 20 votes instead of
153-628: The constitution of the State. In 1315, the process of compiling lists of candidates was formalized thanks to the creation of the Golden Book ( Libro d'Oro ): namely, a demographic registry that included the names of all the eligible candidates aged 18 or above. The creation of the Golden Book was followed by the enactment of even stricter rules against up-starters ( homini novi ). The final lockout occurred in 1319. The election of new candidates
170-517: The election system was changed; the Concio was required to elect three representatives (up to seven since 1230), who had the duty to nominate the Councillors. Over the years, the Great Council became the bone of contention between the people's party, which aimed to preserve the status quo , and the aristocratic party, which aimed to exclude up-starts from the government. On 5 October 1286, during
187-474: The former 12 needed for election). A second wave of limitations occurred in 1307. This led to another attempted coup (1310), on behalf of a faction led by Bajamonte Tiepolo . The conspiracy was averted by the Doge Pietro Gradenigo. As a reaction to the conspiracy, the government instituted a new special court—that is, the Council of Ten , whose purpose was that of dealing with crimes against
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#1732780425790204-425: The government of Doge Giovanni Dandolo , the aristocratic party presented a bill to reform the eligibility criteria for the Great Council, with the purpose of limiting its members to those who had already joined the Council or those whose paternal relatives held the position of Councilman. The proposal also required that candidates without family credentials could run for a position only upon joint approval on behalf of
221-461: The invitation, after which each was seized and individually killed, to a number of ten. Promptly after this event, protest of the new government ceased from news of this event. Differing accounts suggest that conspirators were arrested before plans were fully matured, and that leaders were individually executed at the columns near the Porta della Carta . However it may have occurred, Bocconio's revolt
238-565: The past four years, or to be patrilinealy related to a former Councilor. In order to better time the entrance of new members, 40 young men would be selected each year by means of a lottery, and their names inscribed in the list of candidates. The 1297 Provision empowered the Council of the Forty, granting it the following rights and duties with regards to the election of the Great Council: The Provision also made explicit
255-607: The power and ousting the popular assembly. In the name of the Commune, it continued to operate the highest representative body of the state 's sovereignty – including the Doge, the Minor Council and heads of the Forty – until 1423. At this time, the abolition of the Concione ended the last residue of municipal institutions and the supreme body took the name of Serenissima Signoria . This Italian history article
272-441: Was formed, the Doge was assisted by a Council of Wise Men ( Consilium Sapientium ) elected by the people's assembly ( Concio ). Once it obtained sovereign power in 1172, the Council came to be known as Great Council . It originally functioned as an extension of the people's assembly, and its members were elected on a yearly basis, with the general election usually falling on the day of Saint Michael (29 September). Later, in 1207
289-464: Was ultimately abolished and the status of Councillor became automatic for all male patricians aged 25 or above. An exception was made every year for 30 young patricians , randomly chosen on the day of Saint Barbara , who were allowed to join at the age of 20. Since then, the Great Council positions remained hereditary. Eventually, this led to the dismissal of the obsolete people's assembly ( Concio ) in 1423. According to Diego Puga and Daniel Trefler,
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