QL(EE
 
 
 LIBRARY 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF 
 CALIFORNIA 
 
 SAN DIEGO
 
 a i4
 
 Panorama from the Campanile of St. Mark.
 
 OR 
 
 a^enfce, apefcfofcai ana 
 
 BY 
 
 CLARA ERSKINE CLEMENT 
 
 AUTHOR OF "HANDBOOK OF LEGENDARY AND MYTHOLOGICAL 
 
 ART," "LIFE OF CHARLOTTE CUSHMAN," "ELEANOR 
 
 MAITLAND, A NOVEL," ETC. 
 
 Blustrateti 
 
 BOSTON 
 ESTES AND LAURIAT 
 
 PUBLISHERS
 
 Copyright, 189S, 
 BY ESTES AND LAURIAT. 
 
 AU rightt reserved. 
 
 Sntorrstto 
 JOHN WILSON AND SON, CAMBRIDGE, U.S.A.
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER PAGE 
 
 I. TO-DAY AND LONG AGO 1 
 
 II. A SUMMER DAY 15 
 
 III. THE DOGES: THEIR POWER AND THEIR ACHIEVEMENTS 25 
 
 IV. THE VENETIANS AT CONSTANTINOPLE 48 
 
 V. MODERN PROCESSIONS AND FESTIVALS 72 
 
 VI. GRADENIGO, TIEPOLO, AND THE COUNCIL OF TEN . 90 
 
 VII. MURANO AND THE GLASS-MAKERS 121 
 
 VIII. MARINO FALIERO; VETTORE PISANI AND CARLO 
 
 ZENO 140 
 
 IX. BURANO AND TORCELLO 163 
 
 X. THE Two FOSCARI; CARMAGNOLA AND COLLEONI . 175 
 
 XL AN AUTUMN RAMBLE 202 
 
 XII. VENETIAN WOMEN: CATERINA CORNARO, ROSALBA 
 
 CARRIERA 218 
 
 XIII. THE ARCHIVES OF VENICE 245 
 
 XIV. THE TREASURES OF THE PIAZZA 259 
 
 XV. GLORY, HUMILIATION, FREEDOM 275 
 
 XVI. SAINTS AND OTHERS 303 
 
 XVII. HISTORIANS AND SCHOLARS 319 
 
 XVIII. PALACES AND PICTURES 334 
 
 XIX. THE ACCADEMIA; CHURCHES AND SCUOLE . . . 356 
 
 INDEX 37]
 
 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 PANORAMA FROM THE CAMPANILE OF ST. MARK . . . Frontispiece 
 
 CATHEDRAL OF SAN MARCO 6 
 
 OFF FOR A SUMMER DAY 15 
 
 DUCAL PALACE i 27 
 
 FESTIVAL SCENE, BRIDGE OF THE RIALTO 76 
 
 CHURCH OF SANTA MARIA DELLA SALUTE 81 
 
 BRIDGE OF THE RIALTO 107 
 
 MOLD OF SAN MARCO; COLUMNS OF EXECUTION 149 
 
 THE PIAZZETTA ; DUCAL PALACE ; SAN MARCO 180 
 
 THE BRIDGE OF SIGHS 203 
 
 MUSEO ClVICO; FORMERLY PALAZZO FfiRRARA, LATER FoNDACO 
 
 DEI TURCHI 247 
 
 PIAZZA OF ST. MARK 259 
 
 HORSES OF ST. MARK 262 
 
 CAMPANILE OF ST. MARK 266 
 
 INTERIOR OF SAN MARCO; ENTRANCE TO THE CHOIR .... 270 
 
 TORRE DELL' OROLOGIO; CLOCK TOWER 273 
 
 CA' D' ORO, ON THE GRAND CANAL 334 
 
 DARIO PALACE, ON THE GRAND CANAL 338 
 
 SALA DEL COLLEGIO; VOTIVE PICTURE OF THE BATTLE OF LE- 
 
 PANTO, BY VERONESE 342 
 
 COURT OF THE DUCAL PALACE ; GIANTS' STAIRCASE 354
 
 THE QUEEN OF THE ADRIATIC; 
 
 OB, 
 
 VENICE, MEDLEVAL AND MODERN. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 TO-DAY AND LONG AGO. 
 
 THE Venice which one visits to-day is so curiously a 
 part and not a part of the ancient Venice of which 
 we dream, that one feels, when in that sea-enveloped and 
 fairy-like city, a strange sense of duality, of being a veri- 
 table antique and an equally veritable modern. He has a 
 genuine sympathy with the past, and regrets that he has 
 not the enchanter's wand to bring it all back again, long 
 enough, at least, for him to revel in its magnificence. 
 
 If he believes in reincarnation, he is speedily convinced 
 that he was once a Venetian indeed ; else how could he feel 
 so much at home, and how love Venice as he does ! And 
 yet, alas ! he cannot quite lose his modem point of view. 
 
 The first emotion is all delight, and a delight that never 
 loses its thrill ; for until the time comes for reflection, we 
 are under the charm of a perfect atmosphere, of skies of 
 liquid blue, tinged at times with crimsons, gold, and violets, 
 such as come only from Nature's loom ; of music and soft, 
 fascinating speech; of mysterious labyrinths and sunlit 
 spaces, in a word, under the spell of Venice. And if 
 
 i
 
 2 THE QUEEN OF THE ADRIATIC. 
 
 Time brings to us the thought of the other side of the 
 picture, the decay which is stealthily doing its sad work, 
 the grayness when it is gray, and all the pathos which 
 ever attends a queen uncrowned, -yet through all and 
 above all is the joy and pleasure which having once been 
 ours, we are resolved to keep. 
 
 To sail from Trieste in an evening of the spring, and 
 make one's first approach to Venice in the early morning, 
 affords an experience that one should not forego. With 
 the clear sun rising behind, surrounded by the marvellous 
 waters blushing in every color of the rainbow beneath his 
 rays, and the pearly tinted city lifting itself from this many- 
 colored sea, as if in welcome, every poetic and artistic sense 
 is filled to overflowing. 
 
 Can this coloring be described in words ? Alas ! no. 
 For when the sea is likened to liquid fire, broken into 
 scintillations and spread over a quivering background of 
 sea-blue and sea-green waves, the half has not been said. 
 When the eye rests on some far-away sand, dun and 
 sombre in the distance, what vividness of flaming red and 
 glorious orange comes out in the middle ground, while 
 nearer the blues and greens are mingled with a shimmer- 
 ing silver ! The atmosphere itself seems tinted by reflec- 
 tions from Aurora's garlands, and the strangely luminous 
 blue sky smiles over all. 
 
 "Then lances and spangles and spars and bars 
 Are broken and shivered and strewn on the sea ; 
 And around and about me tower and spire 
 Start from the billows like tongues of fire." 
 
 To the south stretches the long island reaching from the 
 Porto di Lido to Malamocco, its sands now sparkling like 
 gems. The fort of San Niccolo guards the entrance to the 
 Lagoon ; the little island of St. Elena is passed, and Mti- 
 rano is seen to the north. But glances only can be spared 
 for these ; for Venice itself, with its towers and domes, its
 
 TO-DAY AND LONG AGO. 3 
 
 belfries, spires, and crosses, its palaces all lacework and 
 arabesques, rises above, while all around, on the canal, 
 numbers of light, curiously shaped boats and sombre gon- 
 dolas are gathering, their boatmen clamoring for news 
 and customers. 
 
 Descending, as in a dream, we enter a gondola for the 
 first time. The Giardini Pubblici is passed, and soon 
 one stands on the Piazzetta and enters the Piazza of St. 
 Mark, feeling as if he had passed through a living, moving 
 transformation scene, and been dropped into the middle 
 of the twelfth century. And why not ? For at this early 
 hour the Piazza seems consecrated to the Past. The few 
 boatmen, fruit-sellers, and lazzaroni who are there might 
 belong to the Middle Ages as well as to the nineteenth 
 century. 
 
 Why might they not have seen that grave procession 
 which in 1177 passed into the Chapel of San Marco to 
 celebrate the reconciliation of a Pope and an Emperor, 
 that day when proud Frederick Barbarossa so nobly proved 
 his greatness ? 
 
 He had struggled against the Church on the one hand, 
 and the spirit of independent government on the other, 
 with a determination and bravery such as few men in all 
 history have shown. 
 
 Threatened with excommunication by Pope Adrian IV., 
 and actually laid under the ban by Alexander III., Fred- 
 erick refused to recognize him as Pope, and set up four 
 anti-popes, one after another, who died, as if their position 
 brought its own fatal curse. During sixteen years he car- 
 ried matters with so high a hand that he successfully defied 
 Alexander and Italy ; and the much humiliated Pope wan- 
 dered from court to court, seeking the aid of one kingdom 
 after another, always in vain. 
 
 Some States frankly acknowledged their fear of Barba- 
 rossa; others dared not meet the sure vengeance of the
 
 4 THE QUEEN OF THE ADRIATIC. 
 
 Ghibellines which would follow the espousal of his cause ; 
 Sicily could give him a home, but could not seat him 
 firmly on his throne; and all eyes began to turn to the 
 Republic of the Sea. 
 
 The Barbarossa scarcely gave Italy time to rise from 
 beneath his tread and recover herself from one of his dis- 
 astrous marches through her territory, marking his route 
 by flames and ruin, before he again appeared with his bar- 
 baric army, pillaging and destroying all that had escaped 
 his last visitation, and returning to his Northern throne in 
 triumph. At last he turned his face towards the Eternal 
 City for the fifth time, only to find that the Confederacy 
 of the Lombards had raised a barrier against which he 
 beat himself in vain. He was repulsed in repeated engage- 
 ments ; and after the battle of Legnano, May, 1176, he saw 
 the beginning of the end of the audacious policy by which 
 he had so long dominated at home and abroad. 
 
 Soon after this first humiliation of his arch enemy, Alex- 
 ander decided to appeal to the Venetians for succor ; and 
 early in 1177 he sailed from Goro, attended by five cardi- 
 nals and ambassadors from the King of Sicily, who had 
 fitted out a papal squadron of eleven galleys. 
 
 After some disasters and perils, his Holiness reached 
 Venice at evening on March 23, and was lodged in the 
 Abbey of San Niccolo. The Doge, the nobles, and the 
 clergy made haste next day to welcome the Holy Father 
 to Venice ; and after a service in San Marco, where he gave 
 his benediction to the people, the Doge Sebastiano Ziani 
 escorted him to a palace at San Silvestro, which was his 
 home so long as he remained at Venice. 
 
 The Venetians now sent two ambassadors to Frederick 
 at Naples to arrange, if possible, a peace between the Pope 
 and the Emperor. The bare mention of Alexander as the 
 true successor of Saint Peter so enraged Frederick that 
 he could scarcely speak his words of defiance :
 
 TO-DAY AND LONG AGO. 5 
 
 "Go and tell your Prince and his people that Frederick, 
 King of the Romans, demands at their hands a fugitive and 
 a foe ; that if they refuse to deliver him to me, I shall deem 
 and declare them the enemies of my empire ; and that I will 
 pursue them by land and by sea until I have planted my vic- 
 torious eagles on the gates of St. Mark." 
 
 Whatever regret the Venetians may have had at being 
 thus forced to protect their guest and punish so insulting 
 a foe, they immediately prepared thirty-four galleys, com- 
 manded by the flower of their nobility, among whom was 
 the son of the Doge Ziani ; and Ziani himself assumed the 
 chief command. 
 
 Barbarossa's fleet was more than double in number, and 
 under the command of his son Otho. On the 26th of May, 
 on the stairs of the Piazzetta, Alexander girded upon Ziani 
 a splendid sword, and gave him his blessing. Feeling the 
 great responsibility they had assumed, for not only the 
 holy cause, but the glory of Venice was in their keeping, 
 the Venetians fiercely contested the day. Not less desper- 
 ate the army of the German prince, and not less bravely 
 did he fight. But after six hours of dreadful slaughter, he 
 found himself a prisoner, with forty of his ships in the 
 bands of the enemy, and his whole following completely 
 routed. 
 
 Otho was at once released, having solemnly sworn to 
 persuade his father to a reconciliation with Alexander. A 
 promise faithfully kept ; for although this dreadful defeat 
 at Salboro must have largely contributed to the repentance 
 of Barbarossa, he never again attempted to rebel against 
 his Holiness. 
 
 The Pontiff met Ziani at the spot on which they had 
 parted, and all who had survived the battle followed them 
 to San Marco in triumph and thankfulness; and there 
 Alexander gave the Doge a ring, saying, " Take this, my 
 son, as a token of the true and perpetual dominion of the
 
 6 THE QUEEN OF THE ADRIATIC. 
 
 ocean, which thou and thy successors shall wed every year, 
 on this Day of the Ascension, in order that posterity may 
 know that the sea belongs to Venice by right of conquest, 
 and that it is subject to her, as a bride is to her husband." 
 
 And now began the somewhat difficult arrangement of 
 a meeting between Frederick and the Pope, which was at 
 last appointed at Venice, where the Emperor arrived on 
 Saturday evening, July 23. Six cardinals met him at San 
 Niccolo Del Lido, and formally absolved him from the 
 papal curse, that he might not enter the city while under 
 the ban. 
 
 On Sunday morning the Pope, in his pontifical robes, 
 sat enthroned at San Marco. (In the vestibule, by the 
 centre portal, a lozenge of red marble in the pavement 
 marks the historic spot.) On his right hand was the Doge, 
 and on his left the Patriarch of Grado ; while the ambas- 
 sadors of England, France, and Sicily, the delegates from 
 the free cities, and a throng of nobles and cardinals and 
 other ecclesiastical dignitaries, all in splendid attire, gave 
 dignity and brilliancy to the scene. 
 
 And now trumpets are heard, and the tread of the pro- 
 cession conducting Barbarossa across the Piazza. The 
 doors of San Marco are wide open, and guards are at each 
 portal to hold baclf the pressing crowds of citizens eager 
 to see the grand ceremony. The procession is passing in ; 
 and from out the multitude of armed warriors, with glis- 
 tening helmets and shining lances, nobles in richly flowing 
 togas, and wealthy commoners in brilliant, graceful dra- 
 peries, one figure stands out alone. 
 
 The Emperor advances with a martial step, and his 
 whole bearing bespeaks a man great even in submission. 
 His serious face is calm, his crowned helmet is on his 
 head, and his red beard falls far down on his breast. His 
 armor is not concealed by his flowing mantle, and his 
 slashed surcoat of dark, rich velvet, bordered with gold
 
 Cathedral of San Me,
 
 TO-DAY AND LONG AGO. 7 
 
 embroidery, discloses a tunic of more delicate tint and 
 stuff. On his breast and partly hidden by his beard is 
 embroidered a large Crusader's cross. In his splendid 
 jewelled baldric, on the right, is a large sheathed knife, 
 while, on the left, his heavy long sword reaches almost 
 to the ground. Well may the historian Hazlitt say : 
 
 " It was certainly a grand and imposing spectacle, and one 
 which was apt to raise in the breasts of the spectators many 
 strange and conflicting emotions ; and while the greater part 
 of those present looked on such a consummation perhaps as 
 the triumph of a great man, the latter solemnly declared that 
 to God alone was the glory. 
 
 "Assuming a lowly attitude, Barbarossa approached the 
 steps of the throne on which Ranuci (Alexander) was seated, 
 and, casting aside his purple mantle, he prostrated himself 
 before the Pope. 
 
 " The sufferings and persecutions of eighteen years recurred 
 at that moment to the memory of his Holiness ; and a sincere 
 and profound conviction that he was the instrument chosen of 
 Heaven to proclaim the predestined triumph of Right might 
 have actuated the Pontiff, as he planted his foot on the neck 
 of the Emperor, and borrowing the words of Da.vid, cried : 
 
 " ' Thou shalt go on the lion and the adder ; the young lion 
 and the dragon shalt thou tread under thy feet.' 
 
 " ' It is not to thee, but to Saint Peter, that I kneel,' mut- 
 tered the fallen tyrant. 
 
 " ' Both to me and to Saint Peter,' insisted Eanuci, pressing 
 his heel still more firmly on the neck of Frederick ; and it 
 was not until the latter appeared to acquiesce that the Pope 
 relaxed his hold, and suffered his Majesty to rise. 
 
 "A Te Deum closed this remarkable ceremony; and on 
 quitting the cathedral, the Emperor held the sacred stirrup 
 and assisted his tormentor to mount." 
 
 How the recollection of this narrative incites the fancy, 
 and how the Piazza, but just now so empty, is crowded to
 
 8 THE QUEEN OF THE ADRIATIC. 
 
 overflowing with representatives from East and West and 
 the Isles of the Sea ! 
 
 From the different stories of the Ducal Palace, and 
 extending quite around the square, from every possible 
 projection, float the standards and banners that have been 
 taken from the enemies of the Venetians ; while the great 
 scarlet banner, with its embroidered Lion of St. Mark, 
 waves gently above the principal entrance to San Marco, 
 where the bronze horses now stand. Rich stuffs in the 
 brilliant coloring of Eastern looms, and cloths of gold and 
 silver fall from the balconies thronged with ladies press- 
 ing eagerly forward to watch all that happens in the 
 square below. 
 
 On the roofs are hundreds of human beings, and every 
 corner that affords a view of San Marco and the Piazza is 
 fully occupied. Men perch like birds on such slight and 
 insecure footholds that they seem like colored statues made 
 fast to the edifices themselves. Here and there a few 
 proud chargers champ their bits and strive to free them- 
 selves from their grooms, who wait impatiently, as we 
 do, for the sound of the trumpets to proclaim the rising 
 of this august conclave. 
 
 Just here a soft, musical voice deprecatingly suggests : 
 " The Signior has not chosen his lodgings, and one knows 
 not where to take his luggage." 
 
 THE FEAST OP LA SENSA. 
 
 Pope Alexander, as indeed he ought, wished to confer 
 all the benefits in his power upon the Venetians, and gave 
 the papal sanction, rather unnecessarily as it would seem, 
 to certain customs which this independent people had for 
 some time followed without authority. They were now 
 duly authorized to seal their letters and despatches with 
 lead rather than with wax; to use tapers and trumpets,
 
 TO-DAY AND LONG AGO. 9 
 
 and even to display the silken canopy and sword of state 
 when ceremony made them fitting. This silken canopy is 
 disagreeably contracted into an umbrella by some over- 
 careful writers, but there is good reason to believe that 
 long before this time the Doges had indulged in this 
 luxury. 
 
 Before the departure of the Pontiff he celebrated a High 
 Mass and preached a sermon in San Marco, and at the end 
 conferred upon the Doge the highest and most flattering 
 favor that could be bestowed upon a temporal ruler, by 
 descending from the pulpit and presenting him with a 
 consecrated Golden Rose, in token of friendship for Ziani 
 and for Venice. 
 
 These seals and umbrellas and trumpets and tapers 
 made little difference to the people ; the Golden Rose 
 gratified their pride and love of their idolized Republic ; 
 but it was with the Marriage of the Adriatic the An- 
 data alii Due Castelli, as it was called by the Venetians 
 that they were principally concerned ; that characteristic 
 Venetian fete, which soon became famous in all the world. 
 Alexander had comprehended their love of pageants, their 
 luxuriousness, and pride of wealth. 
 
 And now, as if by magic, the Bucentaur appears ; and 
 the dignity and splendor of this galley vastly increased the 
 magnificence and effectiveness of state occasions. It was 
 about twenty-one feet wide in the broadest part, and nearly 
 five times as long. The lower deck was manned by one 
 hundred and sixty-eight rowers, who rowed with gilded 
 oars, while forty other mariners managed the evolutions 
 of the ship. The outside was covered with carvings, and 
 decorated in gold and purple. The prow bore figures em- 
 blematic of the Republic, and the beak was shaped into a 
 Lion of St. Mark. 
 
 The upper deck, devoted to the illustrious strangers and 
 guests of the Republic, and to the Dogaressa and other
 
 10 THE QUEEN OF THE ADRIATIC. 
 
 patrician ladies, was finished in a grand cabin, with a splen- 
 did carved ceiling, and divided by rows of graceful pillars. 
 On the outside this saloon was covered with the richest 
 velvet, and furnished within with luxurious cushions. The 
 Doge had an equally splendid cabin in the stern, encircled 
 by a balcony from which the whole fete could be seen ; and 
 from a second balcony outside the prow he dropped the 
 ring into the sea, proudly repeating the form of words 
 given him by the Pontiff. Sails there were none, but from 
 the top of a huge mast floated the scarlet banner of Saint 
 Mark, with an image of the lion on one side, and of the 
 Virgin Mary on the other, as it may still be seen in the 
 Municipal Museum, and beside this sacred standard hung 
 the white flag, the gift of the Pope. 
 
 The old pictures of the Bucentaur represent her as 
 crowded with ladies in splendid attire, all intent upon the 
 varied and curious spectacle around them. Here was a 
 throng of boats, galleys, feluccas, gondolas, and the small, 
 swift boats which always covered the canals and lagoons 
 wherever there was anything of interest to be seen, as 
 quickly as a crowd on foot now gathers in the streets of 
 a modern city. 
 
 There were the patrician gondolas, each vying with the 
 other in the costliness and brilliancy of its carving and 
 decorations. The houses in the centre, with curtains 
 drawn, revealed the lovely women in their gorgeous and 
 picturesque costumes, and the music of fifes and lutes 
 added to the joyousness of all ; while the sound of the 
 church bells, as they grew more and more indistinct^ 
 served to emphasize the deeper meaning of the day and 
 ceremony, which was almost forgotten in this dazzling 
 scene. 
 
 Then, too, the "Anti-Doge" was always there, the 
 representative of the poor people, chosen by them, and 
 usually the best gondolier among them. On some half-
 
 TO-DAY AND LONG AGO. 11 
 
 ruined boat he held a court of his fellows, all wearing 
 masks. He had his own fifers, who fifed anything but 
 well, and surrounded by hundreds of little boats he per- 
 formed all sorts of buffoonish trioks, now offering to tow 
 the Bucentaur, again begging for a seat on the Ship of 
 State, and all with most ridiculous gestures and in appar- 
 ent good faith. Whatever he did was received with 
 laughter and merriment, not only by his friends but by 
 the patricians as well. 
 
 At length the castles of San Andrea and San Niccolo 
 were reached ; arid just outside them the ring was dropped 
 into the majestic Gulf of Venice. At this moment every 
 sound was hushed. Each one of the vast throng desired 
 to hear the words of the Sposalizio (marriage) ; and im 
 mediately following it the Patriarch of Venice returned 
 thanks to the sea for all its blessings, and prayed for their 
 continuance. 
 
 With the first buzz that indicated the close of these 
 solemnities, the "Anti-Doge" cast an iron hoop into the 
 water, and in a moment gayety reasserted itself. The 
 return to Venice was in some sense a race for the smaller 
 craft ; the Bucentaur and the patrician boats were en- 
 livened by songs and witty persiflage ; and the whole 
 evening was given up to merry-makings of various sorts. 
 
 Doubtless, in the earliest celebrations of this marriage 
 there were those who shook their heads, looked solemn, 
 and tried to be serious and even sad in the midst of the 
 festivity, recalling and regretting the more simple cele- 
 bration of Ascension Day, which had been good enough 
 for their fathers, and was consequently fine enough for 
 them. Such people exist everywhere and at all periods ; 
 but what was the difference ? 
 
 At the end of the tenth century, and almost two hun- 
 dred years before the visit of Pope Alexander, when, as 
 the record says, " there was no custom of triumphs,"
 
 12 THE QUEEN OF THE ADRIATIC. 
 
 Pietro Orseolo returned from his victorious expedition 
 against the pirates aud corsairs of Africa, who had been 
 the scourge of all the coasts of the Adriatic. He had 
 cleared the sea of robbers, and greatly extended the 
 dominion of Venice. 
 
 For the first time a triumphal entrance was involunta- 
 rily made. The grateful populace surrounded the victor 
 and attended him to the Great Council, where the most 
 flattering praises were addressed to him, couched in mag- 
 nificent words. 
 
 Orseolo had set out on his expedition on Ascension Day, 
 and on its first anniversary the Feast of La Sensa was 
 inaugurated. In a large barge, quite concealed by its 
 covering of cloth of gold, the clergy in their richest vest- 
 ments, wearing all the sacred jewels and ornaments, left 
 the olive-groves of San Pietro in Castello, and at the Lido 
 met the still more magnificent barge of the Doge. Then, 
 as in later days, every sort of boat that could be used in 
 all Venice was there, filled with all conditions of people. 
 
 The ceremony began with litanies and psalms, after 
 which the Bishop rose and prayed aloud : " Grant, Lord, 
 that this sea may be to us and to all who sail upon it 
 tranquil and quiet. To this end we pray. Hear us, good 
 Lord." Then the singers intoned, Aspergi me, Signor 
 (Cleanse thou me, Lord), while the two barges approached 
 each other, and the Bishop sprinkled the Doge and the 
 Court with holy water, and what remained was poured into 
 the sea. 
 
 This simple religious rite, celebrated in the enchanting 
 atmosphere of the lovely, blooming season of the year, 
 must have deeply moved the hearts of those who went 
 down to the sea in ships, as who did not in Venice ? It 
 was perfectly adapted to the initial years of a Republic 
 when aristocratic rule was in its infancy ; but two centu- 
 ries later all was changed, and the Spoaalizio was in accord
 
 TO-DAY AND LONG AGO. 13 
 
 with Ziani and his aims as truly as La Sensa represented 
 Orseolo. 
 
 There are those who question all the story of the ro- 
 mantic incidents of Pope Alexander's visit to Venice. To 
 them we would give the customary and most satisfactory 
 answer of the Venetians : " Is it not depicted in the Hall 
 of the Great Council ? If it had not been true, our good 
 Venetians would never have painted it." 
 
 THE BOATS OP MODERN VENICE. 
 
 Most of the craft one sees in Venice now are vastly dif- 
 ferent from those we have been thinking of. The gondolas, 
 alas ! all look as if ready for a funeral, black, only som- 
 bre black. This seems an unnecessary extension of the 
 time when the sins of the fathers shall be visited on the 
 children; for many more than three or four generations 
 have perambulated these fascinating waters in these dis- 
 mal boats. Why should the undue extravagance of the 
 past, which was curbed by this monotonous gloom, forbid 
 a bit of cheerfulness now, hundreds of years later? 
 
 It may be fortunate that the Bucentaur went up in fer- 
 vent heat, for it is more than possible that it might not 
 have realized our ideal of what it should be; and now 
 each one can gaze in imagination at just what he would 
 have made it if he could. But we would like to have some 
 galleys remaining, and rowed by slaves or prisoners. It 
 would afford an outlet for sympathy and pity, the exer- 
 cise of which virtues is good for us, and which are so 
 often, even in Venice, bestowed on those who neither 
 merit nor need them. 
 
 But we have the felucca, the sandolo, the bissone, and 
 innumerable little boats to add life to the canals and 
 lagoons. If we can see numbers of these, with their va- 
 riously colored sails, running the gamut from white to
 
 14 THE QUEEN OF THE ADRIATIC. 
 
 brilliant orange and tawny red, with here and there those 
 that are striped, and many that are deliciously patched 
 and resemble Joseph's coat in their variety of tones, if 
 we can but get all these between the Riva degli Schiavoni 
 and the Isola di San Giorgio Maggiore at the sunset hour, 
 we need not regret not having lived under the Doges. 
 
 Never were colors more picturesquely mingled ; and as 
 they pass to and fro, out from and into the Giudecca, we 
 almost forgive the gloom of the gondolas, especially if now 
 and then one adds its effect in contrast with the brilliancy 
 of the other boats. That marvellous Venetian sunset ! It 
 is an unending subject. One talks of it, writes about it, 
 tries to exaggerate it and fails to do so, and can never 
 think of Venice without recalling it. It is like a vast con- 
 flagration, and its flames seem likely to lap up the water 
 it blazes over, together with all the boats and men who 
 dare to row or sail into its fiery circle. 
 
 But we must not omit the steamboats that now traverse 
 Venetian waters. What can we say of them ? There are 
 two views, each having strong supporters. Perhaps the 
 larger number cry out, "Desecration and deterioration;" 
 but others find them more in the spirit of Venice at its 
 best than anything that is equally prominent in the mod- 
 ern city. 
 
 How eagerly did the old " makers of Venice " seize on 
 everything that could advance her commerce and her trade ! 
 Would they have hesitated to use any power that could 
 save their ducats and their time ? Ah, no ; and the glo- 
 rious new impulse which this age has brought to United 
 Italy finds expression in the revival of her industries, and 
 her adoption of ideas evolved by others while she slept the 
 dreamless sleep from which she now awakens.
 
 Off for a Summer Day,
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 A SUMMER DAY. 
 
 VENICE in summer with a marine artist for a com- 
 panion, could anything be better? An artist 
 from early dawn to dark, from the top of his curly head 
 to the soles of his feet ; an artist who indeed appreciates 
 no, perhaps approves would be more nearly true the 
 pictures of Titian and Tintoretto on a rainy day, but will 
 have none of them in any kind of weather when the sea 
 can be studied and painted. 
 
 The summer is the only season when one can really 
 know modern Venice ; the only time when one can in any 
 good degree separate himself from the long ago and live 
 in the present ; the time when he will, in spite of himself, 
 turn his back on the works of man and live out in the 
 world that God created before palaces and churches, ar- 
 senals and towers, had been invented. 
 
 The most delicious of days is that when in the cool 
 morning we take to our gondola, with our artist and his 
 traps, the books that we think we shall read but rarely 
 do, the fancy work which soon loses its interest, the rugs 
 on which to lie for the afternoon siesta, the basket with 
 the solid luncheon, a second with fruit and sweets, and a 
 third with wine. And when our little maid Anita, so busy 
 in the house that she can scarcely leave it, comes with her 
 gay handkerchief but half arranged about her shoulders, 
 begging pardon for her tardiness and smiling at our gon- 
 dolier, Giacomo, whom she calls her cousin (?), all is ready.
 
 16 THE QUEEN OF THE ADRIATIC. 
 
 We pass into a side canal to do a necessary housekeeping 
 errand ; for we live not in hotels, not we, and some- 
 times, we will admit, our furniture requires repairs, and 
 frequently we must buy some needful article which we fail 
 to find in our " completely furnished lodgings." But the 
 effect of the historic name of our palace is to make us feel 
 so wealthy that we do not regret the lire that we spend 
 with the proper amount of haggling, and our spacious 
 quarters and carved balconies are so inexpensive to our 
 American minds that our padrone hears no complaints. 
 
 Few gondolas are yet moving. Cooing pigeons, pert 
 sparrows, and swiftly circling swallows are searching here 
 and there for any stray crumbs that will afford a morning 
 meal. We stop at a traghetto (gondola stand), and Anita 
 darts away and disappears on her errand. We mean- 
 while watch a great water-barge which has just arrived 
 with its cargo of " sweet water " from the mainland. How 
 weary the men look, and no wonder; for to Giacomo's 
 questions they reply that two days have passed since they 
 set sail. The winds have held them back, but they hope 
 that the same weather may send them home before night ; 
 and as they are safely here, why complain ? The small 
 boats are there ready to receive the water ; and the wheezy 
 little engine soon fills them, and they go off to replenish 
 the public wells by means of their long hose. 
 
 All this time, as we watch these proceedings with inter- 
 est, the artist has been sketching like mad. Theoretically 
 he disdains anything inside the Grand Canal ; but we think 
 that "all is fish that comes to his net" in the way of 
 novelties in Venetian life ; and it is wonderful how many 
 such despised "pot-boilers" he sells. 
 
 And now Anita comes tripping down with the coveted 
 coffee-pot she had begged us to buy now, knowing from 
 experience that we may be too late home to have it ready 
 for the morning. As we move off, we ask the bargemen
 
 A SUMMER DAY. 17 
 
 how much they get for their cargo, and are much excited 
 by their answer, "Cinque lire, signor." One dollar for all 
 that! One loves Venice with a well-filled purse in his 
 pocket, but he would not like to earn his living at Vene- 
 tian prices for labor. 
 
 Now, our business ended, we are really ready to start, 
 and we settle ourselves comfortably to enjoy the sights on 
 either hand. As we come into the Grand Canal, some 
 rosy sunrise colors still linger in the east and remind us 
 of Poussin, who declared when flying from Venice, " If I 
 stay here, I shall become a colorist ! " With this reminder 
 of the glorious canvases on which we turn our backs day 
 after day, and, to be frank, now rarely think of, we wonder 
 at the spell that is over us. 
 
 It is an enchanting spirit of do-nothing that possesses 
 us ; our thoughts wander lazily from one subject to another, 
 but never rouse us to energy of action. We think com- 
 placently of the artistic treasures of every kind which are 
 within our reach, for which when in Boston we long with 
 an energy of desire that would keep us going from San 
 Marco to the Ducal Palace, on to the Frari and other 
 churches, and so through the whole list of " sights " with 
 zealous industry ; and yet, now we are here, we will have 
 none of them, at least not to-day. October will come, and 
 bring another spirit to us. But now Venice is enough. 
 Its changing aspect, its clouds, its islands, its people, in 
 a word, its boat life is enough. 
 
 Leaving thus behind us that great Past which at other 
 times holds us with its wondrous power, we find full com- 
 pensation in the Venice that still lives ; and of this Venice 
 the best part is the water class (if one may use this term), 
 the robust, frank, joyous survival of the old Republic, 
 bubbling and growing into the new Italy of our day. 
 
 A good gondolier, like our Giacomo, is a treasure, the 
 sort of man that helps one to respect the human race and 
 
 2
 
 18 THE QUEEN OF THE ADRIATIC. 
 
 forget how many of another sort one has seen. If you 
 allow him to feel himself to be a part of your life, he will 
 identify himself with your interests, sympathize in your 
 joys and sorrows, and tell you all his own. We must 
 admit, however, that there is another kind, and that a 
 bad gondolier is like a certain little girl whom we all 
 know, from bad he rapidly goes to horrid. 
 
 As Giacomo makes us his confidant, I had almost said 
 confessor, we find the gondolier's life to be a happy one, 
 in spite of its surface seeming of hardship and poverty. 
 They see the sun whenever it shines, and breathe the fresh 
 air; their exercise develops a fine physique; polenta, 
 bread, and wine are delicious with the sauce of a good 
 appetite ; and being a most conservative race, they desire 
 only to be what their ancestors were in past centuries. 
 They go rarely to church. Custom is their religion, and 
 at each traghetto there is an image of the Virgin ready 
 to grant their prayers ; and all their good or ill is promptly 
 referred to " Our Blessed Madonna." 
 
 A country-flitting for a few days in the summer, with 
 half a dozen or more companions, and their little suppers 
 in the winter content them for amusements, while an extra 
 treat of theatre or opera makes them supremely happy. 
 And on festal days who sees more than the gondolier ? If 
 a rowing-match occurs, with what excitement does he 
 defend his favorite champion ! Curiously enough, each 
 contrada, or district, has its own customs and festivals, 
 even its own dialect to some extent ; and while each one 
 knows intimately the affairs of his own contrada, outside, 
 that quarter he knows little, and little is known of him. 
 All this has Giacomo taught us ; and we admire his honest 
 face as he touches his cap and asks the artist where we 
 are to go. 
 
 "Are any large vessels lying off the Riva, Giacomo?" 
 
 "Si, signor" (another touch of the cap), "an Austrian 
 Lloyd came in last evening."
 
 A SUMMER DAY. 19 
 
 " Then let us lie in her shade awhile." 
 
 Coming to our vantage-ground, where even the extra 
 canopy on our gondola could not have sufficiently les- 
 sened the heat of the sun, we prepare for a long stay. 
 
 The water is magnificent. The sands on the Lido 
 have been stirred by the wind, and the opaque green sea is 
 mottled with yellow stains. The fishing-boats are always 
 fascinating, and claim our first attention ; some are already 
 at their anchorage near the public gardens, unloading the 
 " catch " of the night ; others, still some distance out, are 
 tacking and crossing each other's bows in a confusing 
 fashion, led by a procession coming nearer in ; the inany- 
 hued sails with their curious designs full-blown roses, 
 stars or crescent moons, hearts blood-red and pierced by 
 arrows absorb our attention as imperatively as when we 
 first saw them long years ago ; and our artist still puts 
 them on his canvas as eagerly as if he had not done it a 
 hundred times before, and others of his sort a hundred 
 thousand. " Xew every morning and fresh every evening " 
 can be repeated in Venice with rare truthfulness. 
 
 The gondola is moored, and the artist hastily sets up 
 his easel and begins his work. The rowers watch him 
 until they see him quite absorbed, and then by signs ask 
 permission of Giacomo to leave us awhile. A little signal- 
 flag soon brings a row-boat alongside, and takes them off. 
 Anita's fingers are already flying over a piece of pretty 
 lace which is always in her hands when she has a moment 
 of leisure. It is at such times as this that we learn from 
 Giacomo many things that we have not read in books, and 
 question him about the customs we observe. 
 
 To-day a steamboat passing at the moment reminded us 
 that we had heard a reference to a strike of the gondoliers 
 when the vaporetti first appeared at Venice. At a sign 
 Giacomo comes near enough to talk to us in a quiet tone ; 
 and as he advances, cap in hand, Anita cannot refrain from
 
 20 THE QUEEN OF THE ADRIATIC. 
 
 darting a glance at his handsome face, and as quickly look- 
 ing down at the never-ending lace. 
 
 "Do the gondoliers like the steamers, Giacomo?" 
 
 " As the devil loves holy water, signora." 
 
 "Have you ever made any opposition to their being 
 here?" 
 
 " Undoubtedly, signora. When first they began to run 
 between the station and the public gardens, we made a 
 strike." 
 
 "A strike of gondoliers in Venice? How dreadful! 
 How did it end ? Tell me all about it, Giacomo." 
 
 " Con piacere, signora. It was on the Monday before 
 All Soul's Day that we determined on the strike ; and some 
 loose-tongued fellows told our plans, so that the Syndic 
 heard the tale and sent for some leading gondoliers and 
 tried to have them give it up. But we held fast, and on 
 Tuesday morning not a man nor a gondola was found at 
 the traghetti. But at each one the image of Our Lady 
 was decked as for a festival, and the Italian flag was flying 
 to show that we were true to Italy. 
 
 " The Grand Canal was deserted and quiet as the grave, 
 except when a steamer passed loaded with passengers. 
 There were no gondolas at the ferries ; and when the Syn- 
 dic had done his best, there was but one boat to each one 
 of them. Crowds of women waited angrily to go to mar- 
 ket, and all who wished to pass for any reason were scold- 
 ing and cursing the vaporetti on every side. 
 
 " The gondoliers were walking about in slouched hats, 
 and gathering in knots on the bridges and at the street- 
 corners. The wine-shops were full, for the air was keen, 
 and a warm corner was needed when one had no exercise 
 to stir the blood. But there were no riots." 
 
 '* But the gondolas, Giacomo, where were they ?" 
 
 " In the little canals, madama, and so closely packed 
 that one could walk a long way on them in some places
 
 A SUMMER DAY. 21 
 
 and never see the water. It was a sad, sad sight, so 
 many good Venetian boats idle, and those foreign ' puffers ' 
 full of people ! And so Tuesday passed ; and that evening 
 no songs were heard, no stories told, and every gondolier 
 in Venice was as sad as if his mother lay dead." 
 
 " Were there no quarrels, Giaconao ? Did not the women 
 tell the gondoliers that they were wrong ? " 
 
 " The women, signora, were firmer than the men. They 
 hated the vaporetti and cursed them. But on Wednesday, 
 as had been thought, the trouble increased. At every tra- 
 yhetto the Syndic posted a mild appeal to the boatmen, and 
 bade them remember what pride Venice had in her gon- 
 doliers. It persuaded them and flattered them as if they 
 were naughty children, and invited them to meet the town 
 council. They went ; but only talk came of it. The gondo- 
 liers demanded the dismissal of the steamers ; the council 
 refused, and the meeting dissolved quietly. 
 
 *' But what a confusion there was ! You know, madarna, 
 that everybody goes on All Soul's Day to San Michele to 
 lay a wreath on the family graves. Not to do this would 
 make them unhappy all the year. And how to do it on 
 this day was the question ; for not one gondolier in all 
 Venice was tempted, not even by the offer of twenty times 
 his usual fare. 
 
 " Every boat of every sort that was not a gondola passed 
 and repassed many times to the cemetery and back ; and 
 all were full. No doubt the boatmen made a good day's 
 wage ; but the gondoliers had never seen, not even in the 
 carnival, anything so ridiculous ; and that evening when 
 they described to each other the boats and the rowers they 
 had seen, and acted out all these absurdities, you would 
 have thought them the merriest souls alive." 
 
 " But were they so, Giacomo ? " 
 
 "No, indeed, signora: they were miserable. They could 
 not sleep, or if they did they dreamed that they were row-
 
 2 THE QUEEN OF THE ADRIATIC. 
 
 ing over the lagoons, and only woke in wretchedness to 
 find it was not true." 
 
 "And on Thursday what happened?" 
 
 " The gondoliers then took an advocate, and sent him to 
 the Syndic to plead their cause. But the Syndic would 
 not listen ; he would only deal with the gondoliers them- 
 selves, and he began to be severe and to talk of many 
 steamboats running everywhere ; and the gondoliers were 
 told of ' launches ' that could thread the smallest canals 
 better than gondolas ! Alas ! signora, what could be done 
 if this were true? 
 
 "Just then the military and customs officers who had 
 loaned their boats to the ferries sent word that they must 
 have them again ; and an old gondolier whom all the others 
 respected, took his boat out and began to serve a ferry. 
 Instantly the strike was ended. The gondolas were untied, 
 cleaned, and dressed as for a gala-day. The canals and 
 lagoons were soon alive with them, and we had our Venice 
 back again." 
 
 It was the old story. The gondoliers could not be al- 
 lowed to stand in the way of progress, nor could they lay 
 down the law to Venice. But their simple way of going 
 on a strike, and absolute simplicity in ending it, was al- 
 most pathetic ; such children did they seem in comparison 
 with strikers and strikes that we know. 
 
 By this time midday has come, and our very early break- 
 fast calls for an early luncheon. The artist is so absorbed 
 in his work that it seems almost a sin to disturb him ; but 
 in his ardor to-day he has painted so rapidly as quite to 
 satisfy us, and half to content himself, a true artist rarely 
 does more than this. 
 
 After luncheon we try to read ; but the many changing 
 sights and sounds are too distracting for anything that 
 requires thought, and when we read a story on the lagoon 
 we are never able to remember whether the lovers married
 
 A SUMMER DAY. 23 
 
 or were separated by a cruel fate. A sentence is well 
 begun, when a deeper shadow puts a new color on every- 
 thing, and we drop our book to look ; the same sentence 
 is half read a second time, when a fruit-boat laden with 
 piles of green and golden melons and luscious peaches 
 comes so near us that Anita calls out to Giacomo to buy 
 what will be needed on the morrow, and we listen to the 
 chattering and bargaining until that is over; the third 
 time that particular sentence is finished, but just then 
 drowsiness overcomes our brain, and we are asleep. 
 
 We wake to find our rowers in their places, and the 
 day so far spent that we must decide where we will dine, 
 at home, at the Lido, or at our favorite trattoria. To-day 
 we favor the Lido, although we are hungry and the din- 
 ner is not so good as on the Zattere ; but the exquisite 
 outlook at sea and sky, and the mystery of the bit of dis- 
 tant coast, minister to that Venetian appetite of eyes which 
 is never satisfied, and the home coming at night sends us 
 to sleep with such a heavenly vision in our thought. 
 
 Landing rather late at Sant' Elisabetta, we have only 
 time for a quick stroll around our favorite promenade, 
 while Giacomo orders our dinner. The fresh sea-breeze 
 is delicious, and the dim blue line of hills above Trieste 
 seems very near in the clear atmosphere ; we gather a 
 large bunch of poppies and a dainty nosegay of primroses, 
 and then seek the little osteria. 
 
 When we turn our gondola homeward, the afterglow is 
 fading, and the gloaming with its quiet leads the thoughts 
 far, far away. The stars come out, and the rising moon 
 gives just that light that changes all objects into ghostly 
 apparitions. The schooners are phantom-ships ; every- 
 thing that is moving is indistinct and spirit-like, seeming 
 as if suspended and floating in mid-air, until we come 
 nearer to the city and the lights give a new aspect to the 
 evening.
 
 24 THE QUEEN OF THE ADRIATIC. 
 
 The pyramids of lamps on San Marco are all ablaze. 
 Gondolas are hastening to the Piazzetta. The band is 
 playing, and we know how gay it all is. But to-night we 
 turn into the Grand Canal, where we catch glimpses into 
 lighted rooms with richly ornamented ceilings, while from 
 the overhanging balconies come gay voices and musical 
 laughs, sucli as are in harmony with the pearly city the 
 moon is' now revealing; and the artist recites from 
 Longfellow, 
 
 " White swan of cities, slumbering in thy nest 
 So wonderfully built among the reeds 
 Of the lagoon, that fences thee and feeds, 
 As sayest the old historian and thy guest ! 
 White water-lily, cradled and caressed 
 By ocean streams, and from the silt and weeds 
 Lifting thy golden pistils with their seeds, 
 Thy sun-illumined spires, thy crown and crest ! 
 White phantom city, whose untrodden streets 
 Are rivers, and whose pavements are the shifting 
 Shadows of palaces and strips of sky ; 
 I wait to see thee vanish like the fleets 
 Seen in mirage, or towers of cloud uplifting 
 In air their unsubstantial masuury."
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 THE DOGES: THEIR POWER AND THEIR ACHIEVEMENTS. 
 
 THERE is a wonderful fulness and magnificence of 
 sound in the title of the Doge of Venice! It has 
 only been paralleled by that of the Stadtholder of the 
 United Provinces, and excelled by that of the President 
 of the United States. 
 
 Why is this ? Partly because it is a less generic title 
 than emperor, king, sultan, and so on ; and then it was the 
 gift of the people, not a mere accident of birth. A man 
 was already known for strength of character or for great 
 deeds before he received the Beretta. He had attained an 
 influence over other men in such a degree that they were 
 willing to elevate him above themselves. 
 
 In the accounts of the achievements and acts of the 
 Doges, it would seem that their power was absolute ; but 
 the truth shows this appearance to be most deceitful. For 
 while the earliest of these dukes were autocratic, the de- 
 mocracy soon feared the effect of such rulers, and gradu- 
 ally the Doge was hedged in until, in one way and another, 
 he who appeared to govern was more governed himself than 
 were many who surrounded him. 
 
 But when, in 697, Luca Anafesto was elected the first 
 Doge of Venice, and in the church of his own parish was 
 seated in an impromptu chair of state, and invested with 
 a crown of gold and a sceptre of ivory, he thereby acquired 
 vast power. He was not only the head of civil and mili- 
 tary affairs, but of the Church as well, since the purely
 
 26 THE QUEEN OF THE ADRIATIC. 
 
 spiritual matters only were controlled by the clergy. His 
 Serenity alone could convoke the church assemblies ; and 
 no deacon, bishop, or patriarch could be chosen or con- 
 firmed in office without his sanction. 
 
 In fact, he was a Sovereign, for the Tribunes were subor- 
 dinate to the Doge ; and for twenty years Anafesto reigned 
 supreme. But in that time the public vacillated curiously 
 as to how they would be governed. Theoretically they 
 were a democracy, and monarchy was an experiment ; and 
 for centuries a semi-civil war existed in Venice, degener- 
 ating at times into actual anarchy. 
 
 The name of Doge was given up, and that of Magister 
 (Master) was adopted ; again Doge was in favor, and not 
 infrequently those who bore the dignity of that office were 
 blinded, insulted, exiled, and even murdered. To change 
 the Doge seemed to be the only panacea which occurred 
 to the Venetians in times of difficulty ; and erelong what 
 at the first glance seems an honor came to be, in fact, a 
 serious danger, a position subject to suspicions, jealousies, 
 and conspiracies. 
 
 Like the stories of the early days of other nations, that 
 of Venice is largely mythical, confusing, and confused ; and 
 not until Giovanni Sagornino (John of Venice, and Deacon 
 John, as he is called) wrote a connected and trustworthy 
 story of his own time, can we clearly trace the course of 
 events. 
 
 From 976 on through the dogates of the Orseoli and the 
 Michieli, the external history of Venice is told by recount- 
 ing the fightings with Dalmatians and other neighbors, 
 and even with the Normans at Naples, and the story of 
 the earlier crusades ; while its internal history is a strange 
 mixture of plots and counterplots on the one hand, and 
 the endeavors of those who had learned the value of law 
 and order, on the other, to bring about some conditions on 
 which all could rest with confidence.
 
 I
 
 Ducal Palace.
 
 THE DOGES: THEIR POWER AND ACHIEVEMENTS. 27 
 
 The manner of electing the Doge during three centuries 
 was very curious, but after all not unlike the methods of 
 politics almost everywhere. There are always bold, enter- 
 prising men who seem born to be leaders, and others who, 
 through family tradition or great wealth, appropriate to 
 themselves prominent positions. These classes existed in 
 Venice, and they held what we should call caucuses, and 
 decided who suited them best for Doge. Of course there 
 were compromises to be made before these leaders could 
 agree ; but at last a sort of mass-meeting was called in San 
 Marco, and the people were advised as to who they should 
 elect. Naturally, he who was thus easily exalted could be 
 as easily destroyed ; and the inspiriting cries of Provato, 
 Provato (Approved), which arose like thunder-tones to an- 
 nounce the will of the people, must have had an undertone 
 on a purely minor key, in spite of the honor and dignity 
 they conferred. 
 
 Vitale Michieli II., who came into power in 1117, was 
 the last Doge elected by this dubious form of universal 
 suffrage. The people had grown in experience and intel- 
 ligence, and demanded more real power for themselves. 
 
 A century had now passed since Venice had begun to 
 replace the mud huts and primitive houses of her found- 
 ers and their descendants with marble palaces ; and the 
 churches and monasteries of the tenth and eleventh cen- 
 turies show full well the riches of the Republic at that 
 period, and foreshadow the abounding magnificence which 
 followed so rapidly. But this wealth was not distributed 
 among the people, as the privileges of salt-gathering and 
 fishing had been among the primeval dwellers on these 
 islands. 
 
 The fact that San Marco, the Ducal Palace, and the first 
 Public Hospital were all founded by one Doge, Orseolo I., 
 from his private fortune at the close of the tenth century, 
 and even the wills of the Patriarch Fortunato in 825, and
 
 28 THE QUEEN OF THE ADRIATIC. 
 
 of other wealthy patricians, prove how riches were massed 
 in certain families ; and these families also absorbed the 
 honors of the Republic. 
 
 The names of the Orseoli, Michieli, Dandolos, Conta- 
 rinis, Morosinis, Tiepolos, and others occur ad tnjSn&ttm, 
 alternating in the story of the glories and riches of Mediae- 
 val Venice. They were all patricians (Maffgiori), and a, 
 wide chasm now separated them from the lower classes 
 (Mediocri and Minori). The former had sufficient means 
 to stay at home, while the two latter were forced to follow 
 various maritime occupations ; and it soon came about that 
 all the larger ships were owned by Patricians, were fitted 
 out by them, and brought back to them the gold which 
 gave them their power. In short, Venice, calling herself 
 a Republic, was governed by an Oligarchy, by a few 
 families who now owned almost all the soil outside of 
 that in possession of ecclesiastical establishments. 
 
 One custom which had greatly furthered the establish- 
 ment of the aristocracy was discontinued in 1033 ; this 
 was the association of the son of the Doge with his father 
 in the power and responsibility of the office, which directly 
 tended to making it hereditary. But in spite of reforms, 
 only patricians held the civil, military, naval, or ecclesi- 
 astical offices ; only patricians governed the provinces ; the 
 judicial and episcopal benches were filled by the same 
 class, and to them alone had the Beretta and the Pallium 
 been given. In five centuries, as frequently as the Doges 
 had succeeded each other, but nineteen families had been 
 honored with this office, which had now assumed a power 
 as independent and a magnificence as imposing as those 
 of the rulers of Germany or France. 
 
 After reading of the power, wealth, and influence of 
 the Venetian Republic in 1172, we are surprised to learn 
 that its population was but sixty-five thousand ; and yet, 
 even with this small number, the Arrengo (General Assem-
 
 THE DOGES: THEIR POWER AND ACHIEVEMENTS. 29 
 
 bly), consisting of all male inhabitants, had become a 
 troublesome body, and hitherto no measure was valid that 
 had not been passed by it. 
 
 The Patricians found themselves between two fires, 
 the Arrengo on the one hand, where the poorest and most 
 ignorant of the Minor! had equal rights with themselves, 
 and on the other hand the Doge, who was elected for life, 
 and whose power was only modified by two Councillors, 
 who might easily be entirely in his control. 
 
 The assassination of Michieli III. in 1172 afforded an 
 opportunity for changes, and the increasing dissatisfaction 
 of the aristocracy now culminated in a reform of the Con- 
 stitution, which ended in a division of Venice into six 
 wards, from each of which two deputies appointed forty 
 members of a Great Council (Consiglio Grande), which 
 was to be the general legislature, elected annually on Sep- 
 tember 29. The Arrengo was not abolished, but would be 
 convened only on occasions of vast importance, such as a 
 Declaration of War, the Election of a Doge, or the making 
 of a Treaty of Peace. 
 
 This measure seemed very harmless, as there were no 
 limitations to the rank of a Councillor ; but the Patricians 
 well knew that the Deputies would be of their order, and 
 each of these could appoint four members of his own fam- 
 ily ; and as almost from the first the meetings of the 
 Council were held with closed doors, it soon became anj- 
 thing but a democratic body. 
 
 Having thus largely extinguished the power of the 
 people, the Patricians proceeded to limit that of the Doge. 
 The Council of Two was replaced by one with six mem- 
 bers, who were to advise his Serenity on all matters, and 
 without their approval no act of his could be legal. These 
 Privy Councillors retained their office through the entire 
 Dogate to which they were elected. From the four hun- 
 dred and eighty members of the Grand Council, sixty
 
 30 THE QUEEN OF THE ADRIATIC. 
 
 Senators were annually elected to attend to many matters 
 which did not require to be brought before the whole coun- 
 cil, and to overlook the machinery of the government. 
 
 All this being done, a new Doge was elected in an en- 
 tirely novel manner. Thirty-four of the Grand Council 
 were appointed to choose eleven from their number as an 
 Electoral Conclave ; these eleven were bound by a solemn 
 oath to impartiality, and any candidate who received nine 
 of their votes was declared to be the Doge. 
 
 On Jan. 11, 1173, the eleven met in San Marco with 
 open doors, and in the presence of a vast conclave elected 
 Orio Malipiero, one of their own number. But he diffi- 
 dently declined the office, and begged permission to nomi- 
 nate Sebastiano Ziani, as better qualified for this exalted 
 station. 
 
 This nomination was accepted, and from the high altar 
 of San Marco the Procurator announced to the people, 
 using the new formula, " This is your Doge, if it pleases 
 you" (Questo e vostro doge, se vi piacera), and the people 
 responded with shouts and acclamations. 
 
 That all this was not as spontaneous as it appeared, was 
 soon demonstrated ; for when Ziani was carried around 
 the Piazza in a wooden chair by some workmen from the 
 Arsenal, he distributed liberally to the people money 
 stamped with his own name, which had been expressly 
 prepared for the purpose. This unusual liberality alarmed 
 the jealous Patricians, and at once a law was made that 
 only a newly elected doge should be permitted to distribute 
 largesse, and he not less than one hundred nor more than 
 one hundred and fifty ducats. This money was called 
 Oselle, and was specially coined for the purpose. 
 
 Returning to the cathedral, Ziani was solemnly invested 
 with the crown and sceptre. Thus began his important 
 reign, which lasted but five years and a quarter, and ended 
 in his voluntary abdication. The enormous wealth of
 
 THE DOGES: THEIR POWER AND ACHIEVEMENTS- 31 
 
 his family was said to have been founded by the good 
 fortune of an ancestor who found in the ruins of Altino 
 a golden cow which had been dedicated to the service of 
 Juno. However it may have been, this tradition gave rise 
 to the saying, " He has the cow of Ziani," when speaking 
 of a wealthy man. 
 
 By the advice of Ziani, the Bank of Yenice was estab- 
 lished, and was the first institution of its kind in Europe. 
 During his reign Venice bore her part in the siege of 
 Ancona, which so alarmed the Greek Emperor that he, so 
 to speak, bought back his former ally by a treaty which 
 bound him to pay Yenice one thousand and five hundred 
 solid pounds of gold; but his most important political 
 acts were those already recounted in the reconciliation of 
 Alexander III. and Frederick Barbarossa. 
 
 Ziaui did much for the improvement of the Piazza, and 
 extended it by removing buildings which were falling into 
 ruin. He embellished the whole city by the construction 
 of elegant bridges ; but tradition teaches that his greatest 
 architectural achievement was the taking down of the 
 Church of San Geminiano, in order to enlarge San Marco, 
 which he did at his own cost. 
 
 Before demolishing the sanctuary, Ziani applied to the 
 Pope for his sanction of the act. The Pope answered that 
 he could not authorize a sacrilege, but he could be very 
 indulgent after it had been committed. The church soon 
 disappeared, and its destruction gave rise to a curious cus- 
 tom. For many succeeding years, on an appointed day, 
 the Doge, attended by a brilliant retinue, repaired to the 
 Piazza, where he was met by the cure* of the parish with 
 his clergy. The cure* asked, " When will your Serenity 
 be pleased to restore my church on its former site ? " 
 
 " Next year," the Doge annually replied, and broke the 
 promise as often.
 
 32 THE QUEEN OF THE ADRIATIC. 
 
 ENRICO DANDOLO. 
 
 From the abdication of Ziani to the election of Dandolo, 
 in 1193, there were no incidents in the story of Venice 
 that do not fade before the tremendous achievements of 
 the fiery old man, eighty-six years old when elected, who 
 for twelve years labored to exalt Venice and humble the 
 Greeks, and, finally dying at Constantinople, which he 
 had twice conquered, was buried in St. Sophia, far from 
 his beloved San Marco, and the city for which he gave 
 his life. 
 
 The oath taken by Dandolo at his institution in the 
 Dogate is the first promissione which has been preserved. 
 By it he was bound, by all possible pledges, faithfully to 
 execute the laws of the Republic, to submit his private 
 affairs to the common courts, to write no personal letters 
 to the Pope nor any ruler, and to maintain at his own 
 cost two ships of war. To such lengths had the jealousy 
 of the Patricians already reached that the Done was little 
 more than the figure-head of the Republic. 
 
 The reign of Dandolo opened with the usual conflicts 
 with the Pisans, Dalmatians, and any other neighbors 
 who were troublesome to the Venetians at that time, none 
 being of unusual importance. But when, in 1195, Inno- 
 cent III. ascended the papal throne, he initiated the 
 preaching of a Crusade destined to result in the glory of 
 Dandolo and Venice, but not in the conquest of the Sara- 
 cens nor the possession of Palestine. 
 
 Innocent, but thirty-six years old, ambitious and ener- 
 getic, soon brought to his allegiance all the powers of 
 Europe except the Republics of Pisa and Venice. Dandolo, 
 with his bravery and inflexibility of purpose, was a formi- 
 dable opponent, and when at last his concurrence was 
 sought, he was asked to aid the Crusade for gain and not 
 as a subject of the Pope.
 
 THE DOGES: THEIR POWER AND ACHIEVEMENTS. 33 
 
 In France the preaching of Foulkes of Neuilly attracted 
 thousands to his standard. Hazlitt says : 
 
 "The streets of Paris, the banks of the Maine, and the 
 plains of Champagne were deserted. Doctors left their pa- 
 tients ; lovers forsook their mistresses. The usurer crept 
 from his hoard; the thief emerged from his hiding-place. 
 All joined the holy phalanx. The joust and the tourney, the 
 love of ladies, the guerdon of valor, were alike forgotten in 
 the excitement, the tilters taking the vow and assuming the 
 emblem of sanctity ; in a short time the flower of French chiv- 
 alry, from Boulogne to the Pyrenees, was assembled under 
 the banners of Theobald, Count of Champagne, and his cousin 
 Louis, Count of Blois and Chartres." 
 
 Remembering the terrible disasters that had attended 
 the former Crusades in reaching the Holy Land, these 
 leaders resolved to invite the Venetians to furnish ship- 
 ping to transport soldiers and horses to Palestine. 
 
 An embassy of six French noblemen was sent to Venice, 
 which city they reached on Feb. 15, 1201. Among them 
 was one gratefully remembered by us for his record of 
 events which tells us much that the Venetian writers 
 quite ignored ; in fact, some of them make no pretence of 
 regarding the whole affair as anything but an opportunity 
 to increase the glory of the Venetians. 
 
 The French ambassadors did not attempt to ignore the 
 vast power of the Venetians to aid or hinder them in the 
 prosecution of the Crusade. Men and money they had in 
 plenty, but with prayers and tears they entreated Venice 
 to furnish them with ships. Indeed, according to Ville- 
 hardouin, the Crusaders were accomplished in weeping, 
 and shed tears copiously on all occasions of joy, sorrow, 
 or devotion. 
 
 There were repeated assemblies of the various councils, 
 and after each of these Dandolo required some days for 
 
 3
 
 34 THE QUEEN OF TllE ADRIATIC. 
 
 reflection; but at length it was agreed that the Crusaders 
 should assemble at Venice on the 22d of June in the 
 following year, when they should be provided with trans- 
 ports for thirty-five thousand men and forty-five hundred 
 horses ; it was also promised thas these men and horses 
 should be supplied with provisions for a year, and be taken 
 wheresoever the service of God required. Then, with 
 true Venetian magnificence, the armament was to be in- 
 creased by fifty galleys at the expense of the Republic. 
 For all this the French promised to pay eighty-five thou- 
 sand marks (170,000) in four instalments. 
 
 These conditions being settled, a grand convocation 
 was called in San Marco, where ten thousand of the peo- 
 ple, after the Mass, were humbly entreated to assent to 
 the wishes of the ambassadors, a harmless deceit of these 
 so-called Republicans. Villehardouin made a moving 
 appeal, watered with tears, and declared that the ambas- 
 sadors would not rise from their knees until they had 
 obtained consent to their wishes. 
 
 " With this the six ambassadors knelt down, weeping. The 
 Doge and the people then cried out with one voice, ' We grant 
 it, we grant it ! ' And so great was the sound that nothing 
 ever equalled it. The good Doge of Venice, who was most wise 
 and brave, then ascended the pulpit and spoke to the people. 
 ' Signori,' he said, 'you see the honor which God has done you, 
 that the greatest nation on earth has left all other peoples in 
 order to ask your company, that you should share with them 
 this great undertaking, which is the conquest of Jerusalem.' " 
 
 Let us for a moment picture this scene, one of the most 
 unusual in history. It was a winter afternoon, when the 
 choir and altars alone could have light enough to relieve 
 the gloom of the cathedral, filled by an excited crowd, 
 each man of which felt the responsibility (we know with 
 how little reason) of the "Yes " or "No " he was to speak.
 
 THE DOGES: THEIR POWER AND ACHIEVEMENTS. 35 
 
 There was no humility here, such as the foreign nobles 
 were accustomed to ; these sea-faring, weather-beaten men 
 looked on them as equals. 
 
 Before the high altar, where the silvery hair and ducal 
 robes of Dandolo were glistening in the light, knelt these 
 splendidly attired nobles, weeping and begging for what 
 these poor vassals believed that they could grant or with- 
 hold. We cannot imagine the varied and overpowering 
 emotions that ascended with that shout of "Concediamo," 
 nor the echoes of the great dome that hung so gloomily 
 over all. 
 
 The treaty, written on parchment, and strengthened 
 with oaths and seals, was despatched to Innocent for his 
 approval, and all Venice began to hum with the unusual 
 preparations for the expedition. The small coins were 
 found insufficient to pay the necessary workmen at the 
 arsenal ; and a new silver coin, stamped with the effigy of 
 Dandolo, was issued for their payment. 
 
 Besides the many ships to be built, there was armor to 
 be furnished for a host; catapults and battering-rams 
 must be made ready; the Venetian galleys were to be 
 provided with lofty towers to be used in attacking for- 
 tresses on the seashore; while an enormous amount of 
 grain, food, wine, swords, daggers, and battle-axes, thou- 
 sands of bows and tens of thousands of arrows with metal 
 tips, as well as supplies of cordage, oars, sails, anchors, 
 and chains, and many other things, must be made ready 
 to load one hundred and ten large store-ships. And for 
 all this but sixteen months of hand labor ! 
 
 The vast amount of stores always kept in Venice were 
 insufficient, and men and ships must be spared to go in 
 search of materials. The laborers were divided and sub- 
 divided, and employed both day and night. The whole 
 work went on as if by magic. As soon as a transport or 
 galley was completed, it was launched, and another rose in
 
 36 THE QUEEN OF THE ADRIATIC. 
 
 its place ; Venice bustled with labor and bristled with its 
 results, and seemed a vast Babel for noise. 
 
 At San Niccolo and elsewhere on the Lido, barracks for 
 troops, stables, and storehouses were built, provisions were 
 abundantly supplied ; and the skilful and generous man- 
 ner in which Venice fulfilled her great contract would 
 have made her famous, had this not been eclipsed by 
 greater deeds. 
 
 As it became known in all Europe that Venice had 
 undertaken the transport of the Crusaders, adventurers 
 began to pour into the city. They came singly and in 
 bands, until early in 1202 fifteen thousand had gathered ; 
 and this number was nearly doubled by June. These 
 strangers added greatly to the gayety of life in Venice; 
 for, bent upon dangerous adventures, they were deter- 
 mined to amuse themselves while they could. They 
 explored the lagoons in the fascinating barchette by day, 
 and by night told stories of love and war, and woke the 
 echoes to the unusual sound of the national airs of many 
 nations and tribes, all more or less martial and inspiriting 
 as heard from one island to another. 
 
 But alas ! as month followed month and the expedition 
 did not move, when it began to be whispered that the 
 barons could not fulfil their engagements, these harmless 
 amusements changed to drinking and gambling and such 
 other license of behavior as often led to fatal quarrels. 
 
 The leaders who had come at the appointed time were 
 shocked by the absence of numbers of those who should 
 have brought their share of men and money. There had 
 been great discouragements; young Thibault of Cham- 
 pagne, their chosen leader, had died; and in the long 
 time that had elapsed since the treaty was made, many 
 impatient spirits had embarked from other ports and 
 taken various routes to Palestine. 
 
 Boniface, Marquis of Monteferrato, was now the leader
 
 THE DOGES: THEIR POWER AND ACHIEVEMENTS. 37 
 
 of the Crusade ; and he and the other nobles, after strip- 
 ping themselves of money, jewels, and other valuables, were 
 still unable to pay the last thirty-two thousand marks of 
 their debt. The situation was deplorable ; the crowded bar- 
 racks were full of disease, and many were dying daily, and 
 no one could see any prospect of relief. Even Dandolo was 
 touched by the troubles and the devotion of the barons; 
 and now came his temptation, for it is not probable, 
 as some authors seem to believe, that he could have seen 
 the end from the beginning; but his patriotism, which 
 we must allow to have been a refined sort of selfishness, 
 suggested to him a compromise which was finally made. 
 
 Dandolo proposed that in consideration of the debt still 
 due, the Crusaders should join with the Venetians in 
 subduing Zara, that ever-turbulent and ever-rebelling 
 city. The larger part of the Crusaders made no objection 
 to this plan ; a smaller number thought it wrong for sol- 
 diers of the cross to turn their arms against Christians, 
 and feared the disapproval of the Pope. No telegraphs 
 nor submarine cables existed; to consult his Holiness 
 would require months, and meantime the debt could be 
 paid by taking Zara, and they might be landed in Pales- 
 tine. The condition of the idle soldiers became more and 
 more alarming; and when the Venetians answered the 
 objections of the Cardinal-legate, Peter of Capua, in 
 abrupt fashion, and he left the Crusaders to their fate, the 
 bargain was soon closed and all arrangements completed. 
 
 But one thing remained to be settled, the choice of a 
 commander of the fleet ; and this was accomplished on a 
 Sunday, in San Marco. The importance of the occasion 
 drew all the inhabitants, and indeed, all strangers who could 
 find a place, to the Cathedral and the Piazza. Patricians, 
 barons, statesmen, soldiers, and the people, all were there, 
 as well as ladies in rich brocades, with necklaces of pearls 
 and precious stones and priceless jewels in their hair.
 
 38 THE QUEEN OF THE ADRIATIC. 
 
 The crimson, scarlet, and purple robes of the statesmen 
 with their diamond or gold buttons, the full armor of the 
 barons and knights, almost as brilliant as jewels, the 
 helmets and shields held by the pages, all served to render 
 it a scene of dazzling brilliancy; while the splendid hang- 
 ings and decorations of San Marco, the costly vessels of 
 gold upon its altars, and the gorgeous vestments of the 
 priests served to impress the strangers with the dignity 
 and wealth of the Republic. 
 
 The silks ceased to rustle, and the swords and battle- 
 axes to clink, as the acolytes took their places ; and the ser- 
 vice seemed about to begin, when suddenly the Doge arose 
 and majestically ascended the pulpit. He was ninety-five 
 years old, and erect as in youth ; his ruddy face and large 
 blue eyes, which did not show their dimness of sight, 
 spoke not half his age ; the furrows across his brow alone 
 indicated the experiences and the years that he had passed 
 through, and the ducal crown was never worn with more 
 majestic dignity. Every sound was hushed, and in the 
 farthest corner of San Marco could his words be heard : 
 
 " 'Signori, you are associated with the greatest nation in the 
 world in the most important matter which can be undertaken by 
 men. I am old and weak, and need rest, having many troubles 
 in the body ; but I perceive that none can so well guide and 
 govern you as I who am your lord. If you will consent that I 
 should take the sign of the cross to care for you and direct you, 
 and that my son should, in my stead, regulate the affairs of the 
 city, I will go to live and die with you and the pilgrims.' 
 
 "When they heard this, they cried with one voice, 'Yes, we 
 pray you, in the name of God, take it and come with us.' 
 
 "Then the people of the country and the pilgrims were greatly 
 moved and shed many tears, because this heroic man had so 
 many reasons for remaining at home, being old. But he was 
 strong and of a great heart. He then descended from the pulpit, 
 and knelt before the altar weeping; and the cross was sewn upon 
 the front of his great cap, so that all might see it. And the 
 Venetians that day in great numbers took the cross."
 
 THE DOGES: THEIR POWER AND ACHIEVEMENTS. 39 
 
 THE CRUSADERS AND DANDOLO AT ZARA. 
 
 All preliminaries being settled, and Raniero Dandolo 
 made Vice-Doge during his father's absence, the embarka- 
 tion of the army was begun. This furnished one of those 
 spectacles so frequent in mediaeval Venice, and was 
 watched for days by all the city. 
 
 As yet no restraint had been put upon the luxury of 
 dress and display of wealth which the Venetians loved ; 
 and the guilds of the city, each in its appropriate costume, 
 presented a brilliant and picturesque assembly whenever 
 the pageants of which they were so fond brought them 
 together in large numbers. And where do the conditions 
 afford so beautiful a setting to artistic display as in this 
 wonderful city of the sea ? Where else would silks and 
 velvets, precious stones, and gold and silver work seem 
 so suitable as in this "Queen of the Adriatic," rising from 
 its many-tinted waters sparkling beneath a southern sun? 
 
 The noble war-horses of the Frenchmen, led unwillingly 
 upon the vessels, were an astonishing spectacle to the 
 Venetians, and would be so still, since recently a single 
 horse at San Lazaro was mentioned as one of the sights 
 of Venice by our landlord! 
 
 To the French, German, and Flemish Crusaders the 
 Venetian war-ships, huge in size, with deck upon deck 
 and above all great towers, were equally marvellous. So 
 heavy were they that in addition to sails each one required 
 fifty oars with four men to each oar. The finest of these, 
 called " The World, " was venerated by the Venetians ; for 
 not only was it the largest ship afloat, but it had proved 
 invincible in former battles. 
 
 As the four hundred and eighty vessels were filled, one 
 by one they proceeded down the Grand Canal and anchored 
 off the Castle, until the galleys, transports, and long boats 
 extended for miles on the Venetian waters. The excite-
 
 40 THE QUEEN OF THE ADRIATIC. 
 
 ment can scarcely be described. " Bound for Palestine ! 
 To deliver Jerusalem! To exterminate the Infidels!" 
 These cries aroused the people to the greatest enthusiasm, 
 and helped the Venetian women, though not without tears 
 and anguish, to bid God-speed to those they held most 
 dear. 
 
 A part of the vessels were sent off in advance ; and a 
 week later, on a brilliant October day, the remaining 
 fleet departed. From the masts fluttered the standards of 
 Venice and of all the chief countries of Europe, as well 
 as the rich gonfalons and banners of the nobles; while 
 above every mast arose the sacred cross. The ships were 
 filled to their summits with soldiers, their armor glisten- 
 ing in the sun; while the sides of the principal vessels 
 were hung with the emblazoned shields of the nobles they 
 carried. 
 
 Early in the morning the Doge and the barons heard 
 Mass in San Marco, and from there, in grand procession, 
 marched to the quay to the music of silver trumpets and 
 cymbals. Barges were waiting to convey them to the ships ; 
 and as they embarked, hundreds of barchette and other 
 small boats filled with ladies and children surrounded 
 them, and followed to witness the departure of the fleet, 
 and wave their final farewells to husbands and fathers, 
 sons and lovers. 
 
 Each noble had his own ship, and an attendant transport 
 for horses. Dandolo's galley was vermilion-colored, as 
 if he were an imperial potentate, and his pavilion when 
 on shore was of the same royal hue. The signal for sail- 
 ing was given by a hundred trumpets, and in the castles at 
 the crosstrees of the ships the priests and monks chanted 
 the "Veni Creator Spiritus. " 
 
 As ship after ship left its moorings, as sail after sail 
 swelled before the wind, and the rowers bent to their oars, 
 it seemed as if the whole sea were covered ; and the hearts
 
 THE DOGES: THEIR POWER AND ACHIEVEMENTS. 41 
 
 of those who were left behind were comforted by the feel- 
 ing that no power could withstand so goodly and brave a 
 host. The fleet was watched with straining eyes until 
 but a few white specks could be discerned in the dim dis- 
 tance, and the people returned to their beloved Venezia, 
 seeming now like a vast house of mourning upon which the 
 silence of the tomb had fallen. 
 
 In the Ducal Palace the Marquis of Monteferrato, the 
 commander-in-chief of the army, lay ill, or made a pre- 
 tence of being so. He was attended by the Baron de 
 Montmorency and other nobles, all strict churchmen, of 
 whom it was more than suspected that their delay was 
 caused by fear of the disapproval of the Pope. Two 
 months passed before they joined the Crusade ; and as they 
 moved about the city and sailed on the lagoons, they 
 seemed like the last link between Venice and all that had 
 gone from her. 
 
 The lovely weather which attended the fleet brought it, 
 in spite of some delays, before the fortress of Zara on Saint 
 Martin's eve (November 10). No stronghold in the domin- 
 ions of Venice could compare with this for strength, and 
 a girdle of lofty watch-towers secured it against surprise. 
 It was garrisoned by Hungarian soldiers under fine disci- 
 pline, and the Zaratines were a brave people. Seventeen 
 years had elapsed since they had expelled the last Vene- 
 tian Podesta from their territory, and they had full faith 
 in their ability to repulse an enemy. 
 
 But the Zaratines had not counted on such a force as 
 now besieged them, and on the second day offers of sur- 
 render were made to Dandolo, on condition that the lives 
 of the people were spared. The Doge left the emissaries 
 in order to consult with the barons, and returning to his 
 pavilion found the Zaratines gone, and in their stead the 
 Pope's envoy, Abbot Guy of Vaux-Cernay, who advanced 
 with an open letter in his hand, exclaiming, "Sir, I pro-
 
 42 THE QUEEN OF THE ADRIATIC. 
 
 hibit you, in the name of the Apostle, from attacking this 
 city ; for it belongs to Christians, and you are a pilgrim ! " 
 
 Dandolo was furious, and none the less so when he 
 learned that Abbot Guy had persuaded the Zaratines not 
 to surrender to the Venetians. But a council was called, 
 and the barons agreed with the Doge to resume the siege 
 at once. The abbot had led the Zaratines to believe that 
 under no circumstances would their lives be spared, and 
 the second siege was fiercely contested. On the sixth day 
 the city fell, and was given up to pillage. Fierce quarrels 
 ensued between the French and the Venetians over the 
 division of the spoil ; and this uproar was scarcely calmed 
 before an emissary from his Holiness arrived, calling the 
 Crusaders to account for their present occupation and 
 commanding them to retain no booty. 
 
 The French nobles were greatly disturbed, while the old 
 Doge and his councillors were indifferent to the curses or 
 blessings of the Pontiff, who had directed the barons to 
 hold no intercourse with the Venetians, " except by neces- 
 sity, and then with bitterness of heart. " Innocent expected 
 the Crusaders to proceed at once to Constantinople, and 
 suggested that if the Emperor, to whom he had already writ- 
 ten, did not supply them generously with provisions, they 
 might, "in the name and for the sake of the Redeemer," 
 seize such things as they needed, wherever they could be 
 had. He concluded by commanding them to proceed at 
 once to Palestine, "turning neither to the right nor to the 
 left." This in no wise affected the Venetians. They 
 were excommunicated ; but what of that ? They had 
 demanded their pound of flesh from the Crusaders, which 
 was the taking of Zara, to which the barons had agreed ; 
 and Dandolo, by his addition to the fleet and the army, at 
 his own cost or that of Venice, had left them little cause 
 of complaint of their bargain, since without him they 
 could not even start for Palestine. Whatever future
 
 THE DOGES: THEIR POWER AND ACHIEVEMENTS. 43 
 
 causes of dissatisfaction might arise against him, thus far 
 it had been purely a business transaction between the 
 Doge and the barons. Of the present condition Gibbon 
 says : 
 
 "The conquest of Zara had scattered the seeds of discord and 
 scandal ; the arms of the allies had been stained in their outset 
 with the blood, not of infidels, but of Christians ; the King of 
 Hungary and his new subjects were themselves enlisted under 
 the banner of the cross ; and the scruples of the devout were 
 magnified by the fear or lassitude of the reluctant pilgrims. The 
 Pope had excommunicated the false Crusaders who had pillaged 
 and massacred their brethren, and only the Marquis Boniface 
 and Simon of Montfort escaped these spiritual thunders, the 
 one by his absence from the siege, the other by his final depart- 
 ure from the camp." 
 
 The soldiers became so turbulent as to give constant 
 anxiety to the barons ; and the Zaratines were happy at 
 the enmities among the invaders, and encouraged by the 
 Pope's care for their interests. 
 
 The Crusaders sent humble apologies to the Pontiff, so 
 depicting to him the uncontrollable circumstances which 
 had surrounded them, as in a net, that the heart of Inno- 
 cent was touched, and he sent to Monteferrato his blessing 
 and pardon for himself and the Crusaders. 
 
 But Dandolo told the Nuncio that in the affairs of 
 Venice the Pope could scarcely be interested, since his 
 Holiness had no concern in them, and he neither asked 
 nor desired any communication with the Holy See. 
 
 Dandolo now displayed his remarkable power as a 
 leader. He proposed to the Crusaders that with the 
 Venetians they should winter at Zara. But they, just 
 when they hoped at once to proceed to Palestine, would 
 hear nothing of such a plan, and insisted on their duty 
 to obey literally the commands of the Pope. 
 
 But Dandolo reminded them that in Zara they had
 
 44 THE QUEEN OF THE ADRIATIC. 
 
 spacious barracks and stables ; that they were going to a 
 hostile land where no provision had been made for them ; 
 that the winter voyage was dangerous, and, in a word, 
 that it would be madness to leave Zara before the spring. 
 There was much angry altercation, but the calm determi- 
 nation of the Doge prevailed. Indeed, without his consent, 
 how could they go ? and the army was ordered into winter 
 quarters. Dandolo, Monteferrato, and the barons were all 
 sumptuously lodged ; and the Doge set about measures to 
 insure the permanency of his conquest of Zara. 
 
 The barons were dreading the tedium of an inactive 
 winter, when a new excitement was afforded by the appear- 
 ance at Zara of ambassadors from Philip, Emperor of 
 Suabia. There is reason to believe that Dandolo and the 
 Marquis Boniface (of Monteferrato) had already agreed 
 with Philip that these ambassadors should be sent, and 
 that all which follows and depends upon the proposals of 
 the Emperor had been arranged to gratify the selfish ends 
 of the Emperor, the Marquis, and the Doge before they 
 left Venice at all ; and was to be done at the expense of 
 the Crusaders, and in direct opposition to the desire of 
 Innocent and to the interests of the Church. 
 
 But since the wisest and most erudite of the historians 
 have not discovered the whole truth about this and various 
 other matters of this great crusade, which certainly 
 might with great aptness be called a war of the Venetians 
 against their enemies and for their own aggrandizement, 
 we cannot be expected to do it. 
 
 The ambassadors brought letters setting forth the mis- 
 fortunes of the young Alexius, brother-in-law of Philip, 
 and legitimate heir to the Greek Empire. His father, 
 Isaac, had been blinded and thrown into prison by his 
 own brother, who now usurped the throne. The young 
 prince had wandered over Europe, seeking aid ; and hear- 
 ing of the great number of Crusaders who had congregated
 
 THE DOGES: THEIR POWER AND ACHIEVEMENTS. 45 
 
 at Venice, he had come to entreat them for the restoration 
 of his father. Alexius hastily followed the ambassadors; 
 and Monteferrato, who was his near kinsman, proposed to 
 receive him in accordance with his rank. The troops 
 turned out, the silver trumpets of the Doge sounded a 
 welcome; and leaders, monks, and soldiers alike waited 
 to hear Alexius plead his own cause. 
 
 He had much to tell of his griefs and sufferings, and 
 after rehearsing these he made such royal promises con- 
 cerning the return he would make for their aid as appealed 
 to the Venetians, the barons, the priests, and to the 
 soldiers and sailors as well. He would pay the four hun- 
 dred thousand pounds which the Greeks had long owed 
 the Republic ; he would go himself, or send ten thousand 
 men to join the Crusade for one year, and during his life 
 maintain five hundred knights for the defence of Jerusa- 
 lem ; he would pay large bounties to the rank and file of 
 the expedition ; and finally, he would renounce the Greek 
 heresy and secure the submission of the Eastern Church 
 to the authority of Rome. This last eased the consciences 
 of those who heard him, and even seemed sufficient to 
 satisfy the demands of Innocent III. 
 
 Philip had sent to the Crusaders his own stipulations, 
 which accorded with the offers of Alexius, and it remained 
 for the assembled forces to decide for their acceptance or 
 rejection. The barons felt that the conquest of Constan- 
 tinople was a legitimate object for the Crusaders, as she 
 had been an insurmountable hindrance to the subjection 
 of Palestine. Dandolo straightway perceived the enormous 
 advantages that would accrue to Venice if her chief market- 
 place and source of wealth could be ruled by a "Western 
 power, and we must believe that the pleas for humanity 
 and justice found an echo in all hearts. 
 
 We cannot exaggerate the pitch of excitement to which 
 the debates were now carried. The opposers were those
 
 46 THE QUEEN OF THE ADRIATIC. 
 
 who feared the Pope, and were comparatively few. Weary 
 of all these long delays, they wished only to stand at once 
 on the holy soil they sought to conquer in the name of 
 God and of "his Son. Most of these withdrew from the 
 camp, which was far less harmful to the expedition than 
 to have discontents in their midst. 
 
 At length the Republic of Venice, eight barons of 
 France, and the Counts of Flanders, Blois, and St. Pol 
 confirmed by oaths and seals a treaty of alliance, offen- 
 sive and defensive, which was despatched to Philip for his 
 signature. The advantage to the Venetians seemed all 
 the greater since the Republic had long tried in vain to 
 induce the Greeks to pay their debt ; and it is more than 
 probable that had not the Crusaders sought his aid, Dan- 
 dolo would ha\e endeavored to obtain by the sword what 
 he had failed to get by repeated embassies and urgent 
 solicitations. 
 
 The winter ended at last; and late in April, 1203, the 
 expedition again set sail. The Zaratines at once revolted 
 in celebration of the event ; but the younger Dandolo had 
 little difficulty in re-subjugating them, after which he 
 made such a treaty as ended the rebellions of this turbu- 
 lent people. 
 
 The Crusaders made their first landing at Corfu, and 
 awaited the young Alexius, who had gone to Durazzo to 
 receive the allegiance of the governor. The people of 
 Corfu received him as their lawful sovereign, while the 
 Doge and Boniface treated him with the consideration due 
 an emperor. Serious difficulties now arose among the 
 allies. Those who disapproved of going to Constanti- 
 nople organized a parliament by themselves. Twelve 
 powerful chiefs were openly of this party, and others had 
 promised to join them; they were likely to control more 
 than half of the army. The Doge and Boniface, as well 
 as their adherents, were greatly alarmed by this sedition ;
 
 THE DOGES: THEIR POWER AND ACHIEVEMENTS. 47 
 
 and they, with all the leaders who adhered to the Vene- 
 tians, proceeded to the parliament, taking the young 
 Alexius with them. 
 
 According to Villehardouin, the opposition leaders were 
 on horseback when the Doge and his friends arrived. 
 They dismounted and went to meet their visitors. The 
 Barons then fell at their feet, weeping copiously, and 
 declared that they would not rise from their knees until 
 the others had promised not to leave the army. Dandolo, 
 Boniface, and all of them wept ; never was there a greater 
 flood of tears, and in the end the malcontents agreed to 
 remain with the army until Michaelmas Day, the leaders 
 of the other party swearing on relics, that after that day, 
 at a fortnight's notice, they would provide a fleet for all 
 who wished to go to Syria. 
 
 All Europe was watching the expedition with breathless 
 interest; and as we trace its history, after nearly seven 
 centuries have rolled beyond it, it is full of romantic 
 fascination. Twice have I followed its course over the 
 same waters at the same exquisite season, and no words 
 can exaggerate the loveliness of those summer seas. How 
 much more impressive must it have been when bearing an 
 army with banners, who in their delight sang songs of joy 
 and made the air resound with trumpet tones ! 
 
 "The lovely islands, the tranquil waters, the golden 
 shores, filled those Northmen with enthusiasm, nothing 
 so beautiful, so luxuriant, so wealthy and fair had ever 
 been seen. Where was the coward who would not dare to 
 strike a blow for such a land? " It was a sort of trium- 
 phant procession in advance, for all the islands received 
 Alexius as Corfu had done. At Abydos the harvest was 
 ripe, and the soldiers gladly laid aside their arms to wield 
 the scythe and sickle, replenishing their ships with the 
 new grain. After eight days they were again under way ; 
 and when, on June 24, the fleet passed close to Constan- 
 tinople, all hearts were brave and confident of victory.
 
 CHAPTER IY. 
 
 THE VENETIANS AT CONSTANTINOPLE. 
 
 NINE months had elapsed since the Crusaders left 
 Venice, and no disaster had befallen them. The 
 Adriatic and Ionian Seas were safely passed; threading 
 the Islands of the Archipelago, crossing the ^Egean, and 
 through the Straits of the Dardanelles into the Sea of 
 Marmora, even to the quays of the Byzantine capital, had 
 they come, and no voice or hand had been raised to stay 
 them. 
 
 When a nearer approach revealed to them the beauty, 
 the strength, and the magnitude of the city they hoped to 
 conquer, we may well believe, as Gibbon has said, " that 
 each heart was chilled by the reflection that, since the 
 beginning of the world, such an enterprise had never been 
 undertaken by such a handful of warriors. " Rising from 
 seven hills, the city towered above two continents ; five 
 hundred palaces and splendidly domed churches bristling 
 with spires, were doubled by reflection in the waters, while 
 the ramparts were crowded with warriors and citizens. 
 
 The Emperor, Alexius the Elder, had known all their 
 movements ; but until the fleet was almost at the border of 
 his garden on the Golden Horn, he would not allow tli.it 
 the Crusaders could come as his enemies. When, after 
 some delay, the fleet was anchored off Scutari, and the 
 army encamped within full view of Constantinople, across 
 the Bosphorus, Alexius was filled with alarm, and sent a 
 messenger to the leaders to demand why they had come
 
 THE VENETIANS AT CONSTANTINOPLE. 49 
 
 into his territory, to assure them of his readiness to sup- 
 ply all their wants, and of his unwillingness to injure 
 them, at the same time declaring his power to do so. 
 
 The astonished Crusaders returned a sufficiently clear 
 answer. They declared the Emperor to be a usurper; 
 that the rightful ruler, the son of Isaac, was with them, 
 and if the crown and empire were at once surrendered to 
 him, the Crusaders would ask the young Emperor to par- 
 don his uncle and give him enough to live upon in luxury. 
 They then assured the messenger that unless he returned 
 with an answer assenting to these proposals, he had better 
 not dare to come at all. 
 
 The leaders believed that a large party existed in Con- 
 stantinople who would favor the young Alexius, and 
 deemed it expedient to give this party an opportunity to 
 declare themselves. They manned and armed the galleys ; 
 Dandolo, Boniface, and Alexius were on one, and an army 
 of knights and barons on the others. The walls of the 
 city came to the water's edge for a long distance, and the 
 deep water permitted the ships to approach very near 
 them; the ramparts were filled with spectators, as the 
 grand procession crossed the Bosphorus and halted under 
 their very eyes. Some one near to Alexius proclaimed : 
 " Here is your rightful lord. We come not to harm you, 
 but to protect you if you do right. He whom you now 
 obey rules you wrongfully, against the law of God and 
 man. Here is the real heir. If you do not acknowledge 
 him, we will do our worst against you. V This proclama- 
 tion was received with derision, and the people answered : 
 "We know nothing of him. Who is he?" 
 
 The Crusaders returned to Scutari, and made their plans 
 for attacking the city. So serious a matter as was now 
 in hand overcame all disaffections ; their task seemed 
 hopeless, and every man realized that he must fight for the 
 cause and not for himself. The priests urged the confes- 
 
 4
 
 50 THE QUEEN OF THE ADRIATIC. 
 
 sion on all, advised the making of wills, and held solemn 
 services, praying to all the saints for protection, and 
 promising generous returns for such assistance. 
 
 When all was ready for action, the French undertook an 
 assault by land. The knights with their horses embarked 
 on the transports, which could be opened in such a way as 
 to permit the mounted men to ride across the gangways. 
 The foot-soldiers followed on the larger ships. Alexius 
 went with the barons, attended with all the state possi- 
 ble. The crossbowmen and archers were so placed as to 
 clear a landing; the impatient knights leaped into the 
 water while it was still up to the waist, and, lance in hand, 
 reached the shore. The landing was made without oppo- 
 sition, and the army encamped in the Jewish quarter. 
 
 The Tower or Castle of Galata was taken next morning 
 with little opposition ; by this means the immense chain 
 which closed the harbor, or the entrance to the Golden 
 Horn, was loosened and the Venetians were able to enter 
 with their ships. They surprised the Greek galleys, cap- 
 tured a part of them, and sunk others. Four days were 
 now spent in preparations for the grand attack by sea anti 
 land ; and on the fifth day, which was the 17th of July, 
 the terrible struggle was begun. 
 
 The French conducted the land attack with vigor, and 
 had the Greeks been their only opponents they would have 
 been easily overcome. But the brave English and Danes, 
 the Varangians, as they were called, although the 
 hired soldiers of the Emperor, drove back the invaders, 
 and bravely defeated the attack. 
 
 Meantime the Doge placed a fleet in the Golden Horn, 
 in line along the eastern wall of the city, and began his 
 attack in earnest. Wherever the danger was greatest 
 there was the Doge; and his achievements are almost 
 beyond belief, when his great age and weak sight are 
 remembered. Gibbon was not over-fond of the Venetians ; 
 let us quote his tribute to them on this proud day :
 
 THE VENETIANS AT CONSTANTINOPLE. 51 
 
 "On the side of the harbor the attack was more successfully 
 conducted by the Venetians ; and that industrious people em- 
 ployed every resource that was known and practised before the 
 invention of gunpowder. A double line, three bowshots in front, 
 was formed by the galleys and ships ; and the swift motion of 
 the former was supported by the weight and loftiness of the 
 latter, whose decks and poops and turrets were the platforms of 
 military engines that discharged their shot over the heads of the 
 first line. The soldiers who leaped from the galleys on shore 
 immediately planted and ascended their scaling-ladders, while 
 the large ships, advancing more slowly into the intervals and 
 lowering a drawbridge, opened a way through the air from their 
 masts to the rampart. 
 
 "In the midst of the conflict the Doge's venerable and con- 
 spicuous form stood aloft in complete armor on the prow of his 
 galley. The great standard of St. Mark was displayed before 
 him ; his threats, promises, and exhortations urged the diligence 
 of the rowers ; his vessel was the first that struck ; and Dandolo 
 was the first warrior on shore. The nations admired the mag- 
 nanimity of the blind old man, without reflecting that his age 
 and infirmities diminished the price of life and enhanced the 
 value of immortal glory. On a sudden, by an invisible hand 
 (for the standard-bearer was probably slain), the banner of the 
 Republic was fixed on the rampart, twenty-five towers were rap- 
 idly occupied, and, by the cruel expedient of fire, the Greeks 
 were driven from the adjacent quarter." 
 
 Fearful for the fate of the French, Dandolo now has- 
 tened to their relief with his troops. The Emperor 
 Alexius had made a sally, but the aspect of his foes terri- 
 fied him more and more. At evening he withdrew his 
 forces, and in the darkness of the night, taking 10, 000 
 and many rich jewels with him, by the way of the Bosphorus 
 he reached obscurity in Thrace. He deserted his throne 
 and his people, his wife and his children, taking with him 
 his daughter Irene alone. 
 
 The chief eunuch of the palace, Constantino, prefect of
 
 52 THE QUEEN OF THE ADRIATIC. 
 
 the treasury, first discovered this flight, and sagely warned 
 the most noble of the Greeks, that they might arrange 
 for the safety of the throne at once. The old Isaac was re- 
 leased from his dungeon, taken to the palace of Blachernae, 
 dressed in royal apparel, and seated on the throne of 
 which he had been so treacherously deprived. His nobles 
 jostled each other in their haste to protest devotion and 
 loyalty ; and when day dawned, messengers were sent to 
 the allies announcing his peaceful restoration, his impa- 
 tience to see his son, and his desire to reward his " generous 
 deliverers. " These last did not forget their rights in their 
 generosity. They would not release the young Alexius 
 until his promises had been made good, and a number 
 of ambassadors were sent to the palace, among whom 
 was our friend, Villehardouin, the scribe. 
 
 When the gates were opened, the Varangian guards, 
 bearing their battle-axes, lined the streets ; in the presence- 
 chamber, which sparkled with gold and jewels, the blind 
 old Isaac was enthroned with his wife at his side, while 
 senators, soldiers, and noble matrons filled the room. 
 The ambassadors, without hesitation, clearly stated the 
 recompense promised them by the young Alexius on the 
 fulfilment of their agreement. Isaac could not under- 
 stand their speech, but their tone impressed him with 
 their determination to have their dues. 
 
 He retired to an inner room with an interpreter, the 
 Empress, and the ambassadors, and there was made to 
 comprehend that he was pledged to submit to the Church 
 of Rome, to aid in the conquest of Palestine, and to pay to 
 the Venetians the two hundred thousand marks so long 
 overdue them. With great prudence he worded his reply : 
 "These conditions are weighty, they are hard to accept 
 and difficult to perform; but no conditions can exceed 
 the measure of your services and deserts." He then 
 affixed the golden seal of the Empire to the treaty; and
 
 THE VENETIANS AT CONSTANTINOPLE. 53 
 
 his son, whose voice he longed to hear, was restored to 
 him." 
 
 On the 1st of August the father and the son were crowned 
 in St. Sophia with grand solemnities. The quarter of Pera 
 was assigned to the French and Venetians, and any regret 
 or fear that existed on either side was concealed by appar- 
 ent content and enjoyment. 
 
 But it was not possible that all the discordant elements 
 which existed within Constantinople before the arrival of 
 the invaders, and those which they added should live 
 together in harmony. It soon became evident that Alexius 
 was most unpopular; his long residence abroad had 
 tinged his manners with a foreign air, and the familiarity 
 in which he indulged the Frenchmen was most distasteful 
 to the Greeks. 
 
 Beneath his gay exterior the mind of Alexius was 
 greatly disturbed. He at once paid the allies all the 
 money that he could possibly control; and small as the 
 sum proved to be it was obtained by violating the sanctu- 
 ary, and sequestrating not only the effects of the late 
 Emperor's family, but also those of such individuals as 
 had fallen under the suspicion or dislike of Alexius IV. 
 The allies, as well as Alexius, realized that time must be 
 allowed for future payments, and that the submission of 
 the Greek to the Latin Church could not be made at once. 
 
 But the alarm of the young Emperor was inexpressible 
 when he reflected that the time agreed upon for the 
 departure of the Crusaders was at hand. The Greeks 
 more than suspected the promises that bound the Emperors 
 to the Latins, and were neither pleased to support their 
 rulers in magnificent luxury nor to pay foreigners for 
 invading their capital. Alexius well knew in what dan- 
 ger the departure of the fleet would leave him, and strove 
 to find a way to detain it. 
 
 He entreated the allies not to desert him until he could
 
 54 THE QUEEN OF THE ADRIATIC. 
 
 establish his power; he represented that his father and 
 he had lost the good-will of the Greeks through their 
 friendship for the Latins, and protested his belief that 
 their departure would be the signal for a revolution which 
 would take away his power to furnish them troops or pay 
 them money. Again the sufferings and dangers of a win- 
 ter campaign in a hostile land were represented ; again he 
 made promises, of payment of his whole debt in the 
 spring, of the immediate organization of ten thousand 
 soldiers and five hundred knights for the service of God, 
 and the supply of all necessary provisions for the allies 
 until the Passover; while to the Doge he promised to keep 
 the fleet afloat until the same time at his own cost. The 
 Patriarch and clergy meanwhile abjured the Greek heresy, 
 which mollified the opposition of the more devout, and 
 finally the time of their departure was deferred to April, 
 1204. 
 
 Alexius desired to visit the cities on or near the Bos- 
 phorus in order to establish his authority and receive their 
 submission, and for sixteen hundred gold crowns a portion 
 of the troops was sent with him. The expedition had but 
 a questionable success, and on his return, early in Novem- 
 ber, he found that a party of foreign soldiers, when excited 
 by wine, had attacked a Jewish quarter and burst open a 
 synagogue. 
 
 Naturally a fierce fight ensued; and some Flemings, in 
 order to cover their retreat, set several houses on fire. A 
 frightful conflagration resulted; for eight days the fire 
 raged, and when at last it was extinguished, a third of the 
 Byzantine capital no longer existed. Several ships in the 
 port had burned to the water's edge; the number of 
 churches and palaces as well as more humble dwelling- 
 houses, the amount of merchandise and other wealth that 
 had been destroyed, was unknown and unknowable. The 
 district burned was the most populous of the city, and the
 
 THE VENETIANS AT CONSTANTINOPLE. 55 
 
 hatred of the Latins was so much increased that about 
 fifteen thousand colonists, who had before lived quietly in 
 the midst of the Greeks, now fled to Pera to be under the 
 protection of the allies. The whole condition of affairs 
 was most alarming, both for the Greeks and the Latins, 
 and but a spark was needed to kindle another sort of fire 
 that would destroy thousands of lives as well as the city 
 and its wealth. 
 
 The conduct of Alexius began plainly to show his double 
 dealing. The Latins and their reminders of his promises 
 were treated with such indifference as excited their rage 
 and alarm. At length they lost all patience, and in Janu- 
 ary, 1204, sent an embassy of three noble Frenchmen and 
 as many Venetians to demand anew from the two Emperors 
 the fulfilment of their contract, and to add that the Doge 
 and the barons had resolved to take by force what was 
 not peacefully given them. 
 
 This was a dangerous mission; but the six warriors, 
 one of whom was our scribe, with few attendants alighted 
 at the gate of the Blachernae, and on foot, passing between 
 two lines of Varangians, reached the palace. The two 
 Emperors with their families were surrounded by the 
 court ; a brilliant throng of ladies, ministers, and nobles, 
 and an army of attendants filled the hall. 
 
 Conon de Be*thune delivered the message from the allies 
 in a commanding voice ; and, their duty accomplished, the 
 ambassadors retired at once, and fortunately reached their 
 horses in safety. 
 
 Their sudden coming and more sudden going caused an 
 unusual excitement in the city; and when the truth was 
 known, the Greeks were in a frenzy of rage that such an 
 insult had been offered them and the perpetrators of it 
 allowed to depart in safety ; with one accord they turned 
 their wrath against those who had permitted the ambas- 
 sadors to escape their vengeance. They cursed the Angeli
 
 56 THE QUEEN OF THE ADRIATIC. 
 
 as unfit to reign, and Alexius for having sold his country 
 to the Latins ; they swore that the time had come to choose 
 a loyal sovereign who would lead them to glory and 
 freedom. 
 
 The mob destroyed the colossal statue of Minerva in the 
 Square of Constantine, because they believed that her 
 right hand, pointing towards the west, had invited the 
 invasion of the French and Venetians ! A bronze figure 
 of a Caledonian boar in the Hippodrome was accredited 
 with power to charm away sedition, and Isaac ordered it 
 brought within the grounds of his palace ! Such were 
 some of the preparations for the threatened attack of the 
 allies. 
 
 Alexius was enraged, and the blind old Isaac was pros- 
 trated by fear ; the whole city resounded with the din of 
 confusion, and the Greeks resolved on a characteristic 
 revenge, the destruction of the fleet by fire. On a dark 
 winter night a French sentinel was startled by the appear- 
 ance of a broad sheet of flame approaching the Venetian 
 fleet. He gave the alarm instantly, and the alert sailors 
 saw and understood their danger; a line of fire-ships had 
 been lighted and allowed to drift towards the fleet; the 
 sailors hastily rowed towards them, seized them with 
 hooks on long poles, and towed them to the mouth of the 
 harbor, where a current swept them away, the only loss 
 being that of a vessel belonging to the incendiaries. 
 
 A tiresome succession of proposals, made only to be 
 modified or withdrawn, now ensued ; and the Latins deter- 
 mined to be inactive no longer, but at once to attack 
 Constantinople for the second time. 
 
 At this juncture a Greek of a certain sort of influence 
 came to the front. His name was Alexius Ducas, but he 
 was called Marzoufle on account of his shaggy eyebrows. 
 He possessed great energy and boundless ambition, and 
 was utterly void of moral perception or principle. As
 
 THE VENETIANS AT CONSTANTINOPLE. 57 
 
 grand-chamberlain he had been near the Emperors, and 
 gradually had come to be their chief adviser. He flattered 
 them, and incited the people against them; such faith had 
 both father and son in Marzoufle that when the people, by 
 his connivance, assembled in St. Sophia to elect a new 
 emperor, they refused to believe that this was the object 
 of the gathering. 
 
 It was with great difficulty that any one could be per- 
 suaded to assume the purple under the present conditions ; 
 but at last, overcome by intimidation, a young noble of 
 high rank and worthy character, Nicholas Canabes, 
 accepted the diadem. He had no fitness for such respon- 
 sibilities as now rested on the. Greek Emperor. In truth, 
 there was no savior of Constantinople at hand. The 
 strongest man was Marzoufle, and in reality he was con- 
 ducting the affairs of the Empire. Hypocritically he 
 worked his way until he gained the ear of the treasurer 
 and could tamper with the Varangians, and then in a 
 single night he consigned Canabes to a dungeon, and 
 ordered the murder of the young Alexius before his eyes, 
 and a few days later superintended his interment with 
 great pomp. The old Isaac survived his son's death but 
 a few days, and Marzoufle seated himself upon the vacant 
 throne without opposition. 
 
 Immediately after the murder of Alexius, Marzoufle 
 sent an invitation to Dandolo and the barons to sup with 
 the young Emperor, who wished to consult with them. 
 The barons accepted the invitation, and so long as the 
 messenger remained, Dandolo was silent; but as soon as 
 he had departed, the old Doge so forcibly represented the 
 danger of such a step that the acceptance was withdrawn, 
 and, on learning the truth about Alexius, they felt that 
 they owed their lives to the prudence and wisdom of 
 Dandolo. 
 
 Marzoufle was greatly vexed at his failure to entrap the
 
 58 THE QUEEN OF THE ADRIATIC. 
 
 leaders of the allies, but watched carefully for another 
 occasion, which soon presented itself. The Count of 
 Flanders, with a thousand men, went to Phinea, on the 
 Bosphorus, in search of provisions. Marzoufle followed 
 with a large body of troops, intending to meet the French 
 on their return and cut them off when they should be 
 overweighted with booty and weary from their expedition. 
 But this second scheme resulted in favor of the allies ; the 
 Greeks were totally defeated, and Marzoufle himself only 
 saved from being made a prisoner by the fleetness of his 
 horse. 
 
 Having boldly assumed full power, his next move was 
 to invite the Crusaders to a conference in order to make 
 a plan for the fulfilment of the contract made with Isaac 
 and Alexius IV. The Crusaders were now minded to 
 refuse to consult with an assassin and usurper; but Dan- 
 dolo believed that no opportunity for a possible settlement 
 should be neglected, and offered to go alone to meet 
 Marzoufle. Accordingly, the Doge, in his galley, met the 
 traitor near the Golden Horn. Dandolo stood erect in 
 the prow of his barge, Marzoufle was on horseback, and 
 their salutations were distant and formal. Dandolo, after 
 expressing his horror at the crimes which Marzoufle had 
 committed, assured him of the distrust with which the 
 allies viewed him, and then recounted to him the terms 
 of the treaty to which Isaac had set the seal of the 
 Empire. 
 
 Marzoufle assented to all the conditions except that of 
 submission to the Latin Church ; sooner than consent to 
 that, he would bury his country, and himself die beneath 
 its ruins. In vain he was reminded that the Greek clergy 
 had already renounced their heresy; he was immovable in 
 this regard, and the two men parted with no result from 
 their conference except that Dandolo could say that he 
 had used his best endeavors to bring about a peace. A
 
 THE VENETIANS AT CONSTANTINOPLE. 59 
 
 second attempt was soon after made to fire the ships. It 
 proved useless, like the first; and then Marzoufle saw that 
 his only course was to prepare for open war. 
 
 And here one can but admire the ability of Marzoufle. 
 lie found the treasury empty, and replenished it by a 
 strict inquiry into the abuses under the Angeli, and the 
 confiscation of the property of those who had amassed 
 wealth unlawfully. The people were unfriendly to the 
 crown ; but by his address, his gayety, and tact he made 
 himself popular. The Greeks were indifferent to the wel- 
 fare of their city, but under his leading they were aroused 
 to patriotism and energy. The walls were repaired, and 
 in some places raised to a great height; lofty stone towers 
 alternating with those of wood were built and filled with 
 soldiers well supplied with the means of defence ; mango- 
 nels for throwing stones and darts were mounted between 
 the towers, and all possible provision made for harassing 
 the invaders and protecting the Greeks. And Marzoufle 
 was everywhere, with an iron mace in his hand, and the 
 bearing of a warrior, ordering the works, encouraging the 
 timid, and striking terror to the hearts of the discontented. 
 
 The Crusaders were equally industrious in their prepa- 
 rations. The decks of their vessels were piled with 
 enormous stores of missiles and the machines for hurling 
 them, as well as others for belching forth combustible 
 matter freighted with death and destruction. The 9th of 
 April had been fixed for the beginning of the assault, and 
 a council was called and an agreement made concerning 
 the manner in which the booty should be divided, a new 
 ruler chosen, and other similar affairs be settled in case 
 they succeeded in taking the city. An instrument was 
 drawn up, signed, and sealed by Dandolo and the barons 
 at the camp of Galata, and little else remained to be done 
 before the attack should begin. As we regard the posi- 
 tion of the allies, it would seem that madness alone could
 
 60 THE QUEEN OF THE ADRIATIC. 
 
 lead them to this assault. Their temerity is appalling. 
 Before them was an apparently impregnable fortress, and 
 four hundred thousand men, who now had a bold leader 
 and were themselves filled with hatred of their foes. The 
 allies numbered less than twenty thousand, and could 
 neither hope for assistance from friends without, nor from 
 treachery within the walls. They could only rely on their 
 bravery and their good fortune. The Greeks depended on 
 their position and their overwhelming numbers. All alike 
 believed that Heaven would favor them, and thus sustained 
 their courage. Gibbon thus graphically describes the 
 siege : 
 
 "A fearless spectator, whose mind could entertain the ideas 
 of pomp and pleasure, might have admired the long array of two 
 embattled armies, which extended above half a league, the one 
 on the ships and galleys, the other on the walls and towers raised 
 above the ordinary level by several stages of wooden turrets. 
 Their first fury was spent in the discharge of darts, stones, and 
 fire from the engines ; but the water was deep, the French were 
 bold, the Venetians were skilful. They approached the walls ; 
 and a desperate conflict of swords, spears, and battle-axes was 
 fought on the trembling bridges that grappled the floating to 
 the stable batteries. In more than a hundred places the assault 
 was urged and the defence was sustained, till the superiority of 
 ground and numbers finally prevailed, and the Latin trumpets 
 sounded a retreat. 
 
 " On the ensuing days the attack was renewed with equal 
 vigor and a similar event ; and, in the night, the Doge and the 
 barons held a council, apprehensive only for the public danger. 
 Not a voice pronounced the words of escape or treaty ; and each 
 warrior, according to his temper, embraced the hope of victory 
 or the assurance of a glorious death. By the experience of the 
 former siege the Greeks were instructed, but the Latins were ani- 
 mated ; and the knowledge that Constantinople might be taken 
 was of more avail than the local precautions which that knowl- 
 edge had inspired for its defence.
 
 THE VENETIANS AT CONSTANTINOPLE. 61 
 
 " In the third assault two ships were linked together to double 
 their strength ; a strong north wind drove them on the shore ; 
 the bishops of Troyes and Soissons led the van ; and the auspi- 
 cious names of the 'Pilgrim' and the 'Paradise' resounded 
 along the line. The episcopal banners were displayed on the 
 walls ; a hundred marks of silver had been promised to the first 
 adventurers ; and if their reward was intercepted by death, their 
 names have been immortalized by fame. 1 Four towers were 
 scaled ; three gates were burst open ; and the French knights, 
 who might tremble on the waves, felt themselves invincible on 
 horseback on the solid ground. 
 
 " Shall I relate that the thousands who guarded the emperor's 
 person fled on the approach, and before the lance, of a single 
 warrior ? Their ignominious flight is attested by their coun- 
 tryman Nicetas : an army of phantoms marched with the French 
 hero, and he was magnified to a giant in the eyes of the Greeks. 
 While the fugitives deserted their posts and cast away their 
 arms, the Latins entered the city under the banners of their 
 leaders : the streets and gates opened for their passage ; and 
 either design or accident kindled a third conflagration, which 
 consumed in a few hours the measure of three of the largest 
 cities in France. 
 
 "In the close of evening the barons checked their troops and 
 fortified their stations ; they were awed by the extent and popu- 
 lousness of the capital, which might yet require the labor of a 
 month, if the churches and palaces were conscious of their 
 internal strength. But in the morning a suppliant procession, 
 with crosses and images, announced the submission of the Greeks, 
 and deprecated the wrath of the conquerors : the usurper escaped 
 through the golden gate; the palaces of Blachernae and Boucoleon 
 were occupied by the Count of Flanders and the Marquis of 
 Montferrat ; and the Empire, which still bore the name of Con- 
 stantine and the title of Roman, was subverted by the arms of 
 the Latin pilgrims." 
 
 The anxieties and cares of the conquerors were by no 
 means ended by victory. They had overcome the strong- 
 
 1 Pietro Alberti and Andre d'Urboise.
 
 62 THE QUEEN OF THE ADRIATIC. 
 
 est fortress in existence, and were in possession of a city 
 whose vast size and inconceivable wealth (as yet but half 
 known to them) impressed them with their responsibili- 
 ties, and foreshadowed difficulties which must be met with 
 the greatest prudence. The Greeks were a degenerate 
 and effeminate people, demoralized by bad government and 
 pleasure-seeking. In the language of an old historian, 
 they " cheated time and offended Nature, by rearing flowers 
 in winter, and culling in spring the fruits of autumn." 
 Dandolo and the barons perceived that this people must 
 be protected; and how to do this before the whirlwind of 
 profligacy and avarice which was sure to follow, was a 
 grave question. 
 
 "The Marquis of Monteferrato was the model of virtue; 
 the Count of Flanders, the mirror of chastity ; " and they, 
 as well as Dandolo, endeavored to avert the terrors of 
 pillage and rapine. A proclamation was issued in their 
 name, commanding that the helpless and innocent should 
 be spared; and the Count of St. Pol hanged one of his 
 knights, who offered abuse to a woman, with his shield 
 and coat-of-arms about his neck, as a warning that the 
 leaders must be obeyed. But avarice was not checked. 
 The imperial treasury and the arsenal were guarded, and 
 the rest of the city was given up to plunder. 
 
 Under the penalties of perjury, excommunication, and 
 death, the whole body of Crusaders and Venetians were 
 bound to deposit all their plunder, of whatever sort, in 
 three churches selected for the purpose. In spite of all 
 these precautions and the severe punishment of the dis- 
 obedient, Gibbon says that the plunder which was secreted 
 exceeded in value that which was exposed and divided 
 according to the agreement previously made. This may 
 easily have been true of the rare precious gems and small 
 articles of inestimable value which existed in Constanti- 
 nople, but that which was divided far exceeded any 
 anticipations which had been indulged by the leaders.
 
 THE VENETIANS AT CONSTANTINOPLE. 63 
 
 Sismondi estimates that the riches of Constantinople 
 before the siege reached twenty-four million pounds ster- 
 ling. The Count of Flanders wrote to the Pope that the 
 wealth of Constantinople exceeded that of all Europe put 
 together; and Villehardouin declared that never in the 
 history of the world had so great riches been collected in 
 a single city. The property divided was valued at one 
 million eight hundred thousand pounds ; and if Gibbon is 
 correct, the whole booty must have reached four million 
 pounds sterling. In the division half was given to the 
 Crusaders, and half to the Venetians; and the latter 
 received fifty thousand silver marks additional, which was 
 due them from the barons. 
 
 The whole story of the terrible destruction of works of 
 art of bronzes sent to the melting-pot, of marbles and 
 other beautiful statues and ornaments that were ruthlessly 
 broken is heart-rending, but is not strictly a part of 
 the story of Venice, since the ignominy and sacrilege of 
 these deeds belong to other nations as well. Nothing was 
 sacred to the plunderers. Pears tells us 
 
 "Every insult was offered to the religion of the conquered 
 citizens. Churches and monasteries were the richest store- 
 houses, and were therefore the first buildings to be rifled. 
 Monks and priests were selected for insult. The priest's robes 
 were placed by the Crusaders on their horses. The icons were 
 ruthlessly torn down from the screens or were broken. The 
 sacred buildings were ransacked for relics or their beautiful 
 caskets. The chalices were stripped of their precious stones 
 and converted into drinking-cups. The sacred plate was heaped 
 with ordinary plunder. The altar-cloths and the screens of 
 cloth-of-gold, richly embroidered and bejewelled, were torn 
 down, and either divided among the troops or destroj^ed for the 
 sake of the gold and silver which were woven into them. The 
 altars of Hagia Sophia, which had been the admiration of all 
 men, were broken for the sake of the material of which they 
 were made. Horses and mules were taken into the church in
 
 64 THE QUEEN OF THE ADRIATIC. 
 
 order to carry off the loads of sacred vessels, and the gold and 
 silver plates of the throne, the pulpits, and the doors, and the 
 beautiful ornaments of the church. The soldiers made the 
 chief church of Christendom the scene of their profanity. A 
 prostitute was seated in the patriarchal chair, who danced, and 
 sang a ribald song for the amusement of the soldiers. . . . The 
 plunder of the same church in 1453 by Mahomet the Second 
 compares favorably with that made by the Crusaders of 1204." 
 
 Hazlitt adds to his account of the pillage : 
 
 "Gems of the choicest water, vases of inestimable value, 
 relics of odorous sanctity, were pilfered from the altars, the 
 reliquaries, or from private dwellings, by rapacious soldiers, 
 who sold them at a paltry price; and although these matchless 
 rarities were recovered, partly by process of exchange and the 
 ignorance of art, no inconsiderable portion was irretrievably 
 lost. Some, however, found a worthy destination. The proud 
 monuments of human genius, sculptures, paintings, frescos, 
 mosaics, and minerals, which the industry and taste of ten 
 generations of men had gradually amassed in that city of cities, 
 were scattered by this great revolution among the palaces and 
 churches, the castles and abbeys, of Western Europe. Many of 
 the Venetian public buildings were decorated with the trophies 
 which fell to the lot of the Republic herself; and Venice ac- 
 counted no treasures more precious than the four antique bronzes, 
 which were afterward known as the 'Horses of St. Mark.' J 
 
 Many beautiful objects from St. Sophia were also taken 
 to Venice, and placed in San Marco. The high altar 
 with its bronze gates and marble columns was a rich 
 trophy, as well as many sculptures and pictures, vessels 
 of gold and silver, and a great quantity of church furni- 
 ture. The famous picture of the Virgin, believed to have 
 been painted by Saint Luke when inspired by the Holy 
 Ghost, was also obtained by the Venetians, who were 
 accused of having taken the larger share of the spoils and 
 of having concealed many treasures in their vessels.
 
 THE VENETIANS AT CONSTANTINOPLE. 65 
 
 It was not until the 9th of May that attention was given 
 to the important matter of the election of a new Emperor. 
 Six Venetians and six Frenchmen or Lombards, according 
 to the agreement made before the siege, met in the chapel 
 of the Boucoleon to deliberate on this momentous and 
 difficult question. The choice lay between Baldwin, 
 whom the French favored, Boniface, who was the choice 
 of the Lombards, and Dandolo, whom the Venetians 
 believed the most worthy and best to have earned the 
 purple. "That old man," said they, "has gained the 
 wisdom and experience of age without losing the vigor 
 and fire of youth ; his sight may be dim ; but his intellect 
 is clear and strong, it is he who took Constantinople." 
 The electors, too, were of this opinion, until one of the 
 Venetians opposed it, and in a long argument showed so 
 many good reasons against the election of Dandolo that 
 the matter rested between Baldwin and Boniface, and at 
 midnight the expectant thousands heard the cry, "Long 
 live the Emperor Baldwin!" 
 
 Boniface and Dandolo hastened to congratulate the 
 Count of Flanders, and to take their part in raising him 
 on the buckler; according to the ancient custom, he was 
 thus carried from the palace to St. Sophia, and placed on 
 the golden throne of the Emperors, while the barons 
 pressed forward to kiss his hand, and he was solemnly 
 invested with the scarlet buskins. A few days later, he 
 was crowned by the Legate, as no Patriarch then existed 
 in Constantinople. The Venetians, however, soon had 
 the satisfaction of seeing one of their nobles, Thomas 
 Morosiui, on the ecclesiastical throne, while their clergy 
 filled the Chapter of St. Sophia. The French clergy did 
 not regard this with favor, and a lengthy correspondence 
 with Rome ensued. 
 
 At first Innocent declared the election of Morosini to be 
 entirely null; but in the course of the correspondence 
 
 5
 
 66 THE QUEEN OF THE ADRIATIC. 
 
 many considerations were presented to his Holiness which 
 moderated his views. He did not love the Venetians, 
 but he feared them, and thought it wiser to be at peace 
 with them than to arouse their stubbornness. Indeed, 
 Venice now had some claim to consideration at the Vati- 
 can. The restorers of the papal supremacy at the Greek 
 capital were a different people from the conquerors of 
 Zara, and after mature reflection Innocent approved of 
 the elevation of Morosini to the Patriarchate of Constan- 
 tinople. One can but feel a certain sympathy with 
 Innocent at the result of the great Crusade for which he 
 had labored and from which he hoped so much. 
 
 "His long and careful preparations had been defeated by 
 Philip, Boniface, and Dandolo. All the efforts he had made to 
 strike a deadly blow at Islam had come to naught. The prepa- 
 rations made at so much cost had resulted in an attack upon 
 Christians, and not upon Moslems. Constantinople bad been 
 captured instead of Jerusalem. The opportunity, so favorable 
 from many causes, had been lost, and no other presenting equal 
 advantages was ever to occur again. Tbe internal quarrel be- 
 tween tbe Saracen leaders, and the weakening of Egypt by the 
 non-rising of the Nile during a succession of years, were acci- 
 dental circumstances which were never repeated. The supreme 
 moment for striking a blow at the Saracens at a time when it 
 could have been struck with effect had passed. Innocent's en- 
 ergy was too great to allow him to sit idle under the failure, 
 but all his efforts were unable to create an expedition equal in 
 strength to that of 1202." 
 
 Preparations were now made for the second coronation 
 of Baldwin by the Patriarch on a scale of magnificence 
 which surprised the Crusaders. He was again seated on 
 a shield and raised on the shoulders of the chiefs, and 
 then descending was conducted to St. Sophia by the 
 barons and principal officials. Boniface carried the 
 imperial robe of cloth of gold. The Count of St. Pol
 
 THE VENETIANS AT CONSTANTINOPLE. 67 
 
 bore the imperial sword. At St. Sophia a solemn Mass 
 was celebrated, the crown was placed on his head, and the 
 words " He is worthy " pronounced and repeated by the 
 bishops and people. After the new sovereign had com- 
 municated, he received all the imperial insignia, and headed 
 the procession from the church to the Boucoleon, attended 
 by the Varangians. The streets and houses on the way 
 were decorated with all the rich carpets and hangings 
 which had been spared by the three fires and the pillage, 
 and a Frank Emperor was seated on the throne of Con- 
 stantine with the full approbation of the Holy See. 
 
 Again a grave question, that of the division of the 
 conquered territory, occupied the attention of the Doge 
 and the barons. Twenty -four commissioners, one half of 
 whom were Venetians, were authorized to make the allot- 
 ment. Venice received the Morea, the Illyric Islands, a 
 large portion of Thessaly, the Sporades, the Cyclades, 
 the cities of Adrianople, Trajanople, Didymotichos, and 
 Durazzo, the province of Servia, and the coasts of the 
 Hellespont. But with all this, the Venetians were not con- 
 tent. They desired possession of Candia, which had been 
 given to Boniface. This island would be most advantageous 
 to a maritime and mercantile nation ; but of what use to a 
 prince who had neither ships nor commerce? This reason- 
 ing so commended itself to Boniface that he gladly sold 
 the coveted possession to the Republic for thirty pounds 
 weight of gold, or about ten thousand eight hundred 
 pounds sterling. 
 
 Various titles were conferred by Baldwin on the com- 
 panions of his labors and honors. Some of these were 
 most fantastic ; and the one suggestion of the weakness of 
 age recorded of Dandolo is that to his dignity of Doge 
 of Venice, Dalmatia, and Croatia, he added the epithet of 
 "Despot and Lord of One Fourth and One Half of the 
 Romanian Empire ; " and as indicating that he was second
 
 68 THE QUEEN OF THE ADRIATIC. 
 
 only to Baldwin, he claimed the right to tinge his buskins 
 with the imperial purple ! 
 
 Thus far all was well ; but Baldwin and his friends knew 
 that much serious work remained to be done. Other con- 
 quests must be made, and a powerful foe vanquished in 
 Theodore Lascaris, the brave son-in-law of Alexius III., 
 who had many adherents throughout the Empire. But 
 before making any offensive movements it was necessary 
 to obtain provisions and secure reinforcements, which had 
 been promised by the Armenians. The summer was 
 spent in foraging and exploring expeditions, and during 
 the winter the Latins made themselves comfortable in 
 their luxurious quarters. 
 
 Baldwin grew very impatient of the delay of the Arme- 
 nian troops. They were absolutely needful to insure his 
 success in any siege or attack. At last his impatience 
 overcame his prudence ; and in March, a small contingent 
 having arrived, he set out for Adrianople, where in April 
 he was joined by Dandolo and the Venetians, who 
 doubled his numbers. The lofty ramparts of the great 
 city could not be easily taken, nor its numerous garrison 
 hastily overcome. The King of Bulgaria with his troops 
 had come to the aid of Lascaris. Fourteen thousand 
 Comans, who, mounted on their fleet steeds, used their 
 bows and lances with unequalled dexterity, continually 
 skirmished almost within bowshot of the army of the 
 Latins, inspiring even these brave soldiers with doubt 
 and hesitation. At length, however, these taunts pro- 
 duced their effect, and the whole Crusading army were 
 eager to chastise the insolence of these barbarians. Even 
 Dandolo, "the Prudent of the Prudent," was as much in 
 favor of an attack as he was ignorant of its risks ; and it 
 was settled that he, with a few of the barons, should 
 remain in charge of the camp and siege-works with a 
 reserve corps, while Baldwin should lead the attack.
 
 THE VENETIANS AT CONSTANTINOPLE. 69 
 
 With the first movement of the Crusaders, the Comans 
 retreated ; and Baldwin, deceived by their tactics, pursued 
 them fully two leagues, when suddenly he perceived that 
 he had been led almost within the lines in which King 
 John had disposed his troops for battle. The Comans 
 then wheeled round and attacked their pursuers with the 
 swiftness of lightning. Just when Baldwin thought him- 
 self on the point of victory, the whole Bulgarian army was 
 upon him, and he must retreat or see his own army cut to 
 pieces. He decided on retreat; and Dandolo and Ville- 
 hardouin were informed by the first stragglers who reached 
 the camp of the total rout of the army, the death of the 
 Count of Blois, and the capture of the Emperor Baldwin. 
 
 This news fell upon Dandolo like a thunderbolt, and he 
 immediately saw that a retreat to Constantinople must be 
 made at once. The Bulgarians were approaching, and the 
 Latins were too few to meet them. In the night, in 
 spite of many obstacles, the retreat was begun ; after four 
 painful days the old Doge and the remnant of the troops 
 reached the capital, bringing such tidings as overwhelmed 
 the whole city with grief and dread. No news had they 
 of Baldwin's fate; not only the Count of Blois, but the 
 flower of the army of the Crusaders, had been cut off in 
 the retreat; the Bulgarians might soon attack Constanti- 
 nople; the neighboring cities favored Lascaris, and aided 
 the Comans ; and worst of all, they had learned that these 
 bold horsemen had met and destroyed every man of the 
 Armenian army which had been sent to Baldwin. The 
 garrison of the capital was small, provisions were scarce, 
 and it would require months for help to come from Venice, 
 France, or the Vatican. 
 
 And now came the cruelest blow of all in the death of 
 Dandolo. He died at the Boucoleon on June 14. His 
 disease (dysentery) might have been overcome had his 
 mortification and anxiety been less; he could not survive
 
 70 THE QUEEN OF THE ADRIATIC. 
 
 the thought that the great undertaking to which he had 
 devoted all his powers, and which had been so fruitful of 
 great results, should end ingloriously for Venice and for 
 himself. 
 
 He was interred in St. Sophia with imperial honors; 
 his armor was buried with him, and for nearly two cen- 
 turies and a half his grave was unviolated, and Gentile 
 Bellini had the proud satisfaction of bringing the cuirass, 
 the sword, and the helmet which the great Doge had worn 
 at the taking of Constantinople to Venice, and presenting 
 them to the descendants of the grand old hero. 
 
 There is an inexpressible sadness in the death of the 
 Doge under such a weight of sorrow and disappointment, 
 and tortured by apprehensions of evil which were never 
 realized. King John did not suspect the weakness of the 
 Latins ; the Comans fled to the north to avoid the sum- 
 mer's heat ; and the Bulgarian monarch turned his back 
 on Constantinople, and attacked the King of Thessalonica. 
 
 The result of Dandolo's achievements was of vast import 
 and value to his beloved Republic. She acquired world- 
 wide glory and new territory, greater scope for commerce 
 and extended feudal domain; her standard now floated 
 above almost every seaport, large or small, from the Lido 
 to the Golden Horn. 
 
 "The great power of Venice over the Adriatic, the ^Egean, 
 and especially over the islands mentioned, and over a portion of 
 the Morea, dates from the Latin conquest, a power which was 
 used, on the whole, well and wisely, which introduced or con- 
 tinued fairly good government, and which has left traces in well- 
 constructed roads and fortresses. But, as was natural, the results 
 of the Latin conquest were more markedly visible in Venice her- 
 self than in any of the possessions she obtained. Her marts 
 were filled with merchandise; her ships crowded the great canals 
 and her harbor with the spoils of Asia and the products of the 
 Levant; her architecture reproduced and improved upon that of
 
 THE VENETIANS AT CONSTANTINOPLE. 71 
 
 Constantinople. The spoils of the New Rome were her proudest 
 ornaments. Her wealth rapidly increased. The magnificence 
 of the New Rome was transferred to Venice, which was during 
 the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries the most splendid of 
 Christian cities." 
 
 A fourth of Constantinople was assigned as a residence 
 for the Venetians, where they were permitted to have their 
 own magistrates and laws; throughout the Greek realm 
 the coins, weights, and measures of Venice were recog- 
 nized, and the treaty of 1198 was resumed with its privi- 
 leges to Venetian merchants. The Doge of Venice was to 
 be represented in Constantinople by an officer who should 
 protect the commercial interests of Venice in the East. 
 Marino Zeno, who had been a close friend of Dandolo, was 
 at once elected to this office of Balio, or Podesta* Three 
 Councillors of State, a Treasurer and an Advocate, a Court 
 of Proprio and a Court of Justice of the Peace, and a 
 commandant of the troops of the Republic in Romania 
 were sent out to support Zeno in his lofty and arduous 
 duties. 
 
 The Venetians cherished the memory of Dandolo. His 
 genius had long added lustre to the Republic, and the news 
 of his death plunged the whole city into sincere mourning. 
 His achievements and the exploits of his army aroused 
 the pride of the Venetians to its highest pitch, and they 
 desired to perpetuate in some stable manner the fame of 
 what is known as the Fourth Crusade. Fortunately the 
 time was propitious to their wishes; the close of the 
 thirteenth century brought a revival of art and literature 
 which, among its many glorious results, numbers the 
 rehearsal of the deeds of Dandolo and his allies by the 
 historians, and the picturing of their immortal achieve- 
 ments upon the walls of the Ducal Palace.
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 MODERN PROCESSIONS AND FESTIVALS. 
 
 MEDIAEVAL Venice was a city of imposing spec- 
 tacles. Its church was a national church, and its 
 Patriarch, the heir of Saint Mark, was, from the Venetian 
 point of view, the peer of the heir of Saint Peter. It being 
 a strictly Venetian or State church, the Doge was its head 
 equally with the Patriarch, and indeed in a certain way 
 was more important; for the chief church of Venice was 
 not that of the Patriarch, but the Chapel of the Doge, 
 while the Chapter of San Marco was far more powerful 
 than the Bishop, who was officially its superior. 
 
 But it pleased the State to make its church prominent 
 in its public ceremonies; and each great event in its his- 
 tory be it the deliverance from the plague or a con- 
 spiracy, or a success in having proved a plague to any foe 
 was commemorated by a religious function. Some of 
 these splendid processions corresponded to those of other 
 Catholic countries and cities, such as those of the Corpus 
 Domini and Palm Sunday; and Gentile Bellini's pictures 
 of religious processions now in the Academy still impress 
 us with the unequalled pomp and magnificence with which 
 the Venetians loved to dazzle themselves and the stran- 
 gers within their gates. 
 
 The festivals which were peculiar to Venice were 
 important. The procession of the Doge to the smallest 
 and perhaps the oldest church in Venice, San Vio, founded 
 in 917, celebrated the deliverance of the city from the
 
 MODERN PROCESSIONS AND FESTIVALS. 73 
 
 conspiracy of Tiepolo in 1310 ; and as it occurred on the 
 15th of June, that lovely season in Venice, we can but 
 regret its discontinuance. But the deliverance from the 
 plague in 1576 and in 1631 is still celebrated each year. 
 The ravages of the plague in Venice at various times were 
 almost beyond belief. That of 1171 is curiously asso- 
 ciated with the Giustiniani. A hundred or more members 
 of this most noble house were cut off by this scourge, and 
 its very name was in danger of extinction, since the young 
 Niccolo, who now represented the family, was a novice 
 in the convent of San Niccolo, on the Lido. The Doge 
 Michieli, under these circumstances, thought it not wrong 
 to send at once to the Pope, asking that Niccolo Gius- 
 tiniani might be released from his vows, and married to 
 Anna Michieli, the daughter of the Doge. Mrs. Oliphant 
 pictures the interval between the departure of the mes- 
 senger and his return : 
 
 "The old Giustiniani fathers, in the noble houses which were 
 not as yet the palaces we know, must have waited among their 
 weeping women for the decision from Rome. And it is wonder- 
 ful that no dramatist or modern Italian romancer should have 
 thought of taking for his hero this young monk upon the silent 
 shores of the Lido, amid all the wonderful dramas of light and 
 shade that go on upon the low horizon sweeping round on every 
 side, a true globe of level, long reflections, of breadth and space 
 and solitude, so apt for thought. 
 
 "Had he known, perhaps, before he thought of dedication to 
 the church, young Anna Michieli, between whose eyes and his, 
 from her windows in the Doge's palace to the green line of the 
 Lido, there was nothing but the dazzle of the sunshine and the 
 ripple of the sea ? Was there a simple romance of this natural 
 kind, waiting to be turned into joyful fulfilment by the Pope's 
 favorable answer ? Or had the novice to give up his dreams of 
 holy seclusion, or those highest, all-engrossing visions of ambi- 
 tion, which were to no man more open than to a bold and able 
 priest ? "
 
 74 THE QUEEN OF THE ADRIATIC. 
 
 The Pope could but consent under such circumstances, 
 and the marriage was celebrated immediately. Nine sons 
 and three daughters were born of this union; and many 
 men of illustrious character and some great orators after- 
 ward proceeded from the Casa Giustiniani. But his life 
 in the world, with all its good fortune, did not make 
 Xiccolo forgetful of his early vows nor of the peace of his 
 convent; and when his duty to the State was done, he 
 there re-dedicated himself to God's service, and his wife 
 Anna entered her chosen nunnery, where the holiness of 
 her life caused her to be made a Beata after her death. 
 
 Four centuries later Venice was again decimated; and 
 the deliverance from the plague of 1576 is celebrated to 
 this day on the third Sunday of July, which is called 
 
 THE FETE OF THE REDENTORE. 
 
 For some days previously the city is in commotion. A 
 pontoon bridge is thrown across the Grand Canal ; and the 
 ferrymen, whose earnings are thus lessened, receive three 
 francs a day as compensation. Pilgrims from the neigh- 
 boring islands and from the mainland are constantly 
 arriving, and a motley crowd throngs all Venice. 
 
 All Sunday morning the Piazza of San Marco is a busy 
 place, for there the priests from every parish of Venice 
 gather, and form the procession that marches hence to the 
 Church of the Redentore. The variously colored stoles of 
 the priests indicate the parishes to which they belong ; and 
 when the procession is seen from a distance, these stripes 
 of color are very curious in effect. As the church has a 
 commanding position on the island of La Giudecca, one 
 may easily have a fine view of the procession on the 
 bridge, and by quickly crossing in a gondola lose little of 
 the pageant in the church, which has no doubt lost much 
 of its original splendor.
 
 MODERN PROCESSIONS AND FESTIVALS. 75 
 
 But the great interest of the festa is outside the church. 
 The quays are filled with tents and stalls, decorated gayly 
 with flags, and displaying cheap toys, cakes, ices, and 
 fennel, as well as hot fritelle, and more solid food for 
 those who wish. The children are never weary of these 
 tents, while dancing-halls have been hastily improvised 
 for their elders. And so all day long there is tramping 
 and chattering, a sense of confusion and unrest, which 
 invades even the interiors of the most retired houses ; and 
 one is better off to join in the festivities and fully do his 
 part than to attempt to be quiet. 
 
 The real festa, however, seems to begin only when the 
 day is ended. As soon as the sun sinks to rest, the whole 
 Giudecca Canal is covered with boats fancifully decorated 
 with boughs, and illuminated with lanterns shaped like 
 lilies, fuschias, and other flowers whose form lends itself 
 to illumination. Much time and skill is lavished on 
 these decorations, as the best device gains a handsome 
 prize. 
 
 A little later the supper gondolas appear. These are 
 brilliantly lighted with lamps, and so beautifully dressed 
 with green branches and wreaths that they seem like liv- 
 ing bowers. The tables are well filled, and the boats 
 crowded with joyous holiday-seekers, whose laughs and 
 jests, intermingled with the sound of mandolins and 
 songs, are most contagious in their merriment. As soon 
 as it is dark enough, fireworks are set off in many parts 
 of the city, but especially on the Giudecca, and the air is 
 full of rockets and Roman candles. The gayety of the 
 scene can scarcely be exaggerated ; and its whole appear- 
 ance is so characteristic of Venice, and so unlike any other 
 place, that it is quite impossible to draw a true picture 
 of it in words. From the inauguration of the festa of 
 the Redentore, it has been the custom to pass the night 
 on the water; and about two o'clock the boats all move
 
 76 THE QUEEN OF THE ADRIATIC. 
 
 towards the Lido, there to salute the rising sun, and many 
 of the people rush into the water to hail the God of Day. 
 
 Thus ends the midsummer fete, so well worth seeing 
 and so unique. But is not all a Venetian summer full of 
 charm ? To us each day is a lovely festa. 
 
 A REGATTA. 
 
 Venice is especially suited to scenic displays upon the 
 water, the winding Grand Canal, cutting the city like 
 a mammoth letter S> opening into the Basin of St. Mark, 
 the Ducal Palace on one side, and San Giorgio on the 
 other, the curve of the Riva degli Schiavoni running into 
 the public gardens, all lend themselves to spectacles with 
 perfect fitness. 
 
 Of late yars, too, the Town Council has generously 
 encouraged the regatta with money and influence. The 
 course of the race is from the stairs of the public gardens 
 to the Station, and back to the Palazzo Foscari. The 
 prizes are money and flags, red, green, and blue for the 
 first three boats, and a sucking pig and a yellow flag with 
 a pig embroidered on it for the last boat. One would 
 think that after falling behind so much as to surely fail 
 of the first prizes, there would be a contention for the 
 hindmost place. 
 
 There is no end to the varieties of the Venetian craft, 
 gondolas, sandolos, barche, fiarchette, topos, cavaline, 
 vipere, bissoni, and many more. Before the regatta 
 begins, the Grand Canal is covered with boats of every 
 size. All the palaces are hung with tapestries, rugs, cur- 
 tains, and any stuffs of a gay color, while flags flutter 
 everywhere. Every balcony and window is full of people 
 and heads, while the roofs are black with those who have 
 no more advantageous outlooks. 
 
 By far the most interesting boats are the bissone and
 
 Festival Scene, Bridge of the Rittltti.
 
 MODERN PROCESSIONS AND FESTIVALS. 77 
 
 peote, rowed by ten and twelve oars, whose duty it is to 
 keep the race-course clear. These are decorated by the 
 commercial houses of the city, and are symbolical in their 
 designs, the crews being dressed in accordance with the 
 decorations. One may resemble a Chinese junk ; another 
 represents the tropics, bearing palms and gorgeous flow- 
 ers and even tropical birds; another may have a Polar 
 bear on its bows, with its rowers imitating walruses, and 
 sitting on cakes of ice ; one is usually decorated with glass 
 from Murano, which sparkles like precious stones in the 
 sunlight. These have each a special color, blue, gold, 
 pink, silver, green, and, in truth, all the gay colors 
 known; and as, in order to keep the course clear, they 
 must constantly move about, they make a charming effect, 
 and are vastly amusing to those who are waiting and 
 watching for the race. 
 
 The gondolas of the nobility are frequently gay, with 
 the livery of the four gondoliers they carry. Many of 
 them are dressed in antique style, with puffed hose, long 
 silk stockings, gay doublets, and plumed hats; and other 
 private boats, especially the large bissone, carry gayly 
 dressed parties, while their crews are in liveries of velvet 
 or silk with lace and costly trimmings. 
 
 Suddenly the boom of a cannon hushes all voices. The 
 race has begun. It is rowed in small, light gondolas, 
 and every eye is fixed on the spot where these boats will 
 first be seen. When they are near enough to tell who 
 leads, there are cheers and shouts of encouragement. The 
 race sweeps by and disappears. The excitement becomes 
 intense, and bets are freely made, comments of all sorts 
 are heard, and until the boats again come in sight, on 
 their return, one might well question if Babel were as 
 noisy as Venice at a regatta. As the victor nears the 
 winning post, the silence is breathless. He saatches his 
 flag; his name is shouted by thousands; the regatta is
 
 78 THE QUEEN OF THE ADRIATIC. 
 
 finished ; and already the people are talking of the amuse- 
 ments which are still to be enjoyed. 
 
 THE SERENADE. 
 
 Coming after the regatta, the serenade is a fresh 
 delight The anxieties are ended, and everybody can now 
 enjoy the lovely evening, the cool breeze, the glimpses of 
 exquisite palace interiors, of gondolas filled with ladies 
 in festa costumes, and of decorations and illuminations 
 everywhere. 
 
 Eight o'clock is the hour for beginning; and a large 
 barge decorated with many green and red lamps arranged 
 in pyramids and other more fanciful designs carries the 
 orchestra and the singers. It starts from above the 
 Rialto, and is soon surrounded by numberless gondolas. 
 Each gondolier strives for the best position, and that is 
 thought to be at the bow of the music barge. The whole 
 mass of boats float with the tide ; and as they come to the 
 narrower part of the canal, neither barge nor any gondola 
 can move forward or back. 
 
 Under the arch of the bridge the scene is like a good- 
 natured pandemonium. The police bid the rowers do this 
 and do that, but they only make a pretence of trying to 
 obey. The police shout, "Avanti, avanti!" the boatmen 
 repeat the cry, but nothing moves. At last the chief 
 official, by means of a trumpet, gives an order to "pump," 
 and at once a fire-engine on the barge throws a stream 
 of water which loosens the block a little, and the barge 
 advances a few feet A very curious effect is produced 
 by the different sorts of lights. The cold, colorless elec- 
 tric, the brilliant hues of the Bengal lights, and the soft 
 glimmering from the stars in the clear blue above, bring 
 out the statuesque figures of the gondoliers and the fronts 
 of the palaces, now like startling ghosts, again like
 
 MODERN PROCESSIONS AND FESTIVALS. 79 
 
 blushing youths, and then as impalpable spirit-forms. 
 They appear and disappear as the lights change and as the 
 boats move. The gondoliers are mostly clothed in white, 
 and seem like dream figures, as do the exquisite fa9adcs 
 with their delicate tracery and ornament. 
 
 The serenade is apparently endless ; for in spite of the 
 pumping, its progress is very slow, and the barge will not 
 reach the Salute until long past midnight. There the 
 lights are put out, and the musicians released. Little 
 attention is given to the music, which seems only to be 
 a nucleus for this most novel and fantastic scene, from 
 which one may easily escape by a side canal, and end the 
 evening with one more spectacle. 
 
 THE ILLUMINATION. 
 
 This is the appropriate end of a really grand festival ; 
 and the scene in the Piazza is as beautiful, if not as excit- 
 ing, as the race or the serenade. So brilliant is the light 
 that not a detail of the architecture is lost. Every column, 
 with all its ornament, each cornice, pillar, and curve is 
 outlined by little jets of golden flame, and even of a deeper 
 tint; and all these lights are flickering just enough to 
 dazzle the eye with an effect like a rippling sea of fire. 
 In weird contrast is the fa9ade of San Marco, lighted by 
 electricity. It is pale and unearthly, and its domes seem 
 to be suspended in air. No wonder that the doves fly 
 hither and thither in fright and amazement, and cluster 
 in the darker Piazzetta, where they and we may thank- 
 fully rest our eyes and look out to San Giorgio, now all 
 aflame with many-colored lamps. 
 
 Again to the Piazza, to note what we may not yet have 
 seen. The two Procuratie and the Piazza walls are like 
 sheets of fire, for the lamps of the square have globes of 
 crimson glass. Surely nowhere else has one seen such
 
 80 THE QUEEN OF THE ADRIATIC. 
 
 color, so splendid and fascinating, so blinding and con- 
 fusing, that late though it be we bid our good gondolier 
 make a giro in the quiet canals, which seem to wel- 
 come us as old friends do, and restore the equilibrium 
 which the regatta, the serenade, and the illumination 
 have somewhat disturbed; and in this quiet there come 
 back to us the lines we learned so long ago, writ by 
 another pilgrim in this same Venice, 
 
 I can repeople with the past, and of 
 
 The present there is still for eye and thought, 
 
 And meditation chastened down, enough ; 
 
 And more, it may be, than I hoped or sought ; 
 
 And of the happiest moments which were wrought 
 
 Within the web of my existence, some 
 
 From thee, fair Venice ! have their colors caught. 
 
 LORD BTHON. 
 
 THE MADONNA DELL A SALUTE. 
 
 The plague of 1630 was the seventieth, and the last 
 great plague of Venice. Eighty-two thousand victims 
 had died in the city and the neighboring islands, and six- 
 teen months of horror and suffering had passed since its 
 outbreak. Not a sound of joy was heard in all the extent 
 of Venice when special public prayers were made, and the 
 Senate vowed to the Holy Virgin " Mary, the Mother of 
 Health " that a church should be built in her honor if 
 she would but stay the plague. And lo! suddenly, in 
 November, 1631, the scourge was stayed. 
 
 Fifty-five years before, the votive church of the Reden- 
 tore had been built in gratitude to a similar answer to 
 their prayers; and now the people were determined to 
 erect a still more splendid church, upon a piece of land 
 on the point of the Dogana, which the Knights Templars 
 had given to the Republic. But it would take a long 
 time to build a church, and the people were in haste to 
 put all their sadness behind them, and to have one festal
 
 Church of Santa Maria delta Salute.
 
 MODERN PROCESSIONS AND FESTIVALS. 81 
 
 day without delay. Accordingly, the 28th of November- 
 was appointed, and a wooden structure erected hastily, in 
 which to celebrate the jubilee. 
 
 The procession left the high altar of San Marco; and 
 when it reached the centre of the Piazza, the health 
 officers announced that the plague was stayed by the 
 Virgin. This announcement was welcomed by salvos of 
 artillery, peals of bells, and blare of trumpets. The pro- 
 cession then moved on, and crossing the Grand Canal by 
 a pontoon bridge, it reached the wooden church. 
 
 A writer of that period tells us that the day was most 
 propitious. Not a cloud obscured the deep blue sky, and 
 the air was as mild as that of spring. Nothing was omit- 
 ted that could add to the splendor of the procession. The 
 gorgeous robes of the priests, the candlesticks of gold and 
 silver, the flags of all the noble guilds and companies, the 
 elder nobles with long white tapers in their hands, and 
 the younger in all the bravery of doublets and hose, fur- 
 nished a spectacle not easily excelled; and in every year 
 of the two hundred and sixty-two that have since passed, 
 this jubilee has been repeated with all possible splendor. 
 
 On the April following the first stone was laid in the 
 new church, which rests on 1,200,000 piles. And there, 
 at the entrance of the canal it stands, with its buttresses 
 and statues and cupolas, in a word, with all its archi- 
 tectural audacity, declaring the grateful veneration of 
 the Venetians for "Mary, the Mother of Health;" and on 
 this festa every Venetian, be he devout or not, feels it a 
 duty to visit her church. 
 
 From the early morning the noise of the gathering 
 crowds is heard. All around the church are stalls with 
 hot coffee, fish, and other food for sale, and above all gal- 
 lani, a delicacy which belongs especially to this jubilee, 
 of which the Venetians are very fond. It consists of little 
 cups of pastry filled with a preparation of lard, white of
 
 82 THE QUEEN OF THE ADRIATIC. 
 
 eggs, and flour whipped to a froth. It must be an acquired 
 taste to be enjoyed by any but a true Venetian. Other 
 little booths are filled with " portraits " and statuettes of 
 the Madonna and the saints; and there is a lively fair all 
 about the church before the hour for the great function. 
 
 This begins at half-past ten. The procession is formed, 
 and moves to the church in the same manner as that of 
 the Redentore. Within the church the people light the 
 candles they have brought, one taking the fire from 
 another; and these lighted candles, in all sizes, from the 
 largest that are on sale down to mere tapers, are handed 
 to the priests within the altar-rails, and are placed near 
 the statue of the Madonna, triumphing over a symbolic 
 figure of the plague. Thousands of candles are thus 
 massed, until the space around the altar is a sheet of 
 flame. Those who add to the candles a small sum of 
 money receive a picture of the Madonna, which they kiss 
 devoutly, and then conceal in some hiding-place about 
 their dress. 
 
 Then the solemn services begin, one Mass succeeding 
 another, until the vespers and benediction close the day 
 at five o'clock. Meantime the women sit and gaze at the 
 men constantly moving under the great cupola, wherever 
 they can thread the crowd. They are all clean, well 
 shaven, and dressed in their best. The gondoliers, with 
 blue sashes, present " a symphony in shirts ; " for in this 
 use of flannel they are able to show their love for color, 
 and most of them are artists enough to know the tint that 
 is most becoming. 
 
 The season of the year forbids the open-air festivities 
 which accompany other fetes; but the wine-shops and 
 restaurants make a rich harvest through the evening and 
 far into the night, and jests and songs are heard in all 
 the streets. In truth, the hour when one may really 
 sleep becomes a doubtful question; for it happens many
 
 MODERN PROCESSIONS AND FESTIVALS. 83 
 
 times that just when one is comfortably dreaming^ per- 
 haps for the twentieth time, he hears in musical tones, 
 sometimes singly and again in trios or quartettes, " Viva 
 Italia! Vi vail Re!" 
 
 FETES OF THE PEOPLE. 
 
 But perhaps the most interesting of all the Venetian 
 feste, and certainly the most characteristic, are those dis- 
 tinctly of the people, and confined to the contrada, or 
 quarter, in which the event occurs. A quarter is often 
 thrown into the greatest excitement by a challenge to a 
 rowing-match. The qualities of the champions are hotly 
 discussed, bets are made, and the spirit of rivalry recalls 
 that of the ancient Nicolotti and Castellani. Indeed, 
 these very terms are still used on such occasions, though 
 one is puzzled to know in what way one of these poor 
 boatmen can represent the aristocratic Nicolotti of Hera- 
 clea. However, since these wear a black cap and sash, 
 and the Castellani wear red, the names and their colors 
 still serve a good purpose. 
 
 The street-fights between these parties, the Forze 
 d'Ercole, and other trials of their strength and skill are 
 all things of the past; and it is only on the occasion of a 
 regatta of the people that the question is asked, "Who 
 will win, Castello or San Niccolo ? " 
 
 The day before these races the two boats are carefully 
 cleaned, everything being scraped off the bottoms. They 
 are then weighed at the Custom House, and tied to the 
 posts of a ferry, where they remain, under the guard of a 
 friend of each of the contestants, during the night. The 
 race is rowed early in the morning; and only those who 
 may most decidedly be called il popolo show any knowledge 
 or interest concerning it. They gather in all sorts of 
 crafts close by the gardens and by San Giorgio. At half-
 
 84 THE QUEEN OF THE ADRIATIC. 
 
 past seven the report of a gun is heard, and in a few 
 minutes the race sweeps past. The red caps are lead- 
 ing ; and those in the boats who favor that color are pro- 
 portionately gay, while the black caps are silent and 
 downcast. 
 
 All the boats that have been waiting follow the race for 
 a certain distance; but its speed is too great for them, and 
 near the end of the Giudecca they await the return. The 
 course is usually about twelve miles; and after an hour 
 and a quarter, or perhaps a little less, two white specks 
 are seen far away across the water. These specks grow 
 larger and clearer, and the greatest impatience possesses 
 the watchers until they can discover which color leads. 
 The boats stream out in two lines to meet the racers, who 
 are taking different courses, and are so far apart that no 
 one can yet decide as to the end. But when the first boat 
 reaches the fa$ade of San Giorgio, it is still the red cap 
 that holds the lead. " Bravo, bravo ! " is heard from all 
 sides in joyous shouts ; but the boats vanish like those in 
 a dissolving view. They have given all the time they can 
 afford, and each must now go to his duty, except a few of 
 the more active spirits, who haste to greet the victor, and 
 arrange a supper in his honor. 
 
 This feast usually takes place within the week, and is 
 a gay affair, for after the supper there is dancing, and all 
 are in the best of spirits. The hall in which the tables 
 are laid is always decorated with the portraits of victori- 
 ous boatmen, and flags and banners won in other races. 
 The ancient custom of having a portrait made of the 
 winner still survives, and it is a matter of great pride to 
 collect these each time a new victory is gained for the red 
 caps or the black. 
 
 The supper requires a long time; for three quarters of 
 an hour is allowed to pass in smoking, talking, and sing- 
 ing between the courses. Wine is there in plenty ; for if
 
 MODERN PROCESSIONS AND FESTIVALS. 85 
 
 only men are at the supper, it is brought in a forty-litre 
 tub, suspended on poles from the shoulders of two men, 
 and welcomed with huzzas. The room grows warm, and 
 jackets are thrown off, as the merriment increases, expos- 
 ing the brilliant flannel shirts and sashes, until at last 
 the final course of the orthodox boatmen's supper has 
 been eaten, for the menu is as unalterable as the courses 
 of the stars. And now the tables must be cleared and the 
 dancing begin. And such dancing ! Their waltz is slow 
 and long, and they love it to madness. They abandon 
 themselves to its rhythmic movement with delight, and 
 often sing as they dance, as if every possible expression 
 must be given to their perfect happiness. One cannot 
 foretell the hour when it will end. Not so long as the 
 musicians will play, for when was a dancing gondolier 
 known to be weary? And when the Marcia reale or 
 Garibaldi's Hymn is played, with what impetuosity do the 
 dancers respond I 
 
 THE SACRA, OR PARISH FETE. 
 
 Each parish in Venice has its patron saint, and on that 
 saint's day the whole parish is devoted to its celebration. 
 Early in the morning a procession visits every shrine 
 within the borders of the parish to burn incense before it. 
 
 First in the procession are those who carry the crosses, 
 banners, and candelabra, all the portable belongings of 
 the Church, made as fresh as possible for the sagra, and 
 a Madonna, usually seated in a somewhat shaky chair. 
 These bearers wear a sort of priestly vestment over their 
 work-day clothes; and these are carefully arranged in 
 groups of different colors, first blue, then red, and lastly 
 white. It is most interesting to see the faces of these 
 bronzed, weather-beaten men, more accustomed to rowing 
 than to walking. They stagger beneath their burdens
 
 86 THE QUEEN OF THE ADRIATIC. 
 
 from side to side of the narrow calle; but they smile as 
 they meet the gaze of neighbors and friends, who watch 
 from the windows and doorways the progress of their 
 carissima Madonna. 
 
 Behind the bearers comes the sacristan, a person of 
 importance, clothed in scarlet, walking backward, and 
 ringing a bell. He is the marshal of the procession ; and 
 every boy is sober and properly behaved when within 
 sight of this important official. Following him the music 
 comes, usually a clarinet, fife, trombone, and drum, 
 playing the most cheerful themes, and followed by three 
 little acolytes, who swing their censers with such a will as 
 to send up perfect clouds of incense. The parish priest 
 comes next, and is usually an old and venerable man. 
 He is dressed in rich robes and laces, and attended by 
 men bearing a canopy over his head. He carries the Host 
 reverently in his hands, and is followed by all the lesser 
 clergy and officials of the parish. Then the pious men 
 and women, the first in black clothes and bareheaded, 
 and the last in long black veils, make a large part of the 
 procession ; and here a most curious economical custom is 
 observed. Each of these parishioners carries a lighted 
 taper, and to avoid its dripping, holds it sideways across 
 the breast; and beside each one of these walks some one 
 with a paper bag in which to catch the drippings of the 
 wax. And so the procession winds in and out of every 
 possible place in all the parish. It is often forced to halt 
 by some obstacle in the narrow way; and those below are 
 nodding and smiling to those above, for every window 
 and balcony is filled. The procession stops at the last 
 bridge in the parish, which has been covered with gayly 
 colored mats. The music ceases ; the priest alone, under 
 his canopy, climbs to the highest point on the arch of the 
 bridge, and raises the Host in air. Every voice is hushed, 
 every head uncovered, and every knee bent. The only
 
 MODERN PROCESSIONS AND FESTIVALS. 87 
 
 sound is of the water gliding on and on to the sea. All 
 is enclosed by high walls; but if one throws the head 
 quite back, a strip of lovely placid blue symbolizes the 
 peace which these humble worshippers are hoping to gain 
 at last. 
 
 Suddenly the music plays its gayest waltz, the proces- 
 sion returns to the church with the consciousness of duty 
 done, and the rest of the day is devoted to festivity, and 
 in the evening the principal open space of the contrada is 
 illuminated with a few extra lamps and some Bengal 
 lights. Before almost every window hangs a picture of 
 the saint whose day it is, and these are lighted by little 
 oil-lamps. 
 
 Here, too, as in the greater festivals, are stalls for 
 selling fruit and pasties, or hot boiled chestnuts and 
 fritelle ; and much wit is expended in buying and selling 
 these wares. Somewhere in the quarter there is dancing, 
 too, usually in the middle of the square; and when the 
 spectator is fortunate in his position, the whole scene is a 
 delightful repetition of the fairs and feste of the people so 
 often seen upon the theatre or operatic stage, but far more 
 beautiful and fascinating if the night be a moonlit one of 
 early summer. 
 
 These parish festivals are managed entirely by the 
 people, and are more or less impressive according to the 
 collections that the capo, or manager, is able to make. On 
 this depend the amount of the illumination and the bril- 
 liancy of the fireworks at the end; and no triumphant 
 general ever had more pride in his victory than has this 
 capo, when at the close of the festa he is applauded, and 
 bids the band play the finale, which is, of course, the 
 ever-present "Viva Italia! viva il Re." 
 
 It is only with plenty of time, and that at the right 
 season, that one can really come to know the Venice of 
 to-day, and nothing so plainly shows the spirit of a people
 
 88 THE QUEEN OF THE ADRIATIC. 
 
 as to see them at their play ; and when, as in the case of 
 these contrada feste, these working classes are quite by 
 themselves, it is a tribute to their government and to 
 their own natures to find them light-hearted and merry, 
 easily amused, and contented in the quiet round of their 
 every-day life. 
 
 GOOD FRIDAY. 
 
 This fast to the rest of the Christian world in Venice 
 assumes the air of a feast. The people are all in holiday 
 attire, and the children in crowds are romping and roll- 
 ing, shaking their rattles to scare away Judas, turning 
 somersaults and frolicking generally. And this day, 
 more than any festival, affords delight to children, who 
 have a custom of fitting up a Holy Sepulchre (Santo 
 Sepolcro), and appealing for coppers to all passers-by. 
 They take the idea, naturally enough, from the Holy 
 Sepulchres they see in all the churches ; but the surpris- 
 ing thing is the readiness with which they improvise the 
 Santo Sepolcro out of nothing, and then the ease with 
 which they obtain the little coins. A small box, a bit of 
 green, some candle-ends, and all is done ; and if the child 
 be sweet- voiced and winning, her Good Friday success is 
 assured. 
 
 But at evening, in the most populous quarters, and 
 those least invaded by strangers, the most unusual Good 
 Friday custom is seen. The people of the quarter con- 
 duct a unique service of song, quite independent of the 
 Church and at their own cost. They agree to sing the 
 Passion of Our Lord, for which they use a chant with 
 twenty -four verses. The necessary means are furnished 
 by subscriptions of money, oil, wine, or anything that 
 may be used in the celebration. 
 
 At one end of the calle a shrine is erected representing 
 a temple, each part of which pillars, pediment, and so
 
 MODERN PROCESSIONS AND FESTIVALS. 89 
 
 on is outlined by small lamps ; while in the centre of 
 the shrine there is a gas-jet with its paler light. A crowd 
 gathers before the little temple waiting for the music to 
 begin, while every window within hearing distance is 
 open and filled with listeners, who meantime gossip with 
 the people in the street. Somewhere in the calle there is 
 sure to be a Madonna and Infant Jesus, who have on this 
 day been carefully cleaned and trimmed with wreaths of 
 flowers, long sprays of graceful vines, and bits of ribbon. 
 
 When the leader of the singers begins the chant, all 
 other sounds are hushed. Even the children know that 
 they must now be quiet. The key-note being thus given, 
 other voices join in ; and each verse requires about three 
 minutes for its rendering, and between the verses there is 
 a pause of five or six minutes, when the chatter of the men 
 and women and the pranks of the children are resumed, 
 until again cut short by the voice of the leader. This is 
 repeated until the twenty-four verses of sombre chant are 
 sung in a manner much resembling ordinary psalm-sing- 
 ing elsewhere. 
 
 The music over, the evening ends, as do all Venetian 
 celebrations, with a supper at the nearest wine-shop. 
 This singular observance of a day so sadly solemn else- 
 where makes a curious impression at first on strangers 
 who witness it, and is perhaps the most characteristic of 
 all the public customs that one can observe in Venice.
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 GRADENIGO, TIEPOLO, AND THE COUNCIL OP TEN. 
 
 ANEW era was inaugurated in Venice by the fall of 
 Constantinople. Prosperous and powerful as the 
 Republic had previously been, it now sprang, as if by 
 magic, into a position of which her most ambitious and 
 far-seeing statesmen could not have dreamed. 
 
 A little more than a quarter of a century had elapsed 
 since the visit of Pope Alexander, at which time sixty- 
 five thousand was the highest estimate that could be made 
 of her population; now, at the end of the Fourth Crusade, 
 her nominal sovereignty embraced millions of souls, and 
 the actual numbers within the borders of the Republic 
 itself had vastly increased. The new territory and the 
 various rights and privileges which she had acquired in 
 the Lower Empire had largely increased her commerce 
 and the sources of her wealth, and she hastened to make 
 all these advantages permanent by a liberal and wise sys- 
 tem of colonization. 
 
 At the beginning of the thirteenth century the Venetian 
 nobility was the most powerful and opulent class in the 
 world, as well as the most polished and enlightened, and 
 were everywhere held in the highest consideration as men, 
 soldiers, and diplomats. In the history of the Republic 
 one fact stands forth prominently, the devotion of Vene- 
 tians to Venice, devotion to the Republic, and to her 
 elevation to the highest ideal of which they could conceive. 
 To this end her sons directed all their powers, and were 
 willing to sink their personality in her aggrandizement.
 
 GRADENIGO, TIEPOLO, AND THE COUNCIL OF TEN. 91 
 
 Not in a spirit of humility, for never a prouder race 
 existed; but it was the pride of patriotism which moved 
 them, pride if by any act they could add to the stature of 
 the Republic. Not in any spirit of sacrifice, for they felt 
 it no hardship to spend and be spent if only the name of 
 Venice could thereby be made more resonant wherever it 
 was spoken. Venetians were united in one aim, that 
 Venice should be the most beautiful and most powerful 
 of cities. And so it happens that in the voluminous 
 records of her history and life, while they give a vivid 
 realization of the thought, energy, and power which thou- 
 sands of her sons must have possessed and must have 
 dedicated to her glory ; while as one reads he may almost 
 hear the hum of her busy life and feel the throbbing of 
 her pulses, little prominence is given to individuals. It 
 is not of men nor of family that we read ; it is of Venice, 
 first, last, and always. 
 
 Often as the names of Contarini, Michieli, Ziani, Dan- 
 dolo, and Tiepolo appear, no one family ever held absolute 
 power, or was independent of the others. Was this the 
 result of their jealousy of one another? Perhaps; and it 
 answered a great end. Never was Venice at the mercy of a 
 race like the Medici or Visconti ; and when the great ambi- 
 tion of her sons was turned from personal exaltation and 
 centred in the good of the State, it became an overmastering 
 passion, and could but produce glorious results. Ten times 
 it happened that the Republic was on the verge of ruin ; 
 and as many times did its leaders in Council, Senate, and 
 College, together with the Doge, stake all they possessed 
 for the preservation of Venice, and always with success. 
 
 The wisdom of its laws conduced to bring about this 
 state of things ; for every boy of the noble class knew that 
 at twenty years of age he must appear before the proper 
 magistrate and claim admission to the Great Council, he 
 being the legitimate son of one whose name was in the
 
 92 THE QUEEN OF THE ADRIATIC. 
 
 Libro d' Oro. From that day, if he had ability, he must 
 be a servant of Venice. He could follow no personal 
 tastes in studies or pursuits. A refusal to accept appoint- 
 ments was subject to so heavy a fine as to occur but rarely. 
 At the age of twenty-five, the beginning of manhood, he 
 must enter the Great Council, serve on laborious commit- 
 tees, go thence to the Senate, and be elected or appointed 
 to one position after another that demanded all his power 
 of service. Sometimes he must fill several offices at 
 once, and to the last day of life he can give himself no 
 repose if the State finds his service valuable. No matter 
 how old he is, nor how feeble, if Venice chooses him for 
 her Doge, he must assume the beretta, the mantle of gold 
 and ermine, and bear them as well as he can until the end 
 of life brings his release. 
 
 Thus, by the middle of the thirteenth century the Vene- 
 tians were held in the highest consideration throughout 
 the civilized world, and still their reputation was increas- 
 ing. The voice of Venice was powerful in every cabinet ; 
 her flag was respected on every sea ; and, in fact, from the 
 Great Council of Venice magistrates were chosen to rule 
 in other parts of Italy where the native governing class 
 was violent in its jealousies. To Milan, Bologna, Padua, 
 and other important cities had these Venetians been called, 
 and wherever they ruled the influence of Venice was potent. 
 The intimate knowledge of the affairs of other provinces 
 and cities which these Venetian governors gained was 
 shared with the home government, and many advantages 
 accrued from it. 
 
 The thirteenth century was an intermediate period, so 
 to speak; for it followed the tremendous efforts with 
 which the twelfth century closed and preceded the period 
 when Venice reached its greatest glory and prosperity. It 
 was largely spent in adjusting the Republic to the new 
 conditions consequent upon its greatly enlarged territory,
 
 GRADENIGO, TIEPOLO, AND THE COUNCIL OF TEN. 93 
 
 and in changes of matters of internal policy. There were 
 struggles in its colonies, struggles with Genoa and with 
 the Papal See, as well as insurrections and serious party 
 differences at home. 
 
 A large anti-patrician party had arisen, and an effort 
 was made to return to the old method of electing the Doge 
 by acclamation. So bitter were the troubles with Rome 
 that the Republic was laid under an interdict, and all the 
 offices of religion strictly forbidden ; and had not Martin 
 IV. died suddenly in 1286, Venice must have suffered 
 unspeakably from his severity. But the advent of a new 
 Pope gave an opportunity for a reconciliation, and it is 
 believed that the principal condition of the peace made 
 with Rome in 1289 was the establishment of the Inqui- 
 sition in Venice. This was the last act approved by 
 Giovanni Dandolo. Prior to this date there had been 
 trials of heretics from time to time, but no permanent 
 institution had existed. Indeed, the Republic had stood 
 out against the wishes and commands of ten Pontiffs, and 
 even now such restrictions were placed upon the Holy 
 Office as disarmed it of much of its power and danger. 
 
 Two months later, in November, 1289, Giovanni Dandolo 
 died, and the time and occasion had come when the 
 Democracy had determined to assert themselves. They 
 congregated in large numbers in the Piazza of San Marco, 
 and declared Giacomo Tiepolo to be elected Doge by 
 acclamation. Two centuries before, this sort of revolu- 
 tion had been successful, but a different order of things 
 now existed. 
 
 Tiepolo was a sincere democrat; he was a wise and 
 good man, one of those whose love of Venice far exceeded 
 his love of self. He knew that his party could not suc- 
 ceed, and that such an attempt to overcome established 
 customs could only end in the gravest consequences; 
 accordingly he hastened to withdraw from the contest, and
 
 94 THE QUEEN OF THE ADRIATIC. 
 
 retired to Villa Marocco to await the result of the election. 
 His party, thus abandoned, seemed to disappear from the 
 stage; but the tumult had proved to those in power that 
 still firmer ground must be taken to secure the ascendancy 
 of the aristocracy. To further this end, Pietro Gradenigo 
 (contemptuously called Perazzo) was elected Doge in the 
 usual manner. 
 
 Gradenigo was not a popular man, as the corruption of 
 his name shows, for Perazzo was not a complimentary 
 title, and he was known as a firm supporter of the patri- 
 cian party. Many remonstrances against his election 
 were made by the opposition ; but the democrats were not 
 organized, they had no reliable leaders nor any settled 
 plan, and the firm determination of the aristocrats carried 
 things with a high hand. 
 
 The deputy who was sent to announce the election of 
 Gradenigo to the National Assembly pronounced the 
 formula, "Pietro Gradenigo is your Doge, if it please 
 you, " and at once withdrew. As no dissent was heard by 
 this deputy, the election was considered legal. Gradenigo 
 was at Capo d' Istria ; and a squadron of honor, carrying 
 twelve noblemen as his escort, was sent to announce his 
 election and invite his return. 
 
 And now commenced a reign which continued twenty- 
 two years (1289-1311), during which time the most 
 important changes were made in the government of 
 Venice ; serious wars were undertaken, and great disasters 
 encountered; the Republic was placed under the ban of 
 the Church; grave revolutions occurred. Indeed, these 
 years seem not to have had a day that was not heavy with 
 important results ; and yet, as we now review them after 
 the lapse of centuries, we know that the effect of wars, 
 insurrections, interdict, and plague combined, did not 
 compare in importance with two great political changes 
 which were brought about under Gradenigo's leadership, -
 
 GRADENIGO, TIEPOLO, AND THE COUNCIL OF TEN. 95 
 
 the closing of the Great Council (Serrota del Consiglio 
 Maggiore), and the establishment of the Council of Ten. 
 
 Daniel Barbaro sums up the character of Gradenigo 
 thus : 
 
 "He was a person of infinite astuteness and sagacity. For 
 the vigor of his understanding and the soundness of his judg- 
 ment he was not more remarkable than for his constancy of pur- 
 pose and firmness of will. In the prosecution of his formed 
 designs his energy and resolution were indomitable. As an 
 orator, his delivery was fluent, his language copious, and his 
 manner persuasive. Toward his friends and partisans, no one 
 was more urbane in deportment, more profuse in kindness, more 
 apparently studious to please. Toward those who had provoked 
 his enmity, no one could be more unforgiving and implacable. 
 In politics he was a dexterous tactician and an habitual dissem- 
 bler ; and he at all times evinced a backwardness to employ 
 force, until intrigue and artifice were exhausted." 
 
 There is little doubt that Gradenigo was pledged to 
 fully carry out the policy of the aristocrats. By a certain 
 management they had been essentially in power for a long 
 time, but occasionally they were made to realize the dis- 
 satisfaction of the people and their claim to authority. 
 The time was favorable for the politicians to perfect and 
 initiate their schemes, almost unnoticed by the people, 
 who were fully occupied with the Genoese war, which gave 
 them much anxiety and distracted their thoughts from 
 what was being quietly done in their very midst. The 
 intent of the closing of the Great Council was to exclude 
 from election all save the aristocrats ; it is thus explained 
 by Romanin : 
 
 "The citizens were divided into three classes: first, those 
 who neither in their own persons nor through their ancestors 
 had ever formed part of the Great Council ; second, those whose 
 progenitors had been members of it ; third, those who were 
 themselves members of the Council, both they and their fathers.
 
 96 THE QUEEN OF THE ADRIATIC. 
 
 The first were called new men, and were never admitted save 
 by special grace ; the second class were included from time to 
 time; finally, the third were elected by full right." 
 
 This measure was not perfected without much diplo- 
 macy extending over many years, indeed, it may be said 
 to have been initiated in 1172, and when it was finally 
 accomplished Venice was ruled by an oligarchy beyond 
 dispute, and for all time. It was confirmed in the statute- 
 book when all Venice was occupied with the fitting out of 
 the great fleet to be commanded by the A dmiral Andrea 
 Dandolo. The Genoese war had thus far been uncertain 
 in its results, the advantage being sometimes on one side, 
 and again on the other, until the Venetians were thor- 
 oughly aroused, and willing to contribute money and men, 
 and to do everything possible to put an end to this vexa- 
 tious conflict. 
 
 Dandolo's fleet numbered ninety -five vessels, and carried 
 more than thirty thousand fighting men. One man-of-war 
 was fitted out and commanded by Marco Polo, lately 
 returned from travels in Tartary and other countries then 
 rarely visited. So rich was he that he was called " Messer 
 Marco Milioni ; " and but for his engaging in this war our 
 knowledge of him to-day might have been confined to this 
 title. 
 
 The fleet sailed from Venice early in September, 1298, 
 and proceeded down the Adriatic to the island of Curzola, 
 where Dandolo learned that Lampa Doria, with the 
 Genoese fleet, was approaching. He had but seventy- 
 eight ships, many of them being much larger and heavier 
 than those of the Venetians. Doria had hoped to reach 
 Venice before Dandolo sailed, and was much chagrined to 
 find the enemy's squadron stretched across the gulf in 
 three lines, completely barring his passage. 
 
 Doria was so impressed by the superiority of the Vene- 
 tians, and so well knew their indomitable spirit, that he
 
 GRADENIGO, TIEPOLO, AND THE COUNCIL OF TEN. 97 
 
 at once gave up the thought of a battle, and sent to Dandolo 
 to arrange terms of submission, offering to give up all his 
 stores. Dandolo answered that the only terms he would 
 accept were those of the unconditional surrender of the 
 Genoese. This acted like a tonic on the courage of Doria 
 and his men, and they determined to fight. Ten Genoese 
 galleys were placed in concealment behind the island, and 
 the remaining sixty- eight were disposed in line of battle. 
 
 Dandolo, finding that he was so placed that his men 
 must fight with both the sun and wind in their faces, 
 began to doubt the wisdom of his haughty and insolent 
 reply, and decided to consult the civil councillors who had 
 been sent from Venice as his advisers. Dandolo did not 
 hesitate from fear, but from common prudence, which 
 recognized the disadvantages he must encounter. But the 
 civilians in their ignorance and arrogance urged him to 
 fight, and he at once proceeded to do all in his power to 
 overcome his unfortunate position. 
 
 The action took place on Sunday, September 8; and 
 in the very beginning the Venetians crashed down on 
 the Genoese, and ten of their vessels were sunk with every 
 soul on board. The sea was strewn with the de'bris of 
 these ships, and for some hours it seemed that victory 
 still, as ever, attended the Venetians. As the ships met, 
 the Venetians did not hesitate to board those of the 
 enemy, who, knowing their fate if captured by the men of 
 the Republic, fought like wild beasts in despair. Wounded 
 men were hurled into the sea ; many were crushed between 
 the ships ; the vessels of the two admirals were in conflict 
 for hours, and the Venetians had almost won the day, 
 when suddenly the wind changed, and several Venetian 
 galleys were driven on the coast and completely wrecked. 
 
 Now all was changed ; vainly did Dandolo exert every 
 power to encourage his men and restore order; vainly did 
 Quirini, Marco Polo, and other brave men expose their 
 
 7
 
 98 THE QUEEN OF THE ADRIATIC. 
 
 lives with patriotic devotion; vainly did the men of Zara 
 and Chioggia perform feats of valor ; twelve captains were 
 seized with such fear that they took to flight, and thus 
 led to irretrievable defeat. 
 
 Doria quickly perceived his advantage, and his order to 
 advance flew all along his line like lightning. A strug- 
 gle followed which in desperation and loss of life has 
 rarely been equalled, never surpassed. The conflict seemed 
 still so equal that neither side could feel the confidence 
 of success, when suddenly the Genoese, by a skilful move- 
 ment, forced the Venetian centre, their reserve came 
 up, and the rout of the Venetians was complete. The 
 only vessels saved were the twelve which ran away; 
 eighty-three were foundered in action or fell into the 
 hands of the enemy, who dismantled and burned nearly 
 all of them. 
 
 Five thousand Venetians were prisoners to the Genoese ; 
 the number killed was not known; Dandolo and Marco 
 Polo, who had shown the most impetuous daring and 
 bravery, were taken alive, and all the misgivings with 
 which the brave admiral had opened the battle were more 
 than justified. 
 
 "The spectacle which presents itself at Curzola on that ter- 
 rible 8th of September, after the action, can be pictured more 
 easily than described. In the evening the followers of Doria 
 are seen in a dreamy and trance-like posture, holding with 
 tremulous hands the palm which they have so dearly won, and 
 thinking of the reply which they must give when, on their 
 return, mothers ask for their children, and children for their 
 fathers, who have lost their liberty or their lives on that too 
 eventful day. Curzola hears no shouts of victory, no songs of 
 triumph ; several thousand Genoese have felt the edge of Vene- 
 tian steel ; several thousand Venetians see before their dim and 
 feverish vision the horror and ignominy of a Genoese dungeon ; 
 and as the sun goes down on the conquerors and the conquered,
 
 GRADENIGO, TIEPOLO, AND THE COUNCIL OF TEN. 99 
 
 its serene effulgence affords a striking contrast to the deep lurid 
 hue which has been imparted to the sky for several miles around 
 by the gradual immersion of sixty galleys in a sea of belching 
 fire." 
 
 Even the Genoese writers speak of this victory as for- 
 tuitous ; the losses of the combatants were nearly equal, 
 and the squadrons were well matched, as the superior 
 number of the Venetian ships was fully compensated by 
 the size and strength of the opposing vessels; and even 
 after the change of the wind, if the heroic conduct of 
 Dandolo and his chiefs, of the Zaratines and Chioggians, 
 had not been neutralized by the infamous desertion of 
 twelve ships, the victory might yet have been with the 
 Lion of St. Mark. 
 
 "No joy-bells or other manifestations of popular enthusiasm 
 awaited the return of Doria to his country. Too many among 
 the multitude which thronged the quays to witness the landing 
 of the troops were doomed to retrace their steps to a bereaved 
 home, and to hearths made desolate by war ; and in the extrem- 
 ity of their affliction, the Genoese were almost tempted to forget 
 their glory, and to check their unbecoming exultation at the 
 abasement of Venetian insolence and purse pride. 
 
 "But there was one who was expected to be in the crowd of 
 Venetian prisoners, and whom the Genoese displayed the great- 
 est eagerness to see in chains. He was not there. Unable to 
 support the galling thought that the son of a Doge of Venice 
 was about to grace a Genoese triumph, to be paraded in fetters 
 before a Genoese mob, and then to rot in a Genoese dungeon, 
 the brave and unfortunate Dandolo took an opportunity of dash- 
 ing his head against the gunwale of the vessel which was con- 
 veying him to his new destination, and thus miserably terminated 
 his existence." 
 
 Marco Polo was wounded and in an alarming condition 
 when taken to prison; but so much admired was he, and 
 so capable of fascinating enemies as well as friends, that
 
 100 THE QUEEN OF THE ADRIATIC. 
 
 he was cared for in such a way as to insure his recovery, 
 and was even visited by Genoese gentlemen. All who 
 came near him listened to his stories of travels and adven- 
 tures with rapt attention and delight; and especially a 
 fellow-prisoner, a Pisan, Rusticiano, who had been a 
 writer in his day, and was seized with a desire to write 
 out all the wonderful tales which Marco repeated again 
 and again. Through the kindly offices of a Genoese noble 
 the necessary materials were furnished, and three months 
 were devoted to writing, in curious antique French sea- 
 soned with Italian idioms, the tales of the modern 
 Herodotus. We can imagine the supreme felicity with 
 which Rusticiano began: "Oh, emperors and kings, oh, 
 dukes, princes, marquises, barons, and cavaliers, and all 
 who delight in knowing the different races of the world 
 and the variety of countries, take this book and read 
 it ! " The first perfect copy was presented to the Republic 
 of Genoa. The length of Polo's imprisonment is not 
 positively known ; but he probably returned to Venice in 
 1299, just when the " Serrata " and the insurrections con- 
 vulsed the city. But his public life was finished ; and his 
 marriage, the making of his will in 1323, and such per- 
 sonal matters are the only records of his remaining life. 
 
 The Venetians at once set about the building and organi- 
 zation of a new fleet of one hundred galleys, and rose from 
 their defeat with an energy and spirit that astonished the 
 world. They bought artillery in Spain, and built vessels 
 with such rapidity that the Genoese were undoubtedly 
 influenced to make their peace with Venice by the convic- 
 tion that she would be ready again to attack much sooner 
 than they to repel. At all events, within a few months, 
 these rivals concluded a perpetual peace with all possible 
 pledges of friendship and mutual respect. 
 
 The Venetians now gradually turned their attention to 
 what the Doge and his creatures had accomplished while
 
 GRADENIGO, TIEPOLO, AND THE COUNCIL OF TEN. 101 
 
 all eyes had been directed elsewhere; and great excite- 
 ment and discontent were soon manifested. The populace 
 had seemed childish and almost worse than that in the 
 simple and unreasoning way in which they had cherished 
 the fallacy that they retained any political power worthy 
 of the name; but of late, in certain directions, notably 
 by trying to elect their own Doge, they had evinced an 
 awakening appreciation of the facts, and a determination 
 to re-establish themselves. 
 
 Naturally, when the closing of the Grand Council was 
 understood and the whole drift of the government appre- 
 hended, a demonstration was made, led by Marino Bocconio, 
 who had already made himself prominent by his emphatic 
 opposition to the election of Gradenigo. Early in 1300 
 Bocconio, with some of his followers, demanded admittance 
 to the Great Council, in order to protest against recent 
 measures of the government. The Doge was present at 
 the Council when this demand was made, and after some 
 hesitation the visitors were admitted. What occurred has 
 never been known; but the next day Bocconio and ten 
 others were tried for sedition, condemned to death, and 
 immediately hanged between the columns in the Piaz- 
 zetta. It will be easily understood that this immediate 
 and extreme punishment of malcontents brought peace to 
 Venice, in seeming at least. 
 
 It is interesting to note one peculiar element in the 
 policy of Gradenigo. By the changes in the Great Council 
 the power of the Doge had been greatly lessened, and " The 
 Forty," or the "Quarantia," was now the supreme power 
 in the Republic. Gradenigo had thus strengthened the 
 aristocrats to the prejudice of his own authority. Various 
 reasons have been given for his course in this matter, the 
 most reasonable one being that he thus redeemed his 
 pledge to advance the policy of the aristocrats to the 
 extent of his power.
 
 102 THE QUEEN OF THE ADRIATIC. 
 
 During the preceding half-century the power of the 
 Doge had been merely nominal ; he was now simply the 
 instrument of the officials about him. At the same time 
 his pomp and circumstance had been augmented as much 
 as his real power had declined, and the public occasions 
 on which he appeared gradually increased in magnificence. 
 Martino da Canale thus describes the Easter procession 
 which could not have occurred later than 1268, as the 
 Doge Renier Zeno died that year : 
 
 "On Easter Day, then, the Doge descends from his palace ; 
 before him go eight men bearing eight silken banners blazoned 
 with the image of St. Mark, and on each staff are the eagles of 
 the Empire. After the standards come two lads who carry, one 
 the faldstool, the other the cushion of the Doge ; then six trum- 
 peters, who blow through silver trumpets, followed by two with 
 cymbals, also of silver. Comes next a clerk, wbo holds a great 
 cross all beautiful with gold, silver, and precious stones ; a second 
 clerk carries tbe Gospels, and a third a silver censer; and all 
 three are dressed in damask of gold. Then follow the twenty- 
 two canons of St. Mark in their robes, chanting. Behind tbe 
 canons walks Monsignor tbe Doge, under tbe umbrella which 
 Monsignor tbe Apostle (the Pope) gave him, the umbrella is 
 of cloth of gold, and a lad bears it in his bands. By tbe Doge's 
 side is the Primiciero of St. Mark's, wbo wears a bisbop's mitre; 
 on his other side, the priest who shall cbant the Mass. Mon- 
 signor tbe Doge wears a crown of gold and precious stones, and 
 is draped in cloth of gold. Hard by tbe Doge walks a gentle- 
 man wbo bears a sword of exquisite workmanship ; then follow 
 the gentlemen of Venice. In such order Monsignor tbe Doge 
 comes into the Piazza of St. Mark, which is a stone-throw long; 
 he walks as far as the church of San Gimignano, and returns 
 thence in the same order. The Doge bears a white wax candle 
 in his hands. They halt in the middle of the Piazza, and three 
 of the ducal chaplains advance before the Doge, and chant to 
 him the beautiful versicles and responses. Then all enter tbe 
 Church of St. Mark ; three chaplains move forward to tbe altar-
 
 GRADENIGO, TIEPOLO, AND THE COUNCIL OF TEN. 103 
 
 rai,ls, and say in a loud voice, 'Let Christ be victorious, let 
 Christ rule, let Christ reign ; to our lord Renier Zeno, by the 
 grace of God illustrious Doge of Venice, Dalmatia, and Croatia, 
 conqueror of a fourth part and of half a fourth part of all the 
 Roman Empire, salvation, honor, life, and victory; let Christ 
 be victorious, let Christ rule, let Christ reign.' Then the three 
 chaplains say, 'Holy Mary,' and all respond, 'Help thou Him.' 
 The Primiciero removes his mitre, and begins the Mass. Then 
 the Doge shows himself to the people from the loggia, and after- 
 wards enters his palace, where he finds the table spread ; he 
 dines there, and with him all the chaplains of St. Mark." 
 
 The coronation of the Doge had also come to be a mag- 
 nificent fete. 
 
 The day was a general holiday, the streets were fes- 
 tooned with garlands, richly emblazoned banners floated 
 from the windows, draperies were suspended from the 
 balconies, and all the beauty of Venice gathered in case- 
 ments and verandas to see the processions as they passed. 
 
 We have a description of the Coronation of Lorenzo 
 Tiepolo the successor of Renier Zeno, in 1268, which is 
 a type of these ceremonies. The newly elected Doge was 
 escorted to San Marco by a solemn deputation, and at the 
 door was met by the Vice-Doge and the clergy of the 
 Ducal Chapel. At the high altar he took his oath of 
 office, and received the standard of the Republic. He was 
 then led to the throne, and invested with the mantle and 
 other insignia of office, the youngest senators encircling 
 his brow with the ducal beretta. All this was witnessed 
 by a vast concourse of people, who were enthusiastic in 
 their reception of the new Duke. 
 
 The chaplains of San Marco then conducted the Doga- 
 ressa to the Ducal Palace, where, amid great pomp and 
 rejoicing, she was seated on the throne beside her husband. 
 
 The coronation was followed by splendid festivities. 
 A water fete was held ; and a squadron of galleys, gaylj
 
 104 THE Ql'KKX OF THE ADRIATIC. 
 
 and fancifully dressed with pennants, passed close along 
 the canal in front of the palace, while choristers on board 
 chanted verses in praise of the Doge and Dogaressa whicli 
 were written for the occasion. 
 
 The procession of trades was an imposing feature of 
 this festival. It was led by the smiths, who, wearing 
 crowns and chaplets of flowers, carried banners and 
 inarched to the sound of musical instruments; the fur- 
 riers followed, arrayed in ermine and minnever; and then 
 came the skinners in taffeta robes, displaying their 
 choicest manufactures ; these were succeeded by the tan- 
 ners, iron-masters, barbers, hosiers, drapers, cotton- 
 spinners, gold-cloth workers dressed in their precious 
 products, the weavers and tailors attired in sumptuous 
 white costumes with rich, fur-trimmed mantles. The 
 dress of the mercers, glass-blowers, fishmongers, butchers, 
 and victuallers was equally costly, some being red and 
 others yellow. Each corporation wore a badge or token 
 of their calling, and the drapers carried olive branches in 
 their hands. 
 
 The four deputies of the barbers were disguised as 
 knights errant, two being mounted on richly caparisoned 
 horses, while the other two walked beside them; they 
 were accompanied by four damsels, fantastically dressed, 
 whom they claimed to have rescued from deadly peril. 
 When they were near the platform of the Doge, they 
 halted and made a speech claiming to have come from 
 some far country seeking their fortunes, and offering to 
 defend the maidens against any others who might claim 
 them. The Doge made a reply of welcome, and assured 
 them of their safety under his protection; they then 
 shouted, "Long live our Prince, the noble Doge of 
 Venice ! " and moved on. 
 
 Then ten master-tailors changed their dresses, and 
 donned white suits sprinkled with vermilion stars, and
 
 GRADENIGO, TIEPOLO, AND THE COUNCIL OF TEN. 105 
 
 traversed the city singing the popular songs of the day ; 
 each one carried a goblet of malmsey and occasionally 
 sipped it. This was extremely Venetian ; and we can but 
 wonder if the tunes these tailors sung are not the same 
 that have descended through many generations to the 
 gondoliers of our own day. 
 
 There were also games in which buffoons played the 
 principal parts, and men carrying cages of birds many of 
 which were liberated when they came near the court; 
 this was greeted with hearty approbation, and the whole 
 scene was as merry as possible. We are sorry to add that 
 then, as now on like occasions, there were many light- 
 fingered ones among the crowd who filled their pockets at 
 the expense of honest folk. 
 
 All these entertainments closed with an industrial 
 exhibition in the palace in compliment to the Dogaressa, 
 who, as she passed through the apartments, was presented 
 with gifts which she graciously received ; and thus auspi- 
 ciously was the reign of the new Doge inaugurated. 
 
 This flattered his vanity ; and when he was borne about 
 the Piazza, scattering gold as he went, he may have been 
 elated and imagined himself of great consequence. Every 
 four years the citizens swore allegiance to him, his person 
 was declared sacred, and he never left the palace without 
 an attendant train of nobles and citizens. On the other 
 hand, his oath now obliged him to execute the orders of 
 the various councils implicitly. He was not permitted to 
 exhibit his portrait, bust, or coat-of-arms outside the 
 Ducal Palace ; he could not announce his election to any 
 court save that of Rome ; no one could kiss his hand, or 
 kneel to him, or make him gifts, in short, no homage 
 must be personal to the Doge ; it must be rendered to the 
 aristocracy who had made him Doge, and who were the 
 State. No member of the Doge's family could hold govern- 
 ment appointments in any part of the Venetian territory ;
 
 106 THE QUEEN OF THE ADRIATIC. 
 
 and his sons, who had formerly been associated with him 
 in office, could now be elected to the Great Council and 
 Senate only, and in the latter had no vote. 
 
 To make the power behind the throne more absolute, it 
 was finally decreed that no one elected to the ducal office 
 could refuse to serve, neither could he resign nor leave 
 Venice. Thus the Ducal Palace became a prison, and 
 the Doge the only man in Venice who absolutely could 
 have no will of his own. 
 
 The quiet that followed the execution of Bocconio was 
 a quiet full of storms. The discontents were not yet 
 ready, and had no leader to inaugurate a revolution. 
 Meantime the foreign policy of Gradenigo was making 
 him the best-hated man imaginable. He had involved 
 the Republic in a most disastrous war with Ferrara, in 
 consequence of which the Pope had pronounced the sen- 
 tence of excommunication against the whole Republic of 
 Venice. It is difficult in our day to appreciate the full 
 meaning of this. 
 
 Not only the inhabitants of the Republic, but all who 
 aided them in any way, were placed outside the pale of the 
 Church; their property, wherever found, was declared 
 sequestrated ; their treaties were null ; it was made unlaw- 
 ful to trade or eat or converse with them ; every one was 
 at liberty to take them and sell them into slavery; all 
 sacraments were refused them; even the rites of burial 
 were denied, and the clergy left Venice. A new Crusade 
 was published, and papal indulgence given to all attacks 
 upon Venetians or their property. In several parts of 
 Italy Venetians were put to death; and at Genoa many 
 of the prisoners of Curzola were sold as slaves. 
 
 "In England, in France, in Italy, in the East, the merchants 
 were robbed. From Southampton to Pera the Venetian counting- 
 houses, banks, and factories were forced, sacked, and destroyed. 
 The commerce of Venice trembled on the verge of extinction ;
 
 
 . 
 
 
 Bridge of the Rinlto. 
 

 
 GBADENIGO, TIEPOLO, AND THE COUNCIL OF TEN. 107 
 
 and all these evils were laid at the door of the Doge and the new 
 aristocracy. But the party in power never wavered ; their deter- 
 mination was the result and the proof of their youth, their con- 
 fidence, their real capacity for governing. Though they were 
 surrounded by a people suffering intensely from physical and 
 spiritual want, as well as by a nobility who openly declared their 
 hatred of the new policy and of its authors, yet they never devi- 
 ated for a single moment from the predetermined line. Every- 
 thing was done to win the regard and support of the people. The 
 Doge instituted a yearly banquet to the poor, and the picturesque 
 ceremony of washing and kissing twelve fishermen from the 
 lagoons." 
 
 At the same time everything possible was done to hum- 
 ble and insult the opposing party. The noble Marco 
 Quirini was refused a seat in the Privy Council, and his 
 place given to a Dalmatian, who, according to the statute, 
 was not eligible to this Council. It was attempted to 
 strictly enforce the law against carrying arms in the 
 street, which occasioned grave troubles. A watchman, 
 called a "Signior of the Night," met Pietro Quirini in 
 the Piazza one evening, and insisted on examining him ; 
 Quirini knocked the man down, and was heavily fined. 
 
 Meetings of the Opposition were held at the house of 
 Marco Quirini, near the Rialto, and an organization was 
 made. They determined to make Bajamonte Tiepolo their 
 leader; he was a son-in-law of Quirini, and was greatly 
 beloved by the people, who called him il gran Cavaliero. 
 He had inherited all the popularity of his father, the 
 Tiepolo who had been elected Doge by acclamation. 
 Quirini had been the head of the Opposition. He was of 
 exalted rank and personal character; and his relation to 
 Bajamonte Tiepolo had increased his consideration by the 
 union of two great families, so that he was now the most 
 influential man in the Great Council. He had been sent 
 as Podesta to Ferrara, doubtless in the hope that he would
 
 108 THE QUEEN OF THE ADRIATIC. 
 
 never return; but he escaped pestilence and all other 
 dangers, and was at home in time to engage in the insur- 
 rection with all his heart. 
 
 Bajamonte had been for several years at his Villa 
 Marocco in the March of Treviso ; but when, in 1310, his 
 brother nobles invited his return, he readily assented, 
 and his arrival in Venice was the signal for greater 
 excitement and determination. He urged immediate 
 action; and so many of his party agreed with him that 
 the more cautious counsel of their elders was set aside, 
 and on June 14, ten years after the execution of Bocconio, 
 the fires of revolution were again kindled in Venice. 
 
 It was arranged that the conspirators should gather at 
 night in the house of Quirini, and with the dawn rush to 
 the Piazza, gain possession of the centre of the city, and 
 kill Gradenigo. The night was terrific; thunder and 
 lightning, and torrents of rain raised a tempest in which 
 the cries "Death to the Doge!" and "Freedom to the 
 People ! " could not be heard ; and under the cover of this 
 terrible storm the insurrectionists went forth. One divi- 
 sion, under Bajamonte, proceeded by the Calle of the 
 Merceria; a second, under Quirini, took the nearer way by 
 the bridge of Malpasso (now di Dai) and the Fondamenta; 
 and all were to meet in the Piazza, 
 
 Up to this time the meetings of the revolutionists had 
 escaped observation; but now a traitor, Marco Donato, 
 gave such information to Gradenigo as led him to send 
 three officers to ascertain the truth. At the Rialto they 
 were met by drawn swords, and fled for their lives. The 
 Doge at once apprehended the situation, and sent to the 
 governors of the neighboring islands for a speedy supply 
 of troops. He arranged his soldiers with great care, by 
 the aid of the flashes of lightning ; posted guards at every 
 entrance to the Piazza; the main body being massed in 
 the centre, awaiting the rebels in silence. No more dra- 
 matic scene is described in history.
 
 GRADENIGO, TIEPOLO, AND THE COUNCIL OF TEN. 109 
 
 The conspirators had believed that their marching 
 would be the signal for a rising of the people ; but they 
 were disappointed, and each advancing step proved that 
 they had no sympathy from the masses. 
 
 Quirini reached the Piazza first ; and as he entered the 
 square, the soldiers charged on him with the cry of 
 "Traitors! kill them, kill them!" Quirini and his two 
 sons were cut down at once, it is said by the hand of 
 Giustiniani himself, and seeing their leader killed, his 
 followers fled wildly. When Bajamonte reached the 
 Piazza, he was received in like manner; his standard, 
 inscribed LIBERTX, was struck to the ground, the bearer 
 being killed by a heavy flower-pot thrown from a window 
 above him by a woman. This was the signal for a panic ; 
 and Bajamonte, with his men, turned to fly. Here and 
 there they made a stand, and a fight ensued ; they burned 
 the customs offices, and at length reached the Rialto. This 
 wooden bridge was cut down behind them ; and they shut 
 themselves within the house of Quirini, which was a 
 fortress and defensible. 
 
 Meantime the followers of Quirini who escaped from 
 the Piazza were attacked by soldiers in the Campo San 
 Luca, and cut to pieces. The only hope remaining to the 
 insurgents was that Badoer might arrive from Padua with 
 the aid he had been sent to ask ; but he was cut off by 
 the Chioggians, and Bajamonte had no reliance save him- 
 self, his few followers, and the strength of his position. 
 
 The Doge soon sent envoys to him, offering amnesty 
 and even pardon, should the rebels submit ; but Bajamonte 
 steadily refused. Gradenigo knew that Tiepolo could not 
 be taken in his present quarters without a great loss of 
 men and property; he also reflected that if he captured 
 the leader he must either permit a traitor to go free, or 
 execute the most popular man in all Venice. For these 
 reasons he determined to use all possible means to bring
 
 110 THE QUEEN OF THE ADRIATIC. 
 
 about a satisfactory negotiation; but everything proved 
 ineffectual until an old man, and one much respected, 
 Filippo Belegno, after many arguments and long persua- 
 sion, prevailed on Bajamonte to relent and accept the 
 terms of the Doge, which he had at first believed to be 
 but a snare for him and his followers. 
 
 By these terms Bajamonte and all the insurgents who 
 had a right to a seat in the Council were banished to 
 Dalmatia for four years ; those of lower rank were par- 
 doned on swearing allegiance to the Doge and the 
 Constitution, and returning all the goods that had been 
 taken from private dwellings or government stores. The 
 lives of any of the exiles detected in breaking their parole 
 would be forfeited, and to harbor them or correspond 
 with them was made treasonable. Their wives and fami- 
 lies were expelled from the Dogado, and the houses of 
 Bajamonte and of the Quirini were demolished ; on the 
 site of the first a Column of Infamy was raised, and the 
 armorial bearings of both houses were changed. 
 
 One cannot avoid a feeling of sympathy for Badoer and 
 others who, being taken fighting, were beheaded, nor a 
 sentiment of scorn for the traitor Donate, whose treachery 
 was rewarded by a seat in the Council without elec- 
 tion, while his family were made noble forever. Even 
 Giustina Rosso was not forgotten, and for dashing down 
 that flower-pot which came so near being fatal to Baja- 
 monte, she was permitted to hold her residence in the 
 Merceria for fifteen ducats annually, and to unfurl a stand- 
 ard from the so-called "mortar casement" on every 
 festival day, and in 1341 her bust was placed near the 
 Sotto Portico del Capello. 
 
 The 15th of June, being the day of San Vito, was made 
 a festival, and one of the great Venetian anniversaries, 
 when the Doge went in grand and solemn state to the 
 very small and ancient church of that saint to give thanks
 
 GRADENIGO, TIEPOLO, AND THE COUNCIL OF TEN. Ill 
 
 for the deliverance from this most important of the Vene- 
 tian insurrections. 
 
 Bajarnonte Tiepolo lived a stormy and unhappy life. In 
 1311 he was a conspirator at Padua, and somewhat later 
 was hunted out of Treviso; in 1322 the Ten offered a 
 reward for his capture ; in 1328 the Doge was ordered to 
 secure him if possible : but death fortunately released him 
 from all his tortures. He had ever longed for the lagoons, 
 the Piazza, his old contrada, and all the ways of his 
 beloved Venice ; but he refused all the proposals made to 
 him for his return, he could not trust the dreaded Ten. 
 
 However, so long as Gradenigo lived, he was haunted by 
 fear of Tiepolo, and of what he might do; indeed, one 
 historian goes so far as to say that he died of this revolt 
 and its consequences. For a time the Venetians were 
 constantly suspecting an ambush in the streets, and went 
 to their beds in dread of the night and of the morrow. It 
 was believed that only the most stringent measures could 
 prevent a repetition of this insurrection, and that even 
 worse things might happen. This tendency of the public 
 mind found expression in a petition for a Committee of 
 Inquiry, which proved to be the origin of the famous 
 Council of Ten. 
 
 This Council was organized for a few months only, and 
 for the special purpose of making a searching inquiry 
 into all the ramifications of the late conspiracy. But on 
 the following Michaelmas Day the Doge made one of his 
 rare visits to the Great Council, for the purpose of saying 
 that as the day had come on which the authority of the 
 Ten expired, he recommended its extension for two 
 months, as the need of it still existed in order to root out 
 sedition and treason. The amendment was passed and the 
 time extended to November 30, and again to January 30, 
 1311. At that time it was thought best to establish it for 
 five years ; and at last, in 1335, it was made permanent,
 
 112 THE QUEEN OF THE ADRIATIC. 
 
 and became the tyrant and terror of Venice. In his 
 "Venetian Studies" Brown says: 
 
 "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 over- 
 throw was vain. Those who strove to wrestle with it clasped 
 empty air ; they struck at it, but the blow was wasted on space. 
 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 victorious 
 party breathed, and their breath became the Ten ; and it is the 
 Ten which determined the internal aspect of Venice for the 
 remainder of her existence." 
 
 Thus had Gradenigo silently and determinedly worked 
 a greater revolution than Bajamonte could have made, 
 had he succeeded in his plans ; and he had made himself 
 hated in his success, while his rival was beloved to the 
 end. The name of Pietro Gradenigo is not so frequently 
 mentioned as those of other Doges and generals of the 
 Republic. The man who firmly established the aristocrats 
 in power and originated the Council of Ten is forgotten 
 in the importance and vast results of his work ; but so far 
 as the sovereignty of Venice was concerned, no man was 
 more remarkable than Gradenigo. 
 
 When he died, in August, 1311, he was hastily buried 
 at Murano. Whether this was because he was so hated 
 that a riot was feared, or on account of his excommunica- 
 tion, we know not. How truly of him could it be said, he 
 brought nothing into this world; and it is certain he car- 
 ried nothing out, not even sufficient respect from those 
 he had benefited to lead them to follow him to his grave. 
 This was all the more noticeable from its contrast 
 with the usual obsequies of those who held his office. 
 TTazlitt gives the following account of a Doge's funeral:
 
 GRADENIGO, TIEPOLO, AND THE COUNCIL OF TEN. 113 
 
 "In the first instance the ducal remains were transported 
 from the Palace on the shoulders of twenty of the oldest Sena- 
 ators to the saloon of the Signori di Notte; one of the house- 
 hold marched in front, carrying a sheathed sword with the point 
 upward; and a large number of patricians followed the corpse. 
 The Doge was splendidly attired in the costume which he wore 
 on state occasions; and the gilded spurs, indicating his eques- 
 trian rank, were fastened at his heels. After a brief interval 
 the procession was again set in motion; and, the members of 
 the College having taken leave at this point, the rest proceeded 
 to St. Mark's, where the Dogaressa and her ladies and a throng 
 of mourning nobles had assembled. Here the burial service 
 was performed with the accustomed solemnity; and after its 
 celebration the bearers resumed their burden, and the body was 
 conveyed, with every mark of pomp, to the family vault." 
 
 With Bajamonte Tiepolo died the old nobility. He 
 and it and the people were sacrificed to the new aristo- 
 crats, who had overridden the old Constitution. From the 
 Quirini-Tiepolo conspiracy the peculiar government which 
 was purely Venetian, and unparalleled elsewhere, may be 
 dated; and strangely enough, the leaders of the revolt 
 contributed largely to the success of Gradenigo, since, but 
 for the insurrection, it is doubtful if he could have riveted 
 his chains and clasped them with the Council of Ten. 
 
 Time has obliterated the traces of the rebellion. The 
 Column of Infamy was broken soon after its erection by 
 one of Bajamonte's admirers, and after many removals 
 from one garden to another it was carried to Como. A 
 square of white marble in the pavement of the Campo of 
 Sant' Agostino, inscribed "Col: Bai: The: MCCCX.," is 
 the sole reminder of the insurrection ; and this is where 
 few strangers go, in the heart of Venice, between the Frari 
 and the Campo San Polo. 
 
 The family of the Tiepolo were not crushed by the 
 failure and exile of Bajamonte. Their palaces, always
 
 114 THE QUEEN OF THE ADRIATIC. 
 
 bearing two obelisks on the roofs, are still seen on the 
 Grand Canal, and prove that in later days this house was 
 not disgraced by the remembrance of the Gran Cavaliero. 
 
 THE COUNCIL OP TEN. 
 
 Until within the last half-century it would have been a 
 matter of surprise to hear a charitable word spoken for 
 this famous council, much more to hear it defended as the 
 best method for the government of Venice at the time 
 when it was the controlling spirit of the Republic. But 
 in more recent years the historians of various nationali- 
 ties, taking into account the more reliable and wider 
 knowledge that has come from the study of the Venetian 
 archives, are not inclined to the severe condemnation of 
 the Ten which it formerly received, and have indeed been 
 led to think it well suited to its era, and of great value in 
 upholding the power and guarding the prosperity of the 
 Republic. 
 
 Formerly the opinion which Cooper expresses in the 
 " Bravo " found an almost universal echo. After giving 
 an account of the establishment of the Council, he says: 
 
 "A political inquisition, which came in time to be one of the 
 most fearful engines of police ever known, was the consequence. 
 An authority as irresponsible as it was absolute was periodi- 
 cally confided to another and still smaller body, which met and 
 exercised its despotic and secret functions under the name of the 
 Council of Three. The choice of these temporary rulers was 
 decided by lot, and in a manner that prevented the result from 
 being known to any but to their own number, and to a few of 
 the most confidential of the more permanent officers of the gov- 
 ernment. Thus there existed at all times in the heart of Venice 
 a mysterious and despotic power that was wielded by men who 
 moved in society unknown, and apparently surrounded by all the 
 ordinary charities of life; but which, in truth, was influenced
 
 GRADENIGO, TIEPOLO, AND THE COUNCIL OF TEN. 115 
 
 "by a set of political maxims that were perhaps as ruthless, as 
 tyrannic, and as selfish as ever was invented by the evil inge- 
 nuity of man. It was, in short, a power that could only be 
 intrusted, without abuse, to infallible virtue and infinite intelli- 
 gence, using the terms in a sense limited by human means; and 
 and yet it was here confided to men whose title was founded on 
 the double accident of birth and the colors of halls, and by 
 whom it was wielded without even the check of publicity. 
 
 "The Council of Three met in secret, ordinarily issued its 
 decrees without communicating with any other body, and had 
 them enforced with a fearfulness of mystery and a suddenness of 
 execution that resembled the blows of fate. The Doge himself 
 was not superior to its authority, nor protected from its deci- 
 sions, while it has been known that one of the privileged three 
 has been denounced by his companions. . . . Thus Venice prided 
 herself on the justice of St. Mark; and few States maintained a 
 greater show, or put forth a more lofty claim to the possession 
 of the sacred quality, than that whose real maxims of govern- 
 ment were veiled in a mystery that even the loose morality of 
 the age exacted." 
 
 Since this Council is one of the most interesting and 
 characteristic peculiarities of the Venetian government, it 
 is worth while to quote a few authoritative and judicial 
 opinions regarding it, and all the more that we have 
 already cited those most severely against it. Hazlitt, 
 the able English historian of the Venetian Republic, and a 
 member of the Inner Temple, in speaking of the time 
 (1335), when the Council of Ten was made permanent, 
 says : 
 
 "The Republic had now enjoyed halcyon days of peace since 
 the return of the Zaratines to their allegiance in 1313. Twenty 
 years of foreign war and domestic convulsion (1293-1313) were 
 thus followed by twenty years of external and internal repose 
 (1313-1333). Dalmatia was tranquillized; Genoa was humili- 
 ated. The Lower Empire, though not without its alarming 
 symptoms, was quiescent. The pressure of extraordinary taxes
 
 116 THE QUEEN OF THE ADRIATIC. 
 
 was no longer sensible. Prices were low. Provisions were abun- 
 dant. Commerce had received an enormous impulse and expan- 
 sion. The condition of trade was highly flourishing. The upper 
 classes were elated by the development of fresh sources of wealth. 
 The lower orders were exhilarated by the removal of their bur- 
 dens. It was under these auspicious circumstances that the 
 time was approaching for the dissolution of the Council of Ten. 
 "The original jurisdiction of this unique tribunal had been 
 of a purely exclusive and strictly transient character. To devise 
 measures for the safety of the State, to obtain by any expedients 
 every new clew to the conspiracy of 1310, to unravel these clews 
 to their source with untiring diligence, to bring to justice all 
 who might have eluded detection, were the objects to which the 
 labors of Decemvirs were directed, and the points to which their 
 cognizance was confined. But the Council, even if its attributes 
 had not been emphatically inquisitorial, showed no disposition 
 to be perfunctory. The line of demarcation, if any such line 
 had existed, was soon obliterated or ignored. Every branch of 
 the Executive was submitted in its turn, under various pretexts, 
 to the novel influence. Nor could it be denied that that influ- 
 ence was exercised, on the whole, to a highly beneficial end. It 
 had been accounted a great revolution when, so recently as 1298, 
 the Great Council succeeded in* arrogating to itself the preroga- 
 tives which formerly belonged to the people. But the narrow 
 jealousy and distrust, which were gradually growing up in the 
 ranks of the nobility, had long made it palpably evident to the 
 more discerning, that a still higher and still more concentric 
 power must eventually arise to wrest these prerogatives from the 
 hands of the Great Council itself. That power was already 
 found to exist in the Decemvirs. Primarily elected, and con- 
 stantly renewed by the legislative body on the clearest ground 
 of expediency, the Ten had incessantly striven to popularize 
 themselves, and to strengthen their position by propitiating the 
 lower classes on the one hand, and by turning to account, on the 
 other hand, with unequalled dexterity the disunion among the pa- 
 tricians, to rule that order with a hand of iron. By some the Dic- 
 tatorship was viewed as an indispensable ingredient in the 
 Constitution; by some it was tolerated as an odious necessity;
 
 GRADENIGO, TIEPOLO, AND THE COUNCIL OF TEN. 117 
 
 but all accepted the silent innovation in a spirit of acquiescence. 
 The Decemvirs knew their strength, and they quickly made that 
 strength felt. It was on the 30th of January, 1336, that their 
 commission was about to expire ; on the 20th of July, 1335, they 
 caused themselves to be declared a permanent Assembly. . . . 
 
 "In the Middle Ages, when an almost total ignorance reigned 
 of civil principles, it was not unnatural that a system pretend- 
 ing to rise above the common level of crude simplicity should be 
 viewed as slightly cabalistic and inscrutable. The Venetian 
 Executive, indeed, displayed the earliest attempt to organize a 
 bureaucratic machinery and a plan for the distribution of public 
 functions ; and Venice also led the way in founding the practice 
 of diplomatic etiquette and official routine. The Council of Ten 
 was, perhaps, a constitutional evil; but it was certainly a con- 
 stitutional necessity. The tribunal was more or less fatal to the 
 political liberty of the Venetians; but it left untouched their 
 civil privileges, and it was highly conducive to the preservation 
 of the national independence. While it was inaccessible to the 
 whispers of treason, it was not a stranger to the softer influences 
 of humanity. Instances were known in which a female suppli- 
 ant was permitted to penetrate into the Hall of the Decemvirs, 
 and obtained that redress which had been denied to her else- 
 where. An instance might be cited in which, when a foreign 
 tyrant had tempted and overcome the virtue even of members of 
 the College, the Ten, alone incorruptible and without a price, 
 provided for the safety of the imperilled State ! ... It was not 
 very long after their original institution in 1310 that the De- 
 cemvirs resorted, in cases where peculiarly delicate investigation 
 was requisite, to the practice of delegating their powers provi- 
 sionally and specially to one, two, or three of their number, 
 according to circumstances; and these extraordinary function- 
 aries were known as the ' Inquisitor! dei Dieci, ' or the Inquisi- 
 tors of the Ten. . . . The Capi submitted resolutions to their 
 colleagues, and signed decrees in their name; and the letters 
 purporting to be written by the Doge himself or his secretary 
 were generally composed under their dictation, being forwarded 
 to his Serenity only for subscription. The Inquisitors of the 
 Ten, who were thus nearly coeval with the Ten themselves, may
 
 118 THE QUEEN OF THE ADRIATIC. 
 
 be recognized as the forerunners of the famous ' Inquisitors of 
 State.' But no tribunal existed at Venice under the latter title 
 prior to 1596, nor even then was it clothed with the revolting 
 attributes which have been ascribed to it by ignorance or 
 malignity." 
 
 M. Armand Baschet has written a book founded on 
 the Archives of Venice, called "Histoire de la Chan- 
 cellerie Secrete, " which treats of the Senate, the Cabinet, 
 the Council of Ten, and the Inquisitors of State, in their 
 relations to France. It is an exhaustive and learned 
 work ; and having quoted an English authority, it is wise 
 also to give a few sentences from this erudite French 
 writer : 
 
 "No institution has been more falsely represented and more 
 misjudged than the Council of Ten. The profound secrecy of 
 its deliberations, to secure which the extremest precautions were 
 alwa} r s permitted, offered so favorable a subject for invention 
 and exaggeration that pamphleteers and romancers could but 
 seize upon it without reserve. Doubtless this extraordinary tri- 
 bunal had its dramas, since politics and reasons of State imposed 
 on it the duty of scrutinizing the depths of the heart. Assuredly, 
 also, it had its faults, for although called supreme, it was not 
 divine, and was therefore liable to err; but to believe that it 
 was established for the calm commission of evil, rather than to 
 prevent or correct it, is one of those extremely gross errors for 
 which the active research into the truth of history which 
 in our day is zealously carried so far endeavors to make 
 reparation. 
 
 "Was its creation the arbitrary outcome of the heated imagi- 
 nation of a tyrant of the school of Nero ? Was it an offensive 
 or defensive weapon invented by this tyrant in order to torment 
 his people ? Good sense proves this to have been impossible. 
 The Council of Ten was created by the votes, the discussions, 
 and conclusions of a numerous and intelligent Assembly; strong 
 in its united strength; full of political instincts, which did not 
 ignore the truth that the power which by a vote it was about
 
 GRADENIGO, TIEPOLO, AND THE COUNCIL OF TEN. 119 
 
 to establish was created to prevent the dangers which men of 
 great ambitions on the exterior, or revolutionists in the interior, 
 might bring to the Republic. 
 
 "Was its establishment the work of a day? Would this 
 great Council, created for two months only, have been continued 
 by a new vote for one year, five years, ten years, and at last per- 
 manently, if the exercise of its power had not been recognized 
 as a benefit rather than an evil ? Was not this State, which in 
 establishing this Council created a judge for itself, the best gov- 
 erned and most orderly which then existed in the world ? What 
 other nation then had a parliament like that of Venice ? Could 
 the sovereign exercise oppression even in his decrees ? What 
 was the Doge in the presence of the Grand Council, the lesser 
 Council, and the Senate, other than a person with less power 
 than the Sovereign of Great Britain to-day, who must be in 
 accord with the will of the Parliament and the House of Lords ? 
 Moreover, it is manifest to one who seeks to know the Council 
 of Ten from authentic sources, rather than from amusing his- 
 tories without reliable knowledge, that this power was for the 
 protection of the people against the patricians rather than against 
 the people in favor of the patricians. 
 
 " Go to its archives, open its records, examine its parchments, 
 penetrate into its correspondence, initiate yourself in the mys- 
 teries of its justice, understand its decrees, inform yourself as to 
 its judgments, and you will see whether it made its power one 
 long abuse, and whether the spirit of tyranny rather than that 
 of justice was its inspiration and motive power. That it held a 
 terrible power in its hands is incontestable; bxit that it used 
 this power upon suspicion, and in the absence of other proof, is 
 absolutely false. It is puerile to judge the penalties of those 
 days by present standards. Should we not consider the manners 
 and customs of its time ? Under the best of our kings, under 
 the most just, the most amiable and honest, were not the abet- 
 tors of certain crimes furiously quartered ? It is absurd to com- 
 pare past history with the present, except it be to praise and 
 admire the progress that has been made. 
 
 "Moreover, the Council of Ten had to sustain, in the course 
 of three centuries, the most searching tests to which a political
 
 120 THE QUEEN OF THE ADRIATIC. 
 
 institution could be subjected. Three times its institution,* its 
 existence, and its system were placed under the ban of the Par- 
 liament which had created it. Three times was it called in 
 question by a party in the Grand Council, and submitted to ex- 
 amination and discussion. The tribune was free; the speeches 
 made for and against its abolition still exist. In 1582, 1628, 
 and 1762 the eloquence of the orators threatened its destruction. 
 Judges were elected by vote to thoroughly inform themselves 
 regarding it. They did not act under personal instruction to 
 proceed against the individuals invested with full powers and 
 accused of having used them against the welfare of the State. 
 Quite otherwise were they instructed, since, according to the 
 results of their investigation, a considerable Assembly would 
 decide for or against the preservation of this institution in the 
 Republic. Its most secret papers were submitted to them; and 
 three times the Council of Ten triumphed over the party opposed 
 to it, after having been subjected to the most exciting and 
 searching discussions which could possibly engage a great and 
 vigorous political assembly."
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 MURANO AND THE GLASS-MAKERS. 
 
 / T > HE excursion to Murano must be made on a fine day, 
 JL when the wind is favorable and the sea calm, as it 
 is frequently very rough near that island. We leave 
 Venice at the Fondamenta Nuove, and keep to the north. 
 It is but a half -hour' s row to Murano, and the aspect of 
 the lagoon here is quite different from that to the south of 
 Venice. To the east lies the desolate marsh-land formerly 
 called the Dogado, where the Doge had preserves for fish- 
 ing and shooting. From these marshes came the wild 
 duck which the Doge presented to every noble, on Decem- 
 ber 4, Saint Barbara's Day. 
 
 We soon reach San Michele, the cemetery of Venice, 
 to which the boats with black flags, so often seen, are 
 always going. The sight of it reminds us of Mr. Ho wells 
 and his " Venetian Life : " 
 
 "As we go by the cemetery of San Michele, Piero the gondo- 
 lier and Giovanna improve us with a little solemn pleasantry. 
 
 " 'It is a small place,' says Piero, 'but there is room enough 
 for all Venice in it.' 
 
 " 'It is true,' asserts Giovanna; 'and here we poor folks 
 become landowners at last.' " 
 
 We stay here long enough to see the handsome church 
 built by Moro Lombardo in 1466 ; to examine the statues 
 by Bernini, which, to say truth, do not seem to strike the 
 Venetian key-note ; and to read the name of Fra Paolo 
 Sarpi in the pavement, beneath which lies this brave
 
 122 THE QUEEN OF THE ADRIATIC. 
 
 defender of Venice against Pope Paul V. From the Car- 
 melite convent of San Michele went Placido Zurla to be 
 made a cardinal, and that Cappelari who ascended the 
 papal throne, in our own century, as Gregory XVI. Here 
 also lived Frate Mauro, who made in 1457 the celebrated 
 Mappa-Mondo for Alphonso V. of Portugal. It is now in 
 the library of St. Mark, and is a geographical encyclo- 
 paedia of all that was known about our planet at that 
 time. 
 
 It would be folly to attempt a new description of the 
 panorama before us when we can quote a sentence from 
 Ruskin which thus outlines the scene between Venice 
 and Murano : 
 
 "The pure cumuli of cloud lie crowded and leaning against 
 one another, rank beyond rank, far over the shining water, each 
 cut away at its foundation by a level line, trenchant and clear, 
 till they sink to the horizon like a flight of marble steps, except 
 where the mountains meet them, and are lost in them, barred 
 across by the gray terraces of those cloud foundations, and re- 
 duced into one crestless bank of blue, spotted here and there 
 with strange flakes of wan, aerial, greenish light, strewed upon 
 them like snow. And underneath is the long dark line of the 
 mainland, fringed with low trees; and then the wide waving 
 surface of the burnished lagoon trembling slowly, and shaking 
 out into forked bands of lengthening light the images of the 
 towers of cloud above. To the north, there is first the great 
 cemetery wall, then the long stray buildings of Murano, and 
 the inland villages beyond, glittering in intense crystalline ver- 
 milion, like so much jewelry scattered on a mirror, their towers 
 poised apparently in the air a little above the horizon, and their 
 reflections, as sharp and vivid and substantial as themselves, 
 thrown on the vacancy between them and the sea. And thus 
 the villages seem standing on the air; and to the east there is 
 a cluster of ships that seem sailing on the land; for the sandy 
 line of the Lido stretches itself between us and them, and we 
 can see the tall white sails moving beyond it, but not the sea;
 
 MURANO AND THE GLASS-MAKERS. 123 
 
 only there is a sense of the great sea being indeed there, and a 
 solemn strength of gleaming light in the sky above." 
 
 Between the cemetery and Murano there is little more 
 than a channel, and we enter a canal with narrow quays 
 on each side, three or four feet above the canal. The 
 houses, now inhabited by poor people, have certain really 
 beautiful features in doorways and windows, which indi- 
 cate that Murano "has seen better days." At present 
 there is the sort of stir that belongs to a manufacturing 
 town the world over, street-cries from the dealers in 
 fruits and fish ; glass-makers coming and going, stopping 
 now and then to speak with the women who are knitting in 
 the doorways, and altogether an air of active, practical 
 life that is very unlike Venice itself. 
 
 Our first visit is naturally to the Cathedral of San 
 Donato. The origin of this church is thus given in the 
 legends: Otho the Great, who died in 973, had a vision 
 in which the Virgin Mary showed him a triangular 
 meadow covered with scarlet lilies, and desired him to 
 build there a church in her honor. Nearly two centuries 
 later, when the Doge Michiele II. brought from Cephalonia 
 the embalmed body of Saint Donato, and gave it to this 
 church, that saint was joined with the Virgin as its 
 patron, and the cathedral henceforth called by his name. 
 It is probable that the whole church was then rebuilt. 
 At all events, the architecture is unmistakably of the 
 twelfth century, and is very interesting, especially the 
 semicircular apse, with its double rows of round arches 
 and its beautifully sculptured marbles. 
 
 The remarkable balustrade around the upper gallery is 
 also noticeable; and the chief interest of this church, 
 which stands in the northern angle of the triangle, is in 
 its exterior. The campanile, a few yards away, is heavy ; 
 and the modern buildings, with their ugly square windows 
 and blank walls, make it difficult to enjoy even the little
 
 124 THE QUEEN OF THE ADRIATIC. 
 
 that remains from the old davs. There is a ruined flag- 
 
 * O 
 
 staff foundation, with the iron hasps that held the stand- 
 ard still remaining, and a well with the date 1502. The 
 interior of San Donate has been so changed in recent 
 times that it is simply commonplace, with the exception 
 of the pavement, which is beautifully inlaid, and dates 
 from 1140, and a Madonna in Greek mosaic, which is 
 a remarkable imitation of the Byzantine, though by 
 no means beautiful. Doubtless some of the columns 
 with delicately sculptured capitals were brought from 
 Altinum. 
 
 The Church of the Angels must be visited for the sake 
 of the Madonna by Gian Bellini, which was painted for 
 the Doge Barberigo in 1488, and presented to the con- 
 vent in which two of his daughters had taken the veil. 
 The Doge, in all the pomp of his official attire, is pre- 
 sented to the Virgin by Saints Mark and Augustine. It 
 is a most interesting picture, as are all those by this 
 old painter, who loved to paint the Divine Mother and 
 Child with their attendant saints and angels; and, as 
 in this picture, with "beds of weeds and flowers, in 
 which the crane, the peacock, and partridge alike elect 
 to congregate." 
 
 But it is not for its churches, its architecture, or works 
 of art that Murano is known to us. Neither is it of this 
 Murano, with its few thousand inhabitants and less than 
 a dozen manufactories, that we have been accustomed to 
 think. It is of that Murano on which dwelt thirty thou- 
 sand people, and from which ascended the smoke of three 
 hundred furnaces, the fires of which were nearly all extin- 
 guished after the fall of the Republic. Now, however, in 
 the new life that has come to Italy, the glass -making of 
 Murano is reviving. 
 
 Salviati has done much to restore the art to its old- 
 time excellence; and other countries again depend on
 
 MURANO AND THE GLASS-MAKERS. 125 
 
 Venice for many of these products. Again the beads of 
 Murano are very beautiful, and an important element of 
 commerce ; and though many of the objects now made are 
 more fantastic than useful, they are also very beautiful. 
 Salviati imitates both the old glass and the mosaics, and 
 varies his products in a thousand forms, which are still 
 tinted with the old and famous colors, girasole (opal), 
 acqua marina, rubino, lattimo, giallo d'oro, and many 
 others. 
 
 The frieze of mosaic at the South Kensington Museum 
 in London, and the ceiling of the vestibule which leads 
 from the grand staircase to the foyer in the Paris Opera 
 House are excellent specimens of the modern mosaic work 
 of Murano, which is now in full revival, and takes the 
 first place in the world, as it did centuries ago. The 
 following description of some splendid pieces made for 
 Mr. H. Furber, of Chicago, shows the present impor- 
 tance of this art in Venice. They are intended for the 
 " Columbus Palace " near the grounds of the " Columbian 
 Exposition " : 
 
 " Among the important works recently executed is a large 
 mosaic panel representing Columbus being received by Queen 
 Isabella and King Ferdinand of Spain after his return from 
 America. This panel, measuring about two hundred square 
 feet, shows Columbus when kneeling before the sovereigns, 
 presenting to them the natives of the newly discovered land, 
 and some products of the soil. The persons represented are 
 about thirty-eight in number, many of them of the natural size, 
 formed in three principal groups. In the most important group 
 is Columbus, having at his side the young crown prince and the 
 sovereigns, surrounded by the dignitaries of the court, ladies 
 and noblemen, and pages holding the standards. In the middle 
 group, but more to the left, are the native Indians; and near the 
 entrance of the hall other Spanish nobles and the companions of 
 Columbus. The gorgeous and various attires of all the figures, 
 their warlike implements, the splendid stuffs of all sorts and
 
 126 THE QUEEN OF THE ADRIATIC. 
 
 tints, the rich decoration of the hall, the pageantry of the court, 
 the strange tones and costumes of the natives in full contrast 
 with the others, and the various attitudes of all these personages 
 form a whole in perfect harmony with the details of the scene, 
 owing to the excellent distribution of the figures, and the per- 
 fect fusion of tints. The work is so delicately executed that no 
 one can believe that the panel is not painted until on touching 
 it he discovers that it is entirely composed of small enamel cubes, 
 put together without any aid of color or cement, and worked 
 according to the mode of the old Venetian mosaic school. This 
 panel will form the pendant of another representing Columbus 
 landing in America." 
 
 No glass has been so famous as that of Venice, because 
 no other glass-makers have ever equalled the Venetians 
 in the beauty of their products, nor in the marvellous 
 manner in which they varied the use of their materials. 
 Good authorities believe that this art was known to the 
 earliest settlers of the lagoons, although they used their 
 knowledge in the making of the necessities of life alone ; 
 but the material of the antique glass and the Muranese 
 glass is precisely the same. 
 
 In 1292 the Grand Council, by a decree, ordered the 
 removal of the glass-workers to Murano, and the destruc- 
 tion of the furnaces at Riva Alto. From the inauguration 
 of this industry at Murano, the Government was extremely 
 jealous in preventing the secrets of glass-making from 
 being discovered by any strangers. From the year 1275 
 the export of lump glass, or of the materials used in its 
 composition, and even of broken glass, was forbidden, 
 and a heavy penalty attached to such acts ; and from this 
 time more stringent laws were made, and at length the 
 manufactories were put in charge of the Council of Ten, 
 so determined was the Republic to profit by the skill of 
 its workers. These anxieties were not unreasonable, 
 since it is known that men as high in position as the
 
 MURANO AND THE GLASS-MAKERS. 127 
 
 ambassadors from France had a sort of police in their 
 employ, who attempted to bribe the glass-workers, and to 
 spy out the raw materials they used, and their manner of 
 combining them. 
 
 It appears most probable that to the original knowledge 
 of the earliest Venetians some additions must have been 
 made from the methods of the Oriental mosaic-workers, 
 who were employed in San Marco as early as the tenth 
 century, although later the productions of the Venetians 
 were sought in the East, where the making of fine glass 
 bad come to be a lost art. That this is true is proved by 
 an order still existing for four hundred mosque lamps, 
 bearing verses from the Koran, in colored enamels, to be 
 made for the Grand Vizier of the Sultan. The Arabic 
 influence which is so clearly shown in Venetian glass is 
 supposed to have come from the specimens of glass found 
 in the Roman Campagna, and in many other places in 
 Italy, such as Nola, Campania, and so on, which in all 
 probability were used as models at Murano. 
 
 Venice gained immense sums by her trade in glass beads 
 alone. Their place in commerce is almost incredible, 
 especially when they began to be covered with enamels, 
 gold, and opaline colors. The Orientals exchanged for 
 them silks, spices, precious metals, and all sorts of exqui- 
 site tissues. They found their way all over the world, 
 and in modern days have been seen in central Africa, 
 where they were used for money. The shrewd Venetians 
 valued their exquisite pieces of glass, the"ir vases, gob- 
 lets, mirror frames, and ewers ; but they were most jealous 
 in the protection of their bead trade and manufacture. 
 
 From the eleventh to the fourteenth century the prepa- 
 ration of enamel for mosaic work was the most important 
 department of the glass-works at Murano, and the mosaic 
 glass there made has never been equalled in beauty or 
 durability elsewhere. Even pavements in San Marco,
 
 128 THE QUEEN OF THE ADRIATIC. 
 
 made from this glass, and now five or six centuries old, 
 are still perfect in color, joints, and setting. 
 
 Salviati gives the name of glass to the Venetian manu- 
 facture alone, and applies " crystal or crystallified glass " 
 to all other varieties, and Yriarte says : 
 
 " These makers have but one object, to imitate the quality of 
 crystal. Thus, when they have perfected the properties of clear- 
 ness and brilliancy, they set about increasing the attractiveness 
 of their productions by cutting them after they have been first 
 run in moulds; that is to say, by employing mechanical means 
 to obtain something like the richness, the variety of form, and 
 vigor of line which alone can insure it success in the market. 
 But to do this is to demand from glass qualities which it ought 
 not to yield, and to change its nature, depriving it of its two 
 essential qualities, lightness and ductility. 
 
 "The glory of Murano is to have preserved the special prop- 
 erties of the material, and to have made it yield all the beauties 
 of which it was capable." 
 
 These workers at Murano had two great advantages, 
 the material they used was ductile, light, especially bril- 
 liant, and possessed of vitreous appearance quite unique ; 
 and, added to these important conditions, the workmen 
 had natural good taste, and the immense aid of historical 
 traditions, and by wisely employing its own resources 
 Murano attained its great reputation; its forms and colors 
 have not been equalled, and that they could be excelled 
 is past imagining. 
 
 We know the name of the man who made mosaics for 
 San Marco in 1100. It was Pietro, and he worked for the 
 Doge Vitale Michiele I. In 1268 the glass-workers had 
 formed a corporation. In 1292 they settled permanently 
 on Murano. In 1329 they were employed to furnish glass 
 for churches in other cities; and in 1376 the Senate 
 declared that a master glass-maker might marry the 
 daughter of a noble, and their children be held as of noble
 
 MURANO AND THE GLASS-MAKERS. 129 
 
 rank. It was at this time that the Venetian glass-workers 
 decorated the fine edifices all over Italy, and made the 
 windows for the Cathedral of Milan. 
 
 So vast had the industry now become that it was 
 divided into specialties, the verixelli made small objects 
 and beads; the phioleri made bottles. In the beginning 
 of the fifteenth century Angelo Beroviero had the most 
 famous furnace at Murano, at the sign of the Angel. He 
 made both vessels and windows, and being a learned 
 chemist knew how to give the most varied and beautiful 
 colors to his glass. Beroviero also made the discovery of 
 a process by which to apply enamel to glass in different 
 colors. He made exquisite goblets ; and special designs 
 were executed for marriage and birth cups, or for any 
 important occasion. Beroviero reached perfection in his 
 art, and his brothers and sons were never surpassed in 
 enamelled glass. To his son Marino may be ascribed the 
 splendid glass in San Giovanni e Paolo, made after the 
 designs of Girolamo Mocetto in 1473. 
 
 In truth, it is to the Berovieri that the progress in glass- 
 making is due. They invented in 1463 that transparent 
 glass called crystal ; and giving up the old simplicity of 
 form and decoration, they became bold and even audacious 
 in their work. They used gold and enamel, and made 
 those occasional pieces, now so precious, on which the 
 designs and inscriptions furnish historical scenes from 
 the fifteenth century. 
 
 In the beginning of the sixteenth century Andrea 
 Vidaore invented the process of making artificial pearls 
 with the enameller's blow-pipe, and later he invented 
 glass jet, both of which discoveries became very remu- 
 nerative. In 1507 two Muranese petitioned the Council of 
 Ten for a grant of the monopoly of mirror glass all over 
 the Republic for twenty-five years, and for permission to 
 keep their fires lighted during the two months and a half
 
 130 THE QUEEN OF THE ADRIATIC. 
 
 when all the fires were bound to be extinguished. Prior 
 to this time the method of preparing mirror glass had 
 been known and was used elsewhere ; but at Venice the 
 metal plates had been retained. Now, however, began 
 the growth of that enormous industry in mirror plates 
 which has retained its importance even in recent times, 
 and which other nations have tried to appropriate. 
 
 The art of cutting glass in facets, and imitating pre- 
 cious stones, as well as of coloring " crystal " glass, was 
 discovered in 1605 ; and all these inventions brought great 
 wealth to the glass-workers, some of whom purchased 
 nobility for themselves and their descendants. 
 
 Through Colbert, France succeeded in competing with 
 Murano. England did the same by aid of the Duke of 
 Buckingham ; and Bohemia gave itself up to glass manu- 
 facture in such a way that the Venetian industry suffered 
 at the end of the seventeenth century. Giuseppe Briati, 
 a passionate lover of his art, left Murano, and took ser- 
 vice in a manufactory at Prague, and having learned the 
 Bohemian secrets, he returned to Venice in 1736, and 
 obtained a license, for ten years, to manufacture and sell 
 crystals made in the Bohemian fashion. Briati estab- 
 lished himself in Venice in the Via del Angello Raffaelo. 
 At this period mirrors were framed with flowers and 
 foliage of cut glass, in relief, and lustres were decorated 
 with flowers, grapes, and leaves in brilliant colors. 
 Filigrana (filigree), too, was much in favor; and some of 
 Briati 's vases in this style are now very precious on 
 account of their refinement of form and taste. Briati 
 died in 1772, but at Murano his art survived. 
 
 In 1790 a license was granted to Giorgio Barbaria to 
 make black bottles for export to England ; and soon after 
 he manufactured jet and enamels. Barbaria was the 
 deputy of Murano until the fall of the Republic, when the 
 island became almost a desert, and its master workmen
 
 MTJEANO AND THE GLASS-MAKERS. 131 
 
 and journeymen sought in other lands the bread they 
 could no longer earn at Murano. 
 
 There are many interesting stories and traditions con- 
 nected with the Berovieri. Angelo, who was the superior 
 of them all, inherited a good business, and by his own 
 discoveries became very rich. He had a large shop 
 in Venice, besides his factory on Murano, from which he 
 shipped immense quantities of glass to various ports in 
 Europe and the Orient. His dwelling was in a part of 
 Murano that was free from the smoke of the furnaces. It 
 was of marble, and very handsome without, while within 
 it was most luxurious and elegant. The garden stretched 
 to the water's edge, and was laid out with much taste. 
 Large trees afforded grateful shade at midday, and spicy 
 odors from the flowers combined with the songs of the 
 nightingales of the aviary in satisfying the senses. There 
 were arbors so sheltered by vines that one could watch 
 the gondolas on the blue waters and be quite unseen, and 
 the lovely view was fitly crowned by the purple mountains 
 in the distance. 
 
 Beroviero was fortunate in all the circumstances of his 
 life. His beautiful wife was a wealthy lady of Milan. 
 His son, Marino, was of great promise, and his two 
 daughters were lovely girls, who had inherited their 
 mother's beauty and their father's intellect. But one 
 sorrow had penetrated even here. The eldest, Felicia, 
 from a fall in childhood, had weakened her spine, 
 and was forced to spend much of her life in a recumbent 
 position. 
 
 When Buona, the younger, reached a marriageable age, 
 there were many suitors for her hand among the young 
 nobles of Venice. One day when Signor Beroviero was 
 very busy, his wife sent him a note: 
 
 Hasten home. I am in a great perplexity. The two 
 young nobles, Da Canale and Mocenigo, have come separately
 
 132 THE QUEEN OF THE ADRIATIC. 
 
 to sue for Buona. Mocenigo was first, and he is with me and 
 Buona now; and we have put Da Canale in another room to 
 talk to Felicia. Hasten to our rescue! Your wife. 
 
 Most impatient at the interruption, Beroviero left his 
 counting-house. 
 
 Meanwhile the comedy was played by his wife and 
 daughters. Signora Beroviero had heard that Buona was 
 much admired, and her father had already received sev- 
 eral offers for her hand, to which he had replied that his 
 daughter should be won, not sold. Acting on this hint, 
 these two young men had come to win her if possible. Both 
 were members of the Great Council, and of high position. 
 Mocenigo had been shown to the drawing-room, and 
 received by Signora Beroviero and Buona. Before the 
 usual compliments were exchanged, Da Canale arrived, 
 and was taken to a charming room opening on the garden, 
 where Felicia was busy with her embroidery. He was 
 splendidly attired, and had evidently come on a visit of 
 importance. He displayed some impatience, as he threw 
 off his cloak, and saw his companion; but Felicia enter- 
 tained him as best she could until her father came, and 
 held him in conversation until Mocenigo, who had been told 
 of the presence of his rival, could retreat, for Signora 
 Beroviero had set her heart on Mocenigo for her son-in- 
 law. But Buona was of quite another opinion, and in 
 spite of all the praises of him that she heard she refused to 
 marry him ; and when her mother appealed to the father, 
 his only reply was, " She is free to marry as she chooses. " 
 
 Just at this time Beroviero received an order from the 
 Doge for a collection of glass to be presented to the 
 Emperor Frederick III. on the occasion of his visit to 
 Venice. This caused a great excitement. The father, 
 son, and three advanced apprentices were constantly in 
 solemn conclave. Among these last was one Giorgio, 
 who, although the senior, had made small advance in his
 
 MURANO AND THE GLASS-MAKERS. 133 
 
 art. When the important matter in hand was well under- 
 stood, and a proper part assigned to each one, all the 
 resources of the manufactory were devoted to making a 
 grand display of Venetian skill in color and design. 
 
 Other glass-workers were filled with jealousy of Bero- 
 viero, when the truth about this order was known; and 
 this feeling was not lessened by the magnificent display 
 which was soon made in the window of his shop in 
 Venice. Naturally many strangers came hither on 
 account of the proposed visit of the Emperor, and all the 
 tradesmen of the city were making their shops as attrac- 
 tive as possible ; but no other drew such crowds of gazers 
 as that of Beroviero, now that the gift from the Doge to 
 the Emperor was on exhibition. A large vase glowed like 
 a magnificent ruby ; white flowers, as delicate and natural 
 as if actually growing, twined around a vase of glorious 
 blue ; while cups and wineglasses of exquisite shape and 
 ethereal thinness were in contrast to goblets heavy with 
 gold and enamel. But the chief object was a lace-work 
 goblet, such as was never made elsewhere. It was the 
 most wonderful of all the Venetian glasses, and so fragile 
 was it that its construction was a mystery. Marsh gives 
 this account of the method : 
 
 "In manufacturing it the workman first of all placed threads 
 of opaque glass round the inside of a mould made of charcoal. 
 Then he dipped his rod into a pot of molten glass, and blew a 
 drop out within the mould until it touched the opaque threads, 
 which at once adhered to the outer surface of the glass. The 
 goblet so blown was as thin as the white film of an egg. Then 
 a second goblet was blown, and the opaque threads were made to 
 adhere on the inner surface of the glass, running in a reverse 
 direction to those which adhered to the outer surface of the first 
 goblet. Thus the workman obtained two goblets, the outside of 
 one and the inner side of the other, bearing the opaque threads of 
 glass. Having secured this object, he next proceeded to place
 
 134 THE QUEEN OF THE ADRIATIC. 
 
 one glass inside the other. At the moment the threads of opaque 
 glass touched one another they adhered, imprisoning in the centre 
 of each diamond, formed by the threads crossing one another, a 
 fine bubble of air. The body of the goblet was covered with 
 these diamonds, the air bubble appearing in the centre of each. 
 Notwithstanding the fact that the goblet was composed of two 
 distinct casings, yet, when they were united, the two presented 
 a body not half as thick as an ordinary wafer. This species of 
 glass was the most exquisite that Venice ever produced." 
 
 Beroviero had been invited to be present when the 
 Emperor received this gift on which so much thought and 
 labor had been lavished; and at length the day arrived. 
 The Emperor, with his young bride, Elenora of Portugal, 
 with a great assemblage of the rank and beauty of Venice, 
 and many noble visitors, were gathered in the great hall 
 of the Ducal Palace, where the Doge and high officials 
 received them. Beroviero, his wife, son, and Buona, with 
 representatives from some rival glass-works, were also 
 there. 
 
 First the Doge presented to the Empress a crown set 
 with jewels, and many other costly articles of attire. 
 He then offered to the Emperor the splendid service of 
 glass ; to which his Majesty gave but slight attention, even 
 while the Doge was describing its beauty and value. The 
 Emperor replied in a cold and haughty tone ; and while he 
 was thus expressing his thanks, his court-jester executed 
 a pirouette, and hit the tray containing the glass, which 
 fell to the ground, shivered into numberless pieces. The 
 Emperor exclaimed, "Had they been of gold or silver, 
 that calamity could not have happened ! " 
 
 Tbe faces of the Doge and of the whole assembly 
 expressed their horror and anger; and the Emperor begged 
 to be allowed to order another set. But the Doge replied, 
 " Venice does not sell her gifts ! " 
 
 His Majesty offered large sums, but no glass-maker
 
 MURANO AND THE GLASS-MAKERS. 135 
 
 would undertake to replace what had been destroyed ; and 
 on the next day the Emperor departed, while the episode 
 of the glass-breaking was the general topic of conversation 
 in all Venice. 
 
 Beroviero was filled with surprise and rage, while his 
 rivals ridiculed him beyond endurance. The apprentices 
 and workmen took sides with their masters, and fierce 
 encounters took place between those of Beroviero and 
 those of other factories. From that day Angelo Beroviero 
 was a different man. He neglected his business, involved 
 himself in quarrels, and was morose and irritable at 
 home. 
 
 And now the dull, inattentive Giorgio came to the 
 front, and challenged the senior apprentices of the princi- 
 pal rival establishments of Riva, Marcelli, and Gritti to a 
 gondola tournament. The latter declined; but two con- 
 tests would take place, and a day was fixed. Beroviero 
 heard of this with pleasure, and was grateful to Giorgio 
 for this dignified method of showing himself the friend of 
 his master. 
 
 On the appointed day hundreds of gondolas were off 
 Murano, while crowds stood on the shore, and every bal- 
 cony was filled with ladies and gentlemen, all anxious to 
 see the contest. Each combatant was allowed an assist- 
 ant to propel his gondola. This was usually the youngest 
 apprentice ; and with Giorgio was Hector, a boy of four- 
 teen, and a very skilful oarsman. He stood in the stern, 
 while Giorgio was on the prow, bearing a leather shield 
 and a blunt-headed lance. On the prow was a figure of 
 an angel, while the rival boats carried their symbols of 
 an anchor and a dolphin. Felicia could witness the whole 
 sport from her window; but Buona, with their maid 
 Giannetta, was on the shore. 
 
 At last two gondolas shot out from the crowd of boats, 
 and sped quickly towards a post moored at some distance
 
 136 THE QUEEN OF THE ADRIATIC. 
 
 in the open water. As Giorgio, lightly clad, stood on the 
 prow of the Angel, and approached the other gondola 
 decorated with an anchor, the symbol of the house of the 
 Riva, it was easily seen that the other apprentice, who 
 was of heavy build, and handled his lance awkwardly, was 
 no match for Giorgio. As they neared the post, there was 
 much applause ; and as Giorgio turned his eyes towards 
 his master's garden, he saw a handkerchief waving in the 
 hand of Buona, who, as she saw the contest about to 
 begin, exclaimed, "Now God and Saint Mark be with 
 him!" Hearing this, her maid, Giannetta, uttered a 
 little scream, for her mistress had put her own thought in 
 words, and blushing she said that she had stepped on a 
 sharp stone and hurt her foot; but in that moment 
 Buona knew that the maid loved Giorgio, and Giannetta 
 feared that her mistress cherished a like sentiment. 
 
 The two gondolas were now advancing towards each 
 other. The lances were lowered, the boats met and then 
 separated, and it was seen that the gondola with the 
 anchor at the prow was empty. Both the champion and 
 his rower were gone. Giorgio had parried the opponent's 
 lance, and putting his own lance between the legs of his 
 enemy, had toppled him into the water, and then, as the 
 lightened gondola passed him, a vigorous push in the 
 breast of the rower had sent him splashing after his com- 
 panion. These achievements were warmly applauded by 
 the crowd on shore; and a number of boats, full of his 
 friends, quickly surrounded that of Giorgio to congratulate 
 him on his success. 
 
 By the usual rules of combat the victor was entitled to 
 an hour for repose before meeting his next opponent ; but 
 Giorgio signified his readiness to begin again at once, 
 and in a few minutes the gondola, with a dolphin as its 
 symbol, and an apprentice of the Marcel li on its prow, 
 rowed up to the starting-post. The second champion was
 
 MURANO AND THE GLASS-MAKERS. 137 
 
 far superior to the first ; but after one or two slight thrusts 
 from the lances, Giorgio profited by a fortunate moment, 
 and hurled the second opponent into the water. Now was 
 he a hero indeed, and all possible honors were shown him 
 by his friends and even by his superiors. He had estab- 
 lished a claim to the championship of all the gondoliers 
 of Murano, with which the Berovieri were as well pleased 
 as he. 
 
 This day had revealed Buona to herself, and she was 
 horrified to find that she was a rival to her own maid in 
 the affections of a poor apprentice. She determined to 
 stifle this unworthy sentiment; but so difficult did she 
 find her task that physicians soon were summoned to 
 account for her blanched cheeks, and restore her to health. 
 Mocenigo, with her parents' consent, strove to arouse her 
 to an interest in life ; but all was useless, and when fully 
 convinced of her utter indifference to him, he quietly 
 ceased to visit her, and she soon entered a convent. 
 
 She confided her secret grief to her confessor alone, 
 and never regretted the gay life she might have led at 
 Venice as the bride of some young noble. As years went 
 on, and the poor sought aid at her convent in their sea- 
 sons of sorrow and suffering, the name of Suora Buona 
 was that most frequently on their lips. 
 
 From the day of the tournament Giorgio became seri- 
 ously attentive to his business, and before very long he 
 presented his master with a goblet, asking him to accept 
 his first discovery. Beroviero examined it with curious 
 delight. The inside was perfectly smooth, while the out- 
 side was covered with a thousand irregular cracks, and 
 the whole looked as if it had been frosted. Beroviero 
 was filled with surprise, and declared the goblet to be 
 beautiful and entirely new. 
 
 Giorgio explained that his discovery was an accident, 
 as most discoveries are. He had observed the effect on a
 
 138 THE QUEEN OF THE ADRIATIC. 
 
 drop of hot glass when it fell into the water. It became 
 crackled and frosted, and he at once tried the same thing 
 on his goblet. Beroviero assured Giorgio that his dis- 
 covery would prove of great value, and promised to take 
 the young man to the palace, that he might show the gob- 
 let to the Doge. But that very evening the old glass- 
 maker was attacked by masked thieves as he was floating 
 in his gondola, and survived his wounds but a few hours. 
 
 Marino, who succeeded his father, claimed Giorgio's 
 invention as the property of the firm, as Giorgio was still 
 an apprentice , and the courts decided in his favor. Thus 
 Marino had the sole right to make crackled glass; and 
 Giorgio, driven to desperation by this injustice, stole the 
 book in which Angelo Beroviero had written out all his 
 methods and discoveries, and made an exact copy of it. 
 This he sold to another firm, and with the proceeds set 
 up a factory of his own. He married Giannetta, and 
 seemed to have a promising future before him ; but what- 
 ever he undertook ended unfortunately. The theft by 
 which he thought to found a fortune was heavy on his 
 conscience, and to it he attributed all his unhappiness. 
 But under his son the Ballerini (Giorgio was called 
 Ballerino in derision) became celebrated, and attained 
 great eminence as glass-makers. 
 
 When Buona entered the convent, Felicia devoted her- 
 self to making an altar-cloth, in which she used the most 
 costly materials that she could procure. The design was 
 that of the Crucifixion. Three years she labored on it, and 
 at last all was completed save the crown of thorns. She had 
 constantly grown more and more fragile ; and one evening, 
 as the sun was setting, she called her mother, saying, 
 " See, dear mother, the end is come. I have pointed the 
 last thorn in His earthly crown." 
 
 As she ceased speaking, her head drooped, and she was 
 dead. She was buried beneath the altar of the convent
 
 MUKANO AND THE GLASS-MAKEES. 139 
 
 church, and her exquisite embroidery served both as a 
 cloth for the altar and a monument to her who had 
 wrought it in loving faith. 
 
 Marino Beroviero maintained the reputation of his 
 family, and made still further advances in his art. His 
 business was extensive and prosperous, and a few years 
 after his father's death he married the sister of Mocenigo, 
 the former suitor of Buona.
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 MARINO FALIEBO; VETTORE PISANI AND CARLO ZENO. 
 
 IN the autumn of 1354, Marino Faliero of San Apostoli, 
 Count of Valdemarino, although seventy-six years old, 
 and having already served the Republic in several impor- 
 tant offices, was elected Doge. At this time he was 
 Venetian Legate at Avignon, and an envoy extraordinary 
 was sent to inform him of his election and attend him on 
 his return. At Verona lie was met by an escort of honor, 
 and the Bucentaur awaited him at Chioggia, that he might 
 make his entrance into Venice as became his dignity ; but 
 as the State barge neared the city, a dense fog made it 
 unsafe to proceed with so large a ship, and the ducal 
 party was forced to take small boats to land. The gon- 
 dola in which Faliero was seated drew up at the Molo, 
 exactly between the Columns of Executions, which was 
 thought by the Venetians to be a sinister augury in the 
 beginning of a reign, and was frequently recalled in later 
 years. 
 
 During the forty-two years in which Faliero had filled 
 positions of honor, at home and abroad, he had become 
 accustomed to deciding important questions on his own 
 responsibility ; his life had not prepared him to be a lay 
 figure and enjoy it, and he soon found that a Doge was 
 now little more than this. Faliero, too, was of a quick 
 temper, and had not hesitated to box the ears of a bishop 
 who had kept him waiting on a public occasion when he 
 was Podest& at Treviso. He was vigorous in health and
 
 MARINO FALIERO. 141 
 
 youthful in feeling, and had married, late in life, a sec- 
 ond wife, who was young and beautiful ; and his jealousy 
 led him to believe that she was admired and coveted by 
 every gentleman who had the privilege of her acquaint- 
 ance. Naturally, her position as Dogaressa brought her 
 in contact with all the nobility of Venice, and the gay 
 and dashing young cavaliers soon discovered the weakness 
 of the old husband. 
 
 On Carnival Thursday, April 2, 1355, the old-time 
 ceremony of immolating an ox and twelve boar-pigs, 
 which symbolized the Patriarch of Aquileia and his 
 canons, was celebrated in the Piazza, which was filled 
 with a brilliant assemblage ; the court looked on from the 
 palace windows, and later the Dogaressa gave a magnifi- 
 cent entertainment to the rank and beauty of Venice. In 
 the course of the festivities a knot of gay young fellows 
 who surrounded the maids of honor grew boisterous, and 
 indulged a freedom of conduct which aroused the wrath of 
 the Doge. He singled Michele Steno as the victim of his 
 displeasure, and commanded his exclusion from the scene. 
 
 Steno, full of mortification and rage, sought his revenge, 
 and before leaving the palace, managed to write, on the 
 chair of the Doge, a most insulting taunt, which naturally 
 roused him to fury. Steno was brought before the Forty, 
 and sentenced to prison for two months and to exile for a 
 year. This lenient punishment was regarded by Faliero as 
 a more serious cause of complaint than the insult itself had 
 been, and he demanded that Steno should come before the 
 Ten and receive a severe sentence, if not death, at least 
 perpetual banishment. But the age of the culprit, who 
 might have been Faliero's grandson, and the considera- 
 tion that his offence was a folly rather than a crime, 
 precluded such severity ; and the old Doge was reminded 
 that before the court he was but the equal of the poorest 
 gondolier on the canals.
 
 142 THE QUEEN OF THE ADRIATIC. 
 
 Faliero cursed the patricians and the laws which had 
 made the head of the Republic so helpless ; and just then 
 the admiral of the Arsenal complained to him of an 
 insult which he had received, and demanded redress. 
 Faliero replied with bitterness that he could not obtain 
 for others the justice which was denied him. One thing 
 led to another, until the admiral darkly hinted at a 
 revenge which would overturn the present condition of 
 affairs and give the Doge more power. The two men soon 
 understood each other, and when they parted were already 
 conspirators against the State. Immediately they made 
 a plan for a revolution ; each sought to enlist his friends 
 in the conspiracy, and soon about twenty were pledged to 
 its aid. 
 
 The months that had passed since Faliero had been but 
 a figure-head to that republic in which he had hitherto 
 been a leading spirit, had brought him continual mortifi- 
 cation and suffering. He had returned to Venice in proud 
 triumph, having received the highest honor that the State 
 could confer, which should be the crown and glory of his 
 life. He had come to rule, but he had found the palace 
 little less than a prison, his power a myth, and his con- 
 dition a sort of gilded bondage. His opinion was domi- 
 nated by that of the Ten; and even the giovinastri who 
 paraded their youth and their finery in the Broglio could 
 laugh him to ridicule, and insult him unpunished. 
 
 The plot of the Doge and his sympathizers was badly 
 and hastily devised. They believed that in ten days six 
 hundred and fifty poniards would be at their service ; and 
 on the 15th of April, amid cries of "Viva il Principe 
 Faliero," the members of the obnoxious order were to be 
 sacrificed as they gathered in the Piazza, the tocsin hav- 
 ing been rung, and a false report of the arrival of a 
 Genoese fleet off the Lido occupying their minds. Not a 
 suspicion of the insurrection existed, and even the fol-
 
 MARINO FALIERO. 143 
 
 lowers of the chief conspirators did not know what they 
 were to do ; they were simply to obey when commanded. 
 
 But, as usually happens, when the time drew near, one 
 of the conspirators had his own reasons for betraying the 
 plot. In this case it was Beltramo, the skinner, who 
 wished to save his especial patron, Lioni, who, being of 
 quick wit, at the first hint from Beltraino had him 
 arrested, and hastened to the palace to disclose his fears 
 and suspicions to the Doge. Faliero made light of them, 
 but in so awkward and embarrassed a manner as to arouse 
 fresh misgivings where he endeavored to allay them ; and 
 Lioni, taking two other nobles with him, returned for a 
 second examination of Beltramo, who now exposed the 
 whole plot, taking care, however, to conceal the part 
 which Faliero had in it. 
 
 The news was carried to the Ten at once. They too 
 had heard a similar report, and were suspicious that some 
 leaders of very exalted position were involved in the con- 
 spiracy. The tribunal summoned all its members to an 
 extra sitting, omitting only Niccolo Faliero^ nephew of the 
 Doge. Decisive measures were taken at once ; the city 
 was put under martial law, and the conspirators were 
 arrested to the number of twenty or more. Ten of these 
 were hanged at the casements of the palace two days before 
 the rising was to have taken place ; one of the Falieri was 
 imprisoned, and a Calendario was banished for life. Some 
 names were entered on the Register of the Suspected; 
 some of the suspected were set at liberty as blameless, 
 and others received minor punishments. 
 
 In the course of all these proceedings the truth concern- 
 ing Faliero had become known, and on April 16 he was 
 conducted to the Chamber of the Great Council, attired in 
 his robes of state, and was there accused of treason. He 
 made no plea of denial, but acknowledged all, and declared 
 himself the worst of criminals. The question of his pun-
 
 144 THE QUEEN OF THE ADRIATIC. 
 
 ishment was put to vote, and but one suffrage was cast in 
 favor of his life. His sentence was delivered: "Marino 
 Faliero, being convicted of conspiring against the Consti- 
 tution, should be taken to the head of the grand staircase 
 of St. Mark's, and there, being stripped of the ducal 
 bonnet and the other emblems of his dignity, should be 
 decapitated. " The Doge was then led back to the palace, 
 maintaining his composure with heroic determination. 
 
 The next morning he was again led to the Great Coun- 
 cil Chamber, where a body of councillors, decemvirs, and 
 advocates surrounded him and attended him to the place 
 of execution. To the vast concourse of all conditions of 
 men who were there assembled, the Doge made an address 
 which was received in an awful stillness. He implored 
 the forgiveness of the Venetians, and declared his sen- 
 tence to be just. 
 
 His crown and ducal robes were then removed, and 
 replaced by a black cloak and cap. His head was severed 
 from his body at a single stroke, and the mutilated 
 remains were viewed by thousands, in San Marco, before 
 the burial. This occurred at the church of SS. Giovanni 
 e Paolo, the "Zanipolo" which we all know so well, either 
 through visits or books ; there Faliero was secretly buried, 
 and no inscription told those who walked above his grave 
 that^there rest had been found for the body of the fiery old 
 Doge. The Ten simply inscribed upon their books one 
 sentence, "LET IT NOT BE WRITTEN," and his portrait was 
 hung in the Hall of the Great Council after his death; 
 but twelve years later, the Ten substituted for the picture 
 a black crape veil with the inscription, "This is the place 
 of Marino Faliero, beheaded for his crimes." Perhaps no 
 better method could have been taken to keep his name 
 alive and cause his story to be repeated from one genera- 
 tion to another, ever raising the question, Was it a crime ? 
 Is not Mrs. Oliphant near the truth when she says,
 
 VETTORE PISANI AND CARLO ZENO. 145 
 
 "The incident altogether points more to a sudden outbreak of 
 the rage and disappointment of an old public servant coming 
 back from his weary labors for the State, in triumph and satis- 
 faction to what seemed the supreme reward; and finding himself 
 no more than a puppet in the hands of remorseless masters, sub- 
 ject to the scoffs of the younger generation, supreme in no sense 
 of the word, and with his eyes opened by his own suffering, per- 
 ceiving for the first time what justice there was in the oft- 
 repeated protest of the people, and how they and he alike were 
 crushed under the iron heel of that oligarchy to which the power 
 of the people and that of the prince was equally obnoxious." 
 
 It seems like the irony of fate that the informer, 
 Beltramo, should have been rewarded by the Ten with a 
 thousand ducats and the privilege of wearing arms, while 
 but two thousand ducats were given to the Doge's family- 
 out of all his vast property. But Beltramo considered his 
 claims so poorly satisfied that he outraged the Ten by his 
 conduct and was thrown into prison. It is said that after 
 his liberation he was assassinated by one of the conspira- 
 tors whom he had betrayed. 
 
 VETTORE PISANI AND CARLO ZENO. 
 
 On April 22, 1378, the Doge Andrea Contarini, in the 
 Basilica of San Marco, invested Pisani with the supreme 
 command of the Venetian fleet. As he presented the 
 great banner to him, the Doge solemnly said : "You are 
 destined by God to defend with your valor this Republic, 
 and to retaliate upon those who have dared to insult her 
 and to rob her of that security which she owes to the vir- 
 tues of our progenitors. Wherefore we confide to you this 
 victorious and dread standard, which it will be your duty 
 to restore to us unsullied and triumphant. " 
 
 Pisani was fifty-four years old, and during more than 
 half his life had been in the active service of the Repub- 
 
 10
 
 146 THE QUEEN OF THE ADRIATIC. 
 
 lie, sometimes in its naval battles, again as Governor of 
 Candia, then as Captain of the Gulf, and everywhere suc- 
 cessful. Now, in the full strength of middle life, he was 
 adored by the common people, and by the nobles regarded 
 with that hatred which is born of envy. 
 
 Two days after receiving his command, Pisani sailed 
 from the Lido with fourteen galleys, in pursuit of the 
 Genoese fleet under Admiral Fieschi. Not meeting the 
 enemy, Pisani boldly sailed up the Tuscan sea, spreading 
 consternation in Genoa, which was just then threatened 
 with an attack by land. But Pisani soon sailed away, 
 and met Fieschi on May 30, off Porto d' Anzo. 
 
 The day was most unpropitious for battle ; the sky was 
 covered with black, angry-looking clouds, while the rain 
 poured down in torrents. The galleys carried no sails, 
 and the oars were frequently high in air on one side 
 while the ship rolled in the sea on the other. The men 
 found it difficult to stand ; and when the vessels met, it 
 was dangerous and almost impossible to pass from one to 
 another. At one moment two ships were in violent 
 action, side by side; and then, quicker than it can be told, 
 a mountainous wave raised one upon its crest while the 
 other was buried in a yawning gulf. 
 
 All through this terrible day the battle raged, and at 
 its close Pisani was victorious. He had taken or sunk 
 four of the nine Genoese ships; he had eight hundred 
 prisoners, among whom was Fieschi himself. Half of 
 them were sent to Candia, and half to Venice, where noble 
 ladies dressed their wounds, and tended them with such 
 charitable piety that the names of eight of their number 
 have been preserved in history. 
 
 The season was spent by Pisani in constantly cruising 
 in search of another Genoese fleet under Luciano Doria, 
 and in making a series of brilliant attacks on the towns 
 of the Hungarian and Greek coasts. He was also sent to
 
 VETTORE PISANI AND CARLO ZENO. 147 
 
 escort Valentina Visconti to her husband, Peter II. of 
 Cyprus; and in the autumn, in opposition to his most 
 earnest wishes, he was commanded to remain at that island 
 for the winter. 
 
 Pisani's lieutenant was Carlo Zeno, who came of a 
 family noted for its bravery. He was ten years younger 
 than Pisani, and had passed his life in adventures worthy 
 of a knight of fame; indeed, he had been called "Zeno 
 the Unconquered. " He also had scoured the sea during 
 the summer of 1378, in search of the enemies of the 
 Republic, and had performed feats of daring and skill. 
 Like Pisani, he often acted on an impulse which savored 
 of recklessness, while it was but bravery. Zeno was also 
 a scholar, and had been eminent in his college at Padua ; 
 but his besetting sin of gambling obliged him to fly, and 
 his after life had been one long romance, until he entered 
 the service of Venice in 1377. 
 
 Pisani's forebodings for the winter at Cyprus were more 
 than realized; and in the spring of 1379, out of nineteen 
 galleys six only were fit for service, and scarcely men 
 enough to man these were still alive. But his personal 
 friends in Venice built and equipped twelve other ships, 
 so that his fleet numbered eighteen sail. His enemies 
 were busy at Venice ; but in spite of them and in spite of 
 his absence, he was confirmed in his office, and Carlo Zeno 
 and Michele Steno were made his lieutenants. 
 
 During the spring Pisani diligently prosecuted his 
 search for the Genoese fleet without success; but on the 
 7th of May, 1379, when he was returning from Brindisi 
 with a large convoy of grain, Doria, with twenty-five sail, 
 including two brigantines, suddenly presented himself in 
 the roads of Pola. Pisani had many good reasons for not 
 wishing to give battle to the Genoese at this time: his 
 ships were fewer than Doria's ; there was much sickness 
 among his men ; Zeno was absent on another expedition,
 
 148 THE QUEEN OF THE ADRIATIC. 
 
 and he thought it wiser to act on the defensive only. But 
 the council of civilians who were with him were unani- 
 mous in favor of an engagement, and even hinted at 
 cowardice in Pisani, whose rage at this injustice was 
 almost uncontrollable, and it was with great difficulty 
 that he so far governed himself as not to attack his 
 accusers. 
 
 He bade his captains prepare for battle, and soon all 
 was in readiness. Pisani, in full armor, standing on the 
 stern deck addressed his men : " Remember, my brethren, 
 that those who now face you are the same whom you have 
 vanquished with so much glory on the Roman shore. Let 
 not the name of Luciano Doria terrify you ; it is not the 
 names of commanders that will decide the conflict, but 
 Venetian hearts and Venetian hands ! " He then cried out, 
 " He that loves Saint Mark, let him follow me ! " and 
 this battle-cry was echoed from ship to ship. 
 
 At first the day was propitious to the Venetians, who 
 fought with even more than their usual intrepidity, and 
 victory seemed to be theirs, when the Genoese vessels 
 began a retreat and Pisani followed in pursuit. After 
 several miles had thus been made, and the Venetian ships 
 were separated from each other, by a skilful manoeuvre 
 Doria turned about, and renewing the combat with great 
 vigor and ferocity, gained a complete victory. 
 
 From seven to eight hundred Venetians perished; 
 twenty-four hundred were made prisoners, and but six 
 galleys remained afloat. Near the end of the conflict 
 Doria had raised his visor, exclaiming, "The foe are 
 already vanquished; the battle is all but ours," when 
 Donate Zeno plunged his lance into the throat of the 
 victorious admiral, killing him instantly. 
 
 Venice was filled with consternation and surprise when 
 this dreadful news was known. Her only fleet was 
 destroyed; the enemy was approaching the lagoons, and
 
 . of -Siin Marco; Columns of Execution.
 
 VETTORE PISANI AND CARLO ZENO. 149 
 
 Carlo Zeno was far away. A terrible cry was raised 
 against Pisani ; his enemies could now make him pay for 
 his popularity and greatness and for some of his out- 
 bursts of temper from which they had suffered, and they 
 demanded the extreme penalty. He was brought to Ven- 
 ice in fetters, and was not permitted to speak a word in 
 self-defence. In July it was moved in the Senate that he 
 be beheaded between the Columns; but with a shudder, 
 this motion was denied, and he was sentenced to prison 
 for six months and to exclusion from all offices for five 
 years. 
 
 In August the Genoese fleet appeared before Venice, 
 under the command of Pietro Doria. Happily, some 
 preparations had been made, and the ports of Lido and 
 Malamocco were blocked with sunken vessels, chains, and 
 palisades, but that of Brondolo was still open, and there 
 the enemy entered. Genoa was now allied with Hungary, 
 Naples, Padua, Aquileia, Austria, and Ancona against 
 Venice. Twenty-four thousand men were landed, and 
 siege laid to the citadel of Chioggia. The Venetians who 
 held the place under Pietro Emo were not more than 
 thirty-five hundred; for six days these brave men held out 
 against such fearful odds, and even then were defeated by 
 accident. Hazlitt gives a picturesque description of the 
 event : 
 
 " On the 16th an alarm was suddenly spread among the troops 
 of the Podesta that the bridge behind them was in flames. It 
 was a fireship, of which the combustion in the canal of Santa 
 Caterina had diffused the erroneous impression. The Genoese 
 caught and echoed the cry, and renewed their flagging exertions 
 with fresh ardor. They are mowed down by the guns as they 
 advance; the carnage is terrific. Still, like demons in whose 
 breast the thirst for vengeance and the lust of spoil has extin- 
 guished the fear of death, they continue to come up. The Ve- 
 netians begin to lose ground and to fall back upon the bridge.
 
 150 THE QUEEN OF THE ADKIATIC. 
 
 They recede a little and a little more. It is in vain that Emo 
 and fifty chosen men-at-arms dispute the front with desperate 
 tenacity and transcendent heroism, foot to foot and hand to hand. 
 The position is slowly forced. The allies are upon the bridge. 
 The Venetians quicken their retrograde pace. In their haste 
 they omit to destroy the communication; and they enter the 
 gates pell-mell with their pursuers. Thus Chioggia fell." 
 
 The allies and Venetians had each lost many men, and 
 nearly four thousand Venetians were prisoners. The 
 town was pillaged, but the women were protected from 
 harm. Some of the Venetians paid enormous ransoms, 
 Emo three thousand ducats ; and others probably as much, 
 so that the gain to the allies was large. 
 
 No words can portray the effect of the news of the fall 
 of Chioggia at Venice. The bell of the Campanile was 
 tolled, and at once the armed citizens filled the Piazza. 
 The sobs and moans of women were heard ; elsewhere they 
 were seen wringing their hands and tearing their hair in 
 mute despair. Some men, too, yielded to fear; while 
 others in their avarice hid their treasures. But the 
 majority were true Venetians, and declared that "the 
 State cannot be lost while those remain who can man a 
 galley and handle a pike ; " and the aged Doge, the Coun- 
 cil, and Senate refused to allow any reason for despair. 
 There was a scarcity of food, and the Republic was much 
 straitened in its resources; but Venetian fidelity would 
 endure everything before it would submit to defeat. 
 
 Nothing had been known of Carlo Zeno since his sepa- 
 ration from Pisani ; his arrival would turn the scale, and 
 he might come any day, since an envoy had been sent to 
 recall him, and before taking any further warlike meas- 
 ures it was determined to try negotiation. But Doria, 
 who almost felt that at Chioggia he had conquered Ven- 
 ice, replied : " By God's faith, my Lords of Venice, ye 
 shall have no peace from the Lord of Padua or from our
 
 VETTORE PISANI AND CARLO ZENO. 151 
 
 Commune of Genoa until I have put a bit into the mouths 
 of the horses of your Evangelist Saint Mark. When they 
 have been bridled, you shall then, in sooth, have a good 
 peace; and this is our purpose, and that of our Commune." 
 Some Genoese prisoners had been sent with the embassy, 
 and their unconditional surrender offered as a bait to the 
 allies ; but Doria scornfully sent them back, saying that 
 in a few days he would come to release them and the rest 
 of his countrymen. 
 
 Then all Venice was roused ; the bell which summoned 
 the popular assembly was rung, and the people were 
 informed of their present peril, and invited to aid the 
 government with wisdom and advice. There was, how- 
 ever, but one opinion; all desired to arm and go forth 
 with such galleys as were at the Arsenal, they thought it 
 better to perish in defence of Venice than to perish in her 
 palaces and squares from want. A terrible crisis followed : 
 all salaries were suspended; no business was done; and 
 by a new loan, to which the citizens liberally subscribed, 
 the finances were bettered. The city was fortified by 
 earthworks from Lido to Santo Spirito, and towers were 
 erected on each side the pass of San Niccolo. 
 
 A new captain-general was now to be elected, and the 
 favorite of the government, Taddeo Giustiniani, was nomi- 
 nated; but the people with one accord refused to serve 
 under any man save Vettore Pisani. After a day's debate, 
 late in the evening some Senators were deputed to inform 
 Pisani that the Doge and Senate were awaiting him. 
 Naturally the hero was much moved ; and he replied that 
 he preferred to have the night for reflection, and to wait 
 on the Seigniory the next morning. 
 
 Accordingly, at daybreak, the delegates, followed by 
 the people, came to the gates of the prison; and when 
 he appeared with his usual cheerful and good-humored 
 aspect, he was lifted by some of his old sailors and borne
 
 152 THE QUEEN OF THE ADRIATIC. 
 
 on their shoulders to the palace, amid cries of "Viva il 
 Nostro Vettore ! Viva Vettore Pisani ! " but he chidingly 
 cried, "Viva San Marco!" The Doge and senators met 
 him on the staircase and graciously welcomed him. Mass 
 was celebrated. Pisani was some time in conclave with 
 the College, the people constantly shouting his name out- 
 side ; and when he emerged he was borne, as he had come, 
 to his own house in San Fantino, where he had not been 
 for fifteen months. 
 
 As he was passing the Campanile, his old pilot, Cor- 
 baro, drew near to him and shouted out, "Now is the 
 time, Compadre, for revenging yourself by seizing the 
 dictatorship of this city. Behold, all are at your service ; 
 all are willing at this very instant to proclaim you prince, 
 if you choose!" Pisani boiled with rage, and dealing 
 Corbaro a heavy blow on the cheek, burst into indig- 
 nant speech, and at last exclaimed : " Let none who wish 
 me well say Viva Pisani ! but, Viva San Marco ! " and 
 the populace then shouted, "Viva San Marco e Vettore 
 Pisani ! Viva il Pisani, ch'e nostro Padre ! " and the 
 throng was so dense from the Piazza to San Fantino that 
 not another man could have found room to stand. 
 
 But the people soon learned that Pisani had merely 
 been given the command of the Lido, while Giustiniani 
 was at the head of the navy. Then a great tumult arose ; 
 and although the government alleged that Pisani was 
 needed at the Lido, the people to the number of fifty thou- 
 sand refused to embark on the galleys until Vettore Pisani 
 was made captain-general of all the forces of the Repub- 
 lic by sea and land. The matter was then referred to the 
 Ten, who were awed into compliance ; and the commission 
 was granted as desired, and this but four days after the 
 fall of Chioggia, so hastily had all been done. 
 
 Meantime the allies had progressed less rapidly, owing 
 to divisions in their counsels; but they had pushed for-
 
 VETTORE PISANI AND CARLO ZENO. 153 
 
 ward to Malamocco, and there erected a battery within 
 three miles of the capital. Many stray shots reached 
 Santo Spirito. 
 
 Pisani had much to do to make efficient sailors and 
 soldiers of raw recruits, to provide for the safety of the 
 city, to equip between twenty and thirty skeletons of 
 galleys which were at the Arsenal and were ready for sea 
 in three days, and to attend to the lists of the volunteers. 
 The whole city was enthusiastically patriotic. "All 
 classes hastened to enroll themselves. Painters quitted 
 their studios to be initiated in the rudiments of naval 
 discipline on the Giudecca ; cutlers and apothecaries closed 
 their workshops, and devoted themselves to drilling and 
 exercise. Artisans brought their savings ; women plucked 
 the jewels from their dresses, and begged the Seigniory to 
 dispose of them as they would." 
 
 Pisani found the wooden towers which Giustiniani had 
 erected at Porto Lido to be insufficient, and demolished 
 them in order to build others of stone. Giustiniani, full 
 of rage, endeavored to persuade the friends of Pisani not 
 to approve of this ; and he, seeing the hesitation, seized a 
 trowel, crying, " He that loves Saint Mark, let him follow 
 me ! " and laid the first stone with his own hands. The 
 men returned to their duty, and the castles of San Andrea 
 and San Niccolo were built in four days! Many other 
 preparations were made ; and when on August 24 the 
 Genoese attempted an attack at two different points, they 
 were repulsed in such a manner as to convince them of 
 the futility of their efforts, and the siege of Venice was 
 raised. After a few weeks Doria destroyed the works he 
 had raised at Malamocco and retired to Chioggia, there 
 to await the fall of Venice by starvation. 
 
 The situation in Venice was so desperate that some of 
 the councillors even made a motion for emigration to 
 Candia or Negropont ; but this wild notion was met with
 
 154 THE QUEEN OF THE ADRIATIC. 
 
 declarations that death among the ruins of Venice would 
 be preferable to life elsewhere. Food was so scarce and 
 dear that a large proportion of the people were famishing; 
 even the wealthy families often ate their last loaf not know- 
 ing where to get another, and they were also as charita- 
 ble as it was in their power to be to their poorer country- 
 men. Thus the autumn passed and winter had come, and 
 yet Carlo Zeno had not returned. He was the only hope 
 for Venice and her people. A letter found on a captured 
 vessel gave information of splendid successes which he 
 had achieved and rich booty that he had taken ; his name 
 inspired terror from the Golden Horn to the Riviera, and 
 he was now probably off Canea, whither a messenger was 
 sent to command his immediate return. 
 
 Just at this point Barbarigo captured three of the 
 Genoese ships and took one hundred and fifty prisoners, and 
 Pisani advised that this good fortune should be followed 
 up by an endeavor to recover Chioggia. He recognized 
 the daring and difficulty of the undertaking; but not to 
 make this effort meant starvation, and they might reason- 
 ably count on the aid of Zeno very soon. This advice was 
 acted upon, and a decree was published that of those 
 families of plebeians who should most liberally meet this 
 emergency by the offer of soldiers and money, thirty 
 should be summoned to the Great Council ; that to those 
 not thus called five thousand ducats should be annually 
 distributed, and continued to their heirs forever; that all 
 foreign merchants who showed zeal for the cause should 
 be made citizens, and all Venetians who eluded the bur- 
 dens and hardships of the time should forfeit all civil 
 rights. This measure produced immediate results. Men 
 and money were freely offered; and the Doge Contarini, 
 seventy-three years old, but hale and hearty still, wished 
 to assume command, with Pisani as his admiral and vice- 
 captain-general.
 
 VETTORE PISANI AND CARLO ZENO. 155 
 
 Pisani had learned, by one means and another, that 
 Doria had thirty thousand men, fifty galleys, seven hun- 
 dred or more light craft, and full supplies of every sort. 
 The odds against the Venetians were overwhelming, hut 
 they delayed not, and December 21 was fixed for the 
 beginning of the attack. Thirty-four galleys, sixty barks, 
 and four hundred boats of all sorts of build and dimensions 
 made up the Venetian fleet. Orders were issued that 
 every man should be at his post in the ships, at noon, 
 under pain of death. The whole force was divided into three 
 parts, the first under command of Pisani ; the centre 
 under the Doge, assisted by Cavalli ; and the last under 
 Cornaro, called Collo storto from his crooked neck. At 
 the hour for vespers the Doge, Pisani, and the leaders 
 attended .a Mass in San Marco, and it was eight o'clock 
 before Contarini mounted his barge and unfurled the same 
 great banner which had floated above the victory over 
 Barbarossa. All had been done rapidly and without 
 noise. 
 
 It was a mild winter evening; the stars were bright 
 and the sea calm, and everything seemed propitious to the 
 undertaking. Soon after passing the Lido a fog came on, 
 but speedily disappeared; and not far from ten o'clock the 
 fleet was off the Pass of Chioggia, at the southern point 
 of Pelestrina. Pisani had planned to blockade the Geno- 
 ese instead of attacking them ; and in the course of three 
 days the Strait of Chioggia was choked and dammed oil 
 the shores of Pelestrina and Brondolo. 
 
 But this had been done at the cost of great hardships 
 and loss of life. Even in this winter-time the men had 
 worked in the water up to their waists, all the while in 
 danger of drowning as well as of being shot by the enemy. 
 They began to murmur ; they declared that this was more 
 than flesh and blood could bear, and they demanded leave 
 to return to Venice. Pisani had shared all their perils,
 
 156 THE QUEEN OF THE ADRIATIC. 
 
 but he knew that great firmness was required to put down 
 this discontent, and he asked the Doge, in a tone which 
 made his request a command, to swear on his sword that 
 he would not return to Venice unless Chioggia was taken. 
 Contarini took this oath without hesitation. This scene 
 occurred on Christmas eve. 
 
 The Venetian engineers, now that the blockade was 
 complete even to the canal of Lombardy, began the erec- 
 tion of a fort at Fassone, and mounted it with cannon of 
 the largest caliber; one, called the "Trevisan," could 
 throw stones weighing one hundred and ninety-five 
 pounds, and the " Victory " was almost as powerful. 
 Neither of these could be fired more than once in twenty- 
 four hours ! By the time that this work was accomplished, 
 December 29, the condition of the Venetians was deplor- 
 able. They were on half rations, and every day in col- 
 lision with the enemy, while the cold was piercing. The 
 officers, oarsmen, and crossbowmen now declared that 
 they would brave all consequences and return to Venice. 
 Even Pisani was shaken for a little ; but he summoned all 
 his heroism and fortitude, and besought his men to hold 
 out until Zeno could reach them. He prevailed, but at 
 the cost of a pledge that if Zeno had not arrived on New 
 Year's day, he would raise the blockade- and return home. 
 
 Upon so slender a thread was Pisani forced to hang 
 the existence of the Republic. Forty-eight hours might 
 decide that the civilization of the world was to be sunk in 
 darkness ; that art, science, and letters were to be lost in a 
 deluge of bloodshed. For if Venice were conquered, by 
 whom would she be ruled ? Such contentions must ensue 
 as would involve all Europe, and result in consequences 
 too disastrous to be imagined. The suspense of the last 
 two days of the year was past any telling, and no change 
 had come; but the first glimmer of the light of the New 
 Year revealed fifteen sail in the offing. Can we under-
 
 VETTORE PISAM AND CARLO ZENO. 157 
 
 stand the anxiety of the Doge and his leaders as the} r 
 asked the question, " Are these our ships under Zeno, or 
 are they new forces for our enemies ? " Light boats were 
 despatched to learn the truth, and no imagination can 
 apprehend the delirious joy when it was found that the 
 Lion of St. Mark had been hoisted by the new-comers. 
 Carlo Zeno was there, and Venice was saved! 
 
 It is needless to dwell upon the details of the continued 
 siege of Chioggia and the various efforts made by the 
 Genoese. They did not easily submit to their fate. They 
 tried negotiation, and made every effort for a compro- 
 mise ; but the Venetians had suffered too much to make 
 any terms save those of unconditional surrender, and this 
 came at last on June 22, and Chioggia was given up to 
 pillage by the Star Company of Milan and the Tard Venus 
 of Sir John Hawkwood, the mercenary troops to which 
 this privilege had been promised. The booty was enor- 
 mous, and the Republic gained nineteen good ships, and 
 large stores of salt, powder, and equipments of all kinds ; 
 the salt alone was valued at ninety thousand crowns. 
 
 The prisoners numbered 4,440, and were more like 
 ghosts than men, so near starvation had they come. They 
 were sent to Venice, where many died in their prisons 
 while preparations were being made for the triumphal 
 return of Contarini. This occurred on the first day of 
 July, and was as magnificent as such a spectacle at Venice 
 was sure to be. But rarely, even in this city, had so 
 remarkable a trio been seen as that of the patriotic and 
 dauntless Doge, the single-hearted Pisani, and the peerless 
 Zeno. 
 
 But two days elapsed before Pisani again set sail and 
 occupied himself in opposing the enemies of the Republic. 
 In pursuit of the Genoese he reached Manfredonia on 
 August 12. The hardships of service and imprisonment 
 had told on the constitution of the Admiral, and he was
 
 158 THE QUEEN OF THE ADRIATIC. 
 
 now attacked by fever which greatly alarmed his friends; 
 but he made light of it, and on the 13th despatched 
 Corbaro, his old companion, with eight galleys to follow 
 the Genoese fleet, which was in sight. But his impatience 
 overcame his resolution to remain behind, and in spite of 
 all expostulation he left his sick-bed, armed himself, and 
 directed his sails to be set. The enterprise failed; 
 Corbaro was killed; Pisani was wounded slightly, and 
 returned at evening to Manfredonia much dejected, ill, 
 and fainting. He was removed to the house of the com- 
 mandant of the port, who procured a physician for him; 
 he requested an amanuensis, and dictated a long letter to 
 the Senate, closing with his plans which should "make 
 Genoa rue the day when she entered upon the War of 
 Chioggia." 
 
 The letter finished, he asked for water, and then for 
 bread, which he began to eat ravenously, but suddenly 
 changed color, gasped for breath, and sank lifeless upon 
 his pillow. He was but fifty-six years old, and his life- 
 work would have honored fourscore years, since we live 
 not by time, but by deeds. He was deeply mourned, and 
 the tears on the faces of the weather-beaten sailors when 
 they learned of the death of their "Father" proved how 
 truly they had loved their brave commander, who had 
 survived the redemption of the Doge's vow but seven 
 weeks. 
 
 The most sumptuous funeral was decreed by the Senate, 
 and he was to be buried in San Antonio di Castello, where 
 his father and brother already rested. The whole people 
 were so wrapped in grief, and the public mind so occupied 
 with the obsequies, that " if the smallest Genoese fleet had 
 made a descent at that conjuncture, the country would 
 have stood in the utmost peril." As the procession was 
 about to move, a popular clamor was raised, the people 
 declaring that Pisani ought to be buried nowhere but in
 
 VETTORE PISANI AND CARLO ZENO. 159 
 
 the Ducal Chapel ; and just when a tumult was threat- 
 ened, a sailor put his shoulder to the bier, crying out, 
 " "We, his children, are carrying this brave captain to our 
 Father, Saint Anthony ! " 
 
 This quelled the excitement, and the procession began 
 to move ; it extended from San Fantino to San Antonio, 
 and yet, when the pall-bearers were entering the church, 
 hundreds had not found a place in the line ! 
 
 A splendid mausoleum was erected over the family 
 vault, upon which was placed a statue of Pisani, in the 
 uniform of a captain-general, grasping an ensign with 
 two streamers, and surmounted by a cross. The capture 
 of Cattaro, in August, 1379, was later painted to his honor 
 by Andrea Vicentino in the Sala dello Scrutinio, in the 
 Ducal Palace. 
 
 In 1381 a peace was made at Turin between Venice 
 and the allies, and immediately afterwards the Senate 
 redeemed its promise and created thirty new councillors, 
 selected from the loyal grocers, skinners, apothecaries, 
 and other plebeian traders. A series of public festivities 
 followed; the newly made nobles went in procession to 
 San Marco, bearing lighted tapers in their hands; tourna- 
 ments, regattas, and banquets were held with unusual 
 rejoicings, for the sadness of many months was forgotten, 
 and thankfulness and joy filled all hearts. We may well 
 imagine that some patricians of ancient and honorable 
 descent saluted the newly ennobled masons and other 
 artisans with a poor grace ; but that was of small account 
 to these men who had earned the honors that the others 
 had simply been born to, by sacrificing much for the 
 Republic, and they fully enjoyed their new estate and its 
 privileges. 
 
 Contarini lived to witness this happy conclusion of the 
 recent war, and died in 1382, when seventy-four years 
 old. He may be called the last of the hero-princes of
 
 160 THE QUEEN OF THE ADRIATIC. 
 
 his time. He had been a grand central figure in the dread- 
 ful days of the Chioggian War; by his example he had 
 imparted courage to failing hearts, and by his oath to 
 conquer Chioggia or see Venice no more, he made it 
 impossible for his soldiers and sailors to desert him, and 
 thus his chivalry warded off failure and catastrophe. 
 The generation which followed him listened to the tales 
 of those who had fought under Pisani on the sea, or served 
 under Contarini at Chioggia, with the same breathless 
 interest with which our youth now listen to the stories 
 of the veterans who were engaged in our own struggles 
 for the preservation of our country. 
 
 When Vettore Pisani died, there was but one man 
 thought worthy to replace him, and Carlo Zeno was made 
 Admiral of the Fleet. Under him the Adriatic bore no 
 enemies to Venice upon its bosom, and he suffered no 
 defeat in any encounter, although the remaining thirty- 
 six years of his life were largely spent in the service of 
 the Republic. 
 
 Jacopo Zeno, Bishop of Padua, was the grandson of 
 Carlo, and his biographer. He tells us that Carlo was 
 "square-shouldered, broad-chested, solidly and strongly 
 made, with large and speaking eyes, and a manly, great, 
 and full countenance; his stature neither short nor tall. 
 Nothing was wanting to him which strength, health, 
 decorum, and gravity demanded." 
 
 The details of his life as given by the Bishop are not 
 altogether assuring as regards " decorum and gravity ; " for 
 although he certainly was an admirable general or admiral, 
 he was equally capable as a pirate, and though his patri- 
 otism was undoubted, he could make himself quite at 
 home with any sort of men from an}' part of the globe. 
 Indeed, he served Galeazzo Visconti at Milan and in 
 Piedmont for ten years with the same zeal that he had 
 served Venice. During this time he loaned four hundred
 
 VETTORE PISANI AND CAKLO ZENO. 161 
 
 ducats to Francesco da Carrara, who then was at peace 
 with Venice ; some years later this money was repaid, and 
 the entry in Carrara's book was simply this : " To Carlo 
 Zeno, paid four hundred ducats." 
 
 After the death of the Carrarese and after Zeno's return 
 to Venice, this register was sent to the Ten. A suspicion 
 that Carlo Zeno had accepted a bribe was the natural 
 result, and he was called before the secret tribunal. He 
 told the simple truth; but it availed nothing, and he was 
 sentenced to loss of public place and rank, and two years 
 in prison ! The Bishop vividly portrays the indignation 
 which followed this sentence in Venice and in other cities 
 where Zeno was known; and he does not say that hia 
 grandfather was a prisoner for two years, but he does say 
 that when he was at liberty he went to Jerusalem, and 
 turned his thoughts to spiritual things. 
 
 As he was returning, he aided the King of Cyprus to 
 defeat the Genoese and save the island with the cunning 
 and skill of his younger days, though he was now past 
 seventy; and after reaching Venice, he married a third 
 wife, as his grandson frankly states, " for no other reason 
 than to secure good domestic government, and a consort 
 and companion who would take upon herself all internal 
 cares, and leave him free to study philosophy and the 
 sacred writings." 
 
 He surrounded himself with learned men, and his house 
 became a centre for the exchange of thought among 
 scholars, statesmen, and good citizens, while he spent his 
 days in reading, writing, and constant attendance on the 
 services of the Church. " In the cold winter he had his 
 bed filled with books, so that when he had slept suffi- 
 ciently he could sit up in bed, and pass the rest of the 
 night in reading, nor would he put down his book save for 
 some great necessity. " 
 
 But this serene and undisturbed life did not continue to 
 
 11
 
 162 THE QUEEN OF THE ADRIATIC. 
 
 his end. His wife and his favorite son, the father of the 
 Bishop, died ; the son was but thirty, and his old father 
 was desolate. His son Pietro was a naval commander 
 of honorable repute, but it was on Jacopo that the old 
 man's heart was fixed. At last, in 1418, when eighty- 
 four years old, and honored by all Venice, the father 
 also died. 
 
 The religious orders claimed the privilege of carrying 
 him to his grave ; but the seamen of Venice rose as one 
 man, and hastened to the Doge to claim their right to bear 
 the body of their beloved commander. "Their prayer 
 was granted ; and with all the ecclesiastical splendors in 
 front of them, and all the pomp of the State behind, the 
 seamen of Venice carried him to his grave, each relay 
 watching jealously that every man might have his turn. " 
 
 His tomb was in a church of the Cistercians, destroyed 
 long since. Its site is now a part of the Arsenal. Let 
 us hope that his bones rest beneath so fitting a monument 
 as this for " Zeno the Unconquered. "
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 BURANO AND TORCELLO. 
 
 THE town of Burano, on the island of the same name, 
 seven miles east of Venice, is now quite the supe- 
 rior of Mazzorbo, from which, in its infancy, it begged a 
 piece of land to build itself on. Its founders were few 
 and very poor, but at present there are about ten thousand 
 Buranelli, who well sustain the reputation for disorderli- 
 ness which they have inherited ; for in the old days, even 
 the women of Burano, who held a market in Venice, 
 caused the magistrates much vexation by their quarrels, 
 and now the Venetian gondoliers usually ascribe any 
 troubles that arise on the canals to the Buranei, unless 
 they know of the presence of those other disturbers, the 
 Chiozzotti. 
 
 Burano is noisy and dirty. The people are rough in 
 manner and speech, and the children bold and persistent 
 in following strangers. The muscular development of the 
 Buranelli and their statuesque figures are the only traits 
 that one can admire in them. The men are occupied in 
 fishing and towing barges, filled with lagoon mud, which 
 goes to enrich the soil of Pordenone. They have the 
 reputation of doing good work for reasonable pay. 
 
 The women are uproarious in their speech and behavior, 
 and seem unfit to make the soft, lovely lace which is 
 largely their occupation. But as one listens to their 
 speech, it is found to be in a dialect so soft and sweet as 
 to make one wonder how so much noise can be made with
 
 164 THE QUEEN OF THE ADRIATIC. 
 
 vowels alone, for apparently all the consonants have been 
 lost. H. F. Brown says : " They dwell upon the vowels, 
 redoubling and prolonging them, so that their words seem 
 to have no close, but die away in a kind of sigh. For 
 instance, they call their own town Buraa instead of Buran. 
 The effect is not unpleasant, but is rather too sweet and 
 gripless for our northern ears. " 
 
 Mazzorbo, which at the founding of Burano was the 
 Urbs Major (the greater city), has gradually disappeared, 
 and is now but the kitchen garden of Venice. Burano 
 has annexed it by a bridge built on piles, and high enough 
 in the centre for boats to pass under. There is scarcely 
 a house left on the island, save the little inn where the 
 boatmen get a glass of wine. Each morning the fruit and 
 vegetable boats go to Venice, and their cargoes are sold 
 near the Rialto. The difference between the people of 
 these two islands is striking. Those of Mazzorbo are 
 gentle and kind in manner, and really beautiful in person. 
 What can make this dissimilarity in the twelve hundred 
 feet which separates them ? 
 
 But the special interest in Burano is the lace-making, 
 which is now in full revival, thanks to the Countess 
 Marcel lo, and other benevolent patrons, whose efforts have 
 reproduced the Point de Burano in its old patterns. The 
 hundreds of girls in the Fabbrica di Merletti di Burano 
 are certainly more than good-looking, and are improving 
 in their work each year. Indeed, one may believe that 
 the old-time skill of their ancestors is not lost. 
 
 The sacristan of San Martino exhibits some fine bits 
 of old Point de Burano, and the robes of the priests are so 
 exquisite that one need not be a judge of laces in order to 
 appreciate their beauty. One who has ever visited this 
 independent little island will recall its peculiarities, and 
 certainly its lace-makers, in whatever distant part of the 
 globe their handiwork may be seen.
 
 BURANO AND TORCELLO. 165 
 
 During the sixteenth century lace-making flourished in 
 all the principal towns of northern Italy, but to Venice 
 belongs the fame of needle-points; and Venetian ladies 
 were the first to wear it, in the seventeenth century, from 
 which time the fine Venetian lace-making dates. 
 
 Before this time the ladies of Venice had worn lace, as 
 their portraits attest, but not of this particular sort. 
 Artists of the highest order did not disdain to make 
 designs for Point coupe", which was made for ladies of 
 illustrious rank, for princesses and queens; and bits of 
 this exquisite point now bring prices that are simply 
 fabulous, and worse, to any but a collector of laces or a 
 connoisseur in them. 
 
 "The special character of this lace consists in high reliefs, 
 ornamental figures either in solid or open work, artistically 
 formed and arranged in petals, overlaid with fantastic flowers 
 of very broad design, the open blossoms of which detach them- 
 selves from rich foliage of marvellous workmanship, and are 
 connected by joining threads and very delicate network stitches." 
 
 The authorities in this specialty put Venice point above 
 all other laces, on account of its high relief, its softness 
 and suppleness, and a certain velvety quality found only 
 in needle-made laces. For some time the secret of the 
 stitches used in making this lace were known only to the 
 inventors. Its fame reached other countries immediately, 
 and the demand for it naturally caused imitations to 
 spring up. The real Venice point was made entirely with 
 the needle. The foliage, the flower petals, the stems, 
 all the raised parts, and all the connecting threads were 
 made in one stitch. The time necessary for its comple- 
 tion gave it an intrinsic value ; and its price was such that 
 only very wealthy persons could pay it, while if exported 
 the duty was also heavy. 
 
 In other countries laces were made which from a dis-
 
 166 THE QUEEN OF THE ADRIATIC. 
 
 tance had much the same effect, but could not be com- 
 pared to the true Venetian point. Louis XIV. gave much 
 attention to this lace, and instructed his ambassadors to 
 give him all possible information about its manufacture. 
 He even wrote letters on this subject with his own hand, 
 and was greatly interested in keeping Venetian lace out 
 of France, thus compelling the use of French point. And 
 on the other hand, the Venetian ambassador to France 
 was able to discover just what workmen the French had 
 induced to go to France to introduce the lace-making, and 
 sent a list of them to the Senate. All this resulted in a 
 decree of the Inquisitors, as follows : 
 
 "If any workman or artist transports his art into a foreign 
 country to the detriment of the Republic, he shall be sent an 
 order to return ; if he does not obey, his nearest relatives shall 
 be imprisoned, so as to reduce him to obedience by his interest 
 in them; if he returns, the past will be pardoned, and an estab- 
 lishment in Venice will be procured for him; if, in spite of the 
 imprisonment of his relations, he is still determined to live 
 abroad, an emissary will be charged to kill him, and after his 
 death his relations will be set at liberty." 
 
 TORCELLO. 
 
 Torcello, that once populous city, now uninhabitable 
 from malaria, is a realization of complete desolation ; for 
 the few traces of its past make its present more gloomy 
 than if it had never been other than a desert isle. And 
 yet in spring-time it is full of beauty, when its orchards 
 and thorn-hedges are in bloom and fill the air with fra- 
 grance, or in the golden autumn days, when the sea- 
 lavender, with its delicate, feather-like bloom, tinges all 
 the meadows with its purple. 
 
 In his book on "Italian Sculptors" Mr. Perkins thus 
 prettily tells the legend of the settlement of Torcello :
 
 BURANO AND TORCELLO. 167 
 
 "Two hundred years after the invasion of Attila had driven 
 many of the inhabitants of Aquileja and Altina from their 
 homes, the province was desolated by the Lombards. The 
 Altinese, alarmed at their approach, anxiously deliberated 
 whether they should remain to face this ' Australis plaga,' or 
 seek safety in flight, when they beheld vast flocks of birds, with 
 their fledglings in their beaks, take flight from the city walls 
 and towers and direct their course seaward. Regarding this as 
 a sign from heaven, some departed to Ravenna, some to Penta- 
 polis, and others to Istria, leaving behind them a band of 
 devout persons, who, in order to obtain a more direct manifesta- 
 tion of the will of Heaven, determined to fast and pray for three 
 days, according to the advice of their bishop, Paulus. At the 
 end of the time they heard a voice like thunder, saying, ' As- 
 cend into the city tower and look at the stars.' They beheld a 
 vision of boats and ships and islands, and taking this as an 
 indication that their course should be directed seaward, they re- 
 moved their most precious possessions to the island of Torcello. 
 . . . Paulus, Bishop of Altina, migrated with his flock, their 
 relics and treasure, to Torcello and the neighboring islands, 
 A. D. 641." 
 
 The ascent of the tall, square Campanile (eleventh cen- 
 tury) is not easy, for its ladders are rickety; but the 
 view from its bell-chamber compensates for all the diffi- 
 culty of reaching it. To the east lies a large district, 
 which is neither sea nor land, but partly both, crossed 
 and recrossed by broad ditches. These are the valli, 
 in which fish, are bred. Many little huts stand beside 
 the vallij in which Venetian gentlemen live while duck- 
 shooting in the winter. The sport is so fine that, in spite 
 of cold and the absence of all real comfort, a shooting- 
 party usually lasts several days. 
 
 To the south the view is over the Adriatic, and the eye 
 follows the line of breakwaters, even to Chioggia. South- 
 west lies Venice, her many towers and palaces cutting an 
 irregular line across the azure sky, with the Euganean
 
 168 THE QUEEN OF THE ADRIATIC. 
 
 Hills for a background. To the north, far away beyond 
 the plain, with nothing to intercept the view, stand the 
 Doloraitic Alps, seen in perfection from Torcello. Tofano, 
 Antelao, and Pelmo stand out boldly, their clear-cut peaks 
 white with snow, and their long, lower ridges dark and 
 shadowy. A more heavenly sky, a lovelier sea, more 
 striking mountain peaks, and a more fancy-stirring city, 
 can these be found in any one panorama to excel the 
 view from the Campanile of Torcello ? 
 
 The Cathedral of Torcello was so injured by the repairs 
 under the Austrians that one can find little pleasure in 
 visiting it. The one interesting feature is the arrange- 
 ment of the chancel, where the semicircular seats rise 
 one above the other, and the bishop's throne in the centre, 
 reached by a steep staircase, towers above all. Authori- 
 ties agree that the fittings of this apse give a better idea 
 of the way in which apses were originally arranged than 
 does any other church, either of the same period with this 
 (seventh century), or even earlier. It is most unusual ; 
 and Ruskin throws such a charm about it that it is pure 
 pleasure to read what he says of it : 
 
 " There is one circumstance which we ought to remember as 
 giving peculiar significance to the position which the episcopal 
 throne occupies in the island church; namely, that in the minds 
 of all early Christians the church itself was most frequently 
 symbolized under the image of a ship, of which the bishop was 
 the pilot. Consider the force which this symbol would assume 
 in the imaginations of men to whom the spiritual Church had 
 become an ark of refuge in the midst of a destruction hardly 
 less terrible than that from which the eight souls were saved of 
 old, a destruction in which the wrath of man had become as 
 broad as the earth and as merciless as the sea, and who saw 
 the actual and literal edifice of the Church raised up, itself like 
 an ark in the midst of the waters. No marvel if with the surf of 
 the Adriatic rolling between them and the shores of their birth,
 
 BUKANO AND TORCELLO. 169 
 
 from which they were separated forever, they should have looked 
 upon each other as the disciples did when the storm came down 
 on Tiberias Lake, and have yielded ready and loving obedience 
 to those who ruled them in His name who had there rebuked 
 the winds and commanded stillness to the sea. And if the 
 stranger would yet learn in what spirit it was that the dominion 
 of Venice was begun, and in what strength she went forth con- 
 quering and to conquer, let him not seek to estimate the wealth 
 of her arsenals or numbers of her armies, nor look upon the 
 pageantry of her palaces, nor enter into the secrets of her coun- 
 cils ; but let him ascend the highest tier of the stern ledges that 
 sweep round the altar of Torcello, and then, looking as the pilot 
 did of old along the marble ribs of the goodly temple-ship, let 
 him repeople its ruined deck with the shadows of its dead mari- 
 ners, and strive to feel in himself the strength of heart that 
 was kindled within them, when first, after the pillars of it had 
 settled in the sand, and the roof of it had been closed against the 
 angry sky that was still reddened by the fires of their home- 
 steads, first, within the shelter of its knitted walls, amidst 
 the murmur of the waste of waves and the beating of the wings 
 of the sea-birds round the rock that was strange to them, 
 rose that ancient hymn, in the power of their gathered voices : 
 ' The sea is His, and He made it : and His hands prepared the 
 dry land.' ' : 
 
 A picturesque cloister connects the Baptistery or Church 
 of St. Fosca with the cathedral. The relics of the virgin 
 martyr are said to rest beneath the low, ancient church. 
 The pillars of the cloisters are so short that a tall man 
 can touch the arches they sustain; but they are of pure 
 Greek marble, with delicately sculptured capitals. Every- 
 thing seems so small, the two churches, the tower, an 
 ancient well, and a marble column are all that remain, 
 save one or two old buildings that may now have disap- 
 peared, so tumble-down were they when last I saw them. 
 The Piazza ( ! ) around which these buildings stand is such 
 a bit of a grass -grown place! The only street is but a
 
 170 THE QUEEN OF THE ADRIATIC. 
 
 footpath, and yet we reverence Torcello for its age. The 
 banner of Venice has floated here more than a thousand 
 years, more than six centuries before Columbus dis- 
 covered our part of the globe. 
 
 There is a little museum in which a few antiquities are 
 gathered, where one may rest and think before taking 
 leave of this ghost-haunted island of. Torcello, so well 
 described by Helen Hunt : 
 
 " Short sail from Venice sad Torcello lies, 
 Deserted island low, and still and green. 
 Before fair Venice was a bride and queen 
 Torcello's court was held in fairer guise 
 Than Doges knew. To-day death-vapors rise 
 From fields where once her palaces were seen, 
 And in her silent towers that crumbling lean 
 Uuterrified the brooding swallow flies." 
 
 As we row back to Venice in the lovely evening, with 
 the orange and purple of the after-glow dissolving into 
 paler and colder tints, and the stars peeping out one by 
 one, Giacomo tells us a ghost-story which is familiar to 
 the gondoliers and fishermen, a group of whom we have 
 just met returning from Venice to their strange fishing- 
 ground. 
 
 The story runs that once upon a time six men were 
 fishing and living together in a small hut among the 
 valli. One of them had a little son who stayed in the 
 hut to cook food for the men whenever they came in. As 
 the night was the best time for fishing, the little fellow 
 was often alone from sunset to dawn. One morning, as 
 it was growing light, the men stopped their work and 
 rowed toward home ; and on the way they saw the body 
 of a drowned man, which the tide was taking out to sea. 
 
 They lifted the corpse into their boat, and laid it on 
 the prow, the head resting on the arm. The little boy 
 was watching for them ; and when he saw the seventh man,
 
 BURANO AND TORCELLO. 171 
 
 he thought he was some other fisherman who had fallen 
 asleep after his night of work. 
 
 He cheerily called out, "Breakfast is ready; come 
 along ! " and ran to the hut to see that all was right. 
 
 When the six were seated at the table, the boy asked, 
 " Where is the other man ? Will he not have breakfast 
 too ? " 
 
 " Why, is n't he here ? You had better run and call 
 him, " answered one of the men. 
 
 The boy ran to the canal and called out loudly, " Break- 
 fast is ready, and there is enough for you. Why do you 
 not come ? " Getting no answer, the boy went again to 
 the hut, saying, "What ails him ? He will not speak." 
 
 " Ah, " said another, " the old fool is deaf. You must 
 shout at him and swear a little. " 
 
 Again the boy went down and shouted, "The others 
 wait for you. Come along, old fool ! " But again the man 
 moved not. 
 
 The third time back to the hut ran the boy, saying, 
 "Come, one of you! He will not wake for me." But 
 they only laughed and said, " Go shake his leg, and say 
 we cannot wait till doomsday for him. " 
 
 The boy did as he was bid, and clambered into the 
 boat, and shook the man, who then sat up on the prow 
 and said, " Go back and tell them I am coming. " Then 
 the boy hastened back, and found the men all laughing 
 and joking, and he cried out, " It is all right now, and he 
 is coming." 
 
 Suddenly the laughter ceased, and the six men turned 
 ashy pale. They heard the footsteps approaching, and 
 soon the dead man came in and sat in the boy's place. 
 The eyes of the others were fixed on him, and they could 
 neither eat nor speak. They could not turn their eyes 
 from the stranger's face, and their blood was gradually 
 chilled in their veins ; and when the sun was risen, seven
 
 172 THE QUEEN OF THE ADRIATIC. 
 
 dead men sat around the table, and the poor little boy 
 was alone. It is from this event that the valle is called 
 the Valle dei Sette Morti. 
 
 Ghost-stories are rare in Venice. There is another 
 that one usually hears. It concerns a house called 
 "haunted." It stands on the most easterly point of 
 Venice, and is spoken of as the "Casa degli Spirit!." 
 The old women say that " once upon a time " a fine young 
 Venetian lived there with a charming bride, and the 
 friend who had been their groomsman visited them fre- 
 quently. He was godfather to their first child, which is 
 a very sacred relation in Venice, and is called " Compare 
 di San Zuan." After a time the young wife and the 
 compare fell in love with each other. The husband knew 
 this very well, and all three of them were most unhappy. 
 
 Just then the compare died; and so greatly did the lady 
 suffer that she grieved herself ill, and was about to die. 
 Her faithful maid knew all the story of her love and 
 grief, and with her last breath her mistress begged that 
 when she was dead no one else should be permitted to 
 watch beside her ; and although the other servants would 
 gladly have kept the vigil, the maid was left alone beside 
 her dead mistress. 
 
 At midnight the door opened, and the dead compare 
 came in. The maid could neither move nor cry out, and 
 the ghost raised his dead love up, and she began to dress. 
 When she was ready, the ghost took her arm, and signed 
 to the maid to light them on their way. Then the three 
 went down, down to the very lowest vault beneath the 
 house ; and there the compare struck the torch from the 
 hand of the maid, and she swooned on the floor. 
 
 Thus runs the story of the old women; but there are 
 other explanations of the name of this old house, which 
 even now bears traces of its former beauty, though the 
 whole edifice is going to wrack and ruin. A second
 
 BURANO AND TORCELLO 173 
 
 story is quite as gruesome as the first, since it says that 
 here dead bodies were brought by medical students, and 
 autopsies made before they were buried in San Michele, 
 which is very near. This is the view adopted by J. A. 
 Symonds, who says : 
 
 " Yonder square white house, standing out to sea, fronting 
 Murano and the Alps, they call the Casa degli Spirit!. No one 
 cares to inhabit it ; for here, in old days, it was the wont of the 
 Venetians to lay their dead for a night's rest before their final 
 journey to the graveyard of S. Michele. So many generations 
 of dead folk had made that house their inn, that it is now no 
 fitting house for living men." 
 
 But a pleasanter explanation is, that long ago an artis- 
 tic and literary society held its meetings here, and from 
 the beaux esprits who habitually gathered beneath its roof, 
 it came to be called the Casa degli Spiriti. 
 
 Perhaps the most amusing Venetian ghost-story is that 
 of the parish priest of San Marcuola, who declared his 
 disbelief in ghosts in a sermon, and exclaimed, " Where 
 the dead are, there they stay ! " This made the ghosts of 
 those who had been buried in San Marcuola very indig- 
 nant, and they revenged themselves by going at night, in 
 a body, to the chamber of this priest, whom they dragged 
 out of bed, tossed about, and soundly thrashed for the 
 insult he had put on them. 
 
 Meantime, while this story-telling has gone on, it has 
 grown quite dark, and as we come into the canals, the 
 calls, Stali, Preme, are very frequent. These cries 
 of the gondoliers are curiously startling, especially at 
 night; but the celerity with which they are obeyed, and 
 the narrow escapes from accidents, prove their usefulness. 
 Stalir means go to the right; Premier, go to the left; 
 and Sciar, or Siar, means that the boat is to be stopped 
 by turning the flat side of the oar against the current. 
 Monckton Millies prettily explains this in his verses :
 
 174 THE QUEEN OF THE ADRIATIC. 
 
 " When along the light ripple the far serenade 
 Has accosted the ear of each passionate maid, 
 She may open the window that looks on the stream, 
 She may smile on her pillow and blend it in dream ; 
 Half in words, half in music, it pierces the gloom, 
 ' I am coming stall hut you know not for whom ! 
 Stall not for whom ! ' 
 
 " Now the tones become clearer, you hear more and more 
 How the water divided returns on the oar, 
 Does the prow of the gondola strike on the stair ? 
 Do the voices and instruments pause and prepare ? 
 Oh ! they faint on the ear as the lamp on the view, 
 ' I am passing preme but I stay not for you! 
 Preme not for you ! ' 
 
 " Then return to your couch, you who stifle a tear, 
 Then awake not, fair sleeper, believe he is here ; 
 For the young and the loving no sorrow endures. 
 If to-day be another's, to-morrow is yours ; 
 May the next time you listen your fancy be true, 
 ' I am coming sciar and for you and to you ! 
 Sciar and to you ! ' "
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 THE TWO FOSCARI; CARMAGNOLA AND COLLEONI. 
 
 WHEN the Doge Tommaso Mocenigo was about to die, 
 he made a most remarkable statement, summing 
 up the past and present condition of Venice, and giving 
 much advice concerning its future, especially as to the 
 election of his successor. One of his most pronounced 
 judgments was against the election of Francesco Foscari. 
 He prophesied that under his rule Venice would be per- 
 petually at war, and that many other events would occur 
 to lessen her prosperity. But in spite of all that he said, 
 Foscari was made Doge at the tenth scrutiny, on April 
 15, 1423. 
 
 It is true that under his reign Venice was constantly at 
 war; but since he had even less power than any of his 
 predecessors, the responsibility of war or peace did not 
 rest with him. He was a man of great ability, and had 
 filled many offices of trust with honor. Abroad he had 
 served as ambassador at several courts. At home he 
 had once been Chief of the Forty, three times Chief of 
 the Ten, and twice their Inquisitor. At the time of his 
 election he was fifty-one years old, the father of a 
 large family, and the husband of a young wife who added 
 to the number every year. 
 
 Such festivities as satisfied even the Venetian taste for 
 splendor followed his election; and, indeed, the tourna- 
 ments and other spectacles were continued for a twelve- 
 month. The thirty-four years of Foscari's reign was a
 
 176 THE QUEEN OF THE ADRIATIC. 
 
 period of great importance. The Republic, by joining 
 the Florentines against Milan, was involved in a series of 
 conflicts, sometimes gaining, at others losing, always 
 engaged in intrigues, sending and receiving embassies, 
 making treaties only to be broken, as it would seem, but 
 ' finally, in 1454, emerging from a struggle of thirty years 
 indisputably the first of Italian powers. Hazlitt says : 
 
 "The Venetian Empire was the most extensive, and prom- 
 ised to be the most durable, which had been formed on any con- 
 stitutional principles since the days of the Romans. The 
 Venetian Senate was the most august assembly in the world. 
 The Venetian Navy was the finest which Europe had ever seen. 
 During war, Venice employed, even at an exorbitant stipend, 
 the best troops to be procured and the ablest generals of the 
 age ; and among her Captains of Companies it was not unusual 
 to find Hereditary Princes. Her patricians, so far from being 
 purely political in their education or sordid in their tastes, 
 prided themselves on the extent and versatility of their acquire- 
 ments. They excelled in all manly exercises and in all enlight- 
 ened pursuits. Not content with reading contemporary history, 
 with mastering the intricacies of diplomacy, or with attaining 
 the highest honors in the military profession, they studied the 
 language which Cicero spoke, the language of the Anabasis, 
 and the language of Holy Writ. They applied themselves to 
 the liberal, mechanical, and occult sciences, and to the Fine 
 Arts. They became diligent scholiasts. They searched for 
 manuscripts with an avidity eclipsing that of De Bure. They 
 formed libraries, some of which were far larger than the Public 
 Collections at Oxford or Paris. Some gave gratuitous instruc- 
 tion in the Elements of Euclid; others lectured on Ethics or 
 Metaphysics. A Trevisano devoted ten years to the composition 
 of a single Treatise, which he never lived to finish. A Giorgio 
 naturalized among his countrymen the literature of the Trouba- 
 dours and the songs of Provence. To a Polo, scientific men 
 were indebted for the first book on Travels in China, Kam- 
 tschatka, and Japan. A Pisani filled Europe with the fame of
 
 THE TWO FOSCARL 177 
 
 her beauty and genius; and four nations competed for the privi- 
 lege of doing her honor! She chose France, and France was 
 flattered by the choice. 
 
 ' D'avoir le prix en science et en doctrine, 
 Bien merita de Pisan la Christine, 
 Durant ses jours.' " 
 
 But the deep interest we feel in Francesco Foscari is 
 not centred in the affairs of Venice while he served as its 
 figure-head and held but a semblance of power, the real 
 potency being in the Seigniory and Council of Ten. In 
 the great rush of state affairs, conducted as they had come 
 to be, each single man was lost. The State only sur- 
 vived ; and its methods of secret councils and its schemes 
 of unlimited ambition made of this same State a vast and 
 overwhelming machine, the workings of which in their 
 completeness were only comprehended by a few patri- 
 cians, each one of whom was jealously watching to pre- 
 vent every other from the exercise of any distinguishing 
 or undue power. 
 
 It is with the personal experiences of the Doge that we 
 are concerned. Within a few years his large family was 
 swept away by death. Of his five sons Jacopo alone 
 remained. He was a gay young fellow, who paraded in 
 the Broglio, and took his part in all the gayeties and 
 pleasures of his time. He was an elegant scholar, a col- 
 lector of manuscripts, and altogether a delightful com- 
 panion in a ladies' salon or on a festal day. 
 
 In 1441 Jacopo Foscari was married to Lucrezia on- 
 tarini, whose family had given three Doges to Venice. 
 The marriage was celebrated in the Ducal Chapel before 
 the immediate families of the Foscari and Contarini ; and 
 not until the third day did the rejoicings begin, which 
 continued for ten days, and were very magnificent, as the 
 gentlemen of both families were members of the Compagnia 
 della Calza (Company of the Stocking). This society of 
 
 12
 
 178 THE QUEEN OF THE ADRIATIC. 
 
 young noblemen was formed for the purpose of holding 
 jousts, serenades, regattas, and like entertainments, and 
 took its name from its peculiar uniform, which consisted 
 of a striped, party-colored stocking on the left leg, reach- 
 ing to the hip, drawn over tight breeches, and embroidered 
 with figures of animals and birds. With this was worn 
 a doublet of velvet or cloth of gold, with open sleeves and 
 facings, and a shirt-frill. A flowing mantle of some 
 costly stuff was thrown back on the shoulder, displaying 
 a richly embroidered stocking on the lining; and the 
 whole was completed by long pointed shoes studded with 
 precious stories, and a black or red bonnet, also bejewelled. 
 Aristocratic ladies were honorary members, and wore a 
 stocking embroidered on their sleeves on festive occasions. 
 As the society increased, it was divided into various 
 branches, of which the Immortelles, Royals, Ethereals, 
 and Peacocks were the most noted ; but the most exclu- 
 sive part of the society is said never to have numbered 
 more than eighteen. 
 
 Since Foscari and his bride were both members of the 
 Calza, the festivities attending their marriage were 
 under its care; and the presence of Francesco Sforza, 
 Barbaro, and a hundred Brescian nobles then in Venice, 
 added much to the elegance of the assemblies. The Doge 
 and the College appointed a "Master of the Feast," whose 
 duty was to regulate everything that took place. At the 
 appointed time all the Company of the Calza, in their most 
 gorgeous apparel, repaired to his house, where the proces- 
 sion formed. 
 
 Each member had two servants in his private livery, 
 and four others in the livery of the Calza, besides other 
 attendants, dressed in silk, and men-at-arms in full armor. 
 Masters and men were all provided with horses capari- 
 soned with green velvet trimmed with silver. The bride- 
 groom had twenty mounted attendants, while others had
 
 THE TWO FOSCARI. 179 
 
 from ten to fifteen. The procession was magnificent. So 
 many jewels flashed in the sun, so many richly colored 
 velvets and hrocades were worn with easy grace, so many 
 horses caracoled to the sound of trumpets, that the people 
 in windows, balconies, and on the housetops could do 
 nothing but applaud. The houses of the streets through 
 which the cavalcade passed were hung with tapestries, 
 silks, and banners, or arched with flags spread on lines 
 stretched from one side to the other. 
 
 The procession rode around the Piazza and the court of 
 the Ducal Palace, and then over the Grand Canal, on a 
 bridge of boats, to the Contarini Palace at San Barnaba. 
 Here the fair young bride came out to meet the proces- 
 sion. She was attended by two grave and reverend pro- 
 curators of St. Mark in black dresses and cloaks, which 
 by contrast heightened the beauty of her robes of white 
 silk. Twelve children, all dressed in white, bore her 
 train. In her dark hair diamonds were so woven that 
 those who would see her face were forced to shade their 
 eyes from the flashing of the jewels, and on her neck were 
 the rarest of pearls, besides precious stones of great value 
 on other portions of her person. She wore a cloak of 
 lightest fur, as the wintry air compelled her to do. Sixty 
 maids of honor followed her, all dressed in blue with 
 many rare jewels, and all wearing cloaks. The Com- 
 pany of the Calza and their attendants formed two lines. 
 Foscari descended from his horse, and made a profound 
 obeisance to his wife, then placed himself beside her, and 
 they, followed by the sixty maidens, walked between the 
 lines of the cavalcade to the Church of St. Barnaba, 
 where they heard Mass. After this the Lady Lucrezia, 
 her maids, and the members of the Calza, with Sforza, 
 Barbaro, and the Brescian visitors, took their places in the 
 square outside the church, and listened to a eulogy upon 
 the two great families united by this marriage, pro- 
 nounced from a pulpit by a richly dressed priest.
 
 180 THE QUEEN OF THE ADRIATIC. 
 
 The oration ended, Foscari and his bride returned to 
 the palace of her father, while the cavalcade rode through 
 the city, displaying their horsemanship, and engaging in 
 mock battles in the squares, to the great delight of the 
 people. 
 
 In the afternoon a splendid repast was furnished at 
 the Ducal Palace, and then the Bucentaur was rowed up 
 to the Piazzetta, where a hundred ladies in costly dresses 
 embarked and proceeded to the Palazzo Contarini. Here 
 they were joined by the Lady Lucrezia and her husband, 
 attended by another hundred ladies. Then the Bucen- 
 taur, followed by numerous gayly decorated gondolas, 
 rowed to the Palace of Sforza, to the sound of music, 
 and paid a visit of state to the Captain-General, who then 
 went on board the Bucentaur, and the whole company pro- 
 ceeded to the Ducal Palace. The Doge and Dogaressa, 
 with a train of fifty ladies, met the barge at the landing; 
 and they, with their guests in procession, entered the 
 palace, where the evening was spent in dancing. 
 
 The next day festivities were resumed. Now a tourna- 
 ment was given, in which the nobles of Venice and their 
 honored guests tilted together. Again a regatta was held, 
 with large prizes, and the gondolas were brought out 
 which were only seen at festivals. They were richly 
 carved and gilded, and fitted with curtains and cushions 
 of silk and velvet. The best rowers competed for the 
 prizes, and won them amid great applause. Each day 
 some novel feature was introduced. Acrobats and others 
 performed their feats of agility in the squares, the bells 
 rang softly all day long, bands played in the squares at 
 night, and the people danced, while the patricians were 
 entertained at a series of balls at the palaces of the 
 nobility. Thus ten days passed, and then, as a finale, 
 there was a procession of illuminated boats, every seventh 
 one carrying musicians, which passed through the canals, 
 and around the islands near Venice.
 
 The Pia^etta; Ducal Palace; San Marco.
 
 THE TWO FOSCARI. 181 
 
 But three years elapsed before Jacopo Foscari was sus- 
 pected of having taken bribes for his services in obtaining 
 offices per broglio, which would be called lobbying in our 
 day. The Broglio was the lower gallery or arcade under 
 the Ducal Palace, which was a general meeting-place for 
 the higher classes, and where all sorts of schemes and 
 conspiracies were broached, and consultations held; in 
 short, an exchange which might be frequented for both 
 good and evil purposes. 
 
 The penalties for such offences as those of which the 
 young Foscari was accused, were very severe, and Jacopo 
 was doomed to banishment in Naples, where each day he 
 must present himself before the representative of the 
 Republic in that city. Before this sentence was pro- 
 nounced, Jacopo had fled to Trieste, and there fell ill. 
 After some months he was permitted to go to Treviso; 
 and at length, in answer to a pathetic appeal from his 
 father, he was pardoned, and returned to Venice. 
 
 Again, three years later, one of the Council of Ten 
 who had condemned Jacopo was assassinated as he was 
 leaving the palace. The evidence which connected Jacopo 
 with this murder was so slight that it is not worth recount- 
 ing; but suspicion of him was strong enough to cause his 
 arrest, and it is even said that he was tortured, with no 
 result. He was now banished to Candia, where, separated 
 from wife and children, from the refinements that he 
 loved, and without congenial pursuits, he suffered a rest- 
 lessness so intense that he further criminated himself for 
 the sake of returning to Venice, even though that might 
 mean the rack anew. He wrote a letter to the Duke of 
 Milan, the enemy of Venice, asking his aid with the 
 Seigniory. This letter he managed to have fall into the 
 hands of the Council, never trying to send it to Milan at 
 all. 
 
 He was also accused of having addressed a letter to the
 
 182 THE QUEEN OF THE ADRIATIC. 
 
 Sultan, imploring him to send a vessel to convey him 
 away secretly. He was now brought to Venice, and 
 before the Council made a full confession, no doubt 
 through fear of the torture-chamber, so near at hand. 
 Some of the Ten favored severity. Loredano even wished 
 him to be beheaded between the Columns, but the mild 
 sentence of a year's imprisonment at Candia was the final 
 result. When this sentence was given, he prayed that he 
 might see his family, all of whom had been rigidly 
 excluded from him and from the court during his trial. 
 His father, mother, wife, and children were permitted to 
 visit him ; and when the time for his removal came, he was 
 with them in the Ducal Palace. Even then, after all he 
 had suffered and caused others to suffer, he did not seem 
 to realize that the execution of his sentence was as sure 
 as fate itself. He seemed rather to believe that some one 
 could reverse it all ; and naturally that some one seemed 
 to be the Doge, his father, who, alas ! knew but too well 
 his utter powerlessness. 
 
 Amid the sobs and kisses all around him, once more he 
 cried, "Father, I beseech you, make them let me go 
 home!" But the old Doge, in his despair, could only 
 reply, "Jacopo, go; obey the will of the country, and try 
 no more," in saying which no doubt he suffered more than 
 he who heard these fatal words. 
 
 All hearts were touched by these terrible griefs of the 
 old Foscari, and six months later a full pardon was 
 obtained for the son. But it was too late. He no longer 
 lived to be condemned or forgiven. When this news 
 came, the Doge was eighty-four years old. His courage 
 was gone. He could no longer give heed to public mat- 
 ters, nor could he endure to sit in that court which had 
 tortured and exiled the last of his sons. And so he 
 stayed away ; and soon there was a murmur against him, 
 and a complaint that he no longer made a pretence of
 
 THE TWO FOSCARI. 183 
 
 having authority and of being necessary to the State, 
 a lie which he was tired of acting. Foscari had more 
 than once proposed to retire, but the Council would not 
 hear of it. Now, however, he was asked to resign his 
 office; and when he did not answer quickly enough to 
 please his persecutors, he was told that if he did not leave 
 the palace within the next eight days, his property would 
 be confiscated. He made no resistance. The ducal ring 
 was drawn from his finger and broken in his presence. 
 The ducal bonnet was taken from his head, and he prom- 
 ised to leave the palace at once. 
 
 As the deputies left him, Foscari caught the eye of one, 
 Jacopo Memmo, who looked at him with sympathy and 
 compassion. He called him, took his hand, and said, 
 " Whose son art thou ? " "I am the son of Marin 
 Memmo. " And then the Doge : " He is my dear friend. 
 Tell him from me that it would be sweet to me if he would 
 come to pay me a visit, and go in my bark with me for a 
 little pleasure. We might visit the monasteries." 
 
 That very day the Doge left the palace with his old 
 brother Marco, followed by his household. Marco said, 
 "It is better to go to the boat by the stair that is 
 covered;" but the old Doge replied, "I will go down by 
 the same stair that I came up when I was made Doge." 
 And then they rowed away to the splendid palace to which 
 Jacopo had taken Lucrezia Contarini sixteen years before, 
 the house that we may still see on the point of the 
 Grand Canal, where it turns to the east, with the water 
 on two sides, and its fine old gateway on the small canal 
 at the back. Here, in 1574, Francis I. was lodged, it 
 being thought more suited to his royalty than any other 
 in all Venice. 
 
 And here, many years before, on Oct. 24, 1457, 
 came the old Foscari to die. The new Doge was elected 
 on the 31st; and on All Souls Day, when the new prince
 
 184 THE QUEEN OF THE ADRIATIC. 
 
 went to San Marco to Mass, Foscari's son-in-law there 
 announced that Foscari was no more. His funeral was 
 magnificent The new Doge was obliged to loan his 
 crown to his predecessor, when he was laid in state in the 
 palace from which he had been expelled but one short 
 week before. Every honor was bestowed on him, dead, 
 that the Republic could give. He was carried to the 
 Frari, with many tapers lighting his way ; and, to quote 
 Mrs. Oliphant, "there he lies under a weight of sculp- 
 tured marble, his sufferings all over for five hundred 
 years and more ; but never the story of his greatness, his 
 wrongs, and sorrows, which last gave him such claims 
 upon the recollection of mankind as no magnificence nor 
 triumph can bestow. " 
 
 When the bell rang 
 
 At dawn, announcing a new Doge to Venice, 
 It found him on his knees before the Cross, 
 Clasping his aged hands in earnest prayer; 
 And there he died. Ere half its task was done, 
 It rang his knell. 
 
 ROGERS. 
 
 So intense was the excitement in Venice, caused by the 
 deposition and death of the old Doge, that the Senate for- 
 bade " the affair of Francesco Foscari to be mentioned on 
 pain of death. " 
 
 FRANCESCO CARMAGNOLA. 
 
 The story of Jacopo Foscari affords a striking commen- 
 tary upon the changes which had come over the armies 
 of the Republic. It would seem that the want of any 
 serious and engrossing occupation a sort of elegant 
 idleness had led Jacopo to his misfortunes; and this 
 idleness would not have been possible during so stirring 
 a period as that of his father's reign, if the Venetians 
 had still done their own fighting as they did it in the 
 reign of Enrico Dandolo.
 
 FRANCESCO CARMAGNOLA. 185 
 
 In Foscari's day it had come to be the custom, all over 
 Italy and in other countries of Europe, to hire men to 
 kill and be killed for money. Mercenary troops they 
 were fitly called; for they not only received their hire, 
 but they robbed the peasant of his harvest, and from the 
 wealthy land-owner they extorted gold. Venice had 
 employed these bands when they were made up of Bretons, 
 Hungarians, Gascons, and other men, who spoke no 
 Italian, and thought solely of gain ; but by the middle of 
 the fifteenth century the Free Lances had come to be an 
 organized institution, with unwritten laws, which were 
 well understood by them and by their employers ; and the 
 general or leader of these bands who was not successful 
 was in much danger of having his head taken off by the 
 Seigneur or the government he served, on the charge of 
 treason. A most famous leader of one of these bands of 
 condottieri was Francesco Carmagnola. 
 
 The name of his father was Bussone; but the soldier 
 took his name from the town, near Turin, in which he 
 was born, in 1390. While he, as a boy, tended flocks 
 upon his native hills, the clash of arms and the noise of 
 battle which filled all Europe reached even his ears ; and 
 fired with desire for adventure, he deserted the first duty of 
 his life, and through one chance and another entered the 
 service of Facino Cane, a great general in the service of 
 the Duke of Milan. Carmagnola soon proved his fitness 
 for the profession he had chosen, but it is doubtful if the 
 jealousy of Cane would have permitted him to come to 
 the front. It may therefore be said to have been the 
 making of his fortune when Facino Cane and Gian Maria 
 Visconti died on the same day, and Filippo Maria Visconti 
 became the head of the house; for when this young 
 prince needed a general, he chose Carmagnola, who 
 embraced his cause zealously, and at once took Milan for 
 him, and subsequently, one after the other, overcame, the
 
 186 THE QUEEN OF THE ADRIATIC. 
 
 cities which had revolted. Naturally this was a work of 
 time; and meanwhile the great captain was high in the 
 favor of his prince, held a conspicuous position at court, 
 and was the chief counsellor of the Duke in all important 
 matters. 
 
 So distinguished had he become that the Duke had 
 given him a wife from his own family, with the privilege 
 of bearing the name of Visconti, and the arms of that 
 reigning house were also conferred on him. To the large 
 booty won in his service great wealth had been added, 
 and this peasant soldier lived in Milan in a style suited to 
 his riches and his wife's birth. He was in the midst of 
 erecting the Broletto, a royal palace (now used for muni- 
 cipal purposes), when the shadows of misfortune first fell 
 on him. This was in 1424, when Foscari had been Doge 
 of Venice for a year, and twelve years after Duke Filippo 
 Maria had made Carmagnola his captain-general. 
 
 This Duke suffered much from morbid timidity. His 
 sensitiveness as to his personal appearance amounted to 
 torture, and caused him to seek a seclusion that but 
 increased his morbidness. He was so suspicious of all 
 who served him that he made it the duty of one set of 
 guards to watch over another, and so on, through several 
 relays, and then purposed himself to watch the last. The 
 fear of murder haunted him, and he used all his ingenuity 
 in devising schemes of self-protection, such as constantly 
 changing his apartments, and other methods equally futile 
 if his fears were well grounded. 
 
 He married the widow of Facino Cane, Carmagnola's 
 first commander, and through the conquests and efficient 
 counsels of his great captain, the Duke was now the 
 master of the Lombard plains and many wealthy cities, 
 while he was respected as well as feared by his rivals. 
 Finally Carmagnola had added Genoa to his other con- 
 quests ; and this proud rival of Venice, with her commerce
 
 FRANCESCO CARMAGNOLA. 187 
 
 and her splendid harbor, seemed to complete the glory of 
 the Duke of Milan. It may be that it was all suspicion 
 on the part of the Duke (when one has such a nature as 
 his, who can tell ? ) ; but at all events, it would seem that 
 the glory which this last success brought to the Captain 
 was more than the Duke could support. He feared lest 
 Carmagnola should become too powerful, and naturally 
 there were enemies of the successful man who were only 
 too ready to encourage suspicions against him ; and though 
 there had been no thought of treachery imputed to him, 
 the Duke demanded the surrender of the troop of three 
 hundred horse, which had been Carmagnola's special 
 command. 
 
 He implored the Duke not to deprive him of his sol- 
 diers, without which his life would be wretched. But to 
 his prayers no answer was made, and he began to perceive 
 that evil influences were working against him. He was 
 at Genoa, of which place he had been made governor, and 
 the Duke was at a fortress on the borders of Piedmont, 
 not far away; and his letters not being answered, he 
 determined to face the Prince. In full assurance of 
 regaining the confidence of the man for whom he had done 
 so much, he set out with all the impulsiveness of a 
 generous nature. 
 
 Imagine his surprise when, arrived at Abbiate, he was 
 not permitted to pass the bridge into the castle. The 
 guards had been forbidden to admit their Commander-in- 
 chief. However, he did not yet understand that he was 
 insulted, and sent word to the Duke that he desired an 
 audience. The answer directed him to communicate with 
 Riccio (his deadly foe), as the Duke was too busy to see 
 him. Carmagnola curbed his pride and anger, and again 
 sent to say that his message was for the ear of the Duke 
 alone ; and to this no answer was vouchsafed. 
 
 As he waited with a handful of followers on the bridge,
 
 188 THE QUEEN OF THE ADRIATIC. 
 
 his only answer being a command to speak to his well- 
 known enemy, he thought he saw the face of the Duke at 
 a loophole above. As he looked down on the scene 
 around him, he found himself in the midst of his own 
 hirelings, who were only too glad to see their peasant 
 captain humbled. The fire of his rage flamed forth, and 
 he called God to witness his innocence of any wrong to 
 the Duke, in thought or deed, and then accused his 
 enemies as perfidious traitors, and swore a solemn oath 
 that they should soon feel the want of him to whom they 
 would not now listen. 
 
 He turned his horse and rode towards the Ticino, the 
 border of Savoy, his native province. This much alarmed 
 the conspirators, who were watching from the castle, and 
 an attempt was made to call him back; but he rushed 
 furiously on, and stopped not until he reached the castle 
 of the Duke of Savoy, to whom he told his story and 
 offered his services. But Amadeo was a clear-headed, 
 cautious man, and well knew that he could not compete 
 with Milan; and Carmagnola, seeing that there was no 
 hope for him here, remembered that he knew of a power 
 greater than that of Milan, and cautiously made his way 
 to Venice. He was received with the distinction which 
 his fame as a soldier commanded, and possibly more, just 
 at the time of his arrival, when there was already a ques- 
 tion of war with Milan, in behalf of Florence. 
 
 Envoys from Milan and Florence were already at Venice 
 when Carmagnola arrived, and the whole city was full of 
 excitement. Indeed it was a curious thing to watch the 
 representatives of these two Italian States, so near to each 
 other geographically, both of one nation and tongue, and 
 yet so different, the Florentines grave, and occupied 
 only in the serious affairs which had brought them hither; 
 the Milanese, gay in dress and manner, carelessly pass- 
 ing here and there, as if their only object were to see the
 
 FRANCESCO CARMAGNOLA. 189 
 
 sights in this Queen of the Sea, of which they had heard 
 so much. But they could scarcely have failed to have 
 some uneasy thoughts when they saw Carmagnola there. 
 The man whom they had driven from their midst by 
 unjust accusations, the man whom they had insulted and 
 betrayed, was not likely to help their cause with the 
 Republic, nor speak to the Senate in accord with the 
 representations they would there make. But all must 
 have the privilege of speech, and the interest to hear was 
 very great with the Venetians. 
 
 The Florentine Ridolfi was the first to whom the Doge 
 and Senate listened. He made a passionate and moving 
 appeal, begging that the Venetians would unite with the 
 Florentines to curb the power of Milan, and warning them 
 that when Philip had once overcome Florence he would 
 find the means to conquer Venice also. The Senate was 
 greatly moved by his eloquence and the force of his argu- 
 ments, but they were divided between sympathy for 
 Florence and hesitation at the enormous cost of aiding 
 her, between fear of Philip for themselves and doubt of 
 his ability to overcome and dominate Florence and Venice; 
 and they thought it best to listen to the Milanese before 
 expressing themselves to the Florentines. 
 
 Very different from the earnest pleading of Ridolfi was 
 the bravado of the orator from Milan. He declared that 
 he and his companions had come on no important embassy, 
 but simply to pay their respects to Venice and her Senate 
 in the name of their Duke. They had no league to make, 
 no favors to ask, since the treaties which existed between 
 Milan and the Republic were still unbroken. He then 
 represented the Florentines as false men, whose speech 
 was full of lies. He declared that though the former 
 rulers of Milan had been enemies of the Venetians, Duke 
 Philip was their friend, as the Visconti had been for a 
 century, and that he desired peace and repose, being " the
 
 190 THE QUEEN OF THE ADRIATIC. 
 
 very model of liberality and courtesy." In fact, no new 
 light was thrown on any subject by the speech of the 
 Milanese, and the Senators were much divided in their 
 opinions. A part were for immediate war with Philip, 
 who only desired to speak them fair until he could over- 
 come Florence ; the others begged for greater caution, and 
 recalled the truth that to begin a struggle was much easier 
 than to end it. 
 
 It was now Carmagnola's turn, and a new wrong which 
 he had suffered filled his wrath to the full. At Treviso 
 an attempt had been made to poison him. It had failed, 
 and the perpetrator of the act had paid for it with his 
 life; but it had turned the feeling of injury which Car- 
 magnola had cherished before into fierce hatred, and he 
 appeared before the Venetian Senate with fire in his heart 
 and on his tongue. With hot words he depicted the 
 benefits he had conferred on Philip, and the base ingrati- 
 tude with which he had been treated. He declared that 
 he had received no rewards, but simply the just hire for 
 what he had accomplished; and now, he said, the prince 
 he had thus served had not only wounded and insulted 
 him, not only turned his back on him, and driven him 
 into exile, but he had sought to kill him, not in a fair 
 and open battle, such as soldiers love, but in the way of 
 the cowardly assassin, with poison. He then congratu- 
 lated himself on his preservation, and declared that 
 although he had left his wife, his children, and his 
 wealth in the country he had lost, he was still fortunate 
 in that he had found a country where justice was honored 
 and villains did not rule. 
 
 Carmagnola then represented that Philip was far less 
 powerful than he was thought by the Florentines; that 
 his soldiers were not paid, his citizens were not rich, and 
 his own means were much exhausted; that the Duke's 
 successes had depended on himself; and that without him
 
 FRANCESCO CARMAGNOLA. 191 
 
 Philip was weaker than the Florentines, and much weaker 
 than Venice. And finally he offered his services to the 
 Republic, promising to increase its dominions and to con- 
 quer Philip, and declaring that though they might have 
 had greater commanders, none had been more loyal than 
 he would be to Venice, and none had ever hated her 
 enemies as he hated the Milanese. 
 
 The speech of Ridolfi had appealed to the intellects of 
 the Senators, but that of Carmagnola moved both their 
 heads and hearts, and almost all pronounced for war. 
 Foscari followed; and an old chronicler says that "the 
 energetic speech and great influence of the Doge, which 
 was greater than that of any prince before him," decided 
 the Senate to make the league with the Florentines. War 
 was at once declared against Milan, and Carmagnola was 
 made general of the forces. He speedily led to action the 
 soldiers who were ready, while all Italy was scoured for 
 recruits. 
 
 The first point of attack was Brescia, and the story of 
 its possession is indeed a sad one. Historians disagree 
 as to the extent of blame to be fixed on Carmagnola ; but 
 at the best, as Bigli gives it, it seems a cold-blooded 
 betrayal of the many Brescian friends of the" great cap- 
 tain. By the aid of two men within the city, at the dead 
 of night, Carmagnola marched his troops into the Piazza, 
 the very centre of the city, and suddenly, with an illumi- 
 nation of torches and blare of trumpets, announced his 
 sovereignty in the name of Venice, which he now served. 
 The historian says: "Though at first dismayed by the 
 clang of the trumpets and arms, as soon as they [the 
 inhabitants] perceived that it was Carmagnola, they 
 remained quiet in their houses, except those who rushed 
 forth to welcome the besiegers, or who had private rela- 
 tions with the General. No movement was made from 
 any of the fortified places in the city."
 
 192 THE QUEEN OF THE ADRIATIC. 
 
 So far all had gone well, but the real work was yet to 
 be done ; and it was only after seven months of siege, of 
 trenching and assaults, of shutting out supplies, and 
 many tasks which demanded infinite skill and patience, 
 that Carmagnola was master of the city with all its 
 wealth, a splendid conquest for Venice. Brescia being 
 actually reduced, the villages and castles belonging to it 
 surrendered without resistance, and as far as the Lago di 
 Garda the sovereignty of the Republic was acknowledged. 
 
 Philip was furious, but as he was in no condition just 
 then to make war, he employed a legate of the Pope to 
 make peace for him; and this was accomplished at the 
 cost of his relinquishing, not only Brescia, but a portion 
 of the Cremonese territory, in all nearly forty miles in 
 extent 
 
 Meantime, in all these months, there had been some 
 mysterious elements in the conduct of Carmagnola, which 
 by no means escaped the all-searching eye of Venice. 
 Very early in the siege of Brescia he had left the author- 
 ity with his chief engineer, and after a plundering expedi- 
 tion on Lago di Garda, had retired to the Baths of Abano, 
 pleading that an old wound in his thigh gave him so much 
 pain as to unfit him for service. The Venetians regarded 
 this as a hint for some benefit to be conferred on their 
 Captain-General, and they promptly made him a noble of 
 Venice, with the title of Count of Castelnuovo, and 
 offered him a principality in Cremonese territory if he 
 would rejoin his army and push his victory across the 
 river Adda. 
 
 The Duke of Milan, on his part, was pursuing a tor- 
 tuous policy, by which he set a snare for the great Free 
 Lance. He determined to make it appear that he had 
 some understanding with Carmagnola. His envoys were 
 constantly seeking the General, and whenever Philip 
 made any proposals to Venice, he named this officer as
 
 FRANCESCO CARMAGNOLA. 193 
 
 his ambassador. Carmagnola was weak enough to be 
 flattered by this. He believed that he was absolutely 
 essential to both Venice and Milan, that everything 
 revolved around him, and that he might decide the fate 
 of these two powers from his retirement at the Baths 
 of Abano. 
 
 The treaty which followed the fall of Brescia was 
 signed in December, 1425, and in one clause of it the 
 Duke promised to restore to Carmagnola his property in 
 Lombardy; but Visconti broke this as well as other stipu- 
 lations of the treaty, and it soon became evident that war 
 was again inevitable. In February, 1427, Carmagnola 
 was summoned to Venice to aid the government in its 
 plans for a new campaign. Soon after his arrival his wife 
 joined him, and was accorded, by the Seigniory, a splen- 
 did reception, in which neither trouble nor money was 
 spared ; and thus the Senate indicated to its Captain that 
 his faithful service would be fully recognized by the 
 Republic. 
 
 The second campaign more plainly revealed the slug- 
 gishness of Carmagnola. In spite of the impatience of 
 Venice and the magnificence of the rewards she promised, 
 there was no activity. Again the Duke was full of 
 intrigue, and pretended intelligence with the Venetian 
 commander. It began to be understood at Venice that 
 Carmagnola was neither as great nor as sincere as the 
 Senate had believed when he first addressed them; and 
 their distrust was not lessened when again the Duke 
 proposed terms of peace through the mediation of his 
 sometime friend and commander. 
 
 Casal Maggiore had been retaken by the Milanese. 
 Angry letters were sent to Carmagnola, who replied that 
 when the proper time arrived he would recover it in three 
 days. This he did ; but as he wished to free all his pris- 
 oners, according to the then custom of war, and as the 
 
 13
 
 194 TIIE QUEEN OF THE ADRIATIC. 
 
 Republic was a law to herself, and did not aim to follow 
 the rules of mercenaries, there was a direct disagivt'im-nt 
 at once. The Senate ordered the captured garrisons to 
 be detained. Carmagnola obeyed, but considered it a dis- 
 grace to his honor as a soldier. He so resented this 
 infringement of his authority that he allowed his oppor- 
 tunities to slip away unimproved. The Duke was now 
 sorely pressed by Savoy, as well as Venice, and yet Car- 
 magnola refrained from entering his territory, and quietly 
 remained in camp at Casalsecco and on Lago d' Iseo ; ami 
 it was not until October, 1427, that by the battle of 
 Macalo he retrieved his fame, and restored the Venetians 
 to good-will towards him, in spite of the great dissatis- 
 faction and grave suspicions of him which they had enter- 
 tained for months. 
 
 A house in Venice at San Eustachio was given him, 
 with Castenedolo in the Bresciano for himself and his 
 heirs ; and two nobles were sent to convey the thanks of 
 the Republic to him, and at the same time to exhort him 
 to follow up his victory at Macalo with a series of equally 
 splendid triumphs, which were clearly within his reach. 
 The government also suggested that the time had arrived 
 for passing the Adda, and ending the war by a glorious 
 victory which would insure an honorable peace. 
 
 But it seemed that Macalo was deemed sufficient by 
 Carmagnola to quiet Venice for a time; and though nil 
 Italy agreed in the view of his employers, he did no more, 
 and at the end of the year asked for permission to go 
 again to the Baths. The disgust of the Venetians may 
 easily be imagined; but as the Duke had already begun 
 negotiations for peace through the friendly offices of the 
 Pope, an ungracious consent was yielded to the request of 
 their general ; and as the envoys of the Duke came to him, 
 even at Abano, he fancied that he could return to Milan 
 whenever he willed. He was playing a game for himself,
 
 FRANCESCO CAKMAGNOLA. 
 
 like a true mercenary soldier, and lie desired \\\ his rtlug- 
 gishness to lay the Duke under obligations I" him. No 
 doubt he intended to return to the service of Visconti, 
 whose constant wars brought him great wealth in booty; 
 and then his half-finished palace was then-, ami \\c can 
 readily imagine that his wife desired to return to her m\ n 
 country. 
 
 While he was at Abano the negotiations proceeded, 
 and a peace which was advantageous to Venice \\as signed 
 on the 19th of April, H'JS. Almost iinniedi.ii, l\ Car 
 magnola made a triumphant entry into Venice, and his 
 old father came to see how his mm was honored |>y the 
 Republic. Forty years ago u peasant -herder, he was no\v 
 a noble of the proudest republic of Italy. Days of festivi- 
 ties followed. Venice had not reali/ed her fullest hopes; 
 but the Peace of Ferrara gave her Brescia and Bergamo, 
 and added much to her territory and her importance. 
 
 But no peace with Milan could he long maintained, and 
 soon the Senate knew that a third war was inevitable. 
 They had paid Carmagnola the customary refaining-fco, 
 and felt themselves <jnil,e secure of their leader, \\hen 
 suddenly, just as hostilities seemed imminent, lie, sent, in 
 his resignation. When the Senate met to consider this 
 outrageous act, Carmagnola distinctly stated his price, 
 He must have a thousand ducats a month, in peace or 
 war. And now the mortification of Venice was com- 
 plete. Through distrust of her own sons, and by her 
 own laws, no Venetian gentleman could command more 
 than seventy-five men. Had their General been one of 
 their own countrymen, with Venetian soldiers, as in the 
 old days, how great would the diff< -r< ;. < u! But 
 
 now, with the Duke of Milan ready to attack them, thejr 
 were at the mercy of the great condottiere. 
 
 The war actually began in 1430, and this third cam' 
 paign seemed only to emphasize the conduct of the second
 
 196 THE QUEEN OF THE ADRIATIC. 
 
 Carmagnola was more inactive. The Duke sent his envoys 
 to the General with greater frequency. The Venetians 
 were less patient, especially as the audacity of their Gen- 
 eral became more and more surprising. In spite of offers 
 to reward him with the lordship of Milan if he would 
 reduce it, he refused to move. He attempted no conceal- 
 ment of his constant communication with Philip. He 
 even wrote to the Senate concerning the envoys who were 
 with him, and took no warning from the sullen replies he 
 received. He was trifling with Venice, and did not try 
 to hide it; and he was not intriguing with the Duke, 
 although the latter intended to make it appear so, and 
 succeeded in his plan. 
 
 According to Sabellico, the discussions of the Senate 
 over the best way to treat Carmagnola went on for months. 
 There were those who had always distrusted him. Others 
 refused to desert his cause unless proofs of his treachery 
 could be given. The General was in Venice during these 
 discussions, but had no suspicions of them. This proves 
 the perfect faith of the councillors, for his friends would 
 not tell him any sooner than his enemies; and though 
 there were those of them who greatly needed the rewards 
 that the General would so generously have given for the 
 information, not one would speak. The great court of 
 the palace has been the scene of comedy and tragedy, 
 many times repeated; but one act in the Carmagnola 
 drama which occurred here is by no means the least inter- 
 esting of these events. 
 
 One morning as the General went to pay his respects to 
 Foscari, he met him passing from the Council Chamber to 
 the Palace. The soldier cheerfully asked if he should bid 
 his Serenity good morning or good evening, as he had not 
 slept that night. To which the Doge smilingly replied 
 that among the many matters spoken of in the long dis- 
 cussion nothing had been more frequently mentioned than
 
 FRANCESCO CARMAGNOLA. 197 
 
 Carmagnola's name, a ghastly joke when we know that 
 the discussion involved the soldier's life. 
 
 At last the whole matter was put in the hands of the 
 Council of Ten, who at once invited the General to come 
 to Venice to consult on matters of importance. Utterly 
 unsuspicious, he set out at once ; and all along his way, 
 on the plains of Lombardy, as he rode, or as he sailed 
 down the Brenta, he was honored and welcomed as if he 
 were a royal personage. At Mestre he was met by eight 
 gentlemen, who blandly escorted him to his fate. We 
 may well wonder of what they talked to him, if they 
 told him of his wife and daughter who were expecting his 
 return; or were they silent and abstracted, as if pre- 
 occupied with the grave questions to be discussed with 
 him before the Council ? They conducted him directly to 
 the palace, and there dismissed his retainers, saying that 
 their master would be long detained by the Doge, who had 
 much to say to him. 
 
 Not finding the Doge, Carmagnola turned to go to his 
 own house ; and then his friends, under pretext of showing 
 him a shorter way, conducted him through intricate pas- 
 sages into the prisons. When he saw to what place he 
 had been led, he exclaimed, " I am a lost man ! " And 
 when his friends endeavored to console him, he replied, 
 "No, no! we do not cage the birds we mean to set at 
 liberty." 
 
 It is easy to understand that the Seigniory were deter- 
 mined on his death. They would be free of him, and did 
 not wish him to serve any other power. It is said that 
 the Doge favored his imprisonment for life ; but, be that 
 as it may, he was examined and tortured, and finally led, 
 with a gag in his mouth, to the Piazzetta, and there 
 decapitated "between the Columns." He was buried in a 
 church which no longer exists, and later his remains were 
 taken to Milan. His family was banished to Treviso,
 
 198 THE QUEEN OF THE ADRIATIC. 
 
 with a small pension, and commanded not to pass beyond 
 certain limits under pain of death. Strangely enough, 
 what became of them is not known. 
 
 Severe as Venice was in her treatment of her great 
 mercenary, and stupidly as he acted his part, they were 
 both consistent with their position and character. He 
 was an adventurer, thinking only of himself, not a 
 traitor in the usual sense of the word, and yet untrue to 
 the interests he was most generously paid to protect. 
 Venice was unforgiving of lighter sins than those of 
 Carmagnola; and in accordance with her views and 
 policy, he must die. Each acted logically and consist- 
 ently from the stand-point of the principle, or want of 
 principle, by which they were governed. Carmagnola 
 would offer a favorable subject for the dramatic dissection 
 of character which is so popular in our day. And for one 
 thing he must be remembered and admired, he was not 
 a traitor in deed, whatever he was in thought ; and this 
 can be said of none of his fellow-captains. They all, 
 sooner or later, betrayed one master for another; and this 
 fact entitles Carmagnola to be called THE GREAT SOLDIER 
 
 OF FORTUNE. 
 
 BARTOLOMMEO COLLEONI. 
 
 This condottiere is called Coglioni by his biographer, 
 Spino, who tells us that he was born near Bergamo, in 
 1400. His father, a noble of no exalted rank, was driven 
 from his fortress by a conspiracy in his family; and 
 Bartolommeo and his brothers very naturally sought mili- 
 tary service and pay, according to the custom of their 
 time. 
 
 Having acquired a certain recognition in the service of 
 the Queen of Naples, Colleoni, with forty horsemen, 
 entered the service of Venice at the beginning of the first 
 campaign under Carmagnola. Did we credit his bio-
 
 BARTOLOMMEO COLLEONI. 199 
 
 grapher with perfect truthfulness, we should esteem him 
 to be already a great soldier. There is no doubt that he 
 did good service at Bergamo, when, with his own horse- 
 men and three hundred infantry, he warned the Bergamese 
 of the approach of the army under Piccinino, and helped 
 them to prepare for the attack so well that the Milanese 
 were forced to retire. 
 
 In 1448 Colleoni was made a lieutenant in the army 
 of Sforza, as undisturbed by his change from the enemy 
 to the friend of Milan as possible. In 1455 he was made 
 the Captain-General of Venice, and remained in that 
 position ten years ; but even while he held so important a 
 post, the mention of him in the Venetian records is quite 
 unimportant, until in 1475 it was recorded that he had 
 died at his castle of Malpaga, where he had lived in great 
 luxury. 
 
 To the Republic he bequeathed arms, horses, and other 
 objects of value, with 216,000 ducats in money, on condi- 
 tion that his statue should be placed in the Piazza of San 
 Marco. The Seigniory were overwhelmed by this liberality, 
 and were anxious to show their appreciation of Colleoni, 
 but their laws forbade compliance with his ambitious 
 request to stand forever in their Piazza. The Senate, 
 however, considered that the condition was sufficiently 
 fulfilled by placing the statue in the Campo in front of 
 the Scuola di San Marco, and near San Zanipolo, where 
 it now stands, a horse and rider so alive, so full of 
 force and motion, that it seems like a guardian of Venice, 
 that would tread under foot any foe who came to harm 
 her. 
 
 This was the second equestrian statue cast in Italy; 
 that of Guattemalata at Padua, executed by Donatello a 
 little more than twenty years before, being the first, and 
 which, doubtless, inspired Colleoni with the ambition to 
 be thus immortalized.
 
 200 THE QUEEN OF THE ADRIATIC. 
 
 The statue was designed by " Andrew the keen-eyed " 
 (Verocchio), but was completed by Alessandro Leopardi, 
 whose name is seen on the horse's girth. The story goes 
 that Verocchio came to Venice, and had modelled the 
 horse when he was told that another artist was to execute 
 the rider. In his indignation at this he broke the head 
 and legs of the horse into fragments, and returned to 
 Florence. The Senate sent after him a decree prohibiting 
 his again entering Venice under pain of death. To this 
 he replied that he would surely obey, as he knew that 
 were his head taken off no power in Venice could replace 
 it, while he could easily replace the head of his horse, and 
 doubtless improve it 
 
 After a while the Venetians realized his value to them, 
 and rescinded the edict, at the same time asking him to 
 return, with the promise that he should be undisturbed, 
 and should have his pay doubled. Verocchio was thus 
 pacified, but had not finished his horse when he was 
 attacked by a fatal illness, and in his will begged the 
 Senate to permit his pupil Lorenzo di Credi to complete 
 the work. In spite of this, the Venetian Leopardi received 
 the commission, which he executed so well as to be after- 
 wards called Leopardi del Cavallo. The figure of the 
 rider of this wonderful horse sits straight in the saddle, 
 with its head turned so as to look over the left shoulder. 
 The face shows remarkable determination, and the deep- 
 set eyes are in accord with this expression. It is clad in 
 armor, with a helmet on the head. The trappings of the 
 horse are richly ornamented, and the mane is knotted. 
 The elegance of the pedestal adds much to the effect of 
 the whole. 
 
 Mrs. Oliphant may well say : " It is a great thing for a 
 man when he has some slave of genius either with pen or 
 brush or plastic clay to make his portrait. Sforza was a 
 much greater general than Colleoni, but had no Verocchio
 
 BARTOLOMMEO COLLEOSI. 201 
 
 to model him. Indeed, our Bartolommeo has no preten- 
 sions to stand in the first rank of the mediaeval condot- 
 tieri." And as I have tried to trace his story I have 
 thought that had he not given so generous a sum of money 
 to Venice, and had she not made this statue, we should 
 scarcely have heard of him. Is not this in reality a monu- 
 ment to Verocchio and Leopard! rather than to Colleoni ?
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 
 AN AUTUMN RAMBLE. 
 
 '"PHE artist has gone on a tramp in the Alps, and now 
 J- begins the long neglected sight-seeing, a pure 
 delight in the golden October days. There is no such 
 haste in the early morning as in the summer time, and it 
 is usually ten o'clock when I have read my papers, written 
 my letters, and Anita is ready to go with me with her 
 never-failing luncheon-basket; for we do not like to be 
 bound to return at a fixed hour, and we never know quite 
 where we shall be when we are hungry, so we take our 
 collazione with us. As a rule we are home again at four, 
 just in good time for a cup of tea and a rest before dinner. 
 When the summer is over, it is delightful to feel that the 
 gondola is not obligatory, to use it only for excursions on 
 the lagoons, for views on the Grand Canal, for moonlit 
 evenings, and when one is indolent. Venice is quite 
 another place when one walks and makes the acquaintance 
 of the curious, characteristic campi and calli, as well as of 
 some of the people. One of the most charming walks is 
 along the Riva degli Schiavoni, ending at the Arsenal, 
 after various detours. 
 
 Passing through the Piazzetta, we turn to the left on 
 the Molo. This side of the Ducal Palace is beautiful in 
 spite of the disproportion in the height of the lower story ; 
 this is caused by the rising of the sea-level, which is said 
 to average three inches in a century, and consequently the 
 pavement must be raised; if this is correct, the columns
 
 
 Tbe Bridge of Sighs. 
 
 I
 
 AN AUTUMN RAMBLE. 203 
 
 of the palace must be fifteen inches below the present 
 pavement. The entire loggie on this side of the palace 
 are the work of the Bon family ; the designs on the capi- 
 tals of the columns are very curious, illustrating mediaeval 
 allegories and legends which symbolize justice and good 
 government. The windows are fine, and the balcony in 
 the centre is richly ornamented ; the bas-reliefs are wrought 
 with great delicacy and skill. 
 
 From the Ponte della Paglia, at the end of* the Molo, 
 we have the best possible view of the Bridge of Sighs, 
 which Howells calls a "pathetic swindle," and not with- 
 out reason. It was not built until the end of the sixteenth 
 century, since which there has been but one victim of 
 political imprisonment. But there it hangs, high in air, 
 " a palace and a prison on each hand. " Looking up from 
 the Paglia it is most effective, although vulgar prisoners 
 only have passed over it to their death. No doomed 
 Foscari or Carmagnola ever saw it ; and perhaps its great- 
 est interest is from that much-worn line of Byron's, "I 
 stood in Venice on the Bridge of Sighs." 
 
 Passing the Paglia, we are on the Riva degli Schiavoni, 
 in front of the Carceri, or public prison. As the apart- 
 ments of the Signori di Notte (heads of police) were on 
 this side, it was not made to look like a prison. Below 
 are rustic arches, above which Doric columns, on pedes- 
 tals, support a fine cornice with consoles in the frieze. 
 The upper rooms are now used for convicts and the win- 
 dows are grated. One can but wonder how it would seem 
 to be there, shut off from the world, and gaze out on the 
 beautiful Church of San Giorgio Maggiore and the lagoon 
 beyond, with the ever-changing aspect of the divinely 
 colored waters ; to watch the multitudes of steamers, gon- 
 dolas, and other boats passing and re-passing; to listen 
 to the sound of steps and voices on the Riva, and to all 
 the different songs and cries from the boats. It must be
 
 204 THE QUEEN OF THE ADRIATIC. 
 
 maddening. "Was it the effect of the restless waves that 
 Saint John watched from Patmos, in his exile, that made 
 him say, " And I saw a new heaven and a new earth ; for 
 the first heaven and the first earth were passed away ; and 
 there was no more sea " ? 
 
 Passing another bridge, we turn into a curious vaulted 
 passage at the left which leads to the beautiful Church of 
 San Zaccaria ; it is three centuries and a quarter old, and 
 the third which has been erected on this spot. Architects 
 lavish praises on it ; Fergusson says : " One of the finest 
 of the early facades of Italy is that of San Zaccaria at 
 Venice. " 
 
 In 854 Pope Benedict III. visited Venice, and the 
 Abbess of San Zaccaria succeeded in obtaining from his 
 Holiness the gift of the bodies of Santa Sabina and San 
 Pancrazio and other sacred relics. After these treasures 
 had been received, the Doge Tradenigo paid a visit of 
 devotion to this favored shrine, and the abbess presented 
 to him the splendid Ducal Beretta. It was studded with 
 rare gems, having in the centre a large diamond sur- 
 rounded by twenty-four pear-shaped pearls; above the 
 diamond was a ruby of dazzling brilliancy, and in the 
 front a cross was woven which contained twenty-three 
 emeralds and other precious stones. The Doge made a 
 solemn promise that each year he, and his successors 
 after him, would visit San Zaccaria at Easter, in solemn 
 procession, and wearing the precious Beretta. 
 
 The nuns of this sisterhood also gave a part of their 
 garden to enlarge the Piazza of San Marco, and proved 
 themselves as generous and public-spirited as they were 
 opulent. 
 
 From the ninth to the twelfth century the Doges were 
 buried in San Zaccaria; and the same Tradenigo who 
 received the Beretta was assassinated in front of the 
 church, where the column now stands. Its architecture
 
 AN AUMUMN RAMBLE. 205 
 
 is semi-Byzantine, except in the choir, which is Gothic. 
 The pentagonal tribune is beautiful, with its circular 
 arches below and its pointed arches above, which are 
 exquisite in proportion and effect. 
 
 Near the door of the sacristy is the monument of the 
 "Michelangelo of Venice," Alessandro Vittoria. He 
 began this funeral monument thirteen years before he 
 died ! The bust is by his own hand, and the whole work 
 is very interesting. 
 
 But that which holds us longest in San Zaccaria is the 
 picture of the Virgin and Child, with four saints, by the 
 adorable Giovanni Bellini. It is not one of his best, but 
 it is a glorious picture. In 1797 it made the sad and 
 disgraceful journey to Paris, and the restorers have not 
 improved it ; but in spite of all, we love it, and before we 
 go away must also see the same master's small picture of 
 the Circumcision, in a chapel of the choir, which is very 
 much admired. 
 
 As we return to the Eiva and pass on to the Ponte del 
 Sepolcro, a very different sort of interest is aroused by the 
 sight of the inscription upon the house which now replaces 
 the Casa del Petrarca. The Palazzo delle due Torri was 
 given to the poet in 1362 by the Republic, in return for a 
 portion of his library. This frank statement of a per- 
 fectly creditable business transaction is somewhat of a 
 shock to those who have thought of Petrarch as a disin- 
 terested benefactor of Venice. But we must remember 
 that he was now nearly threescore years of age ; he had 
 exhausted the romance of his life long before; he had 
 attempted to make peace between the Italian powers in 
 vain ; he abominated the manner in which wars had come 
 to be made, by employing the mercenaries who brought 
 with them pestilence and death; and he longed for a 
 peaceful home for his old age more than for anything 
 else.
 
 206 THE QUEEN OF THE ADRIATIC. 
 
 With what comfort he must have settled himself in his 
 luxurious house on the Riva; how differently must he 
 have felt from those prisoners in the Carceri, of whom we 
 have spoken, when he gazed upon the broad harbor and 
 heard the bustle of the port ! That it all appealed to him 
 is proved by the following extract from one of his letters : 
 
 " See the innumerable vessels which set forth from the Italian 
 shore in the desolate winter, in the most variable and stormy 
 spring, one turning its prow to the east, the other to the west; 
 some carrying our wine to foam in British cups, our fruits to 
 flatter the palates of the Scythians, and, still more hard of cre- 
 dence, the wood of our forests to the ^Egean and Achaian isles ; 
 some to Syria, to Armenia, to the Arabs and Persians, carrying 
 oil and linen and saffron, and bringing back all their diverse 
 goods to us.' 7 
 
 He soon gathered around him a choice circle of friends ; 
 Boccaccio came to visit him and remained three months. 
 What a picture is presented to our imagination when 
 Petrarch reminds the great story-teller of their " noctur- 
 nal rambles on the sea, and that conversation enlightened 
 and sincere " ! He urges him to come again in this wise : 
 " The gentle season invites to where no other cares await 
 you but those pleasant and joyful occupations of the 
 Muses, to a house most healthful, which I do not describe 
 because you know it, " It is not thus that we are apt to 
 think of Laura's lover, or of the author of the Decameron ; 
 but in Venice they seem to have been two quiet old men 
 seeking peace and health. 
 
 An interesting occasion when Petrarch played an 
 important part was that of the great tournament which 
 terminated the festivities after the capture of Crete in 
 1364. He sat beside the Doge in a balcony behind the 
 horses of St. Mark. The balcony was as splendid as the 
 richest awnings and hangings could make it, and the ducal
 
 AN AUTUMN RAMBLE. 207 
 
 robes and crown were in strange contrast to the black gown 
 and hood of the Laureate. Did he take pleasure in the 
 thought that his fame as a poet would be known to future 
 millions who would not be able to call the name of a 
 single Venetian among the thousands who were there 
 assembled ? Surely it was a pleasant episode in Petrarch's 
 life, this time in Venice; but it was all too short, and 
 ended most unhappily. 
 
 After four years on the Riva, in that "house most 
 healthful, " a number of the patrician giovinastri all 
 infidels and much puffed up with their little learning 
 after discussing their philosophies with Petrarch came to 
 the grave decision that he was " a good but ignorant man" ! 
 To us it is absurd that this great poet should have given 
 a serious thought to such folly; but the same sort of 
 young men had driven Marino Faliero to such straits that 
 he turned traitor. Petrarch showed his pain and indigna- 
 tion in a milder way, by quitting Venice to return no 
 more. This was certainly the worse for Venice, since he 
 imparted to the Republic the only poetical association 
 connected with its palmy days. No poet with a name to 
 live was born of that nation of wise statesmen, brave sol- 
 diers, cunning merchants, and glorious artists. We can 
 but wonder if it would have comforted him to know that 
 the first exquisite book from the Aldine press in Venice, 
 more than a century and a quarter after his death, would 
 be his own poems and printed in fac-simile of his own 
 handwriting ! 
 
 Petrarch retired to Arqu& del Monte, a quiet little town 
 in a valley of the Euganean Hills, where he lived peace- 
 fully, visited by his friends and enjoying the many proofs 
 that came to him of the appreciation which the scholars 
 of his time had for his character and works. In 1373, 
 again he went to Venice with Francesco Carrara Novello, 
 who was to make submission as the proxy of his father,
 
 208 THE QUEEN OF THE ADRIATIC. 
 
 after the treaty at the termination of the Carrarese War. 
 Again, the Laureate addressed the Doge, the peers, and 
 senators, as the Apostle of Peace ; it was his valedictory 
 at Venice. In July, 1374, he was found dead in his 
 library at Arqua. 
 
 "But knock, and enter in. 
 This was his chamber. 'T is as when he went ; 
 As if he now were in his orchard-grove. 
 And this his closet. Here he sat and read. 
 This was his chair ; and in it, unobserved, 
 Reading, or thinking of his absent friends, 
 He passed away as in a quiet slumber." 
 
 While thinking thus of the happenings on this very 
 Kiva five centuries agone, we pass through the narrow 
 calle which leads to the campo of San Giovanni in 
 Bragora. The pictures in this church are very interest- 
 ing, and the font by Sansovino is beautiful ; but to-day the 
 Palazzo Badoer especially appeals to me, and yet one must 
 almost regret having seen it since the restorers Heaven 
 save the mark! have spoiled it. If the ghosts of the 
 seven Badoer Doges ever walk this way, what must they 
 think of the squares of red and white marble in which it 
 is now dressed ? 
 
 What a family they were, descended from Tribunes of 
 the Rialto in the time of Theodoric the Goth; and to 
 what good purpose they swayed the Ivory Sceptre during 
 seventy-four years. It was Badoer II. who erected the 
 first chapel in the Ducal Palace for the body of Saint 
 Mark, which came to Venice during his reign. A daugh- 
 ter of Badoer IV. was an abbess of San Zaccaria, and many 
 of the sons of these Doges entered the Church ; but theirs 
 was a proud, brave, just, and patriotic race, better suited 
 to governing the Republic than to the offices of Holy 
 Church. In their day the Doges were absolute mon- 
 archs, and the Badoeri gave almost constant domestic 
 tranquillity to Venice, and won the hearts of the Venetians.
 
 AN AUTUMN RAMBLE. 209 
 
 And now we are in the broadest street of Venice, the 
 Via Garibaldi. It leads to the Giardini Pubblici, which 
 is a park rather than a garden, and was made by Napoleon 
 in 1807. The space was gained by the destruction of four 
 churches, as many monasteries, and a hundred houses, 
 none of which are now missed. It is a pleasant place to 
 take luncheon, with a lovely panorama before us, to which 
 the boats and their ever-fascinating sails give life and 
 cheerfulness. Beyond the canal of the Giudecca rises the 
 dome of the Redentore ; the square tower of the Dogana 
 and the cupolas of the Salute make a striking effect 
 against the cloudless sky ; well round to the right we see 
 the top of the Campanile behind the Ducal Palace, and 
 before us, the island of San Giorgio Maggiore, with its 
 picturesque church and fine clock-tower, seems very near. 
 
 Undoubtedly, all this is best at sunset with the golden 
 west for a background ; indeed, few points are so favorable 
 for watching the glorious death of day, especially if one 
 lingers while the fires die out and even the more delicate 
 tints fade away. Then a mysterious indistinctness steals 
 over all the distant objects, but now so clearly cut against 
 the flaming sky. There was a reality and emphasis about 
 these towers and spires, the canals, and all the moving 
 objects that made them a part of a work-a-day, practical 
 world, but in the dusky twilight the outlines run together; 
 we see and do not see the true forms of the various parts 
 of Santa Maria della Salute, but a beautiful whole remains ; 
 even the nearer San Giorgio becomes mysterious; the 
 smaller features disappear, while the whole is profoundly 
 impressive and grand, seeming to clothe itself with the 
 night, as if retiring into its own world of peaceful and 
 solemn repose. 
 
 But at whatever hour one comes, this garden seems 
 deserted, except on the one September Monday when it is 
 the custom to picnic here. To-day we leave it quite empty, 
 
 14
 
 210 THE QUEEN OF THE ADRIATIC. 
 
 and walk along the Riva of the Rio di Sant'Anna, making 
 our way to the calle larga and the bridge which connects 
 Venice with the island called San Pietro, or Olivolo, or 
 Quinta Valle. Early in the history of Venice this island 
 became important; and the first large church of the 
 Republic, built here among the olives, was made the 
 patriarchal church, and so continued until Napoleon 
 bestowed that honor on San Marco, and converted the 
 patriarchal palace of San Pietro into a barrack. After 
 766 the Bishop of Olivolo was an important man; he could 
 not have been very wealthy, since his income depended 
 on the mortuary tax, from which he was called Vesscovo 
 de 1 Morti (the Bishop of the Dead), and on an annual poll- 
 tax of three hens from the people of a certain district. 
 
 One evening in June, 836, as the Doge Badoer III. was 
 leaving San Pietro after vespers, unattended, as was his 
 custom, he was seized by a number of bravoes, who com- 
 pelled him to submit to the tonsure and then hurried him 
 to a neighboring convent, where he was securely lodged. 
 To kidnap a Doge of Venice was a most high-handed 
 and extraordinary proceeding, and it is gratifying to 
 know that his enemy who caused it to be done, was not 
 elected to fill the vacancy he had created. 
 
 It was also at San Pietro di Castello, as the church 
 came to be called, that the " Brides of Venice " were wed. 
 By ancient custom, on Saint Mary's Eve, January 31, 
 twelve poor virgins, endowed by the Republic, came here 
 with their lovers, parents, kinsfolk, and friends; the 
 brides were dressed in white with their hair hanging 
 loosely about the shoulders, and each one with her dower 
 in a little box suspended by a ribbon around her neck. 
 Many boats dressed with flags and flowers bore the happy 
 company over the canals towards Olivolo. 
 
 The Doge and the chief officers of State assisted at the 
 ceremony, and the Bishop preached a sermon and pro-
 
 AN AUTUMN RAMBLE. 211 
 
 nounced a blessing on all these fortunate young people, 
 who went away wedded and joyous. But in 939 a most 
 unhappy interruption occurred. The pirates of Trieste, 
 who knew all about this wholesale wedding, hid them- 
 selves near by until all the assembly had entered the 
 church, and then, rushing in, just as the brides were to 
 be given away, they seized them, even at the foot of the 
 altar, and before the Venetians could comprehend the 
 danger, the maidens were in the barks of the pirates and 
 sailing towards Trieste! 
 
 No such outrage as this had ever been perpetrated in 
 Venice, and the Doge Sanudo II. summoned the people 
 to arms with the bell of the Campanile. The trunk- 
 makers offered their boats, which were near at hand, and 
 the Doge with the lovers and friends of the brides were 
 soon in hot pursuit, and erelong hundreds of other boats 
 followed. They soon overtook the Istrians, and killed 
 almost every one of them in the conflict which ensued. 
 The rescued brides were taken back to the usual festivi- 
 ties of the evening, which were greatly enhanced by their 
 gratitude at being delivered from the unusual dangers 
 that had threatened them. 
 
 After this episode the Festa delle Marie was established. 
 Twelve dolls were dressed in bridal costume, and carried 
 around the Piazza in procession ; but this dumb show did 
 not satisfy the Venetians, and was soon replaced by a 
 solemn procession of twelve virgins attended by the Doge 
 and the clergy. They paid a visit of ceremony to the 
 parish of Santa Maria Formosa, where the trunk-makers 
 who originated this festa welcomed them most hospitably. 
 Tradition says that when these men requested the Doge 
 to institute this Andata, he asked, 
 
 "And what if it should rain ? " 
 
 " We will give you hats for your head ; and if you are 
 thirsty, we will give you drink," answered they.
 
 212 THE QUEEN OF THE ADRIATIC. 
 
 Accordingly, each year, the Doge received two bottles 
 of Malmsey, two oranges, and two hats, on one of which 
 was his own coat-of-arms, and that of the reigning Pope 
 on the other. In the thirteenth century such extrava- 
 gance had crept into this ceremonial that the brides wore 
 crowns of gold adorned with precious stones, and cloaks 
 of cloth of gold, and all in the procession were treated to 
 wine and sweetmeats. This was continued until 1379, 
 when the War of Chioggia interrupted all Venetian 
 merry-makings ; and on account of its cost, and a certain 
 license of conduct which had been indulged in its cele- 
 bration, the Festa delle Marie was discontinued. 
 
 Another delightful story in Bandello relates that Elena 
 was secretly married to Gerardo, and separated from him 
 by the same cruel fate that presides over many secret 
 marriages, and on the eve of an enforced marriage she 
 fell into a death-like trance and was laid in a sarcophagus 
 in San Pietro. On that very evening a more propitious 
 fate brought Gerardo home from Syria. When he learned 
 of Elena's death, he rushed to the church, snatched her 
 from the tomb, and carried her off; in his embrace she 
 again found life, and the sorrowing parents gladly forgave 
 these most interesting young people. 
 
 Having all these associations with San Pietro in mind, 
 1 had long wished to go there, but I found little to detain 
 me. The Campanile (1474) is stately and fine, but the 
 church (1594-1621) is not interesting. There is little to 
 notice within. Two pictures by Marco Basaiti are soft and 
 graceful, as are all his works; and the faces of the saints 
 seem to express enjoyment of their placid melancholy. 
 Near one of the altars is an ancient Arabian seat or 
 throne, said to have been used by Saint Peter at Antioch. 
 It was given to the Doge Pietro Gradenigo by Michele 
 Paleologo in 1310. The curious inscriptions on the back 
 are thought to be in Arabic.
 
 AN AUTUMN RAMBLE. 213 
 
 Retracing our steps to the Via Garibaldi, we turn into 
 the corte nuova, and soon stand where one is sure to be 
 impressed with the power and grandeur of Mediaeval 
 Venice. 
 
 The first Doge of the Falieri had the honor to found 
 the Arsenal, than which nothing couW be more impor- 
 tant in that " City of the Sea. " There is a fascination in 
 thinking of the time when the ringing hammers were 
 swung by brawny arms, when the pitch was always boil- 
 ing, and the primitive vessels of the Middle Ages were 
 built with a miraculous rapidity; but in the eight centu- 
 ries that have rolled away since its foundation there has 
 never been a time when the Arsenal of Venice was not of 
 great interest, as it still is. 
 
 Formerly, more than now, it seemed to be the ever- 
 flowing fountain of Venetian greatness ; for no matter by 
 what enemy the Republic was threatened or attacked, 
 no matter whether the danger was to her commerce or her 
 territory, it was to the Arsenal she turned for strength. 
 To repulse her own enemies, whether they were Saracens 
 from the East, Genoese from the West, or pirates from 
 all quarters, her Arsenal must furnish her with ships and 
 arms; and in order to increase her wealth, the sea must 
 be an open field to traffic and enterprise. To insure this, 
 her ships must be many and fine ; and, in short, but for 
 her Arsenal she could never have attained or preserved her 
 empire of the waters. 
 
 And now, although the workshops are not teeming with 
 artisans, and the forges are not blazing as of old, it is 
 not difficult to imagine the thousands and tens of thou- 
 sands of men who here forged and welded the real strength 
 of the beloved Republic. 
 
 The Venetians, among modern nations, first built ships 
 on a truly great scale. Their galleys were enormous in 
 power; their transport ships could carry a thousand men
 
 214 THE QUEEN OF THE ADRIATIC. 
 
 with their stores ; their galeasses permitted sixteen hun- 
 dred men to fight on board, while they carried fifty pieces 
 of heavy artillery, and had their prows made cannon 
 proof. Naturally the nations with whom they disputed 
 the sea endeavored to build ships equal to those of Venice ; 
 but she always had one advantage, in that even the small 
 vessels bore at least fifteen guns, and the Venetian gun- 
 ners were good marksmen. 
 
 Even to the end of the thirteenth century, however, the 
 Arsenal was not firmly established, and vessels were built 
 in temporary dockyards, wherever room was found. But 
 with the beginning of the fourteenth century the Senate 
 determined on making the Arsenal so fine and so strong 
 that it could not be taken by an enemy. It was con- 
 stantly guarded, and many attempts were made to destroy 
 it. At the end of the fifteenth century it was under the 
 care of a special magistracy, and sixteen thousand ship- 
 builders and thirty-six thousand seamen were employed 
 in Venice. 
 
 The three magistrates or keepers of the Arsenal were 
 appointed for a term of thirty-two months, and were 
 obliged to inhabit three official houses, called Paradiso, 
 Purgatorio, and Inferno. Each keeper was on duty fifteen 
 days at a time, during which he slept within the fortifica- 
 tion, kept the key in his room, and was answerable with 
 his head for the safety of the place. But one passage led 
 out of the Arsenal, that to the iron gate which opens on 
 the small campo. With the exception of the great lions 
 now at the entrance, brought from Greece in the seven- 
 teenth century, the exterior has changed but little in 
 three centuries and a half. 
 
 Small arms and artillery were made here, as well as 
 ships; and in each department the superiority of the 
 manufactures resulted from the skill of the workmen and 
 the quality of the materials used. The ship timber, after
 
 AN AUTUMN RAMBLE. 215 
 
 being carefully selected and brought from various coun- 
 tries, was floated near the Lido for ten years to season it. 
 The different parts of the vessels were cut and fitted in 
 the workshops with such exactness that they could be put 
 together with marvellous rapidity. It is said that when 
 Henry III. of France visited Venice, a galley was put 
 together and launched in two hours, while he was at a 
 banquet ; and during the famous League, before the battle 
 of Lepanto, for one hundred days a new galley left the 
 Arsenal each morning. 
 
 In truth, the Arsenal was a town by itself, a town of 
 founderies, forges, magazines of arms, and munitions of 
 war, timber-yards, rope-walks, model-rooms, and ware- 
 houses; a town full of smoke, toil, and uproar. Dante 
 had been here ; and when he wished to describe a lake of 
 pitch in which corrupt statesmen are immersed, in his 
 Inferno, he thus begins : 
 
 " In the Venetians' arsenal as boils 
 Through wintry months tenacious pitch, to smear 
 Their unsound vessels ; for the inclement time 
 Sea-faring men restrains, and in that while 
 His bark one builds anew, another stops 
 The ribs of his that hath made many a voyage, 
 One hammers at the prow, one at the poop, 
 This shapeth oars, that other cables twirls, 
 The mizzen one repairs, and mainsail rent." 
 
 The Arsenalotti, as the workmen were called, had 
 their own organization and certain privileges. They well 
 merited the confidence of the Republic, which they called 
 their " good mother ; " and she wisely gave them pledges of 
 her trust. The treasures of San Marco, the Mint, and the 
 Bank were guarded by them. Whenever the Great Coun- 
 cil assembled, the Guard of Honor before the Ducal 
 Palace was elected from their number. Each new Doge 
 was attended by Arsenalotti, when, after his election, he 
 went through the city to receive the congratulations of
 
 216 THE QUEEN OF THE ADRIATIC. 
 
 the people; and, above all, the Bucentaur was in their 
 care when the Marriage with the Adriatic was celebrated. 
 
 We can readily understand that the destruction of the 
 Arsenal was the first aim of the enemies of Venice. It 
 was only by " eternal vigilance " that it was preserved, 
 and the severest punishments were thought too mild for 
 those who attempted its ruin. In 1428 a man suspected 
 of being a tool of the Duke of Milan and of intending to 
 barn the Arsenal was dragged at a horse's tail and then 
 quartered in the Piazzetta. Certainly a man who would 
 burn the Arsenal was not needed in Venice, and we are 
 not surprised that the Council of Ten were of this opinion ; 
 but they might have used a more humane method in his 
 taking off. 
 
 For example, in the Museum of this very Arsenal there 
 are many instruments of torture that one would not care 
 to have used, even for the worst criminal imaginable; 
 but there is one curious little death-dealer that claims to 
 give its victim no pain whatever. It is a sort of key 
 with a spring, by means of which a poisoned needle is 
 shot into the victim, who dies without discomfort or the 
 loss of a particle of blood. 
 
 Going home from the Arsenal, we take a gondola ; and 
 as we glide along, we recall the curious tableaux vivants 
 which we have seen in this long ramble. All about the 
 quarter of San Zaccaria we saw and heard the bead- 
 stringers, as busy with their tongues as with their fingers. 
 They are very skilful, and in their bright-colored hand- 
 kerchiefs, with here and there a flower or gay comb or 
 pin in their dark hair, they know exactly how and 
 where to put them in order to make the best effect, 
 they are picturesque, and some of them very handsome. 
 They hold a tray of beads on the lap, and with a long 
 needle, which carries the string, they dive among the 
 beads at one end of the tray, push it quickly through the 
 whole mass, and bring it up and out at the other end,
 
 AN AUTUMN RAMBLE. 217 
 
 well laden with the fascinating, many-tinted little globes. 
 They do it as if they enjoyed it, and meanwhile they talk 
 with each other, have a few words with the passers-by, 
 and amuse and scold the children who play around them. 
 
 From San Pietro one sees, on the opposite side the 
 canal, a neighborhood much adorned with fishing-nets. 
 They are spread or hung everywhere that they can be 
 made to stay on, and at a distance the effect is curious 
 and picturesque. Old sails, too, are being dried or 
 mended, while new ones are cut, sewed, or painted. This 
 last process is novel and interesting; and as Giacomo 
 needed a new sail for the sandolo, we saw the operation. 
 The colors used are principally red and orange, and more 
 rarely a pale green and a heavy sort of blue. If by chance 
 you see a distant sail with a spot of sky blue on it, you 
 will find on nearer acquaintance that you were looking at 
 the real sky through a rent in the sail. The colors are 
 made by mixing a kind of earth with water and adding 
 the coloring matter; and these colors are "set" by dip- 
 ping the sail, when finished, in the sea, and drying it in 
 the sun, repeating this several times. The colors are 
 applied with a sponge instead of a brush ; and when one 
 sees in how rude a manner the painting is done, it seems 
 a wonder that the results are so effective. The artist (?) 
 simply walks around the edge of his design with his 
 sponge full of color, and the broad, rough outline is made. 
 A certain slap and dash puts in the details, and the back- 
 ground is laid on rapidly. 
 
 Our new sail had a red heart pierced by an orange 
 arrow, on a blue field, and the outer border was in stripes 
 of dull red and orange. It sounds uncommonly ugly on 
 paper, but Giacomo and Anita were very proud of it ; and 
 after it was soiled and faded it was not bad, although the 
 plain colors, or stripes and geometrical designs, are pre- 
 ferable, we think, but we are not Venetian gondoliers 
 or fishermen.
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 VENETIAN WOMEN: CATEBINA CORNARO, ROSALBA CARRIERA. 
 
 IN the history of Venice women play a very unimportant 
 part. They seem, so far as the public were con- 
 cerned, to have been put away with their best clothes, 
 only to be brought out on such occasions as were suitable 
 for the display of fine attire and splendid jewels. If they 
 had power, it was certainly behind the throne, and so far 
 behind that by no chance was it ever apparent. 
 
 The names of eight women who devotedly nursed the 
 Genoese prisoners after the battle of Porto d' Anzo, have 
 been preserved. There is a tradition about a very beau- 
 tiful and learned Pisani. Now and then an abbess is 
 mentioned, like that one of San Zaccaria, of the Morosini 
 family, who presented the Beretta to the Republic. All 
 we know of Caterina Cornaro seems to depend upon the 
 fact that the Republic, by adopting her and making her 
 Queen of Cyprus, was able to add that island to its depend- 
 encies. But for that fact we should probably not have 
 heard of her; and, in short, of what Venetian woman do 
 we know, of whom we may be proud, save Rosalba Car- 
 riera ? and she was born after Venice was far on the way 
 to its decline. 
 
 The historical fact that such a magnificent collection 
 of jewels as adorned the Beretta existed in Venice in the 
 middle of the ninth century proves that its Oriental com- 
 merce must already have been prosperous and extensive ; 
 and the earliest paintings of Venetian life represent a
 
 VENETIAN WOMEN. 219 
 
 remarkable splendor of costume and ornament. We know 
 that the fifteenth century was the most luxurious period 
 in Venice; but its wealth and splendor were gradually 
 developing during five centuries at least, and happily the 
 decline, though much more rapid than the growth, did 
 not rob its actual life of aesthetic interest for at least 
 a century and a half after its well-recognized beginning. 
 
 We turn to the canvases of the Bellini, Titian, 
 Giorgione, Tintoretto, and Palma Vecchio to see what the 
 Venetian ladies were like ; but we must remember, alas ! 
 that many of these were not the honorable wives and 
 mothers of the men who made the strength and glory of 
 Venice. Where else have the women who give their 
 beauty and their lives for the pleasures of men been so 
 much in evidence, so tolerated, and so luxurious in their 
 living, as in Venice in her palmy days ? They were not 
 even excluded from the society of the Dogaressa herself 
 on the occasions of balls and festivities in the Ducal 
 Palace. 
 
 Their houses were marvels of luxury ; and in the society 
 that gathered about them the best wit, the most brilliant 
 conversation, and the most delightful music in Venice 
 were enjoyed. It was to the drawing-rooms of the women 
 to whom he would not introduce his wife, much less his 
 daughter, that a man must go if he would meet the best 
 artists, scholars, and thinkers of the city. It was there 
 and there only that women were found who were accom- 
 plished in music and poetry, and could interest superior 
 men by their superior talk. Was the conversation of the 
 lightest matters, and did they say nothing, they said it 
 in a fascinating way; or were politics and the more 
 earnest questions of life discussed, they were strong in 
 their opinions, discriminating in their judgments, and 
 quite as bold in their expression of them as the Ten 
 would have permitted men to be. Their Ion-mots were
 
 220 THE QUEEN OF THE ADRIATIC. 
 
 quoted, their goings and comings were noted, and, in 
 short, the interest of all Venetian gayety centred about 
 these women. 
 
 Quite the opposite was true of the real gentildonne. 
 They were rarely seen except on great public occasions, 
 when, to the credit of the husbands, it must be acknowl- 
 edged that they were careful to see that their wives were 
 more magnificently attired than their mistresses. But so 
 rarely were they seen that this indulgence could well be 
 accorded them without envy. Yriarte calculates that not 
 more than sixty or seventy of the seven hundred noble 
 ladies of Venice were seen daily. Many of them were 
 not in society more than two or three times in a year, 
 and then on the most formal and ceremonious occasions. 
 
 While the more favored ones moved all about the city, 
 clad in rich silks and velvets, the patrician wives wore a 
 long black silk cappa ; and even if they possessed beauty, 
 nothing in their every-day dress added to its effect. They 
 were guarded with almost Oriental jealousy. Why not ? 
 If a man cannot believe in himself, cannot trust himself, 
 how can he trust another ? The remark of the councillor 
 when talking of the pattens that the ladies wore 
 sometimes two feet in height, so that to move at all they 
 must lean on two attendants gives the key to the whole 
 theory of suspicion and lack of confidence. 
 
 The French ambassador spoke of the pattens as most 
 incommodious. The Doge admitted that shoes would be 
 more comfortable and convenient; but the councillor, 
 shaking his head with a cynical expression, remarked, 
 "Yes, far, far too convenient." God help the women 
 who live in such an atmosphere! 
 
 The matrons, however, were far more fortunate than 
 the maidens, whose dress was symbolical of retired life 
 and domestic education. The home was all their world, 
 and they knew nothing of any recreation outside the
 
 VENETIAN WOMEN. 221 
 
 family circle. Even down to the last century it was not 
 allowable to introduce gentlemen to the unmarried daugh- 
 ters of Venetian nobles. Their dresses were most simple, 
 of plain white or black, and when they went to church, 
 they wore ihefazzuolo, a long white veil. On other occa- 
 sions this was exchanged for a silken mantle, very thin 
 and gauzy, through which they could see, but not be 
 seen. 
 
 The marriage day was the day that brought freedom. 
 For the first time the maiden was introduced to society, 
 and it was intended that on that day she should first see 
 the bridegroom. We more than suspect that many of the 
 faithful and trusted nurses permitted the fazzuolo to be 
 thrown aside for a moment when they well knew that the 
 lover was watching in concealment for a glimpse of the 
 face of his future wife; and sometimes these nurses so 
 sympathized with the lover as to grant him meetings, all 
 too brief, by the church door or in some crooked calle. 
 
 With the innate love for dress and gayety entirely 
 ungratified, without a jewel or ornament, save a simple 
 cross or a rose from the garden, why should the Venetian 
 maiden not dwell with longing anticipation on the thought 
 of her wedding day, and if ever she talked with other 
 girls, of what else could they speak ? But, after all, 
 when she saw the life of her mother and other matrons, 
 what great pleasure did marriage offer her ? Freedom in 
 a sense, servants, a gondola, ropes of real pearls, the 
 formal court balls, and other ceremonies, all observed 
 under the strictest rules of etiquette. To us there does 
 not seem to be much brightness in the life of noble Vene- 
 tian women, married or single. 
 
 The preliminaries of a marriage having been duly 
 arranged by the parents and friends on either side, when 
 the day arrived, the groom, bearing his gifts, went to the 
 Ducal Palace, where he was welcomed by his own friends
 
 222 THE QUEEN OF THE ADRIATIC. 
 
 and some of the friends of the bride. The marriage banns 
 were published, and all present shook hands. These 
 friends and the magistrates who were engaged in the 
 ceremony, with the bridegroom, all went that evening to 
 the home of the bride, where they were welcomed by her 
 relatives and friends. And now, for the first time, the 
 bride appeared. She was dressed in white, and still wore 
 her veil, which at the proper moment was unfastened, 
 and as it fell disclosed her long hair falling about her 
 shoulders, and the marriage formula was pronounced. 
 
 The bride, followed by her maidens, with a rhythmic 
 motion, to the music of flutes and trumpets, then passed 
 around the salons and welcomed each guest, and after- 
 wards retired to her own apartments. Whenever new 
 guests arrived, the bride and her maidens repeated the 
 dance of welcome, and at the end they all descended the 
 staircase to the canal, where a gondola awaited them. 
 The bride's seat was richly decorated, and raised in front 
 of the cabin, and with her attendants she went to a con- 
 vent to announce her marriage. Here other relatives and 
 friends were waiting to congratulate her. 
 
 The next day many ladies called to pay their compli- 
 ments to the bride, and after a few days some grand 
 festivity or a series of banquets took place, as was the 
 case when the marriage of Jacopo Foscari was celebrated. 
 Five or six hundred guests were frequently entertained, 
 and vast sums were expended in decorations of the house, 
 in choice dishes and rare wines, until at last these lavish 
 expenses were restricted by sumptuary laws. 
 
 About 1450 the wealth of the nobles was at its climax, 
 and such extravagance was indulged in dress and enter- 
 tainments that in 1514 certain Senators demanded a 
 hearing in full Senate to denounce the ruinous manner in 
 which money was spent by the Venetian ladies. In 1474 
 certain stuffs and jewels had been actually prohibited by
 
 VENETIAN WOMEN. 223 
 
 law, and pearls were most severely forbidden. In 1514 
 amber, chased silver, agates, ladies' cloaks, laces, dia- 
 mond buttons, chains, silk capes, lace sleeves, enamelled 
 gold, damasks of all colors, velvets of all qualities, 
 leathers, embroideries, fans, gondolas, with their rugs 
 and carpets, and sedan chairs lined with velvet were all 
 put under regulations. The style and cost of entertain- 
 ments were limited. The expense of the gold and silver 
 plate, the cost and number of courses served, even the 
 sweetmeats and smallest details of the table, were legis- 
 lated upon. For some time already the Dogaressa had 
 been under strict orders as to her costumes at home and 
 abroad, at church, on ceremonial occasions, and even in 
 the privacy of her own apartment 
 
 A t certain times these rules were relaxed by necessity. 
 How could plainly dressed women support the background 
 of the salons of the Ducal Palace ? When there they 
 must be gorgeously attired ; and knowing that these oppor- 
 tunities must come, the ladies of Venice bought as many 
 pearls and other jewels and as splendid garments of every 
 sort as they could get, and waited impatiently for a festi- 
 val when they might wear them. In 1574, when Henry 
 III. visited Venice, an edict announced that, " all contrary 
 decrees notwithstanding, it shall be permitted to every 
 lady invited to the said feast to wear all dresses and 
 jewels of what kind soever seems to them most favorable 
 for the adornment of their persons. " 
 
 One can imagine the result. How gladly these ladies, 
 so long restricted to plain dressing, would vie with each 
 other in the beauty and richness of their dress in these 
 festal days ; and from the pictures and the written accounts 
 of their magnificent costumes we know with what success 
 their efforts were crowned. Some of them covered their 
 arms, chests, throats, hair, and even their robes with pearls 
 of untold value, sometimes costing millions of ducats.
 
 224 THE QUEEN OF THE ADRIATIC. 
 
 For a long time the custom of bleaching the hair pre- 
 vailed. A large hat-brim with no crown was used. The 
 hair, being wet with some preparation, was thrown out of 
 the crown space and spread over the broad brim, which 
 shaded the person from the sun. Thus prepared they sat 
 on their balconies and housetops as long as a ray of sun- 
 shine could be had. Titian and Veronese painted golden 
 and shining hair on women, goddesses, and nymphs 
 because no other color of hair was in good form. Many 
 of the fashions in dress of the Venetian ladies of the time 
 of the Renaissance were artistic and elegant ; others were 
 too grotesque for expression, and none more so than the 
 pattens, to which we have already referred. Not being 
 tall and stately, they wished to raise themselves artifi- 
 cially; but when pattens were extreme in height, all 
 elegance and dignity of carriage was out of the question. 
 
 One can but wonder how the "potent, grave, and 
 reverend seigniors " of the Venetian Senate could have 
 found time to attend to all the detail of the dress, and 
 even of the eating of the Signori, their wives, and their 
 guests; but it is plainly to be seen that the jealousy 
 which had led them to lessen from year to year the 
 power and dignity of the Doge, found food to feed upon 
 in the privileges and honors which were permitted to the 
 Dogaressa. 
 
 As early as 1084 the extravagance of the wife of Doge 
 Selvo was much written of by the chroniclers of the time. 
 It was said that this Theodora, the daughter of a Greek 
 emperor, had her cheeks bathed in dew every morning to 
 give them a glow of freshness. This would not seem to 
 have been an expensive habit. Her ablutions were made 
 with rose water, and her linen was scented with fine bal- 
 sams ; and so many aromatic perfumes pervaded her apart- 
 ments that it was not unusual for her maids to faint while 
 dressing her. She always wore gloves, and fed herself
 
 VENETIAN WOMEN. 225 
 
 with a double-pronged gold fork; and all this was so 
 sinful in the eyes of the Venetians that the loathsome 
 malady from which she died was regarded as a legitimate 
 punishment of her vanity. 
 
 We have elsewhere spoken of the custom of conducting 
 the wife of the Doge to be seated on the throne beside him 
 soon after his own investiture with the insignia of his 
 office ; and as the luxury and pageantry of Venetian life 
 increased, naturally the first lady of the Republic acquired 
 more importance and greater privileges. At length, in 
 1595, the wife of the Doge, Marino Grimani, who was 
 herself of the Morosini family, was conducted from her 
 home to San Marco in a style that aroused all the jealousy 
 of the Seigniory. She was dressed in cloth of gold, and 
 wore a gold crown. The Bucentaur brought her to the 
 Piazza, and strains of martial music there welcomed her, 
 as well as salvos of artillery. In the palace she occupied 
 a throne, and was attended by noble ladies in regal state. 
 The festivities in which she played a prominent part were 
 extended unusually, and the Pope sent her the golden 
 rose, which is presented only to sovereign princes. 
 
 This was more than the jealous Senators could endure. 
 It was also noticed that this ambitious lady wore a closed 
 or arched crown, a privilege denied to all but such reign- 
 ing princes as acknowledged no superior. It was now 
 thought to be high time to limit the state and assumption 
 of these ladies ; and the Senate published a decree order- 
 ing the golden rose to be taken from the Dogaressa and 
 deposited in the treasury of St. Mark, and good care was 
 afterwards taken that no other Dogaressa should be 
 crowned at all. 
 
 15
 
 226 THE QUEEN OF THE ADRIATIC. 
 
 This beautiful woman was born on St. Catherine's Day, 
 in 1454, in one of the distinguished Venetian families. 
 Her mother was the granddaughter of the Emperor of 
 Trebizond, and her father of most noble descent. 
 
 James Lusignan, whom, as king of Cyprus, Caterina 
 was afterwards to wed, had been driven from his home 
 by the intrigues of the second wife of his father, Elena 
 Paleologus, who, in order that her daughter might come 
 to the throne, had secured James's appointment as Arch- 
 bishop of Nicosia, where he lived a gay life, little suited 
 to the office he held. 
 
 Many Venetian merchants frequented Nicosia; and 
 there Andrea Cornaro, uncle of Caterina, became the 
 intimate friend of the youthful archbishop. Happily for 
 James, Queen Elena died before his father, who at once 
 recalled his son to his side with the intention of securing 
 the succession to him. But death claimed the old king 
 before the proper steps had been taken ; and Charlotte, the 
 daughter of Elena, was proclaimed queen. James took 
 the oath of allegiance, and was about to leave the island, 
 when he was detained and confined in prison, and an 
 attempt made to poison him. 
 
 But thanks to his friends and the Cypriotes, who pre- 
 ferred a king to a queen, he escaped and reached his 
 bishopric, fully determined to dethrone his sister if pos- 
 sible. Genoa had favored Charlotte ; and Andrea Cornaro 
 was confident that on this account, if for no other reason, 
 Venice would aid James to gain his rights, such was 
 the enmity between the two republics. Queen Charlotte 
 was greatly alarmed by the escape of James. She knew 
 not what to fear from his intrigues, and she was fully 
 conscious of her unpopularity in Cyprus. She was
 
 CATERINA CORNARO, QUEEN OF CYPRUS. 227 
 
 betrothed to Louis, son of the Duke of Savoy, who had 
 been selected by Queen Elena on account of the feebleness 
 of his character, for the desire to rule absolutely was so 
 powerful with her that she wished for no energetic son- 
 in-law; and little as she could rely on him, Charlotte 
 begged him to hasten to her assistance. Louis passed 
 through Venice, and reached Cyprus before James had 
 time to perfect a plan of action. 
 
 At Nicosia James felt himself to be in danger, and 
 determined to fly ; and as the Sultan was the titular ruler 
 of Cyprus, James put himself under his superior at 
 Alexandria. The beauty and charming manner of the 
 young king of Cyprus, together with his sex, a strong 
 argument in his favor to the Oriental mind, so influ- 
 enced the Sultan that in the midst of his Mamelukes, in 
 the great hall of the palace, he adopted James as his son, 
 ordered him to be robed and crowned, and declared him 
 King of Cyprus. It has been said, and repeated by a few 
 chroniclers, that James signed a recantation of the Chris- 
 tian faith, and thus succeeded in his plans. Indeed, a 
 document of this nature was sent to Pius II. ; but it is 
 believed by good authorities that this paper was a forgery 
 perpetrated by the knights of Rhodes, who were greatly in 
 favor of Queen Charlotte. 
 
 Be this as it may, James was twenty-two years old 
 when the Sultan gave him ships and Mamelukes with 
 which to conquer Cyprus. Very shortly he was master of 
 the kingdom. Little resistance was made, and that was 
 of a feeble sort. Louis returned to his father's court ; and 
 Charlotte went first to Rhodes, and then to Rome, to 
 implore the aid of the Pontiff against her infidel brother 
 and his allies. James now saw that his enemies the 
 Genoese, the Duke of Savoy, and the Pope were far too 
 powerful for him to struggle against them without aid, 
 and the only bribe with which he could repay an ally was
 
 228 THE QUEEN OF TIIE ADRIATIC. 
 
 his kingdom. Marriage was his one means of salvation, 
 and Cyprus was a dowry that could not fail to be accept- 
 able. Several powers hinted at their readiness to form 
 such an alliance with him; but Andrea Cornaro boldly 
 asserted that Venice only could maintain his power, and 
 proposed his niece, Caterina, as his wife. 
 
 It is said that by chance James had seen a miniature of 
 Caterina, and had fallen in love with the sweet girl it 
 represented; but the uncle skilfully pretended that the 
 original of the picture was quite out of the reach of the 
 king, and aroused him to a frenzy of passion. Then he 
 told the truth, that Caterina was his niece, and could 
 only be won as Queen of Cyprus. At once James sent an 
 embassy to demand her hand in marriage. 
 
 The Senate accepted in the name of Venice ; and that 
 Caterina might be the equal of her husband, they prom- 
 ised a dowry of a hundred thousand ducats, and to adopt 
 her as a daughter of the Republic. The contract was 
 signed by the Doge and by the ambassador of James, in 
 1468 ; and the Hall of the Great Council was the scene of 
 the betrothal. The bride was conducted from the Palazzo 
 Cornaro to the Ducal Palace by forty ladies of quality. 
 She was received by the Doge and Senate and other 
 officials. Mastachelli, as the representative of his mas- 
 ter, placed a consecrated ring on her finger. The Doge 
 gave her away to James Lusignan, and then with royal 
 ceremony she was re-conducted to her father's house. 
 
 Thus far all was well ; but, alas ! some difficulties arose 
 in the negotiations between her parent, Venice, and her 
 husband, Cyprus. Four weary years rolled on, and still 
 Caterina remained in Venice. She was treated as a 
 queen, but she must many times have doubted if this 
 pretence would become a reality. 
 
 Ferdinand of Naples was using every means in his 
 power to persuade James to refuse Caterina and marry
 
 CATERINA CORNARO, QUEEN OF CYPRUS. 229 
 
 his daughter. James quarrelled with Andrea Cornaro; 
 and finally Venice sent an ambassador to Cyprus to 
 declare plainly that a rupture of the marriage contract 
 would be revenged by the guardian of the queen, but that 
 its fulfilment would assure the protection of Cyprus by 
 the Republic. In 1471 James sent his representatives to 
 bring Caterina to him. 
 
 A most impressive ceremony now took place in San 
 Marco, where, before the high altar, she was made a child 
 of Venice. No longer was she a Cornaro, but Caterina 
 Veneta Lusignan. The whole city rejoiced greatly ; and 
 one chronicler says : " It seemed to each and all that the 
 Seigniory had won a kingdom, as by God's good grace did 
 actually happen." 
 
 Early in 1472 the Bucentaur lay before the Palazzo 
 Cornaro, in waiting for the Queen of Jerusalem, Cyprus, 
 and Armenia. In cloth of gold, and all regal attire, she 
 stood in the doorway of her father's house. The Doge 
 himself led her into the galley, and seated himself at her 
 side. Slowly and majestically the splendid barge moved 
 through the Grand Canal, followed by the prayers and 
 good wishes of thousands of her countrymen, and, it can- 
 not be doubted, by the envy of many of her own sex. At 
 the Lido the admiral of the Cypriote fleet waited with 
 his ships to take his young and beautiful queen to his 
 sovereign. 
 
 She was now eighteen years old ; and Titian's portrait 
 of her shows a slight, graceful, beautiful girl with a 
 happy face. Her robe is of purple velvet. She wears a 
 crown and veil, and holds a flower in her hand. Why 
 should she not have been happy ? Fortunately she had no 
 prophetic vision. She was protected as few young queens 
 had ever been, being the daughter of Venice. The splen- 
 dor and pomp which had replaced the dead level of 
 monotony in her home must have been intoxicating to
 
 230 THE QUEEN OF THE ADRIATIC. 
 
 her. She had listened with joy and pride to the accounts 
 of her husband's bravery and beauty. She knew that he 
 had preferred her before others, and she did not pay her- 
 self so poor a compliment as to doubt her ability to retain 
 and strengthen his love. How beautiful her dreams as 
 she sailed to Cyprus ! and we have reason to believe that 
 they were realized for one brief year. And then James 
 died, leaving Caterina about to be a mother, with enemies 
 on every hand. 
 
 By his will James bequeathed the kingdom to her and 
 to her child. Her advisers were named by him, and her 
 uncle was of the number ; but there were six others, little 
 likely to favor her, since that meant to favor Venice, of 
 which the Cypriotes were jealous. Again Ferdinand of 
 Naples aspired to the throne, and Caterina was by no 
 means ignorant that her parent, the Republic, would not 
 hesitate to take her kingdom from her ; but just at that time 
 the Turk was demanding the attention of the Seigniory, 
 and while Venice was not ready to occupy Cyprus, no 
 other power would be permitted to molest the young 
 queen. Meantime Charlotte was enforcing her claim to 
 the throne, but had no support powerful enough to con- 
 tend with the Venetians. 
 
 Things were in this condition when Caterina gave birth 
 to a son, in August, 1473. The Admiral, Mocenigo, and 
 two provveditori of the fleet stood sponsors at the baptism 
 of this grandson of Venice ; and by the will of his father 
 his birth should have settled the succession, and brought 
 peace to Cyprus. But Ferdinand had laid deep plots, and 
 had induced the Archbishop of Nicosia to act as his tool ; 
 and no sooner had the Venetian fleet left Cyprus than a 
 revolt occurred, and the city of Famagosta, where Caterina 
 was lying ill, was seized by the archbishop, and three of 
 the commissioners, who had been named by James in his 
 will as the protectors of his wife.
 
 CATERIXA CORNARO, QUEEN OF CYPRUS. 231 
 
 There was a terrible scene in the chamber of the queen, 
 whither her physician had fled for safety. He was pur- 
 sued, and absolutely slain in Caterina's arms. Her 
 uncle, who had done so much for her, and her cousin, 
 Marco Bembo, were killed, and their bodies thrown into 
 the castle moat, within sight of the windows of Caterina's 
 chamber ; and so terrified was she that she dared not have 
 them removed until they had been half devoured by dogs. 
 The baby James was taken away, and Caterina was held 
 a close prisoner. Alfonso of Naples had been married to 
 Zarla, an illegitimate daughter of James Lusignan, and 
 had been proclaimed King of Cyprus. A letter was sent 
 to the Venetian Senate attributing the murder of Cornaro 
 and Bembo to a private quarrel with soldiers whom they 
 had not paid ; but the Venetian consul sent a true state- 
 ment of all that had been done to the Seigniory, and 
 Mocenigo was at once despatched to Cyprus with orders 
 to secure the safety of Caterina and her child at any cost. 
 
 Mocenigo had already been alarmed, and before receiv- 
 ing these orders had sent his provveditor, Soranzo, to do 
 what he could, promising to follow speedily. Soranzo 
 found the conspirators quarrelling with each other, while 
 the Cypriotes of Nicosia and Famagosta were in revolt, 
 and demanding the liberation of the queen. When 
 Mocenigo arrived, the chief conspirators fled. He took 
 possession of the forts in the name of Venice, and left 
 them in the keeping of men devoted to the Republic. 
 Many of the revolutionists were executed, and everything 
 possible was done to impress upon the inhabitants the 
 fact that Caterina and her kingdom would be protected 
 by the strong arm of Venice, against which Cyprus was 
 powerless in its present unsettled condition. 
 
 Caterina presented to Mocenigo a golden shield embla- 
 zoned with the arms of Lusignan. Apparent quiet 
 reigned, and the admiral sailed away. Venice had now
 
 232 THE QUEEN OF THE ADRIATIC. 
 
 obtained a right to a share in the government of Cyprus, 
 which she carefully followed up by appointing a prov- 
 veditor and two councillors to reside permanently at 
 Cyprus to aid the queen in her government. 
 
 A few months of comparative peace came at last to the 
 young mother, and we can picture her joy at the restora- 
 tion of her baby and her delight in watching his budding 
 affection for her. But it would seem that evil fortune 
 had selected Caterina for its victim, and that she was 
 fated to drain the cup of sorrow and bitterness. When a 
 year old, the little James died. The queen wrote to the 
 Senate of her sorrow ; and her father, Marco Cornaro, was 
 sent out to comfort his daughter, and bear to her the sym- 
 pathy and condolences of the Republic. He was also 
 empowered to act with Soranzo, as the agent of Venice, 
 should any fresh revolution occur. 
 
 Charlotte Lusignan was a determined woman, full of 
 resources, brave to a fault, and as ambitious as brave. 
 When the infant king died, Charlotte was at the court of 
 the Sultan. Many nobles of Cyprus declared themselves 
 in her favor, she being the last true Lusignan. Caterina 
 had allowed the annual tribute to the Sultan to fall into 
 arrears. This Charlotte promised to pay if the Sultan 
 would help to establish her as Queen of Cyprus. But by 
 the advice and aid of Venice Caterina paid the full tribute, 
 and explained that her tardiness had been due to the 
 ravages of the locusts. By reason of this and other diplo- 
 matic acts, all arranged at Venice, the Sultan preferred 
 Caterina to Charlotte, and the latter was dismissed from 
 his court. She then turned to Milan, Genoa, Savoy, and 
 Rome for assistance ; and a plan for a descent on Cyprus 
 was far advanced when a letter of Charlotte's was inter- 
 cepted and sent to Venice. 
 
 The Republic immediately ordered their admiral, 
 Antonio Loredano, to garrison Cyprus completely; to
 
 CATERINA CORNAEO, QUEEN OF CYPRUS. 233 
 
 arrest Maria Patras, the mother of the late king, and 
 three illegitimate children of the same sovereign, and 
 send them to Venice. One of these was that Zarla whose 
 marriage with Alfonso had not been completed. By this 
 means Venice held in her hand all possible claimants to 
 the throne of Cyprus, save Charlotte. But Alfonso would 
 not abandon his betrothed wife, and with his father's 
 assistance he very nearly succeeded in carrying her away 
 from Venice, whereupon she was sent to Padua, where 
 she soon after died from the plague, as it was said. 
 Ferdinand was still determined to acquire Cyprus, and in 
 spite of all discouragements sent Alfonso to the court of 
 the Sultan to claim the crown of the much disputed 
 island. Again Caterina paid her tribute, but demanded 
 in return a formal deed of investiture. This was sent 
 her, and Alfonso relinquished his pursuit of a kingdom, 
 and was more than content with the pleasures of life in 
 Alexandria. 
 
 Caterina seemed now to be free from all her rivals ; but 
 she owed everything to Venice, and her adopted parent 
 did not forget to watch over her constantly. Her income 
 was limited, and so carefully was she guarded that the 
 Doge himself wrote that she ought to move about more 
 freely, and ordered that her table should be generously 
 provided. But this sort of care was necessary to keep her 
 alive until the Republic was ready to assume full posses- 
 sion of Cyprus, and even now she had but a semblance 
 of peace. Speaking of this time in her life, Brown 
 says : 
 
 "The citizens, the people of Cerines, Famagosta, Nicosia, 
 were faithful to her; they loved their queen. But all through 
 the island the great nobles were her enemies, and drew with 
 them their peasants. They were profoundly jealous of Venetian 
 rule ; they saw the weakness of the queen ; some of them coveted 
 the throne for themselves. Caterina was compelled to live in
 
 234 THE QUEEN OF THE ADRIATIC. 
 
 constant dread of revolution, murder, or dethronement, shut 
 within the walls of one or other of her faithful towns. Con- 
 spiracy after conspiracy was discovered, some directed against 
 her life, others against her liberty. At each new outbreak 
 she could see the frown gathering upon her parent's brow. 
 The dread of Venice was always before her eyes. Yet she was 
 absolutely helpless; never was queen more so, caught between 
 rebellious subjects whom she could not rule, and a cold, 
 uncompromising guardian who desired her kingdom." 
 
 For ten years this life went on; Venice constantly 
 sending officials, whom the Cypriotes hated and regarded 
 as spies. Caterina's personal dangers were increased with 
 each new move on the part of Venice, and in no account 
 that I can find is there mention of any friendly woman 
 who was beside her to lighten her burdens or cheer these 
 sad, disastrous years. At length the time arrived when 
 Venice, having freed itself from more pressing engage- 
 ments, only awaited a pretext to assume full authority 
 over Cyprus ; and this pretext was given by the last man 
 in the world who would willingly have aided the Repub- 
 lic, Alfonso of Naples. 
 
 In 1488 Alfonso encountered an old conspirator, Marin 
 Rizzo, who persuaded Alfonso to sue for the hand of 
 Caterina, and obtaining that to rely on his father to seat 
 him on the throne. Rizzo sailed for Cyprus in a French 
 boat, taking with him Tristan Giblet, whose sister was 
 a maid of Caterina. These two landed at Fountain 
 Amorous, and ordered the captain of their boat to cruise 
 off the coast until he should see a fire-signal on the head- 
 land at night. But when Rizzo thought to outwit the 
 Venetians, he made a grave mistake. His whole plan was 
 known to the admiral, Priuli, who seized the French cap- 
 tain, manned the galley with his own men, answered the 
 signal, took Rizzo and Giblet on board, and sent them to 
 Venice. Giblet poisoned himself, and Rizzo was kept a
 
 CATERINA CORNARO, QUEEN OF CYPRUS. 235 
 
 prisoner for a time because he claimed to be an agent of 
 the Sultan ; but at last he was strangled by order of the 
 Ten. 
 
 Venice now instructed Priuli to bring Caterina to her 
 old home, willingly, if possible, but unwillingly if he 
 must. "We fully authorize you to bow her to our will, 
 with or without her consent. " So ran his order, but he 
 was also recommended to be gentle as well as firm. The 
 queen's brother, Giorgio Cornaro, was sent with Priuli to 
 assist in persuading Caterina to resign; and however her 
 resignation might be obtained, Priuli was instructed to 
 declare everywhere that she left Cyprus of her own choice. 
 Theirs was no easy task. Caterina clung to her make- 
 believe royalty, and answered every argument with the 
 question, "Is it not enough that Venice shall inherit 
 when I am gone ? " But no entreaties, arguments, or 
 tears availed; and at last, worn out by contention, she 
 yielded. She was promised a queenly reception at 
 Venice, a large income, and the state of a royal person- 
 age during her life. Again we quote from Brown : 
 
 "In the piazza, of Famagosta and of Nicosia solemn Te 
 Deums were sung, and the banner of St. Mark was blessed and 
 unfurled, while the queen looked on from a baldachiuo. She saw 
 her cities taken from her one by one, the cities that had always 
 been her own. No point in all the long ceremony of unrobing 
 was spared her ; in every town and village the same cruel pageant 
 was performed. She entered each one as a queen and left it 
 discrowned. Venice was determined that all the world should 
 see how willing had been her abdication. But the people nocked 
 about her on her mournful progress with tears and blessings, 
 tears for their liberty lost with their queen. At last, early in 
 1489, it was finished. Caterina and her brother sailed for 
 Venice, and Cyprus became a part of the Venetian kingdom." 
 
 It was on a lovely day in early June when Caterina 
 reached the Lido, and landed under a gold and crimson
 
 236 THE QUEEN OF THE ADRIATIC. 
 
 awning, whence she was conducted to San Niccolo to await 
 the ceremonies of the next day. The Doge, with a train 
 of noble ladies, came to conduct her in state to the then 
 Palazzo Ferrara (later Fondaco dei Turchi, and now Muni- 
 cipal Museum), a residence which the city had prepared 
 for its daughter. As the Bucentaur, bearing his Serenity 
 and the ladies, neared the Lido, a great wind became so 
 alarming that the queen's embarking was delayed. At 
 length, the sea having subsided, Caterina was brought on 
 board in the costume which Bellini painted in "The 
 Miracle of the Cross," where she kneels, dressed in black 
 velvet, with a veil and jewels in the fashion of Cyprus. 
 The Bucentaur, with a procession of boats following, moved 
 up the Grand Canal. When opposite the Cornaro Palace, 
 the Doge knighted Giorgio Cornaro, in recognition of his 
 services in persuading Caterina to resign her crown. 
 
 The three days following were devoted to banquets and 
 ceremonials in the Palazzo Ferrara, when all possible 
 honor was showered on Caterina, and her pride and vanity 
 satisfied to the full. But one more sacrifice was needed 
 to content her tender parent, Venice. In San Marco, 
 before the same altar where nineteen years earlier she 
 had been made the child of the Republic, she was obliged 
 to go through a long and solemn office of abdication. She 
 was then given the castle of Asolo for life ; and until it 
 could be made ready to receive her she was lodged in the 
 palace on the Grand Canal, which was afterwards called 
 the Palazzo Corner della Regina, in her honor. It is now 
 the MontS di Pieta. 
 
 It was at the most favored season when Caterina made 
 the journey to Asolo. She was met by olive-crowned 
 peasants, who came to welcome their lady, bearing gar- 
 lands and flowers in their hands. They held a gorgeous 
 canopy above her, as they led her to the Piazza, where an 
 orator showered compliments, apostrophies, and hyperbole 
 upon her in this fashion :
 
 CATERINA CORNARO, QUEEN OF CYPRUS. 237 
 
 "Oh, happy land of Asolo! and oh, most happy flock 
 that now hast found so just and sweet a shepherdess ! 
 Oh, ship thrice fortunate, whose tiller lies in such a skil- 
 ful hand ! Ye then, ye laurel boughs, the victor's meed, 
 endure the sharp tooth of our knife that carves on you the 
 name of Caterina. Sing, birds, unwonted strains to 
 grace the name, the glorious name, Cornelia ! " 
 
 One can scarcely imagine a more charming spot than 
 the site of the castle of Asolo. Encircled by the Alps, 
 the plains of the Brenta and the Piave spread out before 
 it. The group of Euganean Hills rises proudly in the 
 distance. Under a clear moon the silver threads of the 
 rivers may be followed to the sea ; and in the rich, distant, 
 level country Vicenza and Padua lift their towers, while 
 far away to the sun-rising lies Venice, its many spires 
 clear cut against the blue sky and the blue Adriatic ; and 
 to the north the snow-capped Rhoetian Alps stand forth as 
 if to guard all the land they overlook. 
 
 In contrast to all this expanse and grandeur is the 
 little town of Asolo, just beneath the castle at the foot 
 of the hill on which it stands. It is a walled town, with 
 genuine mediaeval turrets and some quaint house-facades, 
 and in Caterina's day was inhabited by a people glad to be 
 protected with gentleness and ruled by one who cared for 
 their gratitude and love. To them Caterina gave good 
 laws. She brought grain from Cyprus, and gave it to 
 them. She appointed a judge to hear their causes, and 
 established a pawnbroker's bank for those who needed it. 
 Her little court included but twelve maids of honor. She 
 had eighty serving-men besides her dwarf jester, and 
 a favorite negress who cared for her parrots. She had 
 her hounds, apes, and peacocks, and, we are glad to know, 
 she had a generous income. 
 
 Here she lived during twenty years, and we doubt not 
 that her title of Lady of Asolo came to be very sweet to
 
 238 THE QUEEN OF THE ADRIATIC. 
 
 her. Certainly she bore it with more peace than ever she 
 had known as a queen. Here the outside pleasures were 
 rambles in gardens and woods, the harvest festa, and the 
 May Day gayety with her people ; and within her castle 
 she had the lutes and songs at eventide, and at all hours 
 the never-ending speculations on platonic love and other 
 sleep-begetting subjects. 
 
 Pietro Bembo, when twenty-eight years old, as full of 
 life and keen of intellect as handsome in person, came 
 one fine September day to Asolo. He had been at the 
 court of Lucrezia Borgia, at Ferrara. Imagine the con- 
 trast between these two beautiful women, and their lives. 
 It was the wedding of Floriano di Floriano da Montagnana 
 with one of Caterina's ladies that drew Bembo away from 
 the golden-haired Lucrezia, and many other guests had 
 come from Venice, and from all the neighboring land, 
 glad to escape from the plains to the heights of Asolo. 
 
 Bembo describes a day, beginning with the breakfast at 
 noon, in a large hall with a loggia on either side, breezy 
 and cool in spite of the heat without. Between the pil- 
 lars of the loggia the spires of the cypress come up from 
 the gardens below, and by their deep, dark green remind 
 one of coolness and shadow as contrasted with the sunny 
 lawns outside. The meal is done; but Caterina gives no 
 signal for rising, and two of her maids move down the 
 hall, and courtesy low before her. One of them strikes 
 her lute and sings a song decrying love ; the second 
 answers in the opposite strain ; and a third, the favorite 
 of Caterina, to the accompaniment of her viol, sums up 
 the argument on both sides. 
 
 Then Caterina and most of her guests retire, to be 
 seen no more until evening, when supper will call them 
 together, and be followed by music and dancing until 
 dawn. But three Venetian couples go to the gardens, 
 the pride of Asolo, the young men in short black cloaks
 
 CATERINA CORNARO, QUEEN OF CYPRUS. 239 
 
 and close-fitting hose of many-colored silks, the ladies in 
 velvet and brocades, with masses of golden hair rolled 
 tightly around cushions. How sorry we are that on this 
 warm day they had no more comfortable apparel ! Bembo 
 gives a minute description of the walks, the stream from 
 the living rock that flowed into a basin of stone, and 
 similar objects, and ends by saying that they talked of 
 platonic love through all the afternoon. 
 
 The wedding proves that all love was not platonic here, 
 and every fortnight there came the lord of Rimini, 
 Pandolfo Malatesta, a man not well inclined to plato- 
 nism. Whether he paid his suit to Caterina or to her 
 maid Fiammeta, we know not, but in either case it gave 
 a spice of something human and real to both their lives. 
 Then Caterina's family were always coming and going. 
 They thought to shine by the reflected light of her posi- 
 tion, and she was called upon to arrange a marriage for 
 her niece with a prince of Naples. All this was displeas- 
 ing to Venice. The Cornari had a knight and a cardinal 
 in their family, which seemed quite sufficient to the 
 Senate, and Caterina was warned to make no attempts to 
 confer greater benefits. It was also surmised that she 
 did not forget Cyprus, and she was curtly advised to be 
 content with Asolo, and send not her thoughts over sea. 
 
 These suspicions were unjust. Caterina loved her 
 home ; her castle, her gardens, her court, and her subjects 
 were all dear to her, and she left them but three times 
 during her life there. Once, when the severity of the 
 winter made it possible for men to walk on the ice from 
 Mestre to Venice, she fled to her palace on the Grand 
 Canal. A second time she visited her brother Giorgio at 
 Brescia, where he was podest&. Here she was received as 
 a queen, and entered the city in a chariot drawn by four 
 white horses, escorted by a splendid procession. Pageants 
 of one sort and another were kept up for twelve days. It
 
 240 THE QUEEN OF THE ADRIATIC. 
 
 was her last royal reception. Venice was jealous; and 
 for this honor to his sister, Giorgio was recalled and 
 deprived of his position. 
 
 The wars of the League of Cambray drove Caterina to 
 Venice to return no more. She died on July 10, 1510, 
 when fifty-six years old. Venice was very poor, but her 
 funeral was as splendid as could be afforded. The 
 Patriarch, the Senate, the Doge, the Archbishop of 
 Spalato, and an immense procession of citizens followed 
 her coffin to the Cornaro chapel in the Church of the 
 Sant' Apostoli on a stormy night when the wind howled 
 and the rain fell in torrents. The queen was dressed in 
 the habit of Saint Francis, with cord and cowl, but on her 
 coffin lay the crown of Cyprus. 
 
 The next day a full funeral service was celebrated, and 
 an oration pronounced by Andrea Navagero, a poet and 
 scholar, who had known all her life, and whose writings 
 make one of our authorities concerning this unhappy and 
 gentle queen. Doubtless now that she was dead, and no 
 longer to be feared by those suspicious Senators, he was 
 allowed to speak of all the beauty of person and character 
 of Caterina Cornaro, and to give full expression to the 
 love which she had inspired in Venetians, Cypriotes, and 
 Asolini. In 1660 her coffin was removed to San Salvadore, 
 and placed in a tomb in the right transept of this church. 
 
 Few episodes in the history of Venice more clearly 
 show her astuteness, her prescience, and her patient 
 determination than does the story of Caterina Cornaro, 
 by which we see that from the beginning the object of the 
 Senate was to obtain possession of Cyprus. For this 
 cause the little maid of fourteen was made the child of the 
 Republic. Venice had not the faintest claim to Cyprus. 
 If James justly bore the title and authority which Venice 
 recognized as his, his will should have been regarded. 
 The simple truth is that Venice coveted Cyprus, and
 
 EOSALBA CARRIERA. 241 
 
 Caterina was the cat's paw with which she could work 
 her will. Ninety-two years later the Turks robbed her of 
 it, and during this short rule there were endless costs and 
 constant difficulties to be overcome. Historians believe 
 Cyprus to have been an incalculable injury to the Repub- 
 lic. The unbridled luxury and license in the life of the 
 island had its evil effect on Venice, and the early part of 
 the sixteenth century developed there such expensive liv- 
 ing as threatened financial ruin, such license, even in 
 the religious houses, as brought her world-wide disgrace, 
 and such growth in vice, decay of health, and increase of 
 infectious diseases as threatened the extermination of the 
 noble and wealthy classes. 
 
 ROSALBA CARRIERA. 
 
 Born in 1675, this artist belongs to modern Venice. 
 Her father, Andrea Camera de Costantino, was chancel- 
 lor of the little village of Gambarare, on the Brenta ; and 
 as his salary was insufficient for the support of his wife 
 and three daughters, Rosalba, the eldest, worked with 
 her mother at making Point de Venise lace. Fortunately 
 for Rosalba's fame, this lace went out of fashion, and she 
 then attempted the painting of miniatures on tobacco 
 boxes, in which art she was instructed by a French 
 painter, Jean Stve, having before had lessons in drawing 
 from a Hungarian, Bencowich. The boxes she painted 
 are now much prized. 
 
 Later she studied under Antonio Lazzari, Diamantini, 
 Balestra, and others. She practised painting in oils, 
 but preferred miniature and crayons. Her taste for 
 crayons was cultivated by an English artist, Cole, who 
 excelled in that art. When twenty-four years old, 
 Rosalba had become famous for her miniatures and por- 
 traits in crayon. Carlo Maratti and Crespi compared her 
 
 16
 
 242 THE QUEEN OF THE ADRIATIC. 
 
 to Guido Rcni, and she was made an Academician at St 
 Luke in Rome and at the Clementina at Bologna. 
 
 We know how, in her time, the royal personages of the 
 whole world loved to visit Venice ; and it came to be a 
 part of their pleasure there to have miniatures from 
 Rosalba's hand. In 1709 the King of Denmark sat for 
 his own portrait, and gave her an order for twelve minia- 
 tures, to be portraits of some of the loveliest young girls 
 in the city. The Elector Palatine soon after sat for a 
 portrait, and sent her afterwards a golden medallion on a 
 chain, weighing two hundred ounces ; and the enamel box 
 containing it was of great value. Augustus 111., Elector 
 of Saxony, after he became King of Poland, was one of 
 her benefactors ; and her portrait of him in a scarlet dress, 
 with a cross on the breast and a peruke on his head, was 
 much prized by him. The list of her friends and admirers 
 at this period includes many well-known names. John 
 Law, the Scotch financier, Vleughels, who became the 
 director of the French Academy at Rome, and the distin- 
 guished author Zanetti were among them; and Pierre 
 Crozat urged her going to Paris, offering her the use of 
 his own hotel. 
 
 She was so celebrated at home and abroad that she 
 could not fill her orders, and was aided in her crayon 
 pictures by her sisters, who also painted somewhat. In 
 all the courts of Europe the miniatures of Rosalba were 
 preferred before those of the Florentine Giovanna Fratel- 
 lini, and she was most happy in her life and in her art, 
 when the death of her father prostrated her with grief. 
 Her sister Angela had married Antonio Pellegrini, and by 
 his persuasion Rosalba consented to go to Paris. Her 
 mother and sister Giovanna were with her ; and the three 
 were received into the H6tel Crozat, on the Rue de Riche- 
 lieu, where all possible comforts and a carriage were at 
 their disposal. Pellegrini and Angela lodged near by,
 
 ROSALBA CARRIERA. 243 
 
 and for a year Rosalba was in constant association with 
 the best society in Paris. Crozat admired her to enthusi- 
 asm. He thought her as fine a musician as painter. He 
 gave concerts, at which she played the violin accompanied 
 by other instruments played by well-known musicians. 
 The guests at these musicales were celebrated artists, 
 authors, and prominent persons, among whom the Regent 
 himself was glad to be numbered. Watteau painted a 
 picture of the principal virtuosos at these concerts. 
 Mariette wrote their names on it in Latin, and with his 
 collection it went to the Louvre. Rosalba's journal, kept 
 while in Paris, is very interesting, and has been pub- 
 lished both in Italian and French. 
 
 During her stay in Paris, Rosalba painted numerous 
 small pictures, made many drawings, and executed two 
 pictures of Venus for M. Crozat, and an Apollo and 
 Daphne for Claude Audran, besides nearly fifty portraits. 
 Among her subjects were men and women of the highest 
 character and position. Her artistic skill was recognized 
 by the greatest compliment that could be paid her in 
 France. She was elected a member of the Academy of 
 Painting, " no one wishing to cast a black ball, " as she 
 wrote in her journal. She was invited there, and pre- 
 sented a portrait of Louis XV. in pastel, which was 
 praised by the director, Antoine Coypel. Her "picture 
 of reception," which was sent from Venice later, is now 
 at the Louvre. 
 
 She returned to her little house in Venice a widely 
 celebrated woman, whose praises were sounded in prose 
 and verse. She dwelt in the Quarter Dorsoduro, near the 
 Church of San Vito. Here she received many distin- 
 guished visitors. She was invited to various courts of 
 Europe ; and until she reached the age of seventy her life 
 was fruitful in work and in triumphs such as could not 
 have failed to make her native city proud of her. Eleven
 
 244 THE QUEEN OF THE ADRIATIC. 
 
 years before her death she became blind, and from that 
 time she received no strangers, though many desired to 
 see her. To her sister Angela she sent letters, written 
 from her dictation, which spoke all too plainly of the 
 loneliness she would fain have concealed from those who 
 loved her. 
 
 By her will she remembered all her relatives, her ser- 
 vants and attendants, and some of her pupils. She gave 
 the bulk of her property to her sister Angela, who was 
 but two years younger than herself. She died when 
 eighty-two years old, and was buried in the little church 
 of her parish beside her sister Griovannina, whose death 
 she had mourned for twenty years. 
 
 Pictures by Rosalba Carriera are seen in the Louvre, 
 and in the Academy of Venice and the Church of San 
 Gervasio e Protasio, but the largest collection is at 
 Dresden ; and to be perfectly candid, it does seem that the 
 eighteenth-century critics have been more than kind in 
 their praises of her works. If we were writing strictly of 
 art, we could not give her a very exalted rank ; but as a 
 Venetian woman who made herself of note in the world 
 in her day and generation, she is most important, and 
 stands quite alone.
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 THE ARCHIVES OF VENICE. 
 
 "OROBABLY no other collection of state papers exists 
 -L that can compare in interest with the archives of 
 Venice, now preserved in the Convent of the Frari, and 
 most courteously at the disposal of all who seriously wish 
 to study them. It is said that the two hundred and 
 ninety-five rooms in which these archives are disposed 
 contain more than fourteen million documents, the ear- 
 liest dating from 883. Even so, many Venetian records 
 were doubtless lost in the conflagrations between the 
 thirteenth and sixteenth centuries, of which we have 
 accounts, for there are some important periods quite 
 blank ; and as late as 1797 a mob invaded the Hall of the 
 Council of Ten, and dispersed the papers found there,, 
 which would no doubt have been of great value. The 
 knowledge that has been gained from these records and 
 given to the world within a half-century is most impor- 
 tant and entertaining, and we are greatly indebted to the 
 numerous scholarly writers who have given us the results 
 of their researches; but there remains much more to be 
 done before the stores of information and entertainment in 
 the archives of the Frari will be exhausted. 
 
 It is from them that the true stories of Faliero, Pisani r 
 Carmagnola, Caterina Cornaro, and others have been 
 taken. They tell of all the great ceremonials, even to 
 the minutest details. The letters of royal personages are 
 there preserved. Civil and criminal trials, reports,
 
 246 THE QUEEN OF THE ADRIATIC. 
 
 despatches, and, in short, every imaginable thing that 
 could have happened, been suspected, or whispered in all 
 Venice, seems to be there writ down. To the casual 
 observer, perhaps the most striking feature of these 
 papers is the attention given to matters of minor impor- 
 tance by the government of the Republic. We know that 
 each department was concerned with its special subject, 
 but concerned in such a way that we can almost learn 
 what was eaten in a particular palace on a certain day 
 centuries ago ; and the manner in which matters that are 
 regulated by custom or individual fancy in other coun- 
 tries were the subjects of special decrees in Venice, is 
 most surprising. 
 
 The papers of the secret chancellery, established in 
 1402, exceed all others in general interest. The direction 
 of this department pertained to the Council of Ten ; and 
 here the story of the growth, splendor, and decline of the 
 Republic can be read with all its complications. In the 
 study of these papers, as they have been given us by 
 patient writers, we are impressed anew with the utter 
 disregard of individual interests and schemes, and the 
 persistent devotion to the good of the Republic, first, 
 last, and always. Venetians formed no syndicates, and 
 profited by no monopolies. Venice was the syndicate, 
 and the monopoly was hers. 
 
 Private owners of vessels were not allowed to send car- 
 goes to ports to which Venice sent fleets. Vessels were 
 built and fitted out by the State, and put up at auction to 
 be bidden for by the merchants, the voyages all being 
 made according to regulations, and a good share of the 
 profits paid to the State. Private owners were licensed 
 before freighting a ship, and no ship not commanded by 
 a Venetian was permitted to sail from the lagoons. Ships 
 of war guarded the mouths of the rivers, and all foreign 
 vessels were liable to inspection. All kinds of goods car-
 
 Museo Civico; 
 
 Formerly Palace Ferrara, later Fondaco dei Titrcbi
 
 THE ARCHIVES OF VENICE. 247 
 
 ried in Venetian ships were obliged to be taken to Venice 
 before they could be sent to any other port. Thus it 
 became a great mart for the merchandise of all countries, 
 and we can scarcely imagine the enormous supplies of 
 costly and magnificent Oriental products which filled her 
 storehouses, and were thence distributed all over the 
 western and northern world in exchange for other goods 
 as well as for gold. Her commerce with Nuremberg was 
 important, and there was a weekly post between the two 
 cities in 1505, when Albert Durer made the journey to 
 Venice. 
 
 Her unique position made Venice the chief market for 
 all the East, and her supremacy in the Levant forbade all 
 rivals to attempt competing with her; but if she thus 
 deprived other nations of the privileges of commerce, she 
 protected them from the Turk. She was a bulwark that 
 could neither be ignored nor overthrown. Every branch 
 of commerce was made tributary to her, and her coffers 
 were always full. She expended her wealth at home, 
 encouraging her workers in metals, glass, and mosaics, 
 and the manufactures of silk and wool, as well as in cher- 
 ishing the fine arts and improving the city. 
 
 From the beginning of the thirteenth century so great 
 a number of merchants periodically visited Venice that 
 no sufficient provision could be made for them in the 
 public houses, and the question as to how and where 
 they could live was solved by the establishment of the 
 Fondachi, where they were lodged, free of cost, after 
 reporting to the proper magistrate, and showing their 
 purpose in coming to Venice. Warehouses were attached 
 to the Fondachi, supplied with weighers and keepers to 
 attend to the storing and care of merchandise. 
 
 The Germans, Armenians, Moors, and Turks, all had 
 these Fondachi, as well as the Tuscans and other Italians. 
 A superb palace on the Grand Canal, which has been
 
 248 THE QUEEN OF THE ADRIATIC. 
 
 restored, and is now the Museo Civico, was given to the 
 Turks. It is nearly as old as the Ducal Palace, and very 
 remarkable. But as the Turks were infidels, the windows 
 were walled up, the rooms thus being lighted only from 
 the court. A Catholic warder closed the doors at sunset. 
 No women or children were allowed to enter, and no 
 Ottoman was permitted to lodge elsewhere. Greeks and 
 Syrians were allowed the utmost freedom in all parts of 
 the city. 
 
 The Jews were not liked, and many regulations were 
 made for them. At times they were excluded from 
 Venice, but their aptitude in all matters of trade made 
 them almost a necessity. Indeed, they had the monopoly 
 of money changing, and the Senate found that they must 
 be at hand. Many regulations were made as to where 
 they should live, concerning certain badges they must 
 wear, forbidding them to own houses or lands, to enter 
 any profession save that of medicine, to open their doors 
 between sunset and sunrise, or to go out at all on holi- 
 days. They were not permitted to have a synagogue, and 
 a burial-place was given them grudgingly. 
 
 So fully did the rulers of Venice appreciate the impor- 
 tance and dignity of her commerce that they permitted the 
 Fondachi to be splendidly decorated, and by the best art- 
 ists. Nothing can give a better idea of the wealth and 
 luxury of the Venetian merchants than the following 
 extract from Mutinelli : 
 
 " When the news of the victory of Lepanto reached Venice, 
 the Germans were the first who wished to celebrate it by a 
 splendid illumination in their Fondaco on the Rialto. All the 
 other merchants followed this example ; and those who most 
 distinguished themselves were the jewellers, the Tuscans, and 
 the mercers. The well-known portico of the Rialto, where 
 the drapers' shops are, was hung with turquoise-blue fabrics, 
 spangled with gold and lined with scarlet. Each shop had its
 
 THE ARCHIVES OF VENICE. 249 
 
 decoration ; there were panoplies of Oriental arms taken from 
 the Turks, and in the midst of these trophies were to be seen 
 pictures by Giovanni Bellini, Giorgione, Sebastian del Piombo, 
 Titian, and Pordenone. At the entrance of the bridge an arch 
 was raised on which the arms of the allied powers were repre- 
 sented quartered on the same scutcheon. Banners and festoons 
 hung from every arch and every window; torches and silver can- 
 delabra placed on every projection illuminated the streets, and 
 turned the night into a bright and splendid day." 
 
 And in a manuscript in the library of St. Mark is 
 written : 
 
 "Thursday was the festival of the Doge, Thomas Mocenigo ; 
 great stands were raised in tiers on St. Mark's Place for the 
 women. The goldsmiths placed two silver helmets in the midst, 
 with their enamelled plumes, which cost a hundred ducats apiece. 
 Then came a procession of three hundred and fifty goldsmiths, 
 dressed in scarlet and mounted on richly caparisoned horses 
 (each harness costing three ducats) preceded by trumpeters and 
 musicians, who marched round the Piazza in regular order. 
 Then followed the companies of the Marquis of Ferrara and of 
 the Lord of Mantua, the first composed of two hundred and 
 sixty horsemen ; it was a great consolation to behold so many 
 coursers, so many devices and ornaments and flags and stream- 
 ers. The tournament lasted from seventeen o'clock [four] till 
 twenty-two o'clock [nine], and it was a marvel to see so many 
 gentle deeds. One of the silver caskets was presented by the 
 goldsmiths to a knight of the Marquis of Ferrara, and the 
 other to the Lord of Mantua ; and it was a great triumph to 
 behold. On the Sunday following, the 28th of March, 1415, 
 there was a joust, a noble sight to see, with all these lords 
 and their companions and devices." 
 
 Gradually the trading-galleys of the Venetians, which 
 sailed in small fleets, left Venice at fixed seasons, and 
 made regular voyages all over the known seas ; and at the 
 mouths of the rivers of Europe they met boats bringing
 
 250 THE QUEEN OF THE ADRIATIC. 
 
 inland cargoes to be sold to the Venetian captains, or 
 exchanged for their goods. Venetian manufacturers were 
 thus supplied with raw materials, as well as with speci- 
 mens of the products of all other countries, to be imitated 
 or excelled in Venice. As a rule, Venetian manufactures 
 were in demand. The armor and weapons of Venice were 
 equal to any that could be found at the same period. Her 
 cloths of gold and silver, velvets, jewelry, and splendid 
 adornments were unequalled, while many of the com- 
 moner articles of trade were made there in the best man- 
 ner. Their immense commerce in beads and glass has 
 already been described. In order to increase their busi- 
 ness in the different ports which the galleys visited, Venice 
 purchased warehouses called "factories," and put them 
 in charge of such agents as would wisely conduct them. 
 
 When we read how slowly the unwieldy trading-galleys 
 moved, not more than twenty miles a day, and were a 
 year in reaching England, we can but admire, almost 
 with reverence, the men who could " make haste slowly " 
 with such perseverance as did these Venetians. In 1488 
 the Senate offered a reward of 650 to any ship-builder 
 who could build a galley of one thousand tons burden. 
 
 Each galley required one hundred and sixty rowers, and 
 altogether carried about three hundred men. They suf- 
 fered great inconvenience, and encountered many dangers. 
 The Senate made the most exact rules concerning their 
 wages, food, the parts of the vessel to which they should 
 have access, when and where they should go on shore, and 
 many other details. The ship of the chief captain car- 
 ried a master, a nautical adviser, eight pilots, a mate, 
 two scribes, two doctors, a priest, a lawyer, an carmaker, 
 carpenter, calker and weigher, a cook, a cellarman, 
 three servants, two fifers, and two trumpeters, besides 
 thirty bowmen in charge of four young noblemen. The 
 duties and salaries of each and all these men were fixed
 
 THE ARCHIVES OF VENICE. 251 
 
 by the Senate, as well as the method of loading and 
 unloading the ships. As we think of all this tediousness 
 for everybody concerned in Venetian commerce in the 
 Middle Ages, from the Doge down to the humblest servi- 
 tor of them all, the commerce of the present day, with 
 our labor-saving machinery, our swift sailing-vessels, and 
 space-annihilating steam-engines, seems insignificant in 
 a way. 
 
 John B. Marsh, in his "Stories of Venice and the 
 Venetians," gives an account of the experiences of a mer- 
 chant fleet, which has a special interest, as Christopher 
 Columbus acted a prominent part in the story, which Mr. 
 Marsh claims is authenticated in the state papers. It is 
 essentially as follows : 
 
 On April 12, 1485, Bartolommeo Minio was appointed 
 captain of four galleys to make the Flanders voyage. 
 They had been bidden in by some merchants who had 
 goods suited to the northern markets at 220 per galley. 
 The great galleys were loaded. The prows were fenced 
 to afford footing to the crossbowmen. All the different 
 officers and men were selected and bound to complete the 
 voyage. The cargo of glass, jewels, gold, silver, furs, 
 silks, and damasks, bales of spices, dried fruits, and 
 Malmsey wine was all on board, and an official from the 
 Arsenal approved of all the preparations. 
 
 Then Minio, the commander, in presence of the whole 
 Senate and the captains who were to sail with him, took 
 an oath upon the Bible that he would obey the regulations 
 of the Senate regarding the galleys and the people on 
 board, and would care for them all in good faith. The 
 preparations being thus completed, to the sound of trum- 
 pets the rowers began their labor, and the galleys moved 
 from the canal into the Gulf of Venice. 
 
 Between Pola and Zara it was Minio's duty to pipe all 
 hands for action. The decks were cleared, hatches fas-
 
 252 THE QUEEN OF THE ADRIATIC. 
 
 tened down, and the four brass cannon on each galley 
 were made ready to meet an enemy. The bowmen took 
 advantageous positions, and went through evolutions as 
 if in battle. This being done, the fleet was anchored for 
 the night. Supper was served to Minio and his chief 
 officers in the principal cabin. The bowmen and archers 
 were in another cabin, but the rowers ate as they sat at 
 work. Each man received eighteen ounces of biscuit, and 
 an allowance of common wine daily, and in front of each 
 bench of rowers was a locker for food. Having passed 
 the Adriatic, the galleys were allowed to remain a few 
 hours at Otranto, and reaching Messina they anchored for 
 four days. The merchants went on shore, and exchanged 
 some goods for oil and wine, while the oarsmen enjoyed a 
 much needed rest. At Palermo the same stay was made, 
 and thence they crossed to the coast of Tunis and Algiers, 
 and passing through the Straits of Gibraltar reached 
 Cadiz. Here a stay of six days was made, and then, hav- 
 ing taken two pilots for each galley, they prepared to pass 
 along the coast of Portugal and cross the Bay of Biscay. 
 Ten hides were purchased for each galley and stretched 
 across the holds to protect the cargo ; and all having thus 
 far been prosperous, they started upon the most dangerous 
 part of their voyage. 
 
 Near Cape St. Vincent, on an August afternoon, Minio 
 saw a fleet of seven armed ships bearing the French flag. 
 They were corsairs under the command of Niccolo Griego, 
 and one of his chief captains was Christopher Columbus. 
 The two fleets anchored within sight of each other, and 
 during the night the Venetians made the best preparation 
 possible for a contest with the pirates ; and at daybreak 
 the attack was made. The Venetians fought so bravely 
 that the battle was prolonged during the entire day, and 
 only at sunset were they finally conquered, and that at a 
 large loss in killed and wounded to the corsairs, and
 
 THE ARCHIVES OF VENICE. 253 
 
 serious injury to their vessels, which they were compelled 
 to run into the nearest port, in order to save them from 
 shipwreck. This port was Lisbon; and as the King of 
 Portugal was friendly to Venice, the pirates hastened to 
 mend their ships, transfer the cargoes from the three 
 Venetian galleys, which were worthless, to their own, and 
 with the one that was seaworthy to sail for Honfleur. 
 
 When the news reached the King of Portugal, he has- 
 tened to assist the surviving Venetians, and sent them 
 home as soon as possible. Two captains and many noble 
 youths had been slain. The pirates had thrown one hun- 
 dred and thirty dead men into the sea, and three hundred 
 others were seriously wounded, many of whom soon died. 
 
 When the Senate heard what had happened, they sent a 
 swift fleet to seize a French galeas then at Alexandria. 
 They sent ambassadors to the courts of France, England, 
 and Burgundy, soliciting aid in recovering their vessels 
 and cargoes. In the following spring two galleys, 
 freighted with the cargoes saved from the four vessels 
 captured by Columbus, were sent to Southampton, and 
 there were sold by the Venetian Consul. The Venetians 
 owed thanks for this to the French, who would not permit 
 Columbus to leave Honfleur until he had given up his 
 plunder. When the sum received at Southampton, and 
 the value of the damaged ships which were brought back 
 to Venice was deducted from the whole, the Senate 
 announced the total loss which the Eepublic had sus- 
 tained to be 32,200. When we remember that such 
 disasters were not uncommon, we do not wonder at the 
 Venetian proverb, "If you want to learn to pray, go to 
 sea. " 
 
 This particular misfortune caused much distress to the 
 wool-workers, and the Senate removed all restrictions on 
 the importation of wool for several months, in order to 
 relieve the pressure in that particular trade.
 
 254 THE QUEEN OF THE ADRIATIC. 
 
 This story of Columbus is in exact accord with the 
 opinion of Charles Kendall Adams, in his most excellent 
 life of Columbus. He says : 
 
 "In point of character, considering the term in the largest 
 and broadest possible sense, we shall probably not find much 
 to admire. The moral atmosphere which he created about him 
 was not much better or much worse than the general atmosphere 
 of the age in which he lived. He entered no protest against 
 any of the abuses of his time. On the contrary, he was ever 
 ready to avail himself of those abuses whenever he could do so 
 to his own advantage." 
 
 To resume our study of the mercantile policy of Venice, 
 so quick was she to see her advantage in all directions 
 and to take up new industries whenever it was possible, 
 that no sooner was the question raised as to the introduc- 
 tion of the art of printing than it was generously encour- 
 aged. Venetian printing dates from 1469, and the honor 
 of its introduction rests between John of Spires and 
 Nicholas Jenson. The latter was a Frenchman, sent by 
 Louis XL to Mayence to learn printing. He never re- 
 turned to France, and the only question as to his career 
 in Venice is the actual date of his first book. 
 
 Venice soon became a city of printers. Between 1472 
 and 1500 one hundred and fifty-five printers established 
 themselves there, some of them being the most celebrated 
 printers of that age. In other cities of the Republic the 
 printing of books rapidly grew into an enormous industry. 
 We can scarcely realize what the demand for books 
 became so soon as it could be satisfied. The slow pro- 
 cesses of caligraphy had only created a desire it could 
 never content. At the same time the exquisite ornamen- 
 tation of the manuscripts had fostered a taste for dainty 
 books which a plain-printed page could not satisfy ; and 
 then, too, those who could afford the silky vellum, with
 
 THE ARCHIVES OF VENICE. 255 
 
 its lovely miniatures, decorative initial letters, and grace- 
 ful borders, did not relish books so cheaply made that 
 any one could buy them, and no distinction was attached 
 to their ownership. Thus it resulted that the early 
 printers made a few vellum copies of their works, and 
 employed the miniaturists to ornament them in the style 
 of the manuscripts. Among these books those of Jenson, 
 made at Venice, are the most remarkable, and bring 
 fabulous prices when sold in the present day. 
 
 After 1480 the printers employed engravers, and from 
 that time the Venetian books were very notable. For 
 two centuries Venice was the centre for printing, and 
 besides her strictly literary publications she furnished 
 school-books to all Italy; books of exquisite designs to 
 lace-makers and embroiderers; missals, breviaries and 
 books of hours to the devout ; and to the general reader, 
 books of romantic adventures, poems, and numberless 
 accounts of festivals and important events. These, now 
 literally worth their weight in gold, were made in little 
 shops where the industrious artisans actually made the 
 designs and executed the engravings of the books they 
 printed. The amount of printing and bookmaking done 
 at Venice up to the end of the seventeenth century, as 
 compared with all the rest of Italy and Lyons, is simply 
 amazing. Of the great printer, Aldus, I shall speak more 
 at length elsewhere. 
 
 In 1498 the Senate granted to Ottaviano Petrucci the 
 privilege of printing music for twenty years, for which 
 time Venice may be said to have monopolized that very 
 important art. Petrucci ceased to publish in 1525; and 
 it is believed that he worked alone, as later music 
 printers were greatly his inferiors. His books are now 
 very rare, and proportionately valuable. 
 
 In all these important affairs the wisdom of the Vene- 
 tians is most apparent, and the results of their system are
 
 256 THE QUEEN OF THE ADRIATIC. 
 
 its justification in many directions. But in the midst of 
 great matters the smaller ones were by no means forgot- 
 ten, and jealousy of individualism was the motive that 
 induced the Senate gravely to make and severely to exe- 
 cute laws which seem to us most puerile and unworthy. 
 
 In wealthy families, on the occasion of a baptism, it 
 was not allowable to invite patricians or high officials as 
 witnesses, because it was feared that these families would 
 become too powerful if too closely allied, and the position 
 of godfather was one of very intimate relations and sacred 
 trusts. So in marriages, in families of importance, as 
 has already been shown, certain ceremonies must be held 
 in the Ducal Palace, thus assuring a publicity which 
 enabled the State to have its part in the affair, and have 
 full knowledge of it, the religious ceremony being appar- 
 ently quite a secondary matter. 
 
 With death only did jealousy cease, and at funerals the 
 noble and wealthy Venetians were permitted to freely 
 indulge their love of pageantry. The funeral procession 
 of a patrician was usually at night. About two in the 
 morning all the clergy of the quarter in which the dead 
 had resided, with relatives and friends, attended the body 
 to the church. Here it was placed on a bier, the nave 
 being lighted by torch-bearers, and sentinels placed on 
 guard until the morning hour, when the burial took place. 
 At this ceremony a large number of clergy, and all per- 
 sons named in the will of the deceased, preceded the body 
 to its final resting-place. 
 
 If the dead had been eminent for services to the State, 
 all the clergy of the chapter of St. Mark, the prebenda- 
 ries of the Archbishop's cathedral, and the chapter of 
 the Congregation led the procession. Two canons of St. 
 Mark acted as precentors in singing dirges. Then came 
 men bearing the ornamented and embroidered banners of 
 all the guilds and societies to which the deceased had
 
 THE ARCHIVES OF VENICE. 257 
 
 belonged. Next followed the brethren of the "Scuola" 
 with which he had been associated. These frequently 
 numbered two hundred, all in white robes, and by night 
 bearing torches. Behind them the body, on a bier, was 
 borne by eight men. It was most richly dressed, and 
 covered with a trellis of golden wire. Lastly followed 
 the relatives, friends, servants, and behind all others, 
 the orphan children of the dead man. 
 
 Next day the friends, in funeral attire, went to the 
 Ducal Palace, whither the bereaved family were expected 
 to come, and there receive condolences. 
 
 The Venetian archives throw a very favorable light on 
 the hospitality, benevolence, and wisdom in sanitary 
 regulations shown by the rulers of Venice in the Middle 
 Ages. From the time of Michieli II. (1117-28) the 
 streets were lighted at night, and watchmen had been 
 employed earlier than that, at least a century before 
 they were instituted in London, under Henry III. 
 
 From a very ancient date Venice was " a place of uni- 
 versal resort, the Goshen of Italy." Strangers were 
 constantly arriving and departing, and as early as the 
 beginning of the fourteenth century the new-comer, as 
 he landed at the Piazza of St. Mark, was met by one of 
 the messeti or sensali, who were always there, and served 
 the stranger as the commissionaires now do wherever trav- 
 ellers are found, but with one great difference : in Venice 
 these men were in the care of the messetaria, a depart- 
 ment of the public service, and they dared not practise 
 deceit or cheating, being sure of paying the penalty if 
 they did. It was also the duty of the messetaria to see 
 that no imposition was practised by the keepers of hostel- 
 ries, or any advantage taken of unsuspicious strangers. 
 
 The ancient hotels of Venice were celebrated. In the 
 fourteenth century the Moon, the White Lion, and the 
 Wild Savage took the lead; and the latter was the 
 
 17
 
 258 THE QUEEN OF THE ADRIATIC. 
 
 favorite of those who could pay well in 1368. Other 
 hotels are mentioned in the books of the Procuratie of 
 St. Mark; and ever after 1280, perhaps earlier, it was 
 the duty of the police to see that clean beds, sheets, and 
 coverlets were provided in hotels, and all necessary com- 
 forts furnished to travellers. 
 
 The government was constantly adopting measures 
 against epidemics, and in 1423 the first lazaretto was 
 established. A Board of Health existed very early ; and 
 during epidemics in neighboring cities no meat, fish, or 
 wine was admitted into Venice until it had been disin- 
 fected. The greatest care was taken to supply wholesome 
 water. All impurities were removed from the streets and 
 canals, which last were dredged of mud periodically; and 
 even smoking chimneys were prohibited. 
 
 The first hospital was established by the will of 
 Orseolo the Holy, in 977; the first infant asylum, by 
 the Doge Marino Giorgio, in 1312. A surgeon named 
 Gualtieri established a Refuge for the Indigent, and a 
 Home for Aged or Disabled Seamen. The Misericordia 
 was endowed by Giacomo Moro for poor women; and a 
 Magdalen Asylum by Bartolommeo Verde at St. Christo- 
 pher-the-Martyr. In 1342 the Foundling, or Pietffc, was 
 established, and in 1349 there was an Orphan Asylum on 
 the Giudecca. Moreover, both the State and individuals 
 made periodical distributions of alms to the poor; while 
 street-begging was forbidden, and the Signori di Notte 
 conveyed all mendicants to the hospitals. 
 
 We must also remember that while the Venetians took 
 and held many prisoners of war, they made constant 
 efforts to relieve the sufferings of these men. In short, 
 the archives of Venice bear unquestionable testimony to 
 much in the domestic policy of the Republic that merits 
 the praise and is worthy the emulation of all nations in 
 all ages.
 
 of St. Mark.
 
 CHAPTER XIY. 
 
 THE TREASURES OP THE PIAZZA. 
 
 '"PHERE is a world of interest in the bronzes, mosaics, 
 J- and marbles of Venice, many of which are in and 
 about the Piazza of San Marco. Perhaps something 
 should first be said about this spot, already so frequently 
 mentioned, and in which the whole history of Venice 
 seems to centre ; but when I think of writing it the words 
 of the double of the Rev. Frederic Ingham occur to me 
 with great force : " There has been so much said, and, on 
 the whole, so well said, that I will not occupy the time. " 
 To quote some of these "well-said" things seems far 
 the wisest course. Mr. Howells says : 
 
 "The Place of St. Mark is the heart of Venice, and from this 
 beats new life in every direction, through an intricate system of 
 streets and canals, that bring it back again to the same centre. 
 ... Of all the open spaces in the city, that before the Church 
 of St. Mark alone bears the name of Piazza, and the rest are 
 called merely campi, or fields. But if the company of the 
 noblest architecture can give honor, the Piazza S. Marco merits 
 its distinction, not in Venice only, but in the whole world. I 
 never, during three years, passed through it in my daily walks, 
 without feeling as freshly as at first the greatness of its beauty. 
 
 "The church, which the mighty bell-tower and the lofty height 
 of the palace lines make to look low, is in no wise humbled by 
 the contrast, but is like a queen enthroned amid upright rever- 
 ence. The religious sentiment is deeply appealed to, I think, 
 in the interior of St. Mark's; but if its interior is heaven's, its 
 exterior, like a good man's daily life, is earth's ; and it is this
 
 260 THE QUEEN OF THE ADRIATIC. 
 
 winning loveliness of earth that first attracts you to it, and 
 when you emerge from its portals, you emerge upon spaces of 
 such sunny length and breadth, set round with such exquisite 
 architecture, that it makes you glad to be living in this world. 
 
 " Whatever could please, the Venetian seems to have brought 
 within and made a part of his Piazza, that it might remain for- 
 ever the city's supreme grace; and so, though there are public 
 gardens and several pleasant walks in the city, the great resort 
 in summer and winter, by day and by night, is the Piazza 
 S. Marco." 
 
 In his delightful "Italy," Taine, after declaring Venice 
 to be the pearl of that country, not equalled by anything 
 he has seen, says : 
 
 " The admirable Piazza, bordered with porticos and palaces, 
 extends rectangularly its forests of columns, its Corinthian capi- 
 tals, its statues, its noble and varied arrangement of classic 
 forms. At its extremity, half Gothic, half Byzantine, rises the 
 Basilica, under bulbous domes and tapering belfries, its arcades 
 festooned with figures, its porches laced with light columns, its 
 arches wainscoted with mosaics, its pavements incrusted with 
 colored marbles, and its cupolas scintillating with gold; a 
 strange mysterious sanctuary, a sort of Christian mosque in 
 which cascades of light vacillate in ruddy shadows like the 
 wings of genii within the purple, metallic walls of subterranean 
 abodes. All this teems with sparks and radiance. A few paces 
 off, bare and erect like a ship's mast, the gigantic Campanile 
 towers in the air, and announces to distant mariners the time- 
 honored royalty of Venice. At its base, closely pressed to it, 
 the delicate loggetta of Sansovino seems like a flower, so many 
 statues, bas-reliefs, bronzes, and marbles, whatever is rich and 
 imaginative of living and elegant art, crowd around it to adorn 
 it. ... 
 
 " Like a magnificent diamond in a brilliant setting, the Ducal 
 Palace effaces the rest. . . . Never has the like architecture 
 been seen ; all here is novel. You feel yourself drawn out of 
 the conventional : you realize that outside of classic or Gothic
 
 THE TREASURES OF THE PIAZZA. 261 
 
 forms, which we repeat and impose on ourselves, there is an 
 entire world; that human invention is illimitable; that, like 
 Nature, it may break all the rules, and produce a perfect work 
 after a model opposed to that to which we are told to conform." 
 
 Ruskin's words rush out, and seem to tumble one 
 over the other in their haste to express his seething 
 thought : 
 
 "A multitude of pillars and white domes, clustered into a 
 long low pyramid of colored light; a treasure-heap, it seems, 
 partly of gold and partly of opal and mother-of-pearl, hollowed 
 beneath into fine great vaulted porches, ceiled with fair mosaic, 
 and beset with sculpture of alabaster, clear as amber and deli- 
 cate as ivory, sculpture fantastic and involved, of palm-leaves 
 and lilies and grapes and pomegranates, and birds clinging 
 and fluttering among the branches, all twined together into an 
 endless network of buds and plumes ; and in the midst of it the 
 solemn forms of angels, sceptred, and robed to the feet, and 
 leaning to each other across the gates, their figures indistinct 
 among the gleaming of the golden ground through the leaves 
 beside them, interrupted and dim, like the morning light as it 
 faded back among the branches of Eden, when first its gates 
 were angel-guarded long ago. 
 
 "And round the walls of the porches there are set pillars of 
 variegated stones, jasper and porphyry, and deep-green serpen- 
 tine spotted with flakes of snow, and marbles that half refuse 
 and half yield to the sunshine, Cleopatra-like, 'their bluest 
 veins to kiss,' the shadow, as it steals back from them, re- 
 vealing line after line of azure undulation, as a receding tide 
 leaves the waved sand; their capitals rich with interwoven 
 tracery, rooted knots of herbage, and drifting leaves of acanthus 
 and vine, and mystical signs, all beginning and ending in the 
 cross ; and above them, in the broad archivolts, a continuous 
 chain of language and of life, angels, and the signs of heaven, 
 and the labors of men, each in its appointed season upon the 
 earth . . . until at last, as if in ecstasy, the crests of the arches 
 break into a marble foam, and toss themselves far into the blue
 
 262 THE QUEEN OF THE ADRIATIC. 
 
 sky in flashes and wreaths of sculptured spray, as if the break- 
 ers on the Lido shore had been frost-bound before they fell, and 
 the sea-nymphs had inlaid them with coral and amethyst." 
 
 In comparison with the above, how curiously common- 
 place was Goethe, with his very practical queries, when 
 first he saw the Horses of St. Mark: "A glorious team 
 of horses, I should like to hear the opinion of a good 
 judge of horse flesh. What seemed strange to me was 
 that, closely viewed, they appear heavy, while from the 
 piazza below they look light as deer." To me the mystery 
 in which they are veiled is their chief attraction. We 
 know that the brave old Dandolo sent them from Constan- 
 tinople to be one of his most striking monuments. 
 
 In this temple porch, 
 
 Old as he was, so near his hundredth year, 
 And blind, his eyes put out, did Dandolo 
 Stand forth, displaying on his crown the cross. 
 There did he stand, erect, invincible, 
 Though wan his cheeks, and wet with many tears, 
 For in his prayers he had been weeping much ; 
 And now the pilgrim and the people wept 
 With admiration, saying in their hearts, 
 " Surely those aged limbs have need of rest ! " 
 There did he stand, with his old armor on, 
 Ere, gonfalon in hand, that streamed aloft, 
 As conscious of its glorious destiny, 
 So soon to float o'er mosque and minaret, 
 He sailed away, five hundred gallant ships, 
 Their lofty sides hung with emblazoned shields, 
 Following his track to fame. He went to die ; 
 But of his trophies four arrived erelong, 
 Snatched from destruction, the four steeds divine, 
 That strike the ground, resounding with their feet, 
 And from their nostrils snort ethereal flame 
 Over that very porch. 
 
 SAMUEL ROGERS. 
 
 We know that one of these horses was transported on 
 the galley of Domenico Morosini, and that by some acci- 
 dent a piece was broken off of one of its hind legs, which
 
 Horses of St. Math.
 
 THE TREASURES OF THE PIAZZA. 263 
 
 fragment the Senate allowed the valiant admiral to keep 
 as a souvenir of his experiences. He placed it on a con- 
 sole of the faQade of his house at St. Augustine, where 
 Sanuto saw it, as he tells us in his chronicles. We know 
 of their journey to Paris in 1797, and of their return in 
 1815. We know that they weigh but a few pounds less 
 than a ton each; but who made them, and where and 
 when ? We know that it is said that they were treasures 
 of Alexandria, and were carried to Borne by Augustus 
 after he defeated Mark Antony, 30 B. c. But who can tell 
 what Cleopatra thought of them ? We know that it is 
 said that five Roman emperors placed them on as many 
 triumphal arches in the Eternal City, and then Constantino 
 took them off to the New Rome to grace his Hippodrome. 
 But when all these sayings are said, who knows ? 
 
 Above them is the winged Lion of St. Mark, that 
 had such a curiously opposite effect on the minds of the 
 Venetians and those of their enemies, imparting his 
 traditional boldness to the former, and dissipating what- 
 ever of that quality existed in the latter. This lion is 
 ubiquitous in Venice, and can be found of almost any age 
 required; but this one is very modern. He is brave in 
 his coat of gold, and the field of azure sown with golden 
 stars which makes his background is very becoming. He 
 rests one paw on the open book to emphasize the words 
 "Pax tibi Marce Evagelista meus. " Above him towers 
 the statue of that saint whose symbol he is, the lion- 
 hearted Mark, the saint whose crumbling bones below, 
 in the great Basilica, seem by some subtle spell to have 
 made invincible the hearts and arms of those who look to 
 him as their protecting guardian. 
 
 Rising from the pavement below, and towering far 
 above the Bronze Horses, are the three cedar pili (flag- 
 staffs), from which in the old days floated the banners 
 of Cyprus, Candia, and the Morea, ever recalling to the
 
 264 THE QUEEN OF THE ADRIATIC. 
 
 Venetians the glorious victories they had gained. On 
 Sundays and festivals the Italian colors are now seen on 
 these masts, rising from the same magnificent bronze 
 pedestals which have held them almost four hundred 
 years, and which, according to ancient pictures, must 
 have replaced still older ones. These were given by 
 Paolo Barbo in 1501 and by the Doge Leonardo Loredano 
 in 1505, and were all the work of Alessandro Leopardo. 
 If the graceful tritons and sirens chiselled there could 
 speak, how many questions we should like to ask them ! 
 
 But alas ! the only bronzes of the Piazza that give any 
 sign of life are the two Moors on the top of the Torre 
 dell' Orologio, and they only to strike the bell which each 
 time reminds us that we have one hour less in Venice. 
 There is a story that one of these Moors is a murderer, 
 but not with malice aforethought. A poor workman, 
 unconscious of the hour, was within the swing of the 
 Moor's hammer, and so was thrown to his death below. 
 
 The azure and gold dial on this tower gives much 
 information. The Italian hours, one to twenty-four, the 
 quarters of the moon, and the twelve signs of the zodiac 
 are there. On the upper story, above the dial, is a gigan- 
 tic lion, with the starry background which he seems to 
 affect, and beneath him is a gilded statue of the Virgin 
 Mary. During the month of May, at certain hours, a 
 door near her opens, and the Magi appear, pass before 
 her, salute her with their crowns, and disappear by 
 another door. 
 
 When all this happens at a quiet midnight hour, when 
 the weird moonlight leaves much in shadow, bringing out 
 only the most prominent objects, as the Moors and the 
 Magi come to life, one involuntarily looks around, expect- 
 ing to see the lion between the Clock Tower and the 
 church shake his mane and come down from his block, to 
 hear the horses neigh, and to behold a long line of saints
 
 THE TREASURES OF THE PIAZZA. 265 
 
 and angels who have left their dizzy heights to walk 
 around the square in grand procession. 
 
 There are few objects in all Venice which have a 
 greater variety of interesting associations than the Cam- 
 panile, which so dominates the city and the surrounding 
 sea that from its summit the fleets that have sailed away 
 for war and for the pursuits of peace have been watched 
 for many centuries, and followed by prayers and blessings 
 until lost in the dim distance. 
 
 From this same height, what anxious eyes have been 
 strained to catch the first glimpse of victorious, home- 
 coming galleys! Or, in times of need, as during the 
 Chioggian War, it was from the Campanile that the wel- 
 come aid-bearing vessels were first seen ; and in all times 
 of great events, for joy or sorrow, it was the tocsin of the 
 Campanile that called the people to the Piazza to hear 
 the news and take counsel for action. Nine hundred and 
 ninety -two years has it performed these offices ; and could 
 a diary have been written of all its experiences, what 
 book would be more wonderful ? 
 
 Until 1518 there hung, from a projecting beam half- 
 way up the tower, a wooden cage, grated with iron bars, 
 in which some criminals were placed to endure the 
 changes of the weather, as well as hunger and thirst, so 
 long as life should last ; for but meagre supplies of bread 
 and water were let down to the cage from the top of the 
 tower. Perhaps it was the influence of the golden angel 
 which crowns the Campanile, and is kind enough to turn 
 with every wind that blows, that wrought the merciful 
 reform ; for the cage was banished within a few months 
 after he assumed the most commanding position in the 
 Republic. 
 
 We are told that in the old days there were four bells 
 rung from the tower for different purposes. La mar an- 
 gola sounded at dawn to call the laboring-classes to their
 
 266 THE QUEEN OF THE ADRIATIC. 
 
 work; la sestamezzana announced the opening of the 
 official bureaux ; la trottera called the councillors to their 
 duties ; and the bell del malefizio was the knell that tolled 
 during executions. About 1670 a fifth great bell was 
 brought from Candia, which was heard only on Ascension 
 Day, when the Doge espoused the Adriatic. 
 
 All lovers of Venice can sympathize with Arthur Hugh 
 Clough, and will remember with delight the view from 
 the Campanile, when for the first time the intricacies of 
 this charming labyrinth can be unravelled, 
 
 " My mind is in her rest ; my heart at home 
 In all around ; my soul secure in place, 
 And the vext needle perfect to her poles. ' 
 Aimless and hopeless in my life, I seemed 
 To thread the winding byways of the town 
 Bewildered, baffled, hurried hence and thence, 
 All at cross purpose ever with myself, 
 Unknowing whence or whither. Then, at once, 
 At a step, I crown the Campanile's top, 
 And view all mapped below; islands, lagoon, 
 An hundred steeples, and a myriad roofs, 
 The fruitful champaign, and the cloud-capt Alps, 
 And the broad Adriatic." 
 
 During the Crusades, in the cities of the East -where 
 the Christians were in power, it was customary to assign 
 to each nation that had aided in the conquest a quarter 
 in which they could live and worship in their own church. 
 But at St. Jean d'Acre it happened that the Venetians 
 and Genoese, enemies as they were, used the Church of 
 St. Sabbas in common. As might have been foreseen, 
 quarrels arose, and both claimed the building as exclu- 
 sively their own. So fierce did the troubles become that 
 at length the Genoese burned the church, with other build- 
 ings of the Venetian quarter. Such an insult could not 
 be borne, and under Lorenzo Tiepolo the Venetians com- 
 pletely defeated the Genoese. In proof of the complete 
 triumph of the Republic, two richly sculptured pillars, a
 
 Campanile of St. Mark.
 
 THE TREASURES OF THE PIAZZA. 267 
 
 part of the gateway of St. Sabbas, and a low column of 
 red porphyry were sent to Venice. Naturally these were 
 placed in the beloved Piazza ; and the Senate decreed that 
 the pillars should stand between the church and the 
 Ducal Palace, at the inner entrance to the Piazzetta. The 
 short column near by, at the southwest corner of San 
 Marco, was put to good use, and called the "Pietra del 
 Bando." From it the laws of the Republic, the sen- 
 tences of banishment, and other important decrees were 
 promulgated. 
 
 But the most interesting columns stand at the opposite 
 end of the Piazzetta, at the entrance from the lagoon. So 
 typical were they of the spirit of Venice that they were 
 duplicated in other cities under her sway. On one is a 
 statue of that young Syrian warrior who stood the early 
 Venetians in good stead as their patron saint, and still 
 stands there upon the crocodile, at the chief entrance to 
 the city, crowned by a nimbus, holding a shield on his 
 right arm, and a sword in his left hand. 
 
 Opposite St. Theodore, on the second column, is one of 
 the many lions of St. Mark, with the open book. This 
 one, alas ! was desecrated by the French, and the gospel 
 words replaced by the legend "Droits de 1'Homme et du 
 Citoyen," which caused a witty gondolier to say that 
 " Saint Mark had turned over a new leaf. " This lion 
 made a part of the brazen menagerie that went to Paris in 
 1797, and returned to Venice in 1815. During his stay 
 there he was appropriately lodged in the Invalides, no 
 doubt suffering keenly the pains of dislocation. We must 
 not forget that the Columns themselves have an interesting 
 history. They form a sort of open door to the Piazzetta 
 from the Molo, and are the first objects to attract the 
 attention of the stranger who enters Venice from the sea. 
 These two and another were brought from the islands of 
 the Archipelago in 1127. One sank entirely out of sight,
 
 268 THE QUEEN OF THE ADRIATIC. 
 
 and has never been found, and these two lay on the 
 shore a half-century before any one succeeded in raising 
 them. But when the Doge Sebastiano Ziani promised 
 any grazia onesta that might be asked by any man who 
 could erect them on the Piazzetta, Niccold il Barattiere 
 (Nick the Blackleg) placed them on their pedestals, and 
 demanded that gambling, which was forbidden elsewhere 
 in Venice, might be carried on between the pillars. For 
 some time this privilege brought wealth to the family 
 Barattiere, and ruin to so many others that the Senate 
 resorted to a cunning device to render the promise of the 
 Doge of no effect. It was decreed that all public execu- 
 tions should occur " between the Columns," which made 
 the place of such ill omen that no one could be enticed 
 to come there for any " chance " that could be offered. 
 
 As the criminals mounted the scaffold, they were accus- 
 tomed to turn and look at a Byzantine Madonna, high on 
 the wall of San Marco, and repeat the Salve Regina. A 
 lamp burns before this Madonna at night to commemorate 
 the remorse of the Ten for having unjustly executed 
 Giovanni Grassi in 1611. Ten years later the truth was 
 known; a pardon was published, and this Madonna set 
 up in remembrance of Grassi, and as a warning against 
 hasty and unjust judgments. 
 
 The Piazzetta has well been called the antechamber of 
 the Piazza. It is the chief resort of the gondoliers ; and 
 at all hours of the day there is a procession of men, 
 women, and children, carrying water from the Ducal 
 Palace, the best water in all Venice. The two splen- 
 did bronze cisterns from which the water is taken are 
 more than three centuries old ; and besides the debt due 
 them for good water, an almost equal one is owing them 
 as the centre of the picturesqueness by which they are 
 daily surrounded. 
 
 Entering by the splendid Porta della Carta, one sees
 
 THE TREASURES OF THE PIAZZA. 269 
 
 these cisterns in the midst of the great inner court, the 
 four fa9ades of which are covered with reliefs and figures 
 that symbolize Christianity and mythology with appar- 
 ently equal approbation. Mars and Neptune seem quite 
 at ease in the society of Adam and Eve ; and such a wilder- 
 ness of boughs and plants, of blossoms and vines, and 
 such numbers of griffins, fawns, and goats as can rarely 
 be seen with a coup d'ceil make a bewildering w r hole 
 which may well be studied in detail. But great powers 
 of concentration are needed if much of this is not forgot- 
 ten while observing the moving, living actors in the scene 
 around these wells. 
 
 The water-bearers come and go, carrying vessels of all 
 sizes, forms, and colors. Some who are strong and seem 
 to be in haste quickly fill their cans and jars, and go 
 away. Others, more at leisure, put down their burdens 
 and stay to tell and hear the gossip of the day. The 
 variety of faces, young and old, of dress and manners, 
 and especially of gestures, is most remarkable. The two 
 distinctive charms of this court, the artistic past and the 
 picturesque present, make it always fascinating, no mat- 
 ter how often seen; and if one would here study Rizzo 
 and Sansovino, it is sometimes necessary to shut the eyes 
 and think of what is to be done, or the human nature of 
 to-day will prove itself far more absorbing than the 
 sculpture of the past. 
 
 But the treasure-house of rare and precious antiques in 
 Venice is the Basilica of San Marco. On the exterior, 
 besides the Bronze Horses, there are numerous fragments 
 from more ancient edifices which bear witness to the good 
 taste and the acquisitiveness of the old Venetians. Within 
 and without are more than five hundred pillars of rare 
 marbles, mostly Oriental. During the building of the 
 Basilica all Venetian vessels that sailed to the East were 
 obliged to bring back a contribution to San Marco. Many
 
 270 THE QUEEN OF THE ADRIATIC. 
 
 of the pillars in the facade have Armenian and Syriac 
 inscriptions, having once adorned older edifices; and 
 tablets with ancient sculptures, of which no history can 
 be given, are inserted in the walls. Of the three doors 
 which open from the vestibule into the church, that on 
 the right is believed to have been taken from St. Sophia, 
 in 1203; and the eight marble columns on each side this 
 entrance came from the same temple. An ancient Greek 
 altar, with bas-reliefs of dolphins and children, supports 
 the basin for holy water; and within the baptistery the 
 mass of granite which forms the altar is said to be the 
 stone on which Christ stood when he preached to the peo- 
 ple of Tyre, or, as another tradition says, upon which he 
 rested by the gate of Tyre, whence it was brought to 
 Venice in 1126 by the Doge Domenico Michieli. 
 
 The Pala d' Oro is a remarkable specimen of Byzantine 
 art. It is only seen on high festival days, when the can- 
 dles are lighted in front of the high altar, in the splendid 
 candelabra given by the Doge Cristoforo Moro in the 
 middle of the fifteenth century. 
 
 This altar screen was 'originally intended to decorate 
 the front of the altar. It was ordered to be made in 
 Constantinople by the Doge Pietro Orseolo in 976, and 
 was not brought to Venice until 1105, when it was 
 enlarged and enriched by Venetian artists, and this pro- 
 cess repeated in 1209 and 1345. Naturally the splendor 
 it has gained detracts from its original value. It was 
 Byzantine; it is now also Gothic and Venetian. The 
 inscriptions are both in Greek and Latin; and, on the 
 whole, it is inferior in workmanship to other specimens 
 of European gold and enamel work of the Middle Ages. 
 That portion which was made in Constantinople consists 
 of a picture in enamel or gold, enriched with chasing, 
 pearls, cameos, and precious stones. This Pala is a fitting 
 symbol of the Basilica, which is as composite in its archi-
 
 Interior of San Marco; Entrance to tbe Choir.
 
 THE TREASURES OF THE PIAZZA. 271 
 
 lecture and as incongruous in its detail as it is splendid 
 and imposing as a whole. 
 
 The canopy above the altar of the Holy Sacrament is 
 supported by four spiral fluted pillars, said to have been 
 brought from the Temple of Solomon. The bronzes by 
 the Italian masters, here and there all over the Basil- 
 ica, are of great interest. They date from the twelfth 
 century, two of the doors from the vestibule into the 
 church having been executed between 1100 and 1112. 
 The five outer doors, made by the Venetian goldsmith 
 Bertuccio, were finished in 1300. The bronze tomb of 
 Cardinal Zeno is a magnificent specimen of the art of 
 Lombardo and Leopardo (1505-15). It was decreed by the 
 Republic to be placed in the chapel which the Cardinal 
 had built. The statue of the Cardinal, surrounded by 
 figures symbolic of his virtues, the lovely Madonna della 
 Scarpa (golden shoe), with Saints Peter and John the 
 Baptist, the two lions in colored marbles, and the mosaics 
 of the twelfth century, make this chapel a wonderful 
 treasure-house, and a worthy tribute to one who loved his 
 Venice with supreme affection. 
 
 The Treasury of St. Mark once contained the finest col- 
 lection of Byzantine jewelry in the world; and despite 
 the demands made on it by the Republic in its emergen- 
 cies, and the ravages of the robbers of 1797, it is still 
 rich. It contains interesting reliquaries, chalices, cups, 
 and similar objects in crystal, Oriental agate, gold, and 
 silver, ornamented with enamels and precious stones. 
 The reliquary containing a portion of the True Cross was 
 given to St. Sophia, in 1120, by the Empress Irene. 
 Among the other remarkable relics, all of which are in 
 rich and costly reliquaries, are said to be a morsel of the 
 skull of Saint John the Baptist and a bone from the arm 
 of Saint George. 
 
 The altar of the Virgin Mary is continually surrounded
 
 272 THE QUEEN OF THE ADRIATIC. 
 
 by worshippers. A picture of the Virgin, believed to 
 have been painted by Saint Luke, is there. It is usually 
 veiled ; but on certain festival days it is taken into the 
 Piazza, also on occasions of plagues or other public afflic- 
 tions, and there the people flock to make their prayers 
 and vows. 
 
 But the most distinctive and interesting study in this 
 Basilica is that of its mosaics. So numerous are they 
 that much devoted attention must be given by one who 
 would fully comprehend their order and meaning. Noth- 
 ing less than Mr. Ruskin's exhaustive treatise on them 
 is worthy to be offered to an intelligent student of sym- 
 bolism in art; and although one derives great pleasure 
 from the more superficial knowledge of these works, Mr. 
 Ruskin speaks truly when he says that an understand- 
 ing of the mosaics changes the whole impression and 
 atmosphere of the Basilica. Having shown that the 
 mosaics give an historical epitome of Christ's teaching, 
 he says: 
 
 "And this thought may dispose the reader to look with some 
 change of temper upon the gorgeous building and wild blazonry 
 of that shrine of S. Mark's. He now perceives that it was in 
 the hearts of the old Venetian people far more than a place of 
 worship. It was at once a type of the Redeemed Church of 
 God and a scroll for the written word of God. It was to them 
 both an image of the Bride, all glorious within, her clothing of 
 wrought gold, and the actual Table of the Law and the Testi- 
 mony, written within and without. And whether honored as 
 the Church or as the Bible, was it not fitting that neither the 
 gold nor the crystal should be spared in the adornment of it; 
 that, as the symbol of the Bride, the building of the wall 
 thereof should be of jasper, and the foundations of it garnished 
 with all manner of precious stones; and that, as the channel of 
 the Word, the triumphant utterance of the Psalmist should be 
 true of it, 'I have rejoiced in the way of thy testimonies, as 
 much as in all riches '? "
 
 Torre dell' Or ol agio ; Cloc A /
 
 THE TREASURES OF THE PIAZZA. 273 
 
 In spite of the lavishness of gold, of red, and all the 
 varied tones of marbles, bronzes, and mosaics with which 
 San Marco abounds, there are few churches so severe and 
 profoundly impressive. The mystical half-light which 
 pervades it converts what might be a tawdry blaze into 
 harmonious poesy of color, full of the sentiment of impas- 
 sioned religion. All of spiritual emotion and aspiration 
 is here expressed. One forgets the detail and remem- 
 bers the whole, loses the actual in the ideal, and thanks 
 God that in this modern, bustling, materialistic nine- 
 teenth century there still exist " an assemblage of saints, 
 an infinite history, an entire legendary Paradise," like 
 those of San Marco. 
 
 Again in the Piazza, and in the midst of its present 
 life. If it be early morning, it is almost deserted, save 
 for the softly cooing and carefully stepping pigeons. At 
 ten or eleven o'clock it is full of practical life. The shops 
 are brilliant with jewels, glassware, beads, laces, and 
 innumerable objects of use and uselessness. There are 
 many sellers and buyers of all sorts of ambulating mer- 
 chandise, from turtles and other shell fish, vegetables 
 and fruits, hardware and matches, to the lovely nosegays 
 and toothsome caramel. Gentlemen are persecuted by per- 
 sistent shoeblacks and men who mysteriously whisper of 
 Havana cigars, while the tourists, with red guide-books 
 in hand, impatiently wave off both these intruders, and 
 the guides who offer their services, and rush on to the 
 Basilica or Palace, as if they feared that these wonders 
 would disappear before their eyes. Oh, this wearisome 
 hurry ! At noon the energy of the venders is somewhat 
 subdued, and they are glad to seek the shade of the 
 arcades ; and in the early afternoon, when all the world 
 is taking its luncheon or its siesta, when the pavement is 
 burning beneath the sun, the Piazza is again almost 
 deserted. 
 
 18
 
 274 THE QUEEN OF THE ADRIATIC. 
 
 But with the evening, from all parts of the city, come 
 those who wish to see the world, to hear the music of the 
 military bands, to dine at the cafe's, and meet the friends 
 they are likely to find there. And soon the Piazza is like 
 an immense salon, brilliantly lighted, full of guests of 
 many sorts, from the elegantly dressed ladies with their 
 attendant cavaliers, to the plainly dressed traveller and 
 the unobtrusive Venetians, who come to gaze at all who 
 throng their dear Piazza. The flower-girls, in pretty cos- 
 tumes, offer their nosegays with a deprecating air, which 
 is irresistible. When the band stops playing, strolling 
 musicians sing, or play the violin and harp. The bril- 
 liant cafe's are thronged, and hundreds of men and women, 
 who surround the little tables in the square, leisurely 
 enjoy their sorbets, sip the delicious coffee, and smoke the 
 Oriental tobacco. It will be midnight, perhaps some 
 hours after that, when the Piazza is again silent, " when 
 a bright sleep is on each storied pile," when the only 
 sounds are the soft lapping of the water at the end of the 
 Piazzetta and the distant music of some belated gondolier 
 who sings, as ever, 
 
 " Venite all' agile, Barchetta mia, 
 Santa Lucia, Santa Lucia! "
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 GLORY, HUMILIATION, FREEDOM. 
 
 ALL historians agree that the fifteenth century was the 
 period of the greatest luxury and magnificence of 
 Venice. In 1457 it seemed that the Republic would 
 inarch on to greater power over a larger territory than 
 had yet been held by any one of the North Italian States. 
 Brescia, Bergamo, and Ravenna were securely hers. She 
 was attempting to cross the Adda to the west, and to 
 encroach upon the Romagna on the south. Could there 
 have been peace anywhere, at home or abroad, could 
 she have had a respite in which to think and plan her 
 policy, she might have succeeded in becoming a powerful 
 territorial State ; but no such breathing-spell was possible. 
 All Italy was in a ferment. Each power sought to lessen 
 the strength of its neighbor. Political combinations were 
 made, apparently only to be broken. Everything was in 
 dire confusion, and Venice would have had more than 
 she could do to carry herself advantageously in her own 
 nation, when the Turks, by their conquest of Constanti- 
 nople, threatened her with the death of her commerce, 
 which was essentially her death as a Republic, since on 
 that she depended for her revenue to enable her to main- 
 tain herself against all enemies at home and abroad. 
 
 For sixteen years Venice was continually at war in the 
 East. While, in fact, all Europe was vitally interested 
 in the outcome of this struggle, yet all Europe failed to 
 offer any aid to Venice. It was assumed that since the
 
 276 THE QUEEN OF THE ADRIATIC. 
 
 Republic had so largely profited by her relations in the 
 Levant, she alone must bear the burden of the struggle. 
 In the beginning she had promises of support, but all 
 these failed her at the outset. She spent men and money, 
 and fought with her accustomed bravery until she had no 
 more to give. Then, in 1479, she made the best terms 
 for peace that were possible, only to be cursed for perfidy 
 to Christianity, and to be accused of cowardly submission 
 to the Turks, in order to use all her strength to increase 
 her territory on the mainland of Italy. 
 
 Unfortunately this accusation seemed to be well 
 founded, when, in 1481, the Republic declared war 
 against Ferrara, whose territory separated Venice from 
 her own dependency of Ravenna. The Venetians were 
 most patriotic in the support of this war. They wished 
 to reinstate themselves in their own good opinion after 
 all their humiliation in the East, and with the support of 
 the Pope all went to their advantage in the beginning. 
 But soon Sixtus IV. not only abandoned them, but placed 
 them under an interdict because they did not lay down 
 their arms at his request; and in the end the peace of 
 Bagnolo was made in 1484, the Republic having gained 
 very little in return for the vast expense of 1,200,000 
 ducats, great losses of men and ships, and a mortification 
 of her pride which vastly increased the bitterness of the 
 result. All these misfortunes occurred at the time when 
 travellers and chroniclers who wrote of Venice failed to 
 find words rich enough in their meaning to convey the 
 just impression of the magnificence of the " Queen of the 
 Adriatic, " the time of which Brown says : 
 
 "And yet, while the Republic was really hurling headlong 
 to its ruin, the outward pomp, the glory, the splendor of Venice 
 were just beginning to attract the eyes of Europe, blinding 
 many Venetians and all foreigners to the real aspect of the situa- 
 tion. Venice was acquiring her reputation as the city of mag-
 
 GLORY, HUMILIATION, FREEDOM. 277 
 
 nificent private life, the city of ' masks and balls begun at 
 midnight, burning ever to midday;* the city, too, of sfrenata 
 lasciva, the 'Gehenna of the Waters.' This is the period when 
 her great palaces arose, in all their pomp of balcony and pillared 
 windows and frescoed faqades, along the Grand Canal; when 
 Vivarini, Carpaccio, and Bellini were preluding to Titian, Gior- 
 gione, Tintoret; when Bessarion presented his priceless codices 
 to the Marician Library; when the colony of Greek Scribes was 
 endeavoring to hold its own against the new invention of print- 
 ing, against John of Speyer's ' Epistolae Familiares ' and 
 Jenson's 'Ad Atticum ; ' when Aldus, by his brilliant, ear- 
 nest, passionate scholarship, and his practical acumen in the 
 conduct of his press, began to render the Greek classics the 
 common property of mankind. 
 
 "It would seem that just as the rapid extension of Venice 
 on the mainland under Francesco Foscari was the blossom of all 
 her long centuries of physical and constitutional growth, so the 
 sudden artistic expansion of the later fifteenth century was the 
 flowering of Venice in the intellectual and emotional region. 
 The bloom presaged decay. Death was already at the roots 
 before the flower had opened to its fullest splendor." 
 
 Before the end of this century another event unfortu- 
 nate for Venice, but a blessing to all the world besides 
 was added to the misfortunes which had followed her in 
 the Levant and on the mainland. In 1486 Diaz rounded 
 the Cape of Good Hope ; and two years later, when the 
 news of Vasco di Gama's voyage was received, all intelli- 
 gent Venetians knew that a fatal blow had fallen on their 
 commerce. Its death might be a lingering one, but it 
 was sure. Of this Brown says : 
 
 " A new commercial route was opened to the world. Instead 
 of passing up the Ked Sea and across the Isthmus of Suez, or up 
 the Persian Gulf and through Asia Minor, breaking bulk at 
 Ormuz or at Suez, and being shipped again for European des- 
 tinations at Alexandria or Aleppo, all the wealth of fehe Indies 
 could now be carried in unbroken cargoes round the Cape of
 
 278 THE QUEEN OF THE ADRIATIC. 
 
 Good Hope, to be discharged in the harbors of Holland, of the 
 Hanseatic towns, of England. The Mediterranean instantly 
 ceased to be the sole highway of communication between the 
 East and West; the great commercial thoroughfare was now 
 thrown outside the Straits of Gibraltar; and Venice, in whose 
 hands Mediterranean traffic had become almost a monopoly, suf- 
 fered a blow such as all her struggles with Genoa and all the 
 victories of the Turks had hitherto failed to inflict." 
 
 In the Diaries of Priuli we read that on the receipt 
 of the news of Di Gama's voyage the whole city was 
 astounded; and the wisest Venetians agreed that never 
 before had any information been so deplorable, nor could 
 any other ever excel it in importance. Priuli continues : 
 
 "For it is well known that Venice reached her height of 
 reputation and riches through her commerce alone, which 
 brought foreigners to the city in great numbers; and now by 
 this new route the spice cargoes will be taken straight to Lis- 
 bon, where the Hungarians, Germans, Flemish, and French will 
 flock to buy them; they will find the goods cheaper in Lisbon 
 than they can be in Venice, for before the freights can reach 
 Venice by the old route, they have to pay exorbitant dues for 
 transit through Syria and the lauds of the Soldan of Egypt." 
 
 Lisbon was soon the mart to which all the northern 
 merchants resorted ; and the Florentines profited by this 
 change to the exclusion of the Venetians, who suffered 
 from three causes. They did not dare at once to break 
 their commercial relations with the Sultan, who was, in 
 a way, interested to defend Venice from the Turk ; and, 
 moreover, he had in his power the warehouses of the 
 Venetians at Cairo and Alexandria, filled with a wealth 
 of Eastern products. Again, they could not pass the 
 Straits of Gibraltar without paying levies on their ships 
 to Spain; and even if they did this, the northern men 
 would soon forsake the dangers and toils of crossing the
 
 GLORY, HUMILIATION, FREEDOM. 279 
 
 Alps for the less perilous and more comfortable voyage to 
 Lisbon. 
 
 This overwhelming commercial misfortune was soon 
 followed by the culmination of events which had been 
 threatening political perils to Venice ever since she had 
 indulged her desire for possessions on Terra Firma, as it 
 was expressed. The many leagues and combinations, 
 made apparently but to be broken, the sending and 
 receiving of ambassadors, the vague replies and dip- 
 lomatic avoidance of yea and nay, all resulted in the 
 League concluded at Cambray in 1508. Here France, 
 Spain, the Emperor Maximilian, the Pope, the Dukes of 
 Ferrara and Savoy, and the King of Hungary were all 
 combined against the Republic, or against what the pre- 
 amble to the treaty called "the insatiable cupidity of the 
 Venetians and their thirst for dominion." This is not 
 the place to trace the steps, through a quarter of a century 
 and more, by which all these powers and others had 
 gradually crushed the prestige of Venice, in Italy, out- 
 side her own lagoons, as essentially as the Turks had 
 destroyed her Levantine precedence. 
 
 Meantime, in all these years of slow poison and decline, 
 few Venetians had recognized their danger, few had fore- 
 seen the end. Men of courage and devoted patriotism 
 were not wanting. There was still great individual 
 wealth, and it would have been given to the ever-beloved 
 Venice with cheerful alacrity; but the complications 
 were so many, and followed each other so rapidly, that 
 the government was unable to hold itself clearly above 
 these circumstances, and organize a policy which should 
 reinstate the Republic, even in part. When in 1499 the 
 Grand Vizier said to the agent of the Republic, "You can 
 tell the Doge that he has done wedding the sea ; it is our 
 turn now," he but told the brutal truth, as did Malipiero 
 when, speaking of the Italian wars, he said, " We shall have 
 to beg for peace and restore all we have acquired. "
 
 280 THE QUEEN OF THE ADRIATIC. 
 
 It would seem, too, that a sort of madness blinded the 
 Venetians to their true condition. They acted as if the 
 mines of Golconda were beneath their Piazza, and they 
 had but to go in by their private entrance and draw upon 
 inexhaustible wealth. After sixteen years of a losing 
 war with the Turks, when the Ducal Palace was destroyed, 
 the proposal to build a much larger and more magnificent 
 palace found much favor; and at this very time Venice 
 was impoverished. 
 
 The League of Cambray, to put it in a word, simply 
 divided among its members all the possessions of the Re- 
 public outside the city of Venice and its lagoon islands. 
 France proceeded to carry out the treaty at once, and was 
 so successful that by the first of June Sanudo wrote in his 
 chronicles that, except the towns of Asola, Crema, and 
 Pizzighettone not a town in Lombardy remained to Venice. 
 "All the rest is lost, yielded to the French without 
 drawing sword." 
 
 Venice prepared for a blockade. The French had 
 nearly fulfilled all the provisions of the League, and the 
 Venetians might well fear the next steps. But the 
 remarkable activity of the French did not altogether 
 please the Pope, Julius II. He had by their aid recovered 
 the territory of the Church, and so felt no further need of 
 their presence in Italy ; and before long he deserted the 
 League and allied himself with Venice, and afterward 
 they were joined by Spain in an alliance which the Pope 
 called "Holy." This was in 1511; and after various 
 battles, which resulted in no good to the Republic, she in 
 turn deserted the "Holy League," and became the ally 
 of France by the treaty of Blois, in 1513. Again fierce 
 battles were fought; again the French retired, leaving the 
 Venetians alone. Cardona, the leader of the army of the 
 Holy League, pushed down to the shores of the lagoon, 
 burning the Venetian towns in his progress, and even
 
 GLORY, HUMILIATION, FREEDOM. 281 
 
 pointing his cannon against Venice, and firing a few 
 shots. 
 
 But the same lagoons that had defeated all her enemies 
 from the time of the Huns still protected her. She was 
 impregnable; and Cardona was forced to retire, as the 
 Genoese had done long years before. During 1514 the 
 Venetian territory was the scene of marching and counter- 
 marching, with little or no result; when in 1515 Louis 
 XII. died, and Francis I. at once declared himself Duke 
 of Milan, and so conducted his affairs in Italy that the 
 Peace of Brussels, in which Venice was included, was 
 signed in 1516. This virtually ended the effects of the 
 League of Cambray, and Venice again resumed her former 
 territory on the mainland. 
 
 The struggles between Francis and Charles V. made 
 little difference to the Republic, except that Charles 
 demanded 80,000 ducats, which were paid; and in his set- 
 tlement of Italy in 1529 he left Venice with her frontier 
 where Carmagnola had fixed it, on the Adda; there it 
 remained so long as the Republic endured. She was able 
 to congratulate herself that she was still an independent 
 power, although enfeebled beyond recovery. 
 
 And now her former strength was replaced by the only 
 weapon left to her, diplomacy. The Council of Ten and 
 the Three Inquisitors became all-powerful; while the 
 slightest alarm raised a panic of fear and excitement, and 
 secrecy, vigilance, silence, and mystery were relied on 
 to preserve her existence, which actually depended on 
 two circumstances, first, her impregnable position ; and 
 second, the jealousy between other powers, which would 
 not permit any one of them to appropriate her possessions 
 on Terra Firma. 
 
 The Venetian characteristic which proved to be "the 
 ruling passion, strong in death," her love of ceremonies 
 and pleasure, was in no wise modified through all these
 
 282 THE QUEEN OF THE ADRIATIC. 
 
 troublous years. It would seem like dancing on its own 
 grave, when at the wedding of Jacopo Foscari the ambas- 
 sadors of the members of the League of Cambray were 
 entertained with magnificent spectacles, while Brescia 
 and Bergamo, Verona and Vicenza were in the hands of 
 these very enemies. The gayety of the life and the safety 
 of her position made Venice a desirable asylum to those 
 who hated war. She was the only Italian city that had 
 never been at the mercy of a brutal enemy; and many 
 came to her for safety, as Petrarch had done. Art flour- 
 ished ; every comfort and luxury of living could be had. 
 Great license of conduct was allowed; indeed, save com- 
 mitting a political fault, a man of wealth could do almost 
 anything he chose, as private crimes seemed to be matters 
 of indifference. In fact, Venice spared no pains to stand 
 before the world as an attractive resort, a city of pageants 
 and pleasure, to which all were made welcome. 
 
 From the Peace of Brussels in 1516 to the peace with 
 the Turks in 1573 there is little to record to the glory of 
 the Republic. In the war of the Valtelline and in that of 
 the Spanish succession she simply strove to preserve her 
 neutrality, and succeeded, but at the expense of having 
 her territory overrun by both armies and submitting to 
 humiliation in silence. 
 
 In 1537 a third war broke out with the Turks, and was 
 concluded by a peace in 1540, which was ruinous to 
 Venice in the further loss of territory in the Levant. 
 This treaty was made with Suleiman the Magnificent; 
 and when at his death, in 1566, Selim the Drunkard 
 became Sultan, he at once determined to seize on Cyprus, 
 and demanded its surrender on the plea that it was a 
 dependency of Mecca. In its weakness the Republic 
 appealed for help to the Pope, who promised that all 
 Europe should give its support. But the usual disap- 
 pointment was repeated, the assistance was meagre,
 
 GLORY, HUMILIATION, FREEDOM. 283 
 
 and the delay in sending it was such that although the 
 cities of Nicosia and Famagosta made a stout resistance, 
 and the Venetian commandants did all that brave men 
 could do, hoping for relief from day to day, yet Cyprus 
 was conquered by the Turks without a Venetian fleet 
 coming within sight of the island. The details of the 
 defence, and of the sufferings of the Italians at the hands 
 of the barbarous Turks, are too heart-sickening for 
 repetition. 
 
 At length the allied fleet of the Venetians, Spaniards, 
 and Papal forces, when all too late to save Cyprus, 
 encountered the Ottoman fleet off Lepanto, and a desper- 
 ate battle for five hours resulted in a splendid victory for 
 the allies. The Turks lost thirty thousand men and one 
 hundred and seventeen galleys, while the Christians lost 
 eight thousand. Sebastian Venier won great renown for 
 himself and the Kepublic; and Venice had the supreme 
 joy of once again celebrating a victory and hearing a Te 
 Deum in San Marco. The Venetians desired to press on 
 at once to Constantinople, having a reasonable hope, after 
 such a defeat, of crushing the power of the infidel; but 
 the allies would not consent, and Don John of Austria 
 took his ships into winter quarters. By spring the Turks 
 were ready with a fleet of two hundred and ten sail. 
 Venice could not contend with them alone, and in the end 
 made a peace which, together with Cyprus, contented the 
 Turk for a time. 
 
 In 1574 Henry III. arrived in Venice, on his way from 
 Poland to France, and afforded the Venetians an excuse 
 for one of their dearly loved pageants. Everything was 
 done to make the occasion impressive and magnificent. 
 His attendants were young nobles of high rank. He was 
 received under a triumphal arch designed by Palladio 
 and painted by Veronese and Tintoretto. He was lodged 
 in the Foscari Palace, with the two adjoining palaces of
 
 284 THE QUEEN OF THE ADRIATIC. 
 
 the Giustiniani also at his service. A large platform 
 floated on the canal before the palace, to accommodate the 
 comedians by day and the musicians at night. A regatta, 
 a banquet and ball, and other spectacles afforded him 
 entertainment; and he left Venice as he might have left 
 an enchanted island, intoxicated with its pleasures and 
 beauties. 
 
 It may readily be seen that after the peace with the 
 Turks, so different in spirit from what the Venetians had 
 been accustomed to, there were constant difficulties aris- 
 ing between the vessels of the two powers, and it was 
 impossible for the Republic to prevent such acts on tin; 
 part of her seamen as might give any Ottoman prince an 
 excuse for a declaration of war. But by the payment of 
 indemnities and other pacific measures peace was main- 
 tained during more than seventy years, when the Sultan 
 Ibrahim determined to take Candia, the last important 
 stronghold of the Venetians in the Levant. 
 
 The Sultan alleged that the Knights of Malta had seized 
 a Turkish vessel that was carrying pilgrims, and had 
 then touched at Candia; and although the Governor of 
 Candia had warned the Maltese off, it served the Sultan 
 as the excuse that he desired for attacking the island. 
 Well understanding this, Venice at once did all in her 
 power to garrison and provision Candia, although the 
 preparations were quite inadequate. 
 
 In 1645 the Turks began a war which endured nearly 
 twenty-five years, in which time many brave deeds were 
 done, and the true old Venetian spirit maintained itself 
 in spite of the greatest discouragements, losses, and suf- 
 ferings. Their determined defence of Candia interested 
 all the world ; and more than once succor was sent from 
 France, and the solid ranks of the Mussulmans were 
 impetuously assaulted to no purpose. Other nations were 
 fired with admiration of the splendid resistance these
 
 GLORY, HUMILIATION, FREEDOM. 285 
 
 Christians were making, and determined to send them 
 aid, but all too late. "The Republic was dying; but 
 dying gloriously here in the Levant, the earliest, as it 
 was the latest, scene of all her solid triumphs. " 
 
 Lazzaro Mocenigo, the brave commander of the fleet, 
 after many splendid deeds, was killed by the explosion 
 of his magazine. After an interval the great Francesco 
 Morosini was made admiral. He was the last of the 
 Venetian seamen to uphold the ancient fame of his coun- 
 try upon the seas, but it was his sad fate to end this 
 struggle by negotiation instead of victory. The terms 
 were honorable. Candia was surrendered ; but the guns, 
 the people, the sacred vessels, and the ammunition were 
 removed to the Venetian fleet, and the roadstead of Suda 
 remained to Venice. Morosini also made a peace between 
 the Republic and the Sultan. This was in 1669, and 
 Venice was on the brink of financial ruin. 
 
 Sixteen years later Morosini was again in command 
 against the Turks, who had threatened attacks on Albania. 
 The Admiral now conceived the idea of reconquering the 
 Morea, in which he succeeded. He bombarded Athens in 
 1688, when one of his bombs set fire to a powder magazine 
 within the Parthenon, and ruined the temple. He was 
 recalled to Venice by the news that he had been elected 
 Doge in recognition of his services ; but he soon returned 
 to the Morea, where matters were not progressing to his 
 satisfaction. His embarkation in 1693 afforded almost 
 the last of the great solemnities of the Republic, which 
 proved to be also the last honor to Morosini, for he died 
 at Nauplia very soon after his arrival, worn out with age 
 and long service of Venice. 
 
 The results of his conquests were of small account to 
 the Republic. She had lost her power to maintain dis- 
 tant provinces ; and finally, in 1718, all her long struggles 
 in the Levant were ended by the final resignation of her
 
 286 THE QUEEN OF THE ADRIATIC. 
 
 claims to the Morea. But she did not forget to emblazon 
 the name of Francesco Morosini, the hero of her last con- 
 flicts on that sea of which she was so long the proud 
 mistress, on the walls of the Sala dello Scrutinio. 
 
 We have already considered the Council of Ten, and 
 defended it against some of the accusations which have 
 been too frequently made against it. During the first 
 two centuries of its existence it became enormously 
 important. The State retained the management of the 
 navy and army, of finance, and, in a certain sense, of 
 diplomacy; but all urgent or unusual business was left to 
 the Ten, who could call any case before its court, could 
 make special expenditures, and could privately instruct 
 ambassadors, extensive powers, which made it the 
 essential ruler of Venice, and the last two centuries and 
 a half of the constitutional history of the Republic is 
 simply the story of a growing opposition to the power of 
 the Ten. 
 
 In the early days of its existence, when a difficult 
 question was before the Ten, that body was accustomed to 
 appeal to the Senate for assistance from some of its num- 
 ber, appointed to the duty. These men formed what 
 came to be known as the Giunta, or Zonta; and having but 
 a temporary connection with the Ten, they were as likely 
 to disapprove their course as to be content with it. But 
 in 1529 this Zonta became a permanent body, and was 
 composed of the most prominent members of each of the 
 other councils of the State. Thus, if the action of the 
 Ten was questioned, it was defended by the most powerful 
 men of the Republic, and more and more was able to 
 enlarge its office and increase its absolutism. 
 
 The first serious outbreak against the Ten occurred when 
 that body clearly overstepped its province, and asked 
 the Doge Foscari to resign. Legally such a request must 
 come from the vote of the Great Council, with the advice
 
 GLORY, HUMILIATION, FREEDOM. 287 
 
 of the Ducal Council. These councils resented the action 
 of the Ten ; and its authority was declared to be limited 
 to delicate and secret matters, which might be submitted 
 to its consideration. These limitations were made in 
 1468, but were of little effect. We find in 1483 that it 
 was the Ten who decided on the conduct of the Ferrarese 
 war, and in 1508 it was the same power that took up and 
 decided the questions which resulted from the League of 
 Cambray. 
 
 A few years later a new departure was made by the 
 Ten. In 1537 they delegated a part of their duties, the 
 care of the public morals, to Esecutori contra la Bestem- 
 mia. This having been allowed, two years later the 
 Three Inquisitors of State were created. The special 
 duty of the Three was to deal with treason, which seemed 
 to abound, as the state secrets were constantly communi- 
 cated to the ambassadors of various countries. After the 
 League of Cambray took effect, the Venetians relied 
 solely on their diplomacy. If this could not be conducted 
 with secrecy, their ship of state was without a rudder; 
 and the repeated violation of this secrecy led to the belief 
 that even Ten was too large a body to be trusted. The 
 Three Inquisitors had all the powers of the Ten, except 
 that they were obliged to report their sentences to the 
 Great Council. They soon became very objectionable to 
 the corrupt nobility, into whose morals they had the right 
 to inquire ; and the hatred for the Ten, and even more for 
 the Three, constantly increased. The first real difficulty, 
 however, did not occur until 1582, when the feeling 
 developed into hostility between the Great Council and 
 the Ten, and was never allayed during the existence of 
 the Republic. 
 
 The dread of Spain, of Spanish plots and Spanish gold, 
 had almost paralyzed the government ever after Cambray ; 
 and when, at the beginning of the seventeenth century,
 
 288 THE QUEEN OF THE ADRIATIC. 
 
 Venice was involved in a quarrel with Paul V., the Ten 
 and the Inquisitors fully believed that the Pope would 
 employ the army of Spain to reduce Venice to obedience 
 to him. In 1612 one of the Inquisitors wrote in his 
 memoranda: "Right piteous is our condition. Alone we 
 cannot resist. Allies we have not, neither ready enough 
 nor warm enough. Treaties we cannot construct upon 
 any terms which are not ruinous to us." 
 
 Six years later all the fears inspired by the Spaniards 
 were justified when the Spanish conspiracy was dis- 
 covered. The Viceroy of Naples, Duke of Ossuna, and 
 the Spanish ambassador at Venice, Marquis of Bedmar, 
 were suspected of being the chiefs in the plot. Giacomo 
 Pierre was at the head of the disreputable company of 
 questionable characters, who were their agents, consist- 
 ing of bravi, mercenaries, and other broken-down men 
 who went frequently to the house of the ambassador. 
 Pierre, however, betrayed enough of the plot to the 
 Venetian Resident at Naples, Spinelli, to cause him to 
 send Pierre, with his friends Regnault and Langlade, 
 to Venice. They were there left free, but constantly 
 watched. Pierre had alleged the plot to be the seizure of 
 Venice. The boats of Ossuna were to enter the lagoon at 
 Malamocco, steal up to the Piazzetta by night, and with 
 the aid of confederates already there secure command of 
 the city. Ossuna's fleet was certainly in the Adriatic, 
 but it did not approach Venice. 
 
 At length, by a counterplot, a full knowledge of all 
 Pierre's plans was brought to the Doge. Three of the 
 conspirators were strangled, and hanged by one leg to the 
 gibbet between the Columns. The effect was magical. 
 At the sight of these three bodies, the inns and lodging- 
 houses, which had been full of curious and unaccountable 
 strangers, were immediately deserted. Thus the Spanish 
 conspiracy came to naught ; but it was soon suspected that
 
 GLORY, HUMILIATION, FREEDOM. 289 
 
 some of the Venetian nobles were selling information to 
 the Spaniards, and the discovery of the treason of Giam- 
 battista Bragadin proved these suspicions to be correct. 
 
 Bragadin secured his election to the Senate by a fraud, 
 and by an ingenious method was selling to the Spanish 
 ambassador the secrets of the Council Chamber. He 
 went to the Frari for his devotions, and in a particular 
 faldstool which he used, he left in writmg his communi- 
 cation for the ambassador, which was taken away by a 
 secretary of the embassy. A monk, who was somewhat 
 surprised by the frequent devotions of Bragadin, observed 
 that the secretary always came to the church on the same 
 day with the Senator. This so aroused the curiosity of 
 the monk that he watched the two worshippers until he 
 discovered the secret, took one of these letters out of the 
 faldstool himself, and carried it to the Doge. Bragadin 
 was hanged between the Columns, and the ambassador hur- 
 riedly returned to Spain. In these two cases the conduct 
 of the Ten commended itself to all parties ; but unfortu- 
 nately a sad case of another sort excited a furious hatred 
 of them and of their methods. 
 
 In 1609 Antonio Foscarini, who had been a wise and 
 faithful servant of Venice, was sent as ambassador to 
 England. He had been there but a short time when it 
 was found that the contents of his despatches to Venice 
 were being given to other foreign ambassadors in Eng- 
 land. His secretary was suspected and discharged, his 
 place being supplied by Giulio Muscorno. After a 
 time Muscorno and Foscarini disagreed seriously; and 
 Muscorno took every means to make it appear that Fos- 
 carini was dishonest, and finally, at Venice, declared 
 that the ambassador had himself sold the secrets of the 
 State. The Inquisitors made a long and careful inquiry, 
 which resulted in the acquittal of Foscarini and the 
 imprisonment of Muscorno, in 1618. 
 
 19
 
 290 THE QUEEN OF THE ADRIATIC. 
 
 But Foscarini, having been once suspected, was care- 
 fully watched ; and when Lady Arundel of Wardour, who 
 had been his friend in England, came to Venice for the 
 education of her children, his visits to her house, where 
 the ambassadors of different countries were also fre- 
 quently received, attracted much attention. Girolamo 
 Vano, a professional spy, now accused Foscarini to the 
 Ten. He was arrested and tried for selling state secrets 
 by the Three Inquisitors, who reported him to the Ten as 
 guilty, in April, 1622. He was condemned, as a traitor, 
 to be strangled in prison that night, and to be hanged by 
 one leg between the Columns the next morning. Foscarini 
 calmly dictated his will to his jailer, and died with 
 fortitude. 
 
 But it would have been wiser in the Ten to have buried 
 him privately. The public exposure of his strangled 
 corpse angered the nobility, while it also terrified them ; 
 and when, four months later, it was proved that Foscarini 
 had been an innocent man, the rage against the Ten and 
 the Three was fully justified. Everything possible was 
 done to repair the ghastly error. Girolamo Vano was 
 strangled in his turn. An order was published at home 
 and sent abroad, acknowledging the fatal mistake. The 
 body of Foscarini was exhumed and reburied with all the 
 pomp due a senator; but such an exposure of the Ten abso- 
 lutely forbade confidence in them or their methods. They 
 never recovered from its effect, and their opponents took 
 every advantage of their grave and even criminal blunder. 
 
 The jealousy of the Great Council and the Senate 
 brought about a feeling of opposition to the Ten, which 
 was shared by a large party of the people ; and at length, 
 in 1627, a commission was appointed to revise the laws by 
 which the Ten were governed. From time to time the 
 hostility to the Ten and the Inquisitors was fanned to a 
 brighter flame, and in the eighteenth century the opposi-
 
 GLORY, HUMILIATION, FREEDOM. 291 
 
 tion to them became more active. In 1761 the Great 
 Council refused to elect new members of the Ten ; and it 
 is both sad and amusing that so grave an act should result 
 from a quarrel over a lady's caps ! 
 
 A modiste had made caps for a lady, and failed to please 
 her. A second lady was a friend of a Senator, Angelo 
 Querini, who, in order to please the friend of his friend, 
 procured an order for the expulsion of the cap-maker. 
 The modiste appealed to the Three, and they cancelled the 
 order for expulsion, and declared it unjust. Querini then 
 began to complain of the tyranny of the Inquisitors, and 
 found much sympathy among the nobles. All this so 
 incensed the Three that they resolved to arrest Querini 
 and exile him at Verona ; and this folly gave the Great 
 Council its opportunity to declare its hostility to the Ten 
 and the Three, and to refuse to perpetuate these offices. 
 
 An examination into the affairs of the Ten and the 
 Inquisitors resulted in their triumph; but there was a 
 revolutionary spirit in Venice which was rapidly grow- 
 ing. An order was issued closing cafe's and wine-shops 
 at dark, and forbidding political discussions. The fol- 
 lowing reply to this was posted up: "The company of 
 night thieves thanks the Ten for giving them the oppor- 
 tunity of winning their supper at a reasonable hour." 
 The chief mouthpiece of the liberal party was Giorgio 
 Pisani, and he was bold in the declaration of his opin- 
 ions ; but the Three were too powerful as yet to permit the 
 theories of the Republicans to be thus freely expressed, 
 and Pisani was deported to Verona in 1780. In that year 
 the Doge Paolo Renier said: "If there be any State in 
 the world which absolutely requires concord at home, it 
 is ours. We have no forces, either on land or on sea. 
 We have no alliances. We live by luck, by accident, and 
 solely dependent upon the conception of Venetian pru- 
 dence which others entertain about us. "
 
 292 THE QUEEN OF THE ADRIATIC. 
 
 i 
 
 " How are the mighty fallen ! " What would Sebastiano 
 Ziani, Enrico Dandolo, Pietro Gradenigo, and many 
 another Doge have thought of such a fate as this for the 
 Venice of their love and pride ? 
 
 The time was soon to come when another Doge, deposed 
 by a resolution of the Great Council, should give the 
 beretta to his servant, we may believe with a sense of 
 relief, and say, " Take it away ; we shall not use it any 
 more. " Napoleon had come to relieve him of his cares ; 
 and we cannot doubt that he was half welcome to those 
 who were so weary of the rule of the Ten and the Three, 
 the party who believed in revolution. The efforts made 
 to keep the Republic alive were so feeble as to seem 
 ridiculous. But what could be done without an army, 
 without a navy, and without money ? A deputation was 
 sent to Napoleon, and his reply was sufficiently clear and 
 comprehensive : " I have eighty thousand men and twenty 
 gunboats. I will have no more Inquisitors, no more 
 Senate. I will be an Attila for Venice." 
 
 On May 3, 1797, Bonaparte issued his proclamation: 
 "The Commander-in-Chief requires the French minister 
 to leave Venice ; orders the several agents of the Republic 
 of Venice to leave Lombardy and the Venetian Terra 
 Firma within twenty -four hours ! He orders the different 
 generals of divisions to treat the Venetian troops as 
 enemies, and to destroy the Lion of Saint Mark in all the 
 towns of the Terra Firma." 
 
 The whole government Doge, Senate, the Ten, and the 
 Three seemed to vanish into oblivion. The great Vene- 
 tian Republic fell without a sound. Eight days after the 
 manifesto the tricolor waved above the Piazza, a popu- 
 lar constitution was declared, and a provisional govern- 
 ment established. The Venetian fleet was manned and 
 sent to Toulon. The French took possession of Corfu; 
 and Venice was wholly in the power of France, to be dis-
 
 GLORY, HUMILIATION, FREEDOM. 293 
 
 posed of as might suit the will or the need of that nation. 
 And the need soon came; for when, after a summer of 
 fruitless negotiation with the Emperor of Austria, the 
 snow appeared on the mountains, Napoleon decided to 
 make peace. He would not risk a winter campaign, and 
 said to Bourrienne, "Venice shall be exchanged for the 
 boundary of the Rhine, and thus be made to pay for the 
 war. " 
 
 The treaty was signed at Campo Formio on the 17th of 
 October. The ex-Doge, Lodovico Manin, when taking the 
 oath of allegiance to Austria, sank insensible on the 
 ground, and lived but a few days afterward. Thus he 
 was spared the second humiliation of Venice, when, in 
 January, 1798, the tricolor was replaced by the double- 
 headed eagle, and the days of its captivity and oppression 
 began. 
 
 Venice seemed now to be a make-weight to be used in 
 Napoleonic treaties ; and in 1805, at Presburg, the king- 
 dom of Italy was ceded to its first conqueror, and Venice 
 came within the government of the French Viceroy, 
 Eugene Beauharnais. During ten years northern Italy, 
 while not independent, was awake. New and broader 
 ideas replaced the older theories; and the hearts of the 
 people were filled with aspirations and hopes that were 
 all blasted by the so-called Restoration of 1815, which 
 confirmed a reign of tyranny in Venice. An Austrian 
 Archduke, under Metternich, acted as Viceroy; and a 
 system of secret courts, police spies, barbarous punish- 
 ments, and oppressive taxation was inaugurated. 
 
 Under the French rule Italian soldiers remained at 
 home, or won honors in the wars. Under the Austrians 
 they were sent beyond the Alps, and the white-coated 
 foreign troops held the Venetians as in a prison. The 
 civil offices were filled by Germans, whose harsh gutturals 
 conveyed no meaning, and inspired dislike in the soft-
 
 294 THE QUEEN OF THE ADRIATIC. 
 
 speaking Venetians, who were in turn incomprehensible 
 to these officials. The simplest matters were laboriously 
 referred to the Aulic Council at Vienna. Letters were 
 not safe, since the spies opened them. No redress could 
 be had through the press, which was gagged. The pil- 
 lory, flogging, and other equally barbarous customs were 
 revived ; and, in short, no method was spared that could 
 impress on the Venetians the thought that they were liv- 
 ing and breathing by the permission and according to the 
 will of a cruel tyrant. To quote from "The Dawn of 
 Italian Independence," by W. R. Thayer: 
 
 "The Italian must obey laws imposed upon him by a for- 
 eigner, laws which had been framed without his voice, ,for the 
 benefit of a master who dwelt at Vienna. Were a law good, he 
 hated it because it was a cog in the great wheel of tyranny; were 
 it bad, he hated it because it threatened directly his property, his 
 freedom, or his life. Napoleon's rule had been despotic, but it 
 had been despotic on a grand scale; he had conquered by force; 
 he had opened avenues to glory; he had awakened a virile spirit, 
 and shed round him large and stirring ideas : but these Aus- 
 trians had sneaked into their supremacy; they were arrogant and 
 conceited; their emperor was bigoted, petty, and unyielding; a 
 man who depended on eavesdroppers and tricksters for his in- 
 formation; a man who had not a single heroic attribute, nor 
 uttered, during the course of a long life, a single thought 
 whereby mankind was made stronger or wiser; a martinet, only 
 fitted to be the superintendent of a small reformatory school for 
 juvenile criminals. So to the Italians the contrast between the 
 recent French rule and the present Austrian was typified by the 
 contrast between Napoleon and Francis; but the incompatibility 
 between the two peoples had the deepest source, it sprang 
 from racial antipathy." 
 
 When, in 1848, Metternich was driven from Vienna, 
 and the Austrians from Milan, the Venetians also were 
 ready to demand and to conquer their liberty. Manin, 
 who had been imprisoned a few weeks before, was released,
 
 GLORY, HUMILIATION, FREEDOM. 295 
 
 upon an order from the governor, who dared not refuse it. 
 A few days later he agreed to withdraw with all foreign 
 soldiers, leaving the munitions and public treasure behind. 
 The Venetian Republic, with Manin as President, was at 
 once declared in the Piazza; the Italian tricolor again 
 streamed from the three masts before the cathedral, 
 and without fighting or bloodshed Venice was free. 
 Her oppressors departed; her flag waved over her bor- 
 ders on the south and west. Her independence was rec- 
 ognized by the Consul of the United States ; and all the 
 people, with one accord, assembled in San Marco to 
 thank God and their glorious saint that again Venice was 
 a Republic. 
 
 The Republic was declared on the 22d of March, 1848, 
 and on the 18th of June the Austrians began to draw 
 trenches round Mestre, thus cutting off communication 
 between the mainland and Venice. The National Assem- 
 bly did not meet until July 3, when, after attending Mass 
 in the cathedral, one hundred and thirty-three deputies 
 ascended the Giants' Staircase, and entered the Hall of 
 the Great Council. It was a remarkable gathering, and 
 momentous consequences hung upon its decisions. Thayer 
 
 " If ever the monuments of a splendid Past might inspire 
 men of a later generation \vith a sense, a hallowing sense, 
 of the glory and dignity of which those monuments were the 
 products and witnesses, it would be in that Hall of the Great 
 Council, when those representatives of free Venice met there to 
 determine her fate. Let a deputy look where he would, he sa\v 
 reminders of the strength and beauty of the State which his 
 ancestors had raised to a unique position among the nations of 
 the world. Venice, though built on the shifting mud where 
 sea-gulls made their nests, yet had, through the indomitable 
 courage of her sons, a foundation more permanent than that of 
 rock-born cities; she counted her life, not by decades nor by
 
 296 THE QUEEN OF THE ADRIATIC. 
 
 generations, but by ages, she had been strong when her neigh- 
 bors were weak; she had been civilized when Paris and London 
 were but half-barbarous settlements, and the site of Berlin was 
 a morass; in her great days she had bowed neither to pope nor 
 to emperor; and she had ever been so surpassingly beautiful, 
 floating there on the Adriatic for fourteen hundred years, as 
 delicate and wonderful as a nautilus, yet firm as marble and 
 stancher than the stanchest ship. And now, after fifty years of 
 servitude, she was again free, robed in the glory of her incom- 
 parable Past, and resolutely facing the strange world and perils 
 upon which she had reawakened. No son of hers on that 3d of 
 July could sit in the Great Hall and not feel that his action 
 must not only match the solemn exigencies of the Present, but 
 also be worthy of the city to which forty generations of his an- 
 cestors had consecrated their lives, and to which Dandolo and 
 Morosini, and many another as just and brave as these, had 
 brought the offering of their individual fame." 
 
 The Assembly, after listening to all the arguments for 
 and against the measure, voted to unite with Piedmont, 
 and a deputation was sent to announce this decision to 
 Charles Albert. We will not here recount the unhappy 
 failure of this king, nor the armistice by which Piedmont 
 was again placed under the Austrian yoke. It is enough 
 to say that Venice was left alone, that no help came 
 from France or England; and when, on March 27, 1849, 
 news of the fatal defeat of Charles Albert at Novara was 
 brought to the Venetians, with a summons to surrender, 
 they knew that they must rely on themselves alone. The 
 Assembly voted to resist Austria at any cost, and to give 
 unlimited power to Manin. A red flag was unfurled from 
 the Campanile, as a sign that Venice would resist to the 
 death ; and a copy of the vote was sent to the Austrians 
 without a word of comment. 
 
 Then began the preparations for defence. The condi- 
 tion of the troops was discouraging. There were less
 
 GLORY, HUMILIATION, FREEDOM. 297 
 
 than thirty thousand men, and but two hundred and fifty 
 in the engineer corps. The soldiers had suffered for want 
 of proper food, clothing, and shelter all through the 
 winter, and there was much sickness at the forts in the 
 low, malarial places. But her position gave the inhabi- 
 tants of Venice great courage. At one point alone, the 
 newly completed railway bridge, could she be reached 
 from the land. Much, too, depended on the defence of 
 the fortifications of Brondolo, which overlooked the pas- 
 sage of the Brenta. To prevent a successful attack at 
 these two points, and a blockade by sea, would make 
 Venice impregnable, protected as she was by sand-bars, 
 marshes, pools, and canals. 
 
 The Austrians seemed in no haste; and throughout 
 April the Venetians were busy in fortifying Marghera and 
 in various defensive preparations. They also tried by 
 every argument and offer in their power to persuade Eng- 
 land and France to come to their aid. But on May 4 the 
 attack on Venice began in earnest. As earnest was its 
 defence ; and the experience of the next three months and 
 more is one that merits a far more detailed and careful 
 history than can be given here, such an one as may be 
 found in " The Dawn of Italian Independence. " During 
 those months the heroism, the patriotism, and the devo- 
 tion of the Venetians were such as has not been surpassed. 
 They knew that without aid from some outside power they 
 must at last succumb, not to the Austrians, but to famine 
 and disease. The aid never came. Both French and 
 English men-of-war lay in sight of Venice, beyond the 
 line of danger, watching the bombardment as they might 
 watch a harmless parade. They saw the corpse-laden 
 boats passing and repassing to San Michele. In one 
 week fifteen hundred died of cholera; but when the 
 Venetian director of hospitals asked the French naval 
 commander for medicine, he replied, "That would be
 
 298 THE QUEEN OF THE ADRIATIC. 
 
 contrary to the Law of Nations, since it is natural that 
 the besieger seeks to do as much injury as possible to the 
 besieged " ! 
 
 Through all that summer Manin was the soul of Venice. 
 On him devolved all responsibility, and he bore his 
 trust with absolute fidelity. At length, when food was 
 exhausted, the wells dried, and the city was being rapidly 
 depopulated by famine, he capitulated. On the 30th of 
 August Radetzky found that he had triumphed over a 
 pest-ridden, starving, dying city. Forty Venetians had 
 been condemned to banishment. Manin was of the num- 
 ber; and early on the 28th, followed by the prayers and 
 blessings of the people, he sailed away, never to see Venice 
 again. But as he looked back upon her beloved towers, 
 as she faded from his sight forever, no foreign flag floated 
 above her. The kindly exile saved him from the actual 
 sight of her dismemberment by the Hapsburg bird of 
 prey. 
 
 The enemies of Italy now believed that the last hope of 
 Italian liberty was destroyed. Save in Piedmont, that 
 little kingdom, no remnant of freedom could be dis- 
 covered. The various princes who ruled, from the Alps 
 to the Sicilies, ruled by Austrian permission, and main- 
 tained themselves by Austrian support. But there were 
 those who still hoped, still prayed, still labored for the 
 full liberty of all Italy; and among these Manin was 
 with the foremost. Garibaldi never despaired, and even 
 the defeated and dying Charles Albert wrote : 
 
 " If Divine Providence has not permitted that the regenera- 
 tion of Italy should be accomplished, I have confidence that at 
 least it is only deferred; that so many examples of virtue, so 
 many acts of courage and generosity, emanating from the nation, 
 will not remain sterile, and that past adversities will only en- 
 gage the peoples of Italy to be another time more united to be 
 more invincible."
 
 GLORY, HUMILIATION, FREEDOM. 299 
 
 This prophecy was fulfilled. Venice was not the scene 
 of the great struggle. It was on the mainland that the 
 battles were fought, and in other parts of Italy that the 
 diplomatic tournaments were held. It requires little 
 imagination to see with what interest every action was 
 watched, how eagerly all news was heard by the Vene- 
 tians, ground as they were beneath the Austrian heel ; and 
 when, after the battle of Solferino, in 1859, from the 
 Campanile the fleets were visible off the lagoons, the 
 heart of Venice throbbed with that of all Italy in the feel- 
 ing of a national life which was every day growing stronger 
 and stronger. 
 
 But the end was not yet. The Peace of Villafranca 
 brought the Venetians no release, and the fresh disap- 
 pointment was hard to bear. They had rejoiced with 
 each success of the allied Piedmontese and French. They 
 had even dreamed dreams, and anticipated choosing their 
 own ruler and being again an independent people. They 
 longed to bring home their dead Manin, and by their 
 respect to his remains testify their love for him. Every 
 house in Venice in an hour became a house of mourning ; 
 and a feeling of utter desolation, of being deserted, for- 
 gotten, was like a black pall over all. Even Milan, which 
 had so long shared the fate of Venice, was now free. 
 
 The truth was better than this. All Italy was rebel- 
 lious at the fate of Venice ; and at Milan, least of all, was 
 she forgotten. No settlement was desired that did not 
 give freedom to Venice. Every Italian in reality wished 
 but one thing, a united, a single Italy. In the new 
 Parliament, in October, 1860, Cavour spoke of the union 
 of Venice to the rest of Italy as a fact that must soon be 
 accomplished ; and we have trustworthy proof that neither 
 the successful Garibaldi in the quiet of Caprera, nor the 
 king amid his cares at Turin, was forgetful of Venice 
 and Rome. In the midst of the exacting; duties of these
 
 300 THE QUEEN OF THE ADRIATIC. 
 
 days, when a new government was to be organized and 
 established, and that government was weighed down with 
 debt, with brigandage, and with many other evils of a 
 more subtle nature, which taxed the wisdom and forbear- 
 ance of the king and his ministers, their thoughts were 
 often fixed upon the injustice to Venice; and the only 
 methods by which she could be freed war or negotia- 
 tion were discussed with untiring interest, and there 
 was constantly growing a determination to force a solu- 
 tion of the Venetian and Roman questions. 
 
 However, it was not until 1866 that the real struggle 
 came. To the call for soldiers the most satisfactory 
 responses were made. They came from all classes, from 
 the most aristocratic families, as well as the middle and 
 lower classes ; and the Italian army soon numbered about 
 two hundred thousand men. The Venetians had contrib- 
 uted fourteen thousand men before this; and when the 
 call for volunteers was made, many more succeeded in 
 passing the frontier and joining the army. 
 
 On the 24th of June the Austrians were triumphant at 
 Custoza; but the Prussian allies of Italy, on the 5th of 
 July, so defeated the Austrians at Sadowa, that through 
 the French emperor an offer was made to restore Venetia 
 to Italy. The final treaty was not concluded between 
 Austria and Italy until Oct. 3, 1866; and meantime, 
 in a naval battle off Lissa, the Italians had suffered a 
 most mortifying defeat, under such circumstances as 
 deprived Admiral Persano of his rank, and dismissed him 
 from the service. 
 
 Three days after the treaty was signed, the troops of 
 Italy were received in Venice with an enthusiasm which 
 was only exceeded by that of the reception of Victor 
 Emmanuel himself a month later. Now acknowledged 
 as King of Italy by all other governments, with the iron 
 crown of Lombardy and the famous quadrilateral peace-
 
 GLORY, HUMILIATION, FREEDOM. 301 
 
 fully in his possession, he had but one thing more to 
 gain, the submission of Rome, before he could pro- 
 claim the unification of Italy ; and this was sure to come, 
 as it did but four years later. 
 
 In 1873 the Emperor of Austria invited the King of 
 Italy to Vienna on the occasion of the Great Exhibition. 
 The invitation was most courteously given and as cour- 
 teously accepted ; and two years later the Emperor Francis 
 Joseph proposed to return the visit of Victor Emmanuel, 
 and suggested Venice as the city in which they should 
 meet. 
 
 One must reflect for a moment on the meaning of such 
 a visit to Venice. It was the fulfilment of the prophecy 
 of Daniele Manin: "The day will come in which Italy, 
 reconstituted as a nation, will be the first friend of 
 Austria." This great patriot believed that freedom and 
 right must triumph over despotism and wrong. But one 
 month before the visit of the Austrian Emperor the statue 
 of Manin had been inaugurated with splendid ceremonies, 
 and the most heartfelt tributes to his honor paid by the 
 Venetians whom he had served so faithfully. His remains 
 had been brought from Paris, in 1868, and deposited in a 
 temporary tomb in the Cathedral of San Marco, the only 
 interment there for more than three centuries. The 
 church of S. Paterniano was taken down, and the statue of 
 Manin erected on the site near the red house in which he 
 had lived ; and the campo is now called by the name of 
 the patriot instead of that of the saint. 
 
 It was on the 5th of April, 1875, that a procession of 
 gondolas, all in gala dress, passed up the Grand Canal. 
 The most magnificent of all these hundreds of boats bore 
 the King of Italy and his guest, the Emperor of Austria 
 and King of Hungary. The whole city demonstrated its 
 good will in every possible way ; and when the two sover- 
 eigns landed at the Piazzetta, there was a great demon-
 
 302 THE QUEEN OF THE ADRIATIC. 
 
 stration of welcome. The bands played alternately the 
 national airs of the two countries, and in every possible 
 way the people strove to express the fact that the hostil- 
 ity against Austria which had so long reigned at Venice, 
 was absolutely a thing of the past. Victor Emmanuel 
 was so much gratified by the conduct of the Venetians on 
 this occasion that he frequently referred to it as a proof 
 of the nobility of a people who could so soon forget and 
 forgive all that Venice had suffered in the long years of 
 her bondage under the Austrian rule. 
 
 From these beginnings, which we have so cursorily con- 
 sidered, in little more than a quarter of a century, the 
 Italy we now know has arisen.
 
 CHAPTER XVL 
 
 SAINTS AND OTHERS. 
 
 IN the earliest days of the Venetian Republic a church 
 was built on the Rialto, and dedicated to Saint 
 James ; and when in 452 the decree was issued at Padua 
 which ordered the gathering together of the straggling 
 inhabitants who had fled from Attila and his Huns, and 
 the formation of a town under the rule of consuls, it was 
 to this notable warrior saint that these people looked for 
 protection. Tradition teaches that this earliest church 
 in Venice stood on a portion of the land now covered by 
 the Cathedral of San Marco. 
 
 About a century later, when already the Republic of 
 Venice was rising in importance and esteem, Narses, 
 coming from his victory over the Ostrogoths, visited the 
 Venetians, and built them a new chapel, which he dedi- 
 cated to Saint Theodore, a young Syrian soldier saint, 
 much honored in the Oriental church. He was apparently 
 a satisfactory protector, for all went well with the Vene- 
 tians under his tutelage. Their numbers and wealth 
 increased so that one island was quite insufficient for 
 their habitations, and no one church could suffice for 
 the growing state or city. 
 
 During these important years images of Saint Theodore, 
 whom we have seen standing on a column in the Piazzetta, 
 opposite the lion of his more fortunate successor, were 
 cherished and worshipped by the people, who looked to 
 him as their efficient patron and guardian; and with
 
 304 THE QUEEN OF THE ADRIATIC. 
 
 reason, for if his symbols were rightly understood, his 
 saintship taught the Republic the wise policy of exerting 
 its strength for protection and defence rather than for 
 invasion and assault. But the time came when Saint 
 Theodore was superseded, in spite of the good services he 
 had rendered Venice during nearly three centuries, - 
 centuries, too, when the struggle to live and grow and 
 build up the Republic taxed the heads and hands of all, 
 and required an able defender to watch over them. 
 
 There is a legend that during the first Crusade, in 1099, 
 when Vitale Michieli was Doge, a flotilla of two hundred 
 and seven vessels sailed from Venice in command of the 
 son of the Doge, Giovanni Michieli, and Arrigo Contarini, 
 Bishop of Castello, whose father had been Doge about 
 twenty years before. 
 
 Their alleged object was to succor Godfrey de Bouillon ; 
 but they seem to have been far more successful as relic- 
 hunters than as Knights of the Cross, and brought back 
 rich treasures to the churches of Venice, among which 
 was the body of Saint Theodore, which they found at a 
 small town near the city of Myra. It was received with 
 joy at Venice, and deposited in the Church of San Salva- 
 tore; but as this saint had already been superseded by 
 the great Evangelist, he seems to have been left princi- 
 pally to the Confraternity of San Teodoro, whose scuola 
 is close to San Salvatore. 
 
 In 829 two Venetian merchants, Buono of Malamocco 
 and Rustico of Torcello, with ten galleys, were trading 
 clandestinely in the port of Alexandria, just at the time 
 when the Caliph of Egypt was building a splendid palace, 
 and for its decoration was contemplating denuding all 
 the Christian temples of their treasures and ornaments. 
 Hearing this, these merchants feared that the Church of 
 St. Mark, where that Evangelist was honorably reposing, 
 would be desecrated ; and they determined if possible to
 
 SAINTS AND OTHERS. 305 
 
 rescue the sacred body and bear it to Venice. When they 
 proposed to the Greek priest of the temple to aid them in 
 their designs, he naturally refused, and represented to 
 them the sin and danger of such an act ; but their prom- 
 ises of riches and prosperity at Venice overcame his 
 scruples, and he yielded to their wishes. The body of 
 Saint Mark was wrapped in the linen shroud of Saint 
 Claudia, and laid in a deep basket. It was then covered 
 with a thick layer of herbs, on which joints of pork were 
 laid. The Venetian seamen who carried the basket to the 
 ship walked leisurely, taking the precaution to cry out 
 Khanzir! Khanzir! (pork, pork), which effectually pre- 
 vented any examination by Mussulmans. When safely on 
 the vessel, the basket was hoisted into the shrouds, and 
 was thus safely borne away. 
 
 A tradition adds that during a tempest on the voyage 
 the saint appeared to a priest, who was one of the passen- 
 gers, and commanded the sails to be furled. This being 
 done, the ship next morning reached the port of Olivolo r 
 while the remainder of the fleet were scattered by the 
 furious storm. 
 
 The saint was welcomed with immense satisfaction,, 
 and his arrival was of great importance to the State. It 
 increased the courage and the commerce of the Republic. 
 Pilgrims of all ranks, from crowned heads to the poorest 
 sailors, came to worship at his shrine. A commercial fair 
 was instituted in his honor ; and although Saint Theodore 
 was not discarded, Saint Mark was by common consent 
 placed above him, his image and name being stamped on 
 the coins of Venice, and woven in her banners, while the 
 battle-cry from this time was Viva San Marco ! 
 
 Very soon the Doge Badoer II. died, and in hi* 
 will provided for the erection of a mausoleum for the 
 sacred bones of the new patron saint, which was the begin- 
 ning of the Basilica of San Marco. Meantime the relics 
 
 20
 
 306 THE QUEEN OF THE ADRIATIC. 
 
 of Saint Mark were deposited in the Chapel of St. 
 Theodore, and there worshipped ; and as if that were not 
 sufficiently humiliating to the superseded warrior, the 
 chapel itself was demolished to make room for the more 
 imposing edifice of the newly arrived saint. More fortu- 
 nate than his predecessors, Saint Mark has retained his 
 honored place in the hearts of the Venetians, through all 
 the days of their glory, and alas ! through those of their 
 decline. 
 
 The people treasure many legends of their saint, and 
 their love and reverence for him survive their knowledge 
 of their former state. San Marco the Saint, San Marco 
 the Cathedral, and San Marco the Piazza remain to them, 
 facts of which they may well be proud, but the 
 Doges, the Bucentaur, the coronations, the tournaments, 
 the pomp, luxury, and wealth, where are they ? 
 
 If one doubted the miraculous benefits which Saint 
 Mark has conferred on Venice, he need but to listen to 
 some pious Venetian while he recounts in his soft and 
 fascinating dialect the saving of the city in 1340. 
 
 He would hear that on the 25th of February in that 
 year a terrific storm prevailed. The sounds that came 
 from the sea were as if some frightful enemy were 
 approaching with shrieks and curses, which rent the air 
 as no storm was ever known to do. For three days the 
 floods had been swelling, and the water was three cubits 
 higher than ever it had been, and threatened the destruc- 
 tion of the city. 
 
 Affrighted and helpless before an enemy whom they 
 could neither attack nor repulse, the people sought the 
 Basilica, and prayed to San Marco for succor. Masses 
 were constantly repeated, and the vast throngs prayed and 
 watched by turns for an answer to their prayers. 
 
 An old fisherman made his way from one of the islands 
 with great difficulty, having vowed to San Marco that if
 
 SAINTS AND OTHERS. 307 
 
 he would but guide him home in safety, his earnings for 
 the rest of his days should be devoted to the saint. More 
 dead than alive, he reached the Riva di San Marco ; for, 
 more than the storm, and more than all his exertion in 
 rowing, the unearthly shrieks and yells he had heard had 
 unfitted him for further exertion, he was paralyzed with 
 fear. 
 
 But scarcely had he reached the Riva when a man sud- 
 denly stood beside him, and asked to be taken to San 
 Giorgio Maggiore. He would listen to no refusals, and 
 so entreated the fisherman that he believed it must be 
 the will of God that he should go. Strangely enough, 
 though going against the waves, a path seemed to open 
 before them, and the rowing was far lighter than it had 
 been when he was alone in the boat. At San Giorgio 
 the stranger landed, and bade the boatman await his 
 return. 
 
 When he came he brought with him a much younger 
 man, and now bade the fisherman row to San Niccolo del 
 Lido. Aghast at such a distance in such a sea, the poor 
 man begged for mercy and release ; but he was encouraged 
 to row boldly, and promised strength for all his task. 
 And so it was : the boat seemed to leap over the waves ; 
 and when they reached San Niccolo, the two men landed, 
 and soon returned with a third, and bade the boatman row 
 out beyond the two castles. 
 
 When they came to the sea, they saw a bark full of 
 demons coming to overwhelm the city with water. The 
 three men in the boat made the sign of the cross, and 
 bade the demons depart. Instantly the bark vanished, 
 the sea was calm, and the waters began to subside. Then 
 the men commanded the boatman to land them at the 
 places from which he had brought them; this he did, 
 and of the third demanded payment for what he had done. 
 
 "Thou art right," replied the man; "go now to the
 
 308 THE QUEEN OF THE ADRIATIC. 
 
 Doge and to the Procurator! of St. Mark. Toll them 
 what thou hast seen, for Venice had been overwhelmed but 
 for us three. I am Saint Mark the Evangelist, the pro- 
 tector of Venice. The other is the brave knight Saint 
 George, and he whom thou didst take up at the Lido is 
 the holy bishop St. Nicholas. Say that you are to be paid, 
 and tell them likewise that this tempest arose because a 
 certain schoolmaster of San Felice did sell his soul to 
 the Devil and then hanged himself." 
 
 The fisherman replied that his story would not be 
 believed. Then Saint Mark gave him a ring from his 
 finger, saying, "Show them this, and say that when they 
 look in the sanctuary they will not find it ; " and as he 
 spoke he disappeared. The next morning, when the boat- 
 man went to the Doge and the Procurator!, it all happened 
 as had been said. The man was paid, and a solemn pro- 
 cession was ordained to give thanks to the three saints. 
 The boatman received a pension, and the ring was replaced 
 in the sanctuary. If any one doubts this, let him go to 
 the Accademia, and look at the pictures which commemo- 
 rate this story. Would Giorgione have taken all the 
 trouble to represent the scene if it had never occurred ; 
 or would Paris Bordone have repeated it, as may be seen 
 in the same gallery ? 
 
 Another legend of the benefits which Saint Mark loved 
 to confer on his people is perpetuated by a wonderful 
 picture of Jacopo Tintoretto's in the same collection. A 
 poor slave who persisted in worshipping at the shrine of 
 Saint Mark had for this reason been condemned to torture 
 by his cruel master. Just when the brutal executioners 
 were about to begin their fiendish cruelties, the saint 
 descends like a whirlwind; the executioners are con- 
 founded, their instruments are broken, and the slave is 
 free ! 
 
 Another miracle of Saint Mark's is connected with the
 
 SAINTS AND OTHERS. 309 
 
 preservation of his own relics. In 976 a fire destroyed a 
 large portion of San Marco ; and when the repairs were 
 completed, the place in which the body of the saint had 
 rested was forgotten. This was a true sorrow to the Doge 
 and the people, and at last they determined to keep a fast 
 and pray God to show them what no man could tell. The 
 25th of June was appointed for this fast, and a solemn 
 procession was made ; and while in the cathedral all were 
 fervently imploring the manifestation of their treasure, 
 with great joy they beheld a pillar shake, and then fall to 
 the ground, disclosing the bronze chest in which the body 
 of the Evangelist was preserved. These sacred relics are 
 now beneath the high altar in San Marco, as is recorded 
 on a marble slab at the back of the altar. 
 
 Sanudo gives a curious account of the acquisition of 
 another saint. He says that in 992 Pietro Barbolano, 
 together with Pietro Giustiniani, was sent to Constanti- 
 nople on a diplomatic mission. There the future Doge 
 saw the remains of Saint Saba, and was seized with the 
 desire to obtain them for his beloved Venice. At length 
 Barbolano, by one argument and another, prevailed on 
 the guardians of the saint to sell her to him ; but when 
 the night came on which he was leaving the Golden Horn, 
 these men showed signs of breaking their bargain. The 
 rain was falling in torrents, and the Greeks construed 
 this as an omen that they ought not to permit the saint to 
 undertake the voyage. 
 
 But Barbolano had with him his two sons and several 
 servants, and he quickly ended the matter by ordering the 
 chest which contained the sacred relics to be taken to his 
 ship, which was soon under way, and made a prosperous 
 voyage to Venice, where Barbolano ordered the chest to 
 be put in a gondola and taken to his house, next the 
 Church of San Antonino at Castello. But when this was 
 attempted, the chest had become so heavy that it could
 
 310 TI1E QUEEN OF THE ADRIATIC. 
 
 not be lifted; and at the same moment the bell of the 
 Campanile began to toll, with no visible agency, and 
 with such violence as threatened destruction to the tower 
 itself. 
 
 This caused many people to gather in the Piazza; and 
 in their midst Barbolano threw himself on his knees and 
 exclaimed, "We will carry it to the church, for the 
 Saviour of Men has declared his will that this body shall 
 be placed in the shrine dedicated to Saint Antonino." 
 It is not easy to understand how the devout Barbolano 
 knew all this ; but apparently he was right, for the chest 
 Avas now as light as before, and was placed in a gondola, 
 taken to the church, and deposited on the altar. Then 
 the bell ceased ringing, and a dove with miraculously 
 white plumage hovered over the relics while a Te Deum 
 and other services were celebrated, and then vanished. 
 
 A new altar was erected for Saint Saba, near that of 
 San Antonino, and the bones were placed in the reliquary 
 of the church; and on the evening of that day, as the 
 cur6 of San Antonino walked in his garden, he "mar- 
 velled not a little to observe among the flowers a rose of 
 surpassing beauty; and the good man hesitated not to 
 associate the fair vision with the miracle of which he had 
 just been a witness, looking upon it as a symbol of that 
 yet fairer flower which had been so recently transplanted 
 from the soil of Constantinople to that of Venice." 
 
 It would seem strange that such a wonder-working 
 saint should not frequently have proved her power in the 
 midst of the great events of the Republic, and at times 
 when miracles in behalf of the Venetians were sorely 
 needed ; but doubtless she soon felt that those of her sex 
 did not assume power publicly in this City of the Sea, 
 and whatever she did was done sub rosa. 
 
 The same Michieli and Contarini who had brought to 
 Venice the relics of Saint Theodore were extremely fortu-
 
 SAINTS AND OTHERS. 311 
 
 nate in their relic-hunting; for they also brought home 
 the due corpi di San Niccolo, the greater and the less, and 
 deposited them in the Church of San Niccolo del Lido. 
 Saint Nicholas of Myra is a protector against robbers and 
 violence, and is a favorite saint with sailors, travellers, 
 and merchants. He is also a patron of poor maidens, of 
 children, and especially of school-boys, and the legends of 
 his goodness and kindly acts are innumerable ; in fact, he 
 is so celebrated and so important a saint that it is all 
 the more grievous to recount that the majority of the peo- 
 ple who have lived since the ninth century who have 
 understood these matters and known all about saints do 
 not allow that the relics of this sainted Lycian are, or 
 ever were, in Venice, and Bari is the happy place wherein 
 he is said to repose. Thus it happens that he is often 
 called San Niccolo di Bari ; but I should not like to speak 
 of him thus to any of my devout Venetian friends, least 
 of all to my good gondolier. 
 
 Another Venetian fleet which had been to the aid of 
 Baldwin in the Holy Land, when returning, about 1125, 
 obtained the body of Saint Isidore at Chios, and that of 
 Saint Donato at Cephalonia. These were brought to 
 Venice at the same time with the " great stone which had 
 stood near one of the gates of Tyre since the time when 
 Our Lord, weary after a journey, sat down to rest upon 
 it," as well as vast treasures of jewels, gold and silver, 
 embroideries and carpets, and all the splendid fabrics of 
 the Orient. But to the reverent Christian all else paled 
 before the bodies of the saints. Saint Isidore is believed 
 now to rest in his own chapel in San Marco. San Donato, 
 the once saintly Bishop of Evorea, was given by Domenico 
 Michieli to Murano, and the Church of Santa Maria soon 
 assumed his name. To Torcello was brought Saint Fosca, 
 a noble virgin who had been martyred under the persecu- 
 tion of Decius at Ravenna; and her church was second
 
 312 THE QUEEN OF THE ADRIATIC. 
 
 only to the Cathedral of Torcello. When to this list of 
 saints we add the bodies of San Pancrazio and Santa 
 Sabina, which were given to the Abbess of San Zaccaria 
 by Pope Benedict III., and Saint Christina, the patron of 
 the Venetian States, and likewise Saint Justina of Padua, 
 another patron of Venice who is represented in Vene- 
 tian costume, with the city or the cathedral of San Marco 
 in the distance, we may call Venice the City of Saints 
 as justly as the City of the Sea. 
 
 SAN LAZZARO. 
 
 One saint still remains to whom we must pay our 
 respects ; and since his island lies some miles away to the 
 southeast, we must devote to him at least half of a 
 precious Venetian day. The gondola glides like a spirit 
 through the narrow canals, out on the sea, where the 
 motion is but enough to rock one into forgetfulness of all 
 care, even that of self; and the mood which follows is just 
 that in which one should come to the old Armenian con- 
 vent, with its garden of figs and orange-trees, pome- 
 granates and flowering shrubs. 
 
 The welcome from the monks adds still another ele- 
 ment of peace ; and one roams quietly through the restful 
 old place, with its church and convent, and wonders if a 
 less gifted mortal than he who here dwelt and wrote, 
 
 " Around me are the stars and waters, 
 Worlds mirrored in the ocean, goodlier sight 
 Than torches glared back by a gaudy glasa," 
 
 could tarry here and grow forgetful of the ought and must 
 of life. 
 
 At each window a pause is made ; and the fascination of 
 the views leads to a feeling of sympathy with that good 
 Mechitar, who founded his convent here one hundred and 
 seventy-six years ago. From the courteous monk who
 
 SAINTS AND OTHERS. 313 
 
 is our guide, we learn that this same Mechitar, who at 
 nine years of age desired to be a priest, and entered a 
 convent at fifteen, was a wonderful scholar, a writer and 
 poet. Some of his hymns are used in the churches of 
 Armenia. 
 
 Mechitar, having exhausted the learning at his com- 
 mand in the institutions to which he could obtain admit- 
 tance, and having learned from missionaries whom he 
 met of the far greater advantages in Europe, conceived 
 the idea of establishing a literary institution for the 
 Armenian nation, and after many struggles founded a 
 Mechitaristican Society at Constantinople in 1700. Here 
 he began to print books in the Armenian language, and 
 sent out some preachers to various cities of Armenia; 
 but soon he became the object of such persecution that he 
 barely escaped the galleys by putting himself under the 
 protection of the French ambassador. 
 
 Again, in spite of immense hindrances, he gathered his 
 disciples at Modon, in the Morea, and anew began the 
 erection of a convent and church. For twelve years he 
 labored, when war broke out between the Turks and the 
 Venetians, and his property fell into the hands of the 
 former. Meantime Mechitar had commended himself 
 greatly to the Governor Emo, and to the General of the 
 Marine, Sebastiano Mocenigo, both of whom had given him 
 money for his building, and the aid of their friendship; 
 and now he naturally turned to Venice, where he landed 
 in 1715. After much consultation and at the recom- 
 mendation of Emo and Mocenigo, in 1717 the Senate 
 decreed to him the island of San Lazzaro, which had 
 been used as a hospital for lepers until it was -no longer 
 needed. 
 
 Mechitar found little to help him in the old church, 
 deserted dormitory, two wells, and a garden, which were 
 the only remnants of the former buildings which existed.
 
 314 THE QUEEN OF THE ADRIATIC. 
 
 He obtained from Rome, where he presented his cause in 
 person, permission to send missionaries to the East. 
 Rich Armenians, of whom there are many, came to his 
 aid ; and in the remaining thirty-two years of his life he 
 established his convent on such a basis, and made it of 
 such manifest benefit to the world, that in 1810, when the 
 monasteries of Venice were suppressed, the Mechitaristi- 
 can Society was granted its independence. 
 
 Mechitar received only Armenians into his schools. 
 The advance of his own nation was the object for which 
 he lived, labored, and prayed. His courses of study were 
 comprehensive, his discipline not severe, and his whole 
 attitude towards pupils and monks that of a father. 
 Seven hours a day for study, and seven for repose; in 
 summer one hour in the day for sleep; after dinner two 
 hours for conversation, and one hour at evening for walk- 
 ing in the garden and for games ; forty days in the summer 
 at the country residence on the Brenta; fifteen days in 
 the Carnival devoted to instructive dramatic representa- 
 tions ; attendance on the public festivals in Venice, with 
 occasional outings on adjacent islands and in the neigh- 
 borhood on the mainland, such is the outline of the rule 
 of Mechitar. On the other hand, his novitiate was long 
 and exacting, and no members were admitted unless proved 
 to be virtuous, talented, of strong health, and desirous, of 
 their own choice, of joining the Society. If found to be 
 of indifferent abilities, they were sent back to Armenia. 
 He had prayers three times a day, according to Armenian 
 custom, but excused the younger pupils from morning 
 prayer in church. He made no rules of abstinence, and 
 provided plenty of food. He allowed no monk to leave 
 the island without permission, and gave as few rules of 
 conduct as possible, his object being to strengthen them 
 in virtue for virtue's sake. 
 
 It is difficult to leave the windows and fix one's atten-
 
 SAINTS AND OTHERS. 315 
 
 tion within, even to see the treasures of the library, with 
 its Oriental manuscripts, illuminated missals, rare books, 
 and goodly collection of prints. One can readily admit 
 its claim to be the centre of Armenian literature in all 
 the world, but why not a great Polyglot centre, since 
 books are printed here in thirty-two different languages ? 
 Hare says that this convent " obtained a fictitious celebrity 
 through Byron, who studied here for six months. " How- 
 ever one may view this, it is most interesting to read 
 Byron's letter to Moore (December, 1816), in which, 
 among other things, he says : 
 
 " By way of divertissement, I am studying daily at an Arme- 
 nian monastery the Armenian language. I found that my 
 mind wanted something craggy to break upon ; and this as 
 the most difficult thing I could discover here for an amusement 
 I have chosen, to torture me into attention. It is a rich lan- 
 guage, however, and would amply repay any one the trouble of 
 learning it. I try, and shall go on; but I answer for nothing, 
 least of all for my intentions or my success. . . . Four yearg 
 ago the French instituted an Armenian professorship. Twenty 
 pupils presented themselves on Monday morning, full of noble 
 ardor, ingenuous youth, and impregnable industry. They per- 
 severed, with a courage worthy of the nation and of universal 
 conquest, till Thursday, when fifteen of the twenty succumbed 
 to the six-and-twentieth letter of the alphabet. It is, to be sure, 
 a Waterloo of an alphabet, that must be said for them. " 
 
 After Byron's death, a Preface to the Armenian Gram- 
 mar was found among his papers. It was probably 
 intended for the Armenian and English Grammar which 
 Byron helped Dr. Aucher to prepare. The following is 
 an extract from this " Preface " : 
 
 " The society of the convent of S. Lazarus appears to unite 
 all the advantages of the monastic institution, without any of 
 its vices. The neatness, the comfort, the gentleness, the un- 
 affected devotion, the accomplishments, and the virtues of the
 
 316 THE QUEEN OF THE ADRIATIC. 
 
 brethren of the order, are well fitted to strike a man of the 
 world with the conviction that ' there is another and a better, 
 even in this life.' 
 
 "These men are the priesthood of an oppressed and noble 
 nation, which has partaken of the proscription and bondage of 
 the Jews and of the Greeks, without the sullenness of the former 
 or the servility of the latter. This people has attained riches 
 without usury, and all the honors that can be awarded to slavery 
 without intrigue. But they have long occupied, nevertheless, a 
 part of the 'House of Bondage,' who has lately multiplied her 
 many mansions. It would be difficult, perhaps, to find the 
 annals of a nation less stained with crimes than those of the 
 Armenians, whose virtues have been those of peace, and their 
 vices those of compulsion. But whatever may have been their 
 destiny, and it has been bitter, whatever it may be in 
 future, their country must ever be one of the most interesting 
 on the globe; and perhaps their language only requires to be 
 more studied to become more attractive. If the Scriptures are 
 rightly understood, it was in Armenia that Paradise was placed, 
 Armenia, which has paid as dearly as the descendants of Adam 
 for that fleeting participation of its soil in the happiness of him 
 who was created from its dust. It was in Armenia that the 
 flood first abated, and the dove alighted. But with the disap- 
 pearance of Paradise itself may be almost dated the unhappiness 
 of the country; for, though long a powerful kingdom, it was 
 scarcely ever an independent one, and the satraps of Persia and 
 the pachas of Turkey have alike desolated the region where God 
 created man in his own image." 
 
 The hours pass imperceptibly away. In hearing what 
 the monk tells, and in reading what he gives us concern- 
 ing the Society, like the above and kindred facts, the 
 day declines, until the sensation of the lessening light 
 reminds us that there is still something to be done, 
 delightful as this reading and musing is. Within twilight 
 has come ; but without, although the east is dusky, it is 
 so by contrast with the west. The setting sun has sunk
 
 SAINTS AND OTHERS. 317 
 
 so far that it illumines the sky alone, where golden mina- 
 rets are reaching toward mid-heaven, and low, sleeping 
 clouds of purplish hue sink with the sun beyond the hori- 
 zon. At the last there are flashes of brilliant flame, and 
 then sea and sky are blended. The twilight grows less 
 and less. How silent the world seems ! The gentle dip 
 of the oars alone is heard, until, as we come nearer the 
 city, a snatch of song falls on our ear, a gondola overtakes 
 us, and Giacomo cheerfully greets a comrade. As we 
 near the Piazzetta, all light is gone from the sea. We 
 leave an inky darkness behind, which makes the blinking 
 lamps on the Molo seem brilliant by contrast. 
 
 Now comes a new pleasure, for even in dreamy Venice 
 mortals are still doomed to eat, and to-night we leave our 
 better-loved Zattere to meet friends at the Cafe* Florian, 
 with its frescos and mirrors and cosey cabinets, from 
 which, while being served, we catch glimpses of the fast- 
 filling square. The lights are multiplying; the concerts 
 of violins and harps, and the songs of the singers are 
 beginning. The flower-girls are tying their nosegays or 
 weaving garlands, and gazing wistfully at the windows of 
 the brilliant little shops ; and hundreds of figures pass and 
 repass, now in the shadow and now in the light. 
 
 But even this dinner will end. The delicious sorbet 
 and the fragrant coffee are, all too soon, things of the 
 past. However, we do not stay to regret them, since this 
 evening affords one of the rare opportunities to see La 
 Fenice open in summer. It is always entertaining to 
 watch the coming and going of the gondolas to and from 
 this theatre ; but at this season, when most of the wealthy 
 Venetians are away on the mainland, the audience is not 
 brilliant, the play not very good, and we are glad to be 
 back in the Piazza for an hour beneath the summer moon, 
 and then to walk home through the crooked catti, that 
 seem more like the make-believe of the stage than like
 
 318 THE QUEEN OF THE ADRIATIC. 
 
 real life. There are corners so dark that they might well 
 be used for an ambush. But we have no enemies in 
 Venice, and so by aid of Giacomo's lanthorn may safely 
 explore these narrow ways at any hour we choose, and 
 hang the pictures of them in our mental gallery to look at 
 and think about when thousands of miles away. For who 
 that loves Venice ever forgets her ? and that which in her 
 midst seems dreamlike and unreal, with time and dis- 
 tance crystallizes into the sharpest and clearest of 
 memories. 
 
 On snch a night as this impassionedly 
 
 The old Venetian sung these verses rare, 
 
 " That Venice must of needs eternal be, 
 
 For Heaven had looked through the pellucid air, 
 
 And cast its reflex in the crystal sea, 
 
 And Venice was the image pictured there." 
 
 I hear them now, and tremble, for I seem 
 
 As treading on an unsubstantial dream. 
 
 Who talks of vanished glory, of dead power, 
 
 Of things that were, and are not ? Is he here ? 
 
 Can he take in the glory of this hour, 
 
 And call it all the decking of a bier ? 
 
 No, surely as on that Titanic tower 
 
 The Guardian Angel stands in aether clear, 
 
 With the moon's silver tempering his gold wing, 
 
 So Venice lives, as lives no other thing. 
 
 LORD HOUOHTON.
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 HISTORIANS AND SCHOLARS. 
 
 WHEN we consider the literature of Venice, we are 
 amazed to find how few names are in its list of 
 authors, and how narrow the field they occupied. Of 
 poets there were none; and, indeed, the only writers of 
 importance were the early annalists and the later histo- 
 rians. That peculiarly self-centred trait of which we 
 have spoken as belonging to the Venetians in various 
 directions, was eminently characteristic of their writers. 
 It was Venice, and only Venice, that interested them ; and 
 from its earliest days there were those, nameless now, 
 who were so impressed with the growth, the strength, and 
 the splendor of the city that they saw growing and spread- 
 ing around them, that they wrote it all down, and thus 
 furnished invaluable material to those who came after 
 them and wrote in a more elegant and systematic style. 
 Some of these early annals still exist. They are read by 
 the learned, and are said to be a strange medley of his- 
 tory and fable, all expressed in language of such vigor as 
 to emphasize the earnestness of the writers, and fre- 
 quently with such realism as would eclipse the authors of 
 our day who cultivate that quality. His Serenity Marco 
 Foscarini, in his work on Venetian literature, gives the 
 names of such a host of these imperceptible writers, who 
 are more than half lost in the ancient fogs in which they 
 existed, that one must be brave even to read these names, 
 much more so to attempt their works.
 
 320 THE QUEEN OF THE ADRIATIC. 
 
 Sagornino, of the eleventh century, is more real ; and no 
 aspect in which Venice could be viewed was neglected by 
 him and his followers. Its ceremonials, treaties, ecclesi- 
 astical and other important matters, are treated with no 
 more attention and respect than are the merest details 
 and most common events. They were all lovers of this 
 mistress, Venezia, to whom the slightest variation in her 
 pulse was almost a matter of life and death. 
 
 But not until the fourteenth century were these chroni- 
 cles put into a form which could be called history. 
 Andrea Dandolo, Petrarch's friend, the first scholarly 
 Doge, may also be called the first Venetian historian. 
 His family had already given three Doges to the Republic, 
 and he had not only the early annals, but the state 
 papers and those of his ancestors, on which to rely for 
 the facts which he wove into a formal, dignified, and con- 
 scientious narration of the lives and deeds of the rulers of 
 Venice who had preceded him. 
 
 After him, for a half-century, again there were but the 
 chronicles of monks who wrote of their orders, soldiers 
 who fought their battles over on parchment, or idle patri- 
 cians who amused themselves by keeping diaries. A 
 history of Venice was talked of, was ardently desired; but 
 no one undertook it, until Marco Antonio Sabellico, a 
 native of Vicovaro, was seized with the desire to write 
 such a book, which was published in 1487. It seems 
 almost impossible to believe what we are told, that he 
 had seen no authoritative book on Venice, that he knew 
 neither Dandolo's history, nor that best account of the 
 Chioggian War, written by the nephew of the great Zeno. 
 But be this as it may, in fifteen months he completed a 
 work which, though not without its errors, stands as an 
 authority, and is without doubt the most eloquent of 
 Venetian annals. It was at once accepted with enthusi- 
 asm; and the Senate graciously gave to Sabellico two
 
 HISTORIANS AND SCHOLARS. 321 
 
 hundred ducats a year. The translation from the Latin 
 by Dolce retains the telling eloquence of the original. 
 It is a wonderful account of the internal and external 
 affairs of the Republic, given with a pen so graphic as to 
 make its word pictures full of the charm that we find in 
 the work of the artist who places before the eye the color 
 and the details of what he represents. 
 
 Again an interval of dilettantish essays transpired, 
 until, in 1515, Andrea Navagero, whom Foscarini calls 
 the most elegant Latin writer in Italy, was made the 
 Historian of the Republic. But in spite of this great 
 honor, which came to him early in his life, we have no 
 history by him; and his own story is tragical. Fifteen 
 years passed after his appointment to office, and the work 
 done by Sabellico in as many months was not yet forth- 
 coming, when, in 1530, he was sent on an embassy to 
 France. Soon after reaching Paris he sickened and died, 
 and on his last day burned all his papers, ten books, 
 it is said, of the history of Venice. It is believed that 
 this was done in a delirium ; but the sensitive nature of 
 Navagero, and his morbid dissatisfaction with his work, 
 leave a doubt as to his condition when he committed this 
 deplorable act. 
 
 Then, too, another writer, older than he, of infinite 
 research, Mrs. Oliphant calls him " one of the most 
 astonishing and gifted of historical moles, " Marino 
 Sanudo, was collecting and putting together that work of 
 his for which we all thank him and his Maker, an end- 
 less procession of facts with all possible details, an 
 omnium gatherum from which all seekers can select that 
 which suits their needs. 
 
 Here we must note a curious coincidence. We have a 
 chronicle written by another Andrea Navagero, sometimes 
 quoted, but finished while the historian was a child. 
 And likewise was there a second Marino Sanudo, called 
 
 21
 
 322 THE QUEEN OF THE ADRIATIC. 
 
 Torsello, again the elder of the two, who wrote more than 
 a century before the oft-quoted historian. This Sanudo 
 Torsello wrote of the Crusades and of other matters more 
 distinctly Venetian, and although sometimes quoted, is 
 of little importance beside the younger man. In fact, the 
 two elders, Navagero and Sanudo, serve principally to 
 create a confusion by their names, and are of no special 
 value in any direction. 
 
 The younger Sanudo is very important among Venetian 
 historians, and really began his researches when but nine 
 years old. He was of a noble house, had all possible 
 advantages of education and travel, was keen in his obser- 
 vations, and in a very sober manner makes many a 
 humorous remark, like that one so often quoted : " If the 
 story had not been true, our brave Venetians would not 
 have painted it." When Marino was seventeen years 
 old, his cousin Marco Sanudo was appointed one of the 
 Syndics of Terra Firma, and took the young author with 
 him to Padua. From this time he noted in his diaries 
 all that came under his observation, and all he heard. 
 He left, besides his voluminous published works, fifty-six 
 volumes of these journals, many, if not all, of which are 
 now published, and afford an almost momentary account 
 of the life in Venice for a half-century before 1533. He 
 collected a great library, and was active in his public life. 
 He records his speeches in the Senate, and they were 
 almost numberless. He held many important offices, and 
 was extremely active in the discussions of all public mat- 
 ters in the Great Council as well as the Senate. He was 
 usually in the minority ; but that never discouraged him, 
 and he more than once records his determination to " let 
 no day pass without writing the news that comes from 
 day to day, so that I may the better, accustoming myself 
 to the strict truth, go on with my true history, which was 
 begun several years ago. Seeking no eloquence of com-
 
 HISTORIANS AND SCHOLARS. 323 
 
 position, I will thus note down everything as it happens." 
 He also records his determination "to do something in 
 this age in honor of the eternal majesty and exaltation 
 of the Venetian State, to which I can never fail, being 
 born in that allegiance, for which I would die a thousand 
 times if that could advantage my country, notwithstand- 
 ing that I have been beaten, worn out, and evil entreated 
 in her councils." And thus it resulted that his diaries 
 became an unequalled storehouse of minute and general 
 information, and it is largely to them that we owe that 
 fascinating and curious information which admits us, so 
 to speak, into the houses and palaces, the social gather- 
 ings, the august assemblies, even into the Council of Ten, 
 and the innermost recesses of life in medieval Venice. 
 
 When one reviews a life like that of Marino Sanudo, 
 and is impressed with the fact that he lived and breathed 
 in exactly the atmosphere that suited him, that from 
 his earliest years he was inexpressibly busy in doing just 
 that for which he was best fitted by nature, that which 
 of all the world he would have chosen, it naturally 
 seems that he must have been a very happy man. But he 
 had his trials, some of them very heavy to him. Again 
 and again he is excluded from public office. At first he 
 congratulates himself on having more time, but later it 
 becomes evident that he feels his unpopularity keenly, as 
 one may see when he says : 
 
 "In the past year [1522] I have been dismissed from the 
 Giunta [Zonta], of which two years ago I was made a member; 
 but while I sat in that Senate I always in my speeches did my 
 best for my country, with full honor from the senators for my 
 opinions and judgment, even when against those of my col- 
 leagues. And this is the thing that has injured me; for had I 
 been mute, applauding individuals as is the present fashion, 
 letting things pass that are against the interest of my dearest 
 country, acting contrary to the law, as those who have the
 
 324 THE QUEEN OF THE ADRIATIC. 
 
 guidance of the city permit to be done, even had I not been 
 made Avvogadore, I should have been otherwise treated. . . . 
 I confess that this repulse has caused me no small grief, and 
 has been the occasion of my illness; and if again I was rejected 
 iu the ballot for the past year, it was little wonder seeing that 
 many thought rne dead, or so infirm that I was no longer good 
 for anything, not having stirred from my house for many months 
 before. But the Divine bounty has still preserved me, and, as 
 I have said, enabled me to complete the diary for this year; for 
 however suffering I was I never failed to record the news of 
 every day which was brought to me by my friends, so that an- 
 other volume is finished." 
 
 But the signal grief of his life must have come from 
 the appointment of the young and inexperienced Navagero 
 as the historian of the Republic. He speaks of this 
 Messer Andrea Navagero, who was paid for writing his- 
 tory, with gentle contempt; but the speedy death of 
 Andrea, and the fact that he left nothing behind to be 
 placed in comparison with the work of Sanudo, disposes 
 of this matter with comparatively few words. 
 
 But when Pietro Bembo was appointed to succeed 
 Navagero, what must have been Sanudo's indignation, 
 a man who had lived out of Venice, who did not even 
 remove to that city to write its history, who had done 
 nothing to prove his fitness for the office, and who hesi- 
 tated not to ask Sanudo to lend him the precious diaries 
 from which to extract materials for his own writing ! 
 
 Well did Sanudo answer that he would "give the sweat 
 of his brow to no one." And then Bembo wrote from 
 Padua, asking the Doge to compel Sanudo to open his col- 
 lections to him. But at last the poor, slighted man did 
 give his "sweat" to his unconscionable rival; and the 
 result is much to his credit, for beside his animated and 
 entertaining narrative' Bembo's writing is as dry as 
 desert sands.
 
 HISTORIANS AND SCHOLARS. 325 
 
 Very late in his life the Ten gave him one hundred and 
 fifty ducats a year as a recognition of his books, " which 
 I vow to God is nothing to the great labor they have cost 
 me, " as he remarks. Until within two and a half years 
 of his death he continued his diaries ; and as soon as he 
 ceased to write them he made a will, in which he gave 
 them bound and enclosed in a book -case to the Signoria, 
 to be placed where they should think best. And now 
 comes the most astounding fact. These treasures, which 
 we should naturally think would have been placed with 
 care and pride where they could be seen and consulted, 
 were put no one knows where, and in 1805 were found in 
 the Royal Library at Vienna, having got there nobody 
 knows how! 
 
 Sanudo's library and his collections of pictures and 
 curiosities, from the celebrated mappamondo to matters of 
 slight importance and value, had become famous ; and we 
 are told that "the illustrious strangers who visited Venice 
 in these days went away dissatisfied unless they had seen 
 the Arsenal, the jewels of S. Marco, and the library of 
 Sanudo." Sometimes they were forced to be "dissatis- 
 fied;" for the old historian grew weary of "illustrious 
 persons, " and said them nay with a will, when asked to 
 display his collections. 
 
 To him personally, while he had been greatly interested 
 in all his roba, the books were the most precious, and 
 at one time he had intended to make a gift of them to the 
 library of S. Marco; but although long promised, this 
 library was not begun. Sanudo was poor. He could not 
 even reward Anna of Padua, who had served him faith- 
 fully for twenty years, and had not been paid. He also 
 felt himself compelled to relinquish the marble sarcopha- 
 gus in San Zaccaria, for which a previous will had pro- 
 vided ; and so at last, he directed his executors to sell his 
 collections, to pay the worthy Anna, to bury him " where
 
 326 THE QUEEN OF THE ADRIATIC. 
 
 he falls," preserving only the epitaph which he had 
 written to his great comfort. No one knows where he 
 was laid ; and not a word to his honor and remembrance 
 existed in Venice until Mr. Rawdon Brown, who has res- 
 cued the name and works of Sanudo from oblivion, placed 
 an inscription on his house, still standing, with the 
 Sanudo arms upon it, behind the Fondaco dei Turchi 
 (Museo Civico), in the parish of S. Giacoino dell' Orio. 
 Mrs. Oliphant says: 
 
 " Would it have damped his zeal, we wonder, could he have 
 foreseen that his unexampled work should drop into oblivion, 
 after historians, such as the best informed of Doges, Marco 
 Foscarini, knowing next to nothing of him till suddenly a 
 lucky and delighted student fell upon those volumes in the 
 Austrian Library; and all at once, after three centuries and 
 more, old Venice sprang to light under the hand of her old 
 chronicler, and Marino Sanudo with all his pictures, his knick- 
 knacks, his brown rolls of manuscript and dusty volumes round 
 him, regained, as was his right, the first place among Venetian 
 historians, one of the most notable figures of the mediaeval 
 world." 
 
 To be held in everlasting remembrance was the reward 
 that Marino Sanudo ardently coveted; and though never 
 appreciated by his contemporaries, and utterly forgotten 
 by the whole world for hundreds of years, he is now 
 respected and valued, and that eterna memoria, to earn 
 which he valued no toil, at last is his. 
 
 It remains to speak of Theobaldo Mannucci, or 
 Manutio, familiarly called Messer or Ser Aldo, best 
 known to us as Aldus, the great printer of Venice, whose 
 house may still be seen, in the Campo San Agostino, near 
 the Scuola di S. Giovanni Evangelista, near by the spot 
 on which stood the house of the gran cavaliere, Baja- 
 monte Tiepolo. Aldus was not a Venetian, having first 
 seen the light in Bassiano, near Rome. The history of
 
 HISTORIANS AND SCHOLARS. 327 
 
 his earlier years is indistinct; but this much seems to be 
 true, that, being a great scholar and student, he had also 
 been a tutor in the family of the Pii, princes of Carpi. 
 He was also the friend of Count Giovanni Pico at Miran- 
 dola, one of the most scholarly men of his age. 
 
 At length, for one reason and another, too many and 
 too involved to be given here, he decided to go to Venice, 
 and begin that making of books which in his hands 
 became such an honor and advantage to that city ; and in 
 this he was much encouraged, and probably substantially 
 aided, by Count Pico. Thus a Florentine and a Roman 
 brought to this Mistress of the Sea a kind of prestige 
 which no son of hers had given. Aldus probably knew 
 that foreign printers, of whom we have spoken, had been 
 encouraged to do their work at Venice; but he was no 
 mere printer, and although it is by that name that he is 
 most frequently spoken of, he was a scholar before he was 
 a printer, and became a printer because of his scholar- 
 ship. He had found how meagre and incorrect were the 
 text-books of his time ; and to supply these defects and 
 give to the world books free from blemishes in substance 
 and form, was his untradesmanlike motive. 
 
 It is believed that he went to Venice about 1488, and 
 his first publication appeared six years later. Meantime 
 he had prepared the manuscripts he wished to print, and 
 had drawn around him a large number of men, old and 
 young, from senators and priests to the youths who 
 sought learning, to listen to his reading and exposition of 
 the Greek and Latin authors. The Neacademia of Aldo 
 became a most important factor in Venetian life. To 
 quote Mrs. Oliphant: 
 
 " Sabellico, the learned and eloquent historian, with whose 
 work Venice was ringing; Sanudo, our beloved chronicler, then 
 beginning his life-long work; Bembo, the future cardinal, al- 
 ready one of the fashionable semi-priests of society, holding a
 
 328 THE QUEEN OF THE ADRIATIC. 
 
 canonicate; the future historian who wrote no history, Andrea 
 Navagero, but he in his very earliest youth ; another cardinal, 
 Leandro, then a barefooted friar, all crowded about the new 
 classical teacher. The enthusiasm with which he was received 
 seems to have exceeded even the ordinary welcome accorded in 
 that age of literary freemasonry to every man who had any new 
 light to throw upon the problems of knowledge. And while he 
 expounded and instructed, the work of preparation for still more 
 important labors went on. It is evident that he made himself 
 fully known, and even became an object of general curiosity, 
 one of the personages to be visited by all that were on the sur- 
 face of Venetian society, and that the whole of Venice was 
 interested and entertained by the idea of the new undertaking. 
 ... It was a labor of love, an enterprise of the highest public 
 importance, and as such commended itself to all who cared for 
 education or the humanities, or who had any desire to be con- 
 sidered as members or disciples of that highest and most cul- 
 tured class of men of letters, who were the pride and glory of 
 the age." 
 
 His house, though "far from the busy haunts," was 
 soon a gathering-place and centre for such men as were 
 seriously interested in what was there transpiring; and 
 Aldus skilfully employed all who could and would aid 
 him in the preparation of the almost indecipherable 
 manuscripts, in proof-reading, and in many matters which 
 demanded keen intelligence and infinite patience. 
 
 The picture of his busy shops, to which these men 
 turned and where they labored, leaving the fascinations 
 of the Piazza and the exciting life of Venice at her best, 
 makes one of the most interesting of the many remarkable 
 scenes of that unique and marvellous city. And it is 
 curious to note how in the lives of men like Aldus in 
 the present day his vexations are repeated, reminding us 
 that there is nothing new under the sun. He complains 
 that if he attempted to answer the letters he receives, both 
 night and day would be too little for the task; and trou-
 
 HISTORIANS AND SCHOLARS. 329 
 
 blesome visitors were as numerous then as now, wherever 
 great men live. He humorously wrote of these : 
 
 " Some from friendship, some from interest, the greater part 
 because they have nothing to do, for then 'Let us go,' they 
 say, 'to Aldo's.' They come in crowds and sit gaping, 
 ' Non missura cutem, nisi plena cruoris hirudo.' 
 
 I do not speak of those who come to read me either poems or 
 prose, generally rough and unpolished, for publication, for I 
 defend myself from these by no answer or else a very brief one, 
 which I hope nobody will take in ill part, since it is done, not 
 from pride or scorn, but because all my leisure is taken up in 
 publishing books of established fame. As for those who come 
 for no reason, we make bold to admonish them in classical words 
 in a sort of edict placed over our door, < WHOEVER YOU ARE, 
 Aldo requests you, if you want anything, ask it in few words 
 and depart, unless, like Hercules, you come to lend the aid of 
 your shoulders to the weary Atlas. Here will always be found 
 in that case something for you to do, however many you may 
 be.' " 
 
 We can well understand that the publication of the 
 Greek Grammar, Aristotle, and kindred authors must 
 have been a work of time. But five books were produced 
 in two years, and that with the aid of two scholarly edi- 
 tors, besides the zealous help of friends, to which we 
 have referred above. In addition to the costly methods 
 that Aldus was forced to pursue, he could find no type 
 that suited him, and set himself to invent one; that 
 known at first as Aldino, and later Italic, was the result. 
 There is a tradition that he aimed to reproduce the even 
 and clear chirography of Petrarch, and himself described 
 the result as a type " of the greatest beauty, such as was 
 never done before." Aldus hastened to ask of the 
 Signoria the sole right to use this type for ten years, 
 which privilege was granted him upon the following 
 appeal :
 
 330 THE QUEEN OF THE ADRIATIC. 
 
 "I supplicate that for ten years no other should be allowed 
 to priut in cursive letters of any sort iu the dominion of your 
 Serenity, nor to sell books printed in any other countries in any 
 part of the said dominion, under pain to whoever breaks this 
 law of forfeiting the books and paying a fine of two hundred 
 ducats for each offence, which fine shall be divided into three 
 parts, one for the officer who shall convict, another for the 
 Pieta, the third for the informer, etc." 
 
 Query, was this not putting a strong temptation before 
 the informer and the convicting officer ? 
 
 The type we now use in italics is the descendant of the 
 Aldino, but not so delicate and graceful as the ancestor. 
 The first book printed in this manner appeared in 1501, 
 and, as seems most fitting, was the poems of Petrarch, 
 printed directly from his own manuscript. The Aldine 
 mark on the titlepages of this great printer's books was 
 the anchor and dolphin ; and Lorenzo of Pavia said of this 
 volume to the Duchess Isabella Gonzaga, it is "a rare 
 thing, which, like your Ladyship, has no paragon." 
 
 After a time Erasmus of Rotterdam wrote to Aldus 
 concerning the publication of his "Adages," and finally 
 came to Venice, and became one of the assistants of the 
 printer, this man of great fame, greater than those 
 Italians who called him " that Dutchman " and laughed 
 at his moderation and large appetite. Jealousy and envy 
 invaded the Stamperia, where the sounds of the gayety of 
 fashionable Venice never were heard, and where little 
 interest was felt in the struggles, the feuds, and the 
 betrayals which were rampant there, from the Great Coun- 
 cil and that of the Ten down through the many "sets" 
 of maggiori and minori in that busy, overflowing city. 
 What a contrast to all this was that conclave of the 
 Neacademia on the days when the obscure passages of 
 Aristotle, Virgil, and other ancient authors were dis- 
 cussed ! How gravely did they give their reasons why an
 
 HISTORIANS AND SCHOLARS. 331 
 
 adverb would better express the meaning than an adjec- 
 tive, and what lengthy arguments were needed to decide 
 for or against a relative pronoun ! 
 
 Sadly we record the total changes that came with the 
 wars of the first decade of the sixteenth century. Aldus, 
 his Stamperia, his precious manuscripts collected with 
 such pain and care, all disappeared; and though he 
 returned to his labors with characteristic zeal, he gained 
 fame only, and died poor. He did not work for profit. 
 His copyright in type, if we may use the word, was of 
 little use, and his thoughts were bent on other things 
 than money-making. He never swerved from his deci- 
 sion, in the preface to the Greek Grammar, to devote his 
 life to the good of mankind. Renouard, the French critic, 
 tells us how his devotion to his chosen calling became a 
 passion. If he heard of a manuscript that could explain 
 an existing text, he rested not until he got it. He valued 
 no labor, expense, travel, or study that could further his 
 ends, and it was wonderful to see with what readiness he 
 was assisted. Some for money, some without reward, 
 and others for the same reasons which influenced him, 
 gave all the aid possible to further his success; and from 
 distant places, without solicitation from him, precious 
 manuscripts were sent for his advantage. 
 
 He was succeeded by his son called Aldo il Giovane, 
 and his grandson; but even with the advances made in 
 processes, no imitator nor rival excelled the scholarly book- 
 maker, Aldo il Vecchio, whose books are now among the 
 very choicest treasures of the richest libraries in the world. 
 Quoting again from the " Makers of Venice, " 
 
 " Let us leave Aldo with all his aids about him, the sena- 
 tors, the schoolmasters, the poor scholars, the learned men who 
 were to live to be cardinals, and those who were to die as poor 
 as they were famous; and his learned Greek Musurus, and his 
 poor student from Rotterdam, a better scholar perhaps than any
 
 332 THE QUEEN OF THE ADRIATIC. 
 
 of them, and all his idle visitors coming to gape and admire, 
 while our Sanudo swept round the corner from S. Giacomo dell' 
 Orio, with his vigorous step and his toga over his shoulders, 
 and the young men who were of the younger faction came in, a 
 little contemptuous of their elders and strong in their own 
 learning, to the meeting of the Aldine academy and the consul- 
 tation on new readings. The Stamperia was as distinct a centre 
 of life as the Piazza, though not so apparent before the eyes of 
 men." 
 
 It is a singular fact that the Senate of Venice, in 1362, 
 should have thought it worth while to present Petrarch 
 with a palace, that he might in return, " with the good will 
 of our Saviour, and of the Evangelist himself," make 
 Saint Mark the heir of his library, and yet should have 
 postponed the beginning of the building in which the 
 books should be kept nearly two centuries; for it was 
 not until 1536 that Sansovino commenced the Libreria 
 Vecchia, which Aretino considered superlatively beauti- 
 ful. Meantime the gift of Petrarch, stored in a small 
 chamber of San Marco, was quite forgotten. No one 
 lived who knew its whereabouts; and the legacies of 
 Cardinal Bessarion, of Cardinal Grimani, Contarini, and 
 Nani, were the glory of the library which Petrarch wished 
 to found. Not until 1634 were his precious manuscripts 
 discovered. But a meagre number could be saved from 
 the mass of corruption they had become ; and for all time 
 the neglect and destruction of these precious parchments 
 will remain a disgrace to Venice. 
 
 In 1812 the splendid collection of one hundred and 
 twenty thousand volumes and ten thousand manuscripts 
 was transferred to the more spacious halls of the Ducal 
 Palace, leaving the Great Hall of the Libreria with its 
 paintings by Veronese and Tintoretto, and the row of 
 Greek philosophers which look down from between the 
 windows. Ruskin calls these last the finest paintings of
 
 HISTORIANS AND SCHOLARS. 333 
 
 the kind in existence. One of these is the Diogenes, which 
 Tintoretto painted with the greatest care, because Titian 
 had told the Procurators of St. Mark that Tintoretto was 
 not worthy to be employed in the decoration of this hall. 
 But these officials thought this a little severe, and gave 
 Tintoretto his opportunity. 
 
 Diogenes is nude and seated, with his legs crossed. 
 One elbow rests on the thigh, and the raised hand sup- 
 ports the chin. It is the impersonation of profound 
 meditation. There is such power in the modelling of this 
 figure, and the light is so managed, that it stands out as 
 if it did not intend to remain in the niche where it is 
 placed. Two other works of Tintoretto's are also here, 
 in spite of the efforts to deprive him of the honor. They 
 represent the removal of the relics of Saint Mark from 
 Alexandria, and Saint Mark rescuing a sailor. 
 
 When, under Eugene Beauharnais, the Procuratie 
 Nuove were converted into the Palazzo Imperiale, the 
 Libreria Vecchia was made a part of the Palace, and 
 united to the buildings of the Piazza.
 
 CHAPTER XVIIL 
 
 PALACES AND PICTURES. 
 
 VENICE has no plan. The canals are bordered with 
 edifices that appear to rest upon the water; and 
 many of its palaces are so beautiful that they seem as 
 worthy to have risen from the white sea-foam as was 
 Venus Anadyomene herself. Behind these palaces, wind- 
 ing in and out like serpents, are the calli, which appear 
 to begin nowhere and to lead to the same place, twining 
 now and then about the little campi, which afford breath- 
 ing-spaces on land, as the canals do on the water. It 
 would seem that one must be Venetian born, or, forsaking 
 all others, must cleave to Venice itself for better or 
 worse, if he would learn to thread these mazy ways with 
 confidence. 
 
 It appears, too, that this want of plan permeates the life 
 of Venice. Everybody and everything seem to be guided 
 by the fancy of the moment. It is charming and so 
 easily acquired, this dolcefar niente. One feels it, and 
 acts upon it without realizing it ; it is inhaled with the 
 air itself. 
 
 The stranger, when in the privacy of his own apart- 
 ment, makes his plan for the morrow. He resolves to 
 throw off this idleness; he will rise betimes and visit 
 the Academy, and later go to several churches. He 
 awakes to find it already late, and by the time he steps 
 into his gondola he has forgotten what he was to do, and 
 straightway decides to go once more up the Grand Canal
 
 Ca' d' Oro, on fbe Grand Canal.
 
 PALACES AND PICTUKES. 335 
 
 and gaze at those lovely palaces, which can only be seen 
 to advantage in this way. 
 
 Emerging from the water as they do, their reflections 
 in it add vastly to their attractiveness, much of which, I 
 fancy, would be lost did they rise from the usual city 
 sidewalk or even from green turf. Doubtless the lofty 
 horseshoe arches of the lower arcades, the lightness of 
 the open loggie or pergoli, and the style of their decora- 
 tions were all considered in regard to the effect of their 
 reflections, as much as to that of the edifices themselves. 
 Then, too, their space is so prescribed that grandeur and 
 breadth of design were not possible, and must be replaced 
 by picturesque effects of decoration and fancy. 
 
 The plan of the old palaces of Venice is much the same 
 in all. They rest on a very solid basis of oaken piles 
 driven down until they meet the hard, Caranto stratum 
 which underlies the silt. Larch timbers are then laid on 
 the piles, and marble slabs in cement are built up above 
 the water-level. The ground floor is principally devoted 
 to storerooms intended for heavy goods, and has a broad 
 entrance leading to them. The next floor, the mezzana, 
 is the place of business, the mercantile portion of the 
 establishment. 
 
 From the court the ascent is made to the third floor, 
 where the family apartments begin. Many of the stair- 
 cases are stately, and very beautiful in their ornamenta- 
 tion. They lead to the principal saloon or drawing-room 
 of the house. Frequently these palaces are built with a 
 central portion, with wings on each side. The great saloon 
 occupies the whole of the central part, having on its front 
 the loggia, overlooking the canal. On each side are 
 smaller rooms. The next floor is less lofty, and has a 
 spacious kitchen, besides several sleeping-apartments. 
 Still above these are garrets and store-closets, close under 
 the roof.
 
 336 THE QUEEN OF THE ADRIATIC. 
 
 The principal pleasure to be derived from the palaces 
 of Venice in these days is found by gazing at them while 
 floating up and down the Canalezzo at various hours of 
 the day, noting the exquisite effects of light and shade at 
 morning, midday, and evening, especially the latter 
 when there is a brilliant moonlight. Few of them now 
 contain much that one cares to see, and few, indeed, have 
 been kept up in such a way as to be anything but depress- 
 ing. Those that are open to strangers are filled with the 
 atmosphere of "the banquet-hall deserted." But all must 
 agree with Ruskin in what he says of their exteriors : 
 
 "The charm which Venice still possesses, and which for the 
 last fifty years has made it the favorite haunt of all the painters 
 of picturesque subjects, is owing to the effect of the Gothic pal- 
 aces, mingled with those of the Renaissance. 
 
 "The effect is produced in two different ways. The Renais- 
 sance palaces are not more picturesque in themselves than the 
 club-houses of Pall Mall; but they become delightful by the 
 contrast of their severity and refinement with the rich and rude 
 confusion of the sea life beneath them, and of their white and 
 solid masonry with the green waves. Remove from beneath 
 them the orange sails of the fishing-boats, tbe black gliding of 
 tbe gondolas, the cumbered decks and rough crews of the barges 
 of traffic, and the fretfulness of tbe green water along tbeir 
 foundations, and the Renaissance palaces possess no more inter- 
 est than those of London or Paris. But the Gothic palaces are 
 picturesque in themselves, and wield over us an independent 
 power. Sea and sky and every other accessory might be taken 
 away from them, and still they would be beautiful and strange." 
 
 Perhaps the Palazzo Vendramin Calergi is the most 
 interesting of the Renaissance palaces, because it is well 
 kept up, and its garden, with white statues and gilded 
 railings, which are reflected in the water, adds much to 
 the cheerfulness of its whole effect. It is more than four 
 centuries old, and was built by Santi Lombardo for
 
 PALACES AND PICTURES. 337 
 
 Andrea Loredan. A century later it was bought by the 
 Duke of Brunswick, and then by the Duke of Mantua ; but 
 some legal quibbles made it necessary to sell it again, 
 and since 1589 it has been in the families Calerghi and 
 Grimani, has been owned by the Duchesse de Berri and 
 the Comte de Chambord, as well as the Duca della Grazira. 
 
 If some imitator of Sanudo could have kept the annals 
 of these four hundred years in this house, their interest 
 and variety would have been fascinating. Palma Giovane 
 painted a frieze there, representing the Triumph of Caesar ; 
 and the furnishing and pictures have been very attractive, 
 perhaps all the more so for the reason that there have 
 usually been some paintings and artistic objects for sale. 
 
 The Palazzi Farsetti and Loredan, separated by the 
 Traghetto di San Luca, are very interesting. The Loredan 
 dates from the twelfth century, while the Farsetti is in 
 the Byzantine-Lombard style of that period, its front 
 having been made from the pillars and columns of an 
 older edifice. These palaces are now used for municipal 
 offices. In the Farsetti, Canova first studied his art, and 
 on the staircase are some of his earlier works. 
 
 The Palazzo Loredan is one of the few really old edi- 
 fices in the Byzantine-Gothic style. It is this architecture 
 that gives the unusual, fairy-like, and mysterious impres- 
 sions which all artists get from Venetian exteriors; and 
 the central arcade of the Loredan is a precious example 
 of it. Ruskin says : " Though not conspicuous, and often 
 passed with neglect, it will be felt at last, by all who 
 examine it carefully, to be the most beautiful palace in 
 the whole extent of the Grand Canal." The arms of 
 Peter V. Lusignan are above the entrance and windows. 
 This king of Cyprus lived here early in the fourteenth 
 century as the guest of Federigo Corner Piscopia; and 
 here Elena Cornaro Piscopia was born. 
 
 If one really lives in Venice, and has leisure to seek
 
 338 THE QUEEN OF THE ADRIATIC. 
 
 for them, there are enchanting bits of architecture, 
 sculpture, and painting which are quite unknown to the 
 usual tourist. In Palazzo Contarini and Palazzo Bembo 
 alia Celestia there are admirable staircases in the court- 
 yards, and other details from the fourteenth and fifteenth 
 centuries. In Palazzo Sina (formerly Grassi), a modern 
 edifice, there is a noble staircase, its walls being deco- 
 rated with a representation of the Carnival of 1745. The 
 portraits of the family are looking over the balustrades. 
 
 Behind the Church of San Gian Crisostoino, in the 
 Corte del Milione, is the remnant of the Palazzo del Poli, 
 the house in which Marco Polo first saw the light, in 
 1259, and where he died in 1323. It dates from the 
 twelfth century, and in the little that remains of it one 
 sees enough to admire to make it a matter of regret that 
 so much is lost. 
 
 The little Marco was but a year old when his father, 
 Niccolo, and his uncle Matteo started on their first great 
 journey, which extended to the city of the powerful Kublai 
 Khan. They returned, having seen many marvellous 
 things, and again left Venice to repeat their travels, tak- 
 ing Marco with them when he was fifteen years old. All 
 knowledge of them was lost for many years. The Casa 
 Poli was filled with kinsmen who knew little of those who 
 had gone away more than twenty years before, when sud- 
 denly, one evening in 1295, three strange figures appeared 
 at the gate. 
 
 They were in Tartar garb, their hair and beards were 
 long, and their skins dark from exposure, while their 
 curious speech was most un-Venetian. We are told that 
 the doorway through which we pass to-day in the Corte 
 della Sabbionera, with its Byzantine arch, and the cross 
 above it, is the very same at which the travellers knocked. 
 At first they were not believed to be the Poli; and a 
 great excitement was aroused, not only in Palazzo Poli,
 
 Dario Palace, on the Grand Canal.
 
 PALACES AND PICTURES. 339 
 
 but through all the neighboring quarter as well, and it 
 seemed for a while very doubtful if they could ever come 
 to their own again. 
 
 But at last they hit upon a plan by which they could 
 prove themselves to be the Poll by their peculiar conduct. 
 They invited all their relatives to a magnificent banquet, 
 and when the time arrived, 
 
 "the three came out of their chamber dressed in long robes 
 of crimson satin, according to the fashion of the time, which 
 touched the ground. And when water had been offered for their 
 hands, they placed their guests at table, and then taking off 
 their satin robes put on rich damask of the same color, ordering 
 in the mean while that the first should be divided among the 
 servants. Then after eating something [no doubt, a first course], 
 they rose from table and again changed their dress, putting on 
 crimson velvet, and giving as before the damask robes to the 
 servants ; and at the end of the repast they did the same with 
 the velvet, putting on garments of ordinary cloth such as their 
 guests wore. The persons invited were struck dumb with as- 
 tonishment at these proceedings. And when the servants had 
 left the hall, Messer Marco, the youngest, rising from the 
 table, went into his chamber and brought out the three coarse 
 cloth surcoats in which they had come home. And immediately 
 the three began with sharp knives to cut open the seams and 
 tear off the lining, upon which there poured forth a great quan- 
 tity of precious stones, rubies, sapphires, carbuncles, diamonds, 
 and emeralds, which had been sewed into each coat with great 
 care, so that nobody could have suspected that anything was 
 there. For on parting with the Great Khan they had changed 
 all the wealth he bestowed upon them into precious stones, 
 knowing certainly that if they had done otherwise they never 
 could by so long and difficult a road have brouglit their property 
 home in safety. The exhibition of such an extraordinary and 
 infinite treasure of jewels and precious stones, which covered the 
 table, once more filled all present with such astonishment that 
 they were dumb and almost beside themselves with surprise;
 
 340 THE QUEEN OF THE ADRIATIC. 
 
 and they at once recognized these honored and venerated gen- 
 tlemen of the Ca' Polo, whom at first they had doubted, and 
 received them with the greatest honor and reverence." 
 
 The news soon spread all over Venice, and the Poli 
 were besieged with visitors. The eldest, Matteo, was 
 created a magistrate, and Marco was put forward to tell 
 the story of their wanderings in answer to the many ques- 
 tions which were asked of them ; and as he constantly told 
 of millions as the revenue of the Great Khan, and of mil- 
 lions on millions as the wealth of Cathay, he came to be 
 called Marco Milione. This sounds like a derisive title, 
 and doubtless was so at first; but it was a most reputable 
 one later, especially after Marco Polo had contributed 
 large sums towards fitting out a fleet to oppose the 
 Genoese, and himself went to the war, the results of 
 which, as concerned him, have already been related. 
 There is a puzzle to me in the foregoing tale : Why did 
 the possession of their treasures prove the three men to 
 be the Poli ? 
 
 It goes without saying that in historic interest all other 
 Venetian palaces fade away when compared with the 
 Palazzo Ducale, which, as we have seen, played its part 
 in all affairs of importance in Venice, since it was not 
 only the residence of the Doge, but the place in which 
 the councils were held, and all momentous matters of 
 the State decided. It was the scene alike of the gayest 
 festivities and of the most heart-rending tragedies. The 
 splendid ball might be at its merriest in one grand saloon 
 at the moment when the Ten in their Sala were decreeing 
 the death of one of the dancers, and another of their sen- 
 tences was being executed at the prison near by, where 
 " most nights arrived the prison boat, that boat with many 
 oars, and bore away as to the Lower World. " 
 
 This palace is to-day a great library and picture-gal- 
 lery, in which the pictures that reproduce the great events
 
 PALACES AND PICTURES. 341 
 
 in the history of the Republic are of a value that cannot 
 be over-estimated. The masters here represented by 
 religious and mythological subjects can be studied in 
 other Italian and European galleries; but here, in the 
 very halls where the wars, the embassies, and the pageants 
 of Venice were decreed, they have been pictured upon the 
 walls most fittingly, by the great masters of the flowering 
 period of Venetian Art. 
 
 In the Sala della Bussola, where was the inner opening 
 of the Lion's Mouth, into which the cowardly, secret 
 denunciations, to the Ten were dropped, are pictures of 
 the " Surrender of Bergamo " and of Brescia to the 
 Venetians. They are the work of Aliense (or Antonio) 
 Vassilacchi, and like other pictures by him, in various 
 portions of the palace, are affected, bizarre, and sometimes 
 extravagant in their characteristics, but most interesting 
 by reason of their subjects. 
 
 The Sala delle Quattro Porte is adorned by paintings of 
 the "Capture of Verona," in 1439, by Giovanni Contarini, 
 who may be described in a word as an expert imitator of 
 Titian. 
 
 " The Arrival of Henry III. at Venice " is also of inter- 
 est, although its painter, Andrea Vicentino, is an artist 
 who merits attention and adverse criticism at the same 
 time. This is his masterpiece. The Doge Mocenigo 
 receives the King of France and Poland on a bridge which 
 leads to Palladio's famous Triumphal Arch, erected in 
 honor of this royal visitor. There are many portraits of 
 famous men. Near the king on the right are the Cardinal 
 San Sisto, Paolo Tiepolo, and Jacopo Foscarini, procura- 
 tors of St. Mark, and other gentlemen, besides the pilot 
 of the royal galley, Antonio Canale, whom the King of 
 France embraced and knighted on this occasion. 
 
 "The Reception of the Persian Ambassadors by the 
 Doge " is noteworthy, because it is the work of Carl (or
 
 342 THE QUEEN OF THE ADRIATIC. 
 
 Carletto) Cagliari, the son of Paul Veronese. His father, 
 not wishing the son to be merely his own imitator, had 
 placed him in the studio of Jacopo Bassano; and at one 
 time the young man spent some months on his father's 
 Trevisan estate, sketching from Nature, and introducing 
 animajp and shepherds into his landscapes. 
 
 He was but sixteen when his father died, and he lived 
 but eight years after, having overworked, and dying from 
 the consequent exhaustion. His pictures display a feel- 
 ing for the picturesque, and some of his heads are admira- 
 ble ; but the inimitable grace, brilliancy, and gayety of his 
 father are not his, while his composition is much colder. 
 
 This is impressed on us when in the next Sala, the 
 Anticollegio, we come upon the "Rape of Europa," which 
 Gautier calls "the marvel of this sanctuary of Art" And 
 finally he exclaims: "What beautiful white shoulders, 
 what round and charming arms! What a smile of eternal 
 youth is in this marvellous canvas where Paul Veronese 
 seems to have said his last word! The heavens, clouds, 
 trees, flowers, the earth, the sea, the carnations, drape- 
 ries, all seem to be steeped in the light of an unknown 
 Elysium." 
 
 In the Sala del Collegio, Veronese appears in a far dif- 
 ferent manner. Above the throne where sat the Doge 
 and the Privy Councillors when receiving foreign ambas- 
 sadors, is a representation of Venice triumphant after the 
 Victory of Lepanto in 1571. The portraits of the hero of 
 the battle, the Doge Sebastiano Venier, and of Agostino 
 Barbarigo, who perished there, are introduced It is a 
 grand picture, but confused; for besides the figures we 
 have mentioned are those of the Saviour in glory, Faith, 
 Saints Mark and Justine, and other subordinate person- 
 ages, and these are massed in the centre of the canvas. 
 He certainly was an astounding painter. We must not 
 think of his curious mingling of people who would seem-
 
 Sala del Collegia; Motive Picture of tbe Bat lie of 
 Lepanto, by Veronese.
 
 PALACES AND PICTURES. 343 
 
 ingly never be associated either on earth or in heaven; 
 we must not note his improprieties of chronology, cos- 
 tume, and place ; we must but feast on his dignified and 
 splendid crowds, his light, his color, and, on the whole, 
 in its general effect, now so mellowed and harmonized by 
 time. Who can resist his charm ? 
 
 The Sala del Senato is also called dei Pregardi, because 
 in the early times, before Wednesday and Saturday were 
 fixed upon as the days for the meeting of the Senate, 
 messengers were sent to pray the Senators to attend at 
 the palace. It is principally decorated with religious 
 subjects, and the centre of the ceiling is occupied by 
 Tintoretto's conception of "Venice as Queen of the Sea;" 
 but the historical pictures of the " Election of S. Lorenzo 
 Giustiniani as Patriarch of Venice," by Marco Vecelli, 
 and the "League of Cambray," by Palma Giovane, are 
 attractive, although one can scarcely understand why 
 " Venice seated on a lion and daring all Europe " should 
 be chosen to represent the Republic just at that epoch, 
 when she was at the mercy of other powers, and for a 
 time quite helpless. To Art in Venice this league was 
 almost fatal, since the patrons of artists were forced to 
 give their attention and money to the affairs of the State, 
 and the painters were forced to seek other cities where 
 peace permitted them to gain a livelihood. Even Titian 
 left his beloved Venezia, and went to Padua, where he 
 was fully occupied. 
 
 Passing through the Ante-Chapel and the Chapel, in 
 which there is little of interest, we reach a staircase lead- 
 ing to the private apartments of the Doge, at the foot of 
 which is the only fresco known to have been painted by 
 Titian, which remains in Venice, and is only shown by 
 special permission of the Conxervatorio. It is most care- 
 fully painted, and represents Saint Christopher, who is of 
 a splendid Venetian type. The head of the saint is noble ;
 
 344 THE QUEEN OF THE ADRIATIC. 
 
 while the child is like an inferior earthly baby, and 
 appears to be in great fear of falling. Tradition teaches 
 that this was painted in honor of the arrival of the French 
 at San Cristoforo, near Milan, in 1523. Titian's patron, 
 the Doge Andrea Gritti, was very fond of the French, and 
 at his election the French ambassador at Venice made 
 great feasts in his honor. Had a patron saint of France 
 been represented, it would have caused comment, perhaps 
 suspicion of the Doge; therefore Saint Christopher was 
 chosen. 
 
 In the Sala del Consiglio dei Dieci is the " Meeting of 
 Alexander III. and the Doge Ziani on his Return from 
 his Victory over Barbarossa," by Leandro Bassano. This 
 remarkable portrait-painter had here a great opportunity 
 to show his skill, and he improved it The figures are 
 evidently painted from life, and well present the patri- 
 cians of his time, the end of the sixteenth and the 
 beginning of the seventeenth century. The Doge Marino 
 Grimani figures as Ziani in this canvas, and in the 
 suite of the Pope Leandro has given us his own por- 
 trait He is ordinary in type. His thick black hair 
 rises above a receding forehead, and his commonplace 
 head and whole bearing suggest the peasant in a borrowed 
 garb. He carries the umbrella behind the Pope. 
 
 On the opposite wall is the " Congress at Bologna, in 
 1529, which concurred in the Peace between Clement VII. 
 and Charles V.," by Marco Vecelli. It represents the 
 whole assemblage ; and while one of the secretaries of the 
 Emperor reads the treaty, a Dominican is making an 
 address, drums are beaten and trumpets sounded, and in 
 the distance two cavaliers are riding a tournament, lances 
 in hand. Charles Blanc happily suggests that it is fortu- 
 nate that painting is dumb, when so many noises are 
 represented. Curious and incoherent as this picture is, 
 it is full of life and movement, and is interesting in
 
 PALACES AJJD PICTURES. 345 
 
 its costumes of cardinals, bishops, pontifical guards, 
 ambassadors, and pages. 
 
 Naturally the immense Sala del Maggior Consiglio is of 
 the greatest interest. It is now the Bibliotheca di San 
 Marco or Marciana, the books having been brought here 
 in 1812. The decorations are unchanged since the days 
 of the Republic, and the same magnificent works of art 
 which surrounded the meetings of the Great Council make 
 a fitting setting for the treasures of the Library. This 
 hall was burned out in 1577, three years after the great 
 banquet to Henry III. had been given here ; and thus the 
 present paintings are by the later Venetian masters. 
 The ceiling is very important, having been painted by 
 Tintoretto, Palma Giovane, and Paul Veronese, whose 
 " Triumph of Venice " far surpasses the works of the 
 other two masters. I know of no description of this 
 picture which can be compared with that of Taine, who 
 says : 
 
 "This work is not merely food for the eye, but a feast. 
 Amidst grand architectural forms of balconies and spiral col- 
 umns sits Venice, the blonde, on a throne, radiant with beauty, 
 with that fresh and rosy carnation peculiar to the daughters of 
 humid climates, her silken skirt spread out beneath a silken 
 mantle. Around her a circle of young women bend over with 
 a voluptuous and yet haughty smile, possessing that Venetian 
 charm peculiar to a goddess who has a courtesan's blood in her 
 veins, but who rests on a cloud and attracts men to her instead 
 of descending to them. Thrown into relief against pale violet 
 draperies and mantles of azure and gold, their living flesh, their 
 backs and shoulders, are impregnated with light or swim in 
 the penumbra, the soft roundness of their nudity harmonizing 
 with the tranquil gayety of their attitudes and features. Venice 
 in their midst, ostentatious and yet gentle, seems like a queen 
 whose mere rank gives the right to be happy, and whose only 
 desire is to render those who see her happy also. On her se- 
 rene head, which is thrown slightly backwards, two angels place
 
 346 THE QUEEN OF THE ADRIATIC. 
 
 a crown. What a miserable instrumentality is language! A 
 tone of satiny flesh, a luminous shadow on a bare shoulder, a 
 nickering light on floating silk, attract, recall, and retain the 
 eye for a long time, and yet there is but a vague phrase with 
 which to express the charm. . . . Beneath the ideal sky and 
 behind a balustrade are Venetian ladies in the costume of the 
 time, in low-neck dresses cut square and closely fitting the body. 
 It is actual society, and is as seductive as the goddess. They 
 are gazing, leaning over and smiling; the light which illumi- 
 nates portions of their clothes and faces falls on them or diffuses 
 itself in such exquisite contrasts that one is moved with trans- 
 ports of delight. At one time a brow, at another a delicate ear 
 or a necklace or a pearl, issues from the warm shadow. One, in 
 the flower of youth, has the archest of looks; another, about 
 forty and amply developed, glances upward and smiles in the 
 best possible humor. This one a superb creature, with red 
 sleeves striped with gold stoops, and her swelling breasts ex- 
 pand the chemise of her bodice. A little blond, curly-headed 
 girl in the arms of an old woman raises her charming little hand 
 with the most mutinous air, and her fresh little visage is a rose. 
 There is not one who is not happy in living, and who is not 
 merely cheerful, but joyous. And how well these rumpled, 
 changeable silks, these white, diaphanous pearls accord with 
 these transparent tints, as delicate as the petals of flowers! 
 Away below, finally, is the restless activity of the sturdy, 
 noisy crowd; warriors, prancing horses, grand flowing togas, a 
 trumpeter bedizened with drapery, a man's naked back near a 
 cuirass, and in the intervals, a dense throng of vigorous and 
 animated heads, and in one corner a young mother and her in- 
 fant; all these objects being disposed with the facility of opu- 
 lent genius, and all illuminated like the sea in summer, with 
 superabundant sunshine. All this is what one should bear away 
 with him in order to retain an idea of Venice. ... I got some 
 one to show me the way to the public garden; after such a pic- 
 ture one can only contemplate natural objects." 
 
 The only unbroken wall in this Great Hall is occupied 
 by the "Paradiso" of Tintoretto, in some respects the
 
 PALACES AND PICTURES. 347 
 
 greatest of modern pictures; while the remaining wall- 
 spaces are filled with twelve pictures illustrating the story 
 of Pope Alexander and Barbarossa, and nine others of 
 scenes connected with the Fourth Crusade. These splen- 
 did paintings are among the earliest which were executed 
 on large canvases, and for that reason are important in 
 the History of Art, while they bear witness to the wealth 
 and generosity of the Republic at the time when they 
 were painted. Much blackened by age as they are, and 
 often villanously repainted, they are still a worthy study 
 for the art student for many reasons. 
 
 Carlo and Gabriele Cagliari represented two scenes in 
 the earliest period of the association of the Pope and the 
 Doge Ziani. In the first the Doge and the Senators have 
 found the Pope in the Convent of La Carita, where 
 Alexander took refuge from Barbarossa in 1177. This 
 convent, now the Academy of Fine Arts, is on the Grand 
 Canal ; and not only are the Senators and a crowd of peo- 
 ple represented as surrounding the two principal person- 
 ages, but there are fishermen in their boats, with baskets 
 full of fish, a group of people in a gondola, and other 
 figures which add much to the life and movement of the 
 scene. The Pope is habited like a poor priest, in order 
 that he may the better conceal his personality. 
 
 The second is a much smaller composition, divided by 
 columns. On one side there is light; on the other, 
 shadow. The subject is the " Embassy from the Pope and 
 the Republic to Frederick II. at Pavia. " The groups are 
 animated, and the costumes varied, as senators, soldiers, 
 and priests are all represented. 
 
 Above a window Leandro Bassano has painted a picture 
 of "the Doge receiving a lighted taper from the Pope/* 
 commemorating this act which conferred on all future 
 Doges the privilege of having a taper borne before them. 
 
 The fourth, by Jacopo Tintoretto, presents the scene at
 
 348 THE QUEEN OF THE ADRIATIC. 
 
 Pavia, when Barbarossa declares that if the Pope is not 
 surrendered to him, he will "plant his eagles above the 
 portal of San Marco." Both the good and the bad in 
 Tintoretto's manner are displayed in this work, but 
 the figures of the two ambassadors are admirable. The 
 more his pictures are studied, the better is the saying of 
 the Venetians understood, "There are three Tintorettos, 
 one of bronze, a second of silver, and a third of gold." 
 
 The fifth painting, by Francesco Bassano, represents 
 " the Pope presenting a consecrated sword to the Doge. " 
 It is a most interesting study, it being a representation of 
 the Piazza as it appeared at the end of the sixteenth cen- 
 tury. The scene is actually in the Piazzetta, between the 
 landing and the column of the Lion. In perspective, on 
 one side the Ducal Palace appears, and on the other the 
 Campanile and the angle of the Procuratorie, while in 
 the distance is the Clock-Tower. The Piazza is full of 
 people. Priests in fine vestments, Senators in their 
 robes, soldiers with nodding plumes in their hats, trum- 
 peters and drummers, all witness the ceremony. The 
 Doge, wearing the ducal crown, in his crimson velvet 
 dress, beneath the mantle of the cloth of gold, is most 
 impressive, as he slightly bends his knee when receiving 
 the sword. 
 
 Francesco Bassano excelled in giving an air of reality 
 to his paintings, and in his aptness in invention; and 
 while this scene actually occurred in 1172, he has sur- 
 rounded it with the Piazza of four centuries later, which 
 greatly adds to its value for us, he wrought better than 
 he knew. 
 
 Above a window Fiammingo painted "The Doge receiv- 
 ing the Parting Benediction of the Pope; " and next that 
 is the "Battle of Salboro," in which Otho, the son of 
 Barbarossa, was taken prisoner. This is the work of 
 Domenico Tintoretto, who showed himself at his best,
 
 PALACES AND PICTURES. 349 
 
 and seemed a worthy son of his father, in his pictures of 
 naval battles. When we are told that the battle of 
 Salboro was never fought, and that the whole story is but 
 a piece of Venetian boasting, it is impossible to feel the 
 same interest in the work that a representation of a well- 
 attested fact would arouse ; but this does not prevent the 
 study of the details of costume, armor, and naval equip- 
 ments, which are very curious. 
 
 Above a door Andrea Vicentino painted a picture of 
 " The Doge presenting Prince Otho to the Pope ; " and in 
 the next scene Palma Giovane represented the " Release 
 of Otho by the Pope." After Veronese and Tintoretto, 
 and among the secondary artists who were honored by 
 commissions in the decoration of the Ducal Palace, Palma 
 Giovane may well claim attention. Domenico Tintoretto 
 alone rivals him in their class. He was skilful in 
 design, but lacked sentiment and intensity of spirit. He 
 knew all the optical effects in painting. He used his 
 brush dexterously. He had studied and copied from 
 Michael Angelo until he had mastered foreshortening. 
 He handled his colors after Titian's manner. In short, he 
 only lacked soul, in order to have been a great painter. 
 But through the friendship and influence of Alexander 
 Vittoria he became the fashion, and his pictures are seen 
 in all the churches, and other edifices of honor in Venice, 
 as well as in many galleries of the chief cities of Italy, 
 and other European countries. His drawings and engrav- 
 ings were much valued, and were sold for nearly as large 
 sums as were paid for his pictures in oil. 
 
 " The Emperor submitting to the Pope" affords one of 
 the most interesting scenes and best artistic opportunities 
 in the series. It is by Federigo Zucchero, who was by 
 no means a great artist ; yet this work is very attractive. 
 
 Above another door Girolamo Gamberato painted " The 
 Doge landing at Ancona with the Pope and the Emperor
 
 350 THE QUEEN OF THE ADRIATIC. 
 
 after the Reconciliation." Tradition teaches that on this 
 occasion the people of Ancona came out to meet their 
 visitors bringing umbrellas or canopies for the Pope and 
 the Emperor only, and Alexander ordered a third to be 
 brought for Ziani, who, under God, had been the means 
 of establishing this peace. 
 
 The series ends with the scene in St. John Late ran in 
 Rome, when "Pope Alexander III. presents consecrated 
 banners to the Doge Ziani." It is the work of Giulio did 
 Moro, and so badly done that it merits no attention here 
 nor when one stands beneath it. We need not be sur- 
 prised when we remember that this " Jack at all trades " 
 signed himself "painter, sculptor, and architect." 
 
 Of the pictures of the Fourth Crusade, the first is by Le 
 Clerc, and represents the scene in San Marco, in 1201, 
 when the alliance was concluded between the Venetians and 
 the Crusaders, a most interesting subject, which should 
 have been treated by a greater master. The second, by 
 Andrea Vicentino, is the "Siege of Zara;" and next, 
 above a window, the "Surrender of Zara," by Domenico 
 Tintoretto, which is followed by "Alexius Comnenus 
 imploring the Help of the Venetians for his Father," by 
 Andrea Vicentino. 
 
 Domenico Tintoretto represents the "Second Taking 
 of Constantinople, in 1204." "The Election and Coro- 
 nation of Baldwin " follow, by Andrea Vicentino and 
 Aliense, and close the story of this Crusade, the final 
 space being filled by Paul Veronese's representation of 
 "The Return of Doge Contarini after the Defeat of the 
 Genoese at Chioggia." 
 
 The frieze of this Hall of the Great Council is com- 
 posed of the portraits of seventy-two Doges. The reign 
 of the earliest dates from 809; and many of them must, 
 of course, have been painted from fancy. A large number 
 are from the hand of Tintoretto. The space where the
 
 PALACES AND PICTURES. 351 
 
 portrait of Marino Faliero should have hung is covered 
 with a black veil, and has the inscription, " Hie est locus 
 Marini Falethri decapitati pro criminibus " (This is the 
 place of Marino Faliero, beheaded for his crimes). 
 
 What a world of associations must rush through the 
 mind as one traverses the halls of this magnificent palace ! 
 What scenes of splendid gayety are called up by the pic- 
 tures of the luxurious and splendor-loving men and women 
 of the Republic ! And then, when reading this inscription, 
 we recall that other scene, the tragic extreme ; and between 
 these two types of association there are hundreds of others, 
 which fill the distance between them with every shade of 
 sentiment from "grave to gay." But just here we can 
 only remember that "the Council of Ten was hastily 
 summoned. The minor conspirators were first executed. 
 Then the Doge, stripped of his insignia of office, was 
 beheaded in the closed palace; and one of the Council, 
 taking the bloody sword to the space between the Columns, 
 brandished it, saying, 'The terrible doom hath fallen on 
 the traitor.' " We are glad that the steps on which 
 Faliero fell no longer exist, and that no such scene has 
 been enacted on the splendid Staircase of the Giants, over 
 which Mars and Neptune now preside, and where, since 
 1485, the Doges have been crowned with the formula, 
 "Accipe coronam ducalem ducatus Venetorum." The 
 author of the " Story of Italy " says : " It was a serious mat- 
 ter to be Doge of Venice. Five of the first fifty Doges 
 abdicated; five were banished with their eyes put out; 
 nine were deposed ; five were massacred, and two fell in 
 battle." 
 
 We remember that in the Sala dello Scrutinio is a picture 
 of the Triumphal Arch erected in 1694, in honor of Fran- 
 cesco Morosini, called II Peloponnesiaco from his conquest 
 of the Morea, and whose name, alas ! is now oftenest re- 
 called in connection with the destruction of the Parthenon.
 
 352 THE QUEEN OF THE ADRIATIC. 
 
 One of the best works of Palma Giovane is also here, - 
 "The Last Judgment," in one part of which he represents 
 his mistress in heaven, and in another she is consigned 
 to hell. "The Taking of Zara" is one of the wonderful 
 pictures by Tintoretto. Charles Blanc says that he was 
 possessed by the genius of battles, and in depicting such 
 scenes seemed to be himself engaged in the assault. This 
 work is full of fire. It is confused ; but here and there a 
 single picturesque figure stands out from the heroic dis- 
 order of this tumultuous story. 
 
 Blanc relates that an abbd who acted as his guide in 
 the Ducal Palace called his attention to the fact that the 
 portrait of Marino Faliero did not appear in "The Taking 
 of Zara," which should have made his name immortal as 
 much as his tragic death has done; but the Senate for- 
 bade Tintoretto to place him on his canvas, since his head 
 had fallen by the hand of the executioner. Blanc asks: 
 " If the Doge had betrayed the Republic, was that a reason 
 why the Republic in its turn should betray the truth ? " 
 
 The frieze of the portraits of the Doges is concluded in 
 this hall, where the forty-one nobles were chosen who 
 afterwards elected these rulers. It is now the repository 
 of the manuscripts, the early printed books, and the 
 Aldine editions of the Library. 
 
 The Sala dello Scudo is rich in a very different sort of 
 decoration from that of the halls we have described. It 
 is hung with maps, many of which represent the discov- 
 eries made by Venetian navigators. Here is the famous 
 Mappamondo of Fra Mauro, dating from 1457 to 1459, 
 which is of great value in connection with mediaeval his- 
 tory, showing as it does the geographical knowledge or 
 ignorance of that era. 
 
 There is a class of pictures in the Ducal Palace so 
 numerous that we have not space to speak justly of them. 
 They are those of which Rio says :
 
 PALACES AND PICTURES. 353 
 
 " It was no doubt the passage of the Psalmist Non nobis, 
 Domine, non nobis, sed nomini tuo da gloriam which was so 
 often repeated by the Venetians in the Crusades, which sug- 
 gested to the Doges and naval commanders the idea of being 
 represented in a kneeling attitude before the infant Christ or 
 the Holy Virgin, in the pictures destined to transmit their 
 names or the recollection of their exploits to future genera- 
 tions. This mode of pious commemoration, which offers the 
 touching contrast of an humble attitude with great dignity or 
 glory, continued in use during the whole of the sixteenth cen- 
 tury, in spite of the paganism so universally triumphant else- 
 where. After Giovanni Bellini and Catena, came the celebrated 
 artists who adorned the second period of the Venetian school, 
 and who also paid the tribute of their pencils to this interesting 
 subject. It is on this account that pictures representing the 
 Madonna seated, with a doge or a general kneeling before her, 
 are so frequently to be met with in private collections, in the 
 churches, and above all in the Ducal Palace, in which these 
 allegorical compositions, intended to express the close alliance- 
 between Religion and the State, seem to have been purposely^ 
 multiplied." 
 
 In no other place in all Venice does the atmosphere of 
 the Middle Ages linger as it does in the Palazzo Ducale. 
 The atmosphere of the days when the scroll in the hand 
 of Venice enthroned bore this inscription, "Fortis, justa, 
 trono furias, mare sub pede, pono" (Strong and just, I 
 put the furies beneath my throne, and the sea beneath my 
 foot). Emerging from this palace, with one's brain full 
 of more thoughts than it can hold, it is restful to find a 
 part of them so happily expressed as in these words of 
 Taine : 
 
 "We see here with surprise and delight oriental fancy grafting, 
 the full on the empty instead of the empty on the full. A colon- 
 nade of robust shafts bears a second and a lighter one decorated 
 with ogives and with trefoils; while above this support, so frail, 
 expands a massive wall of red and white marble, whose courses 
 
 23
 
 354 THE QUEEN OF THE ADRIATIC. 
 
 interlace each other in designs and reflect the light. Above, a 
 cornice of open pyramids, pinnacles, spiracles, and festoons in- 
 tersect the sky with its border, forming a marble vegetation 
 bristling and blooming above the vermilion and pearly tones of 
 the facade, reminding one of the luxuriant Asiatic or African 
 cactus which on its native soil mingles its leafy poniards and 
 purple petals. 
 
 " You enter, and immediately the eyes are rilled with forms. 
 Around two cisterns covered with sculptured bronze, four facades 
 develop their statues and architectural details glowing with the 
 freshness of the early Renaissance. There is nothing bare or 
 cold; everything is decked with reliefs and figures, the pedantry 
 of erudites and critics not having intervened, under the pretext 
 of purity and correctness, to restrain a lively imagination and 
 the craving for that which pleases the eye. People are not aus- 
 tere in Venice; they do not restrict themselves to the prescrip- 
 tions of books; they do not make up their minds to go and 
 yawn admiringly at a facade sanctioned by Vitruvius ; they 
 want an architectural work to absorb and delight the whole sen- 
 tient being; they deck it with ornaments, columns, and statues; 
 they render it luxurious and joyous. They place colossal pagans 
 like Mars and Neptune on it, and biblical figures like Adam 
 and Eve; the sculptors of the fifteenth century enliven it with 
 their somewhat realistic and lank bodies, and those of the six- 
 teenth with their animated and muscular forms. Rizzo and 
 Sansovino here rear the precious marbles of their stairways, the 
 delicate stuccoes and elegant caprices of their arabesques: armor 
 and boughs, griffins and fawns; fantastic flowers and capering 
 goats, a profusion of poetic plants and joyous, bounding animals. 
 You mount these princely steps with a sort of timidity and 
 respect, ashamed of the dull black coat you wear, reminding one 
 by contrast of the embroidered silk gowns, the sweeping, pom- 
 pous dalmatics, the Byzantine tiaras and brodekins, all that 
 seigneurial magnificence for which these marble staircases were 
 designed; and, at the top, to greet you, are two superb women, 
 Power and Justice, and a doge receiving from them the sword of 
 command and of battle. 
 
 "At the top of the staircase open the two halls, the govern-
 
 Court of the Ducal Palace ; Giants' Staircase.
 
 PALACES AND PICTURES. 355 
 
 ment and state saloons, and both are lined with paintings; here 
 Tintoretto, Veronese, Pordenone, Palma the younger, Titian, 
 Bonifazio, and twenty others have covered with masterpieces 
 the walls of which Palladio, Aspetti, Scamozzi, and Sansovino 
 made the designs and ornaments. All the genius of the city at 
 its brightest period assembled here to glorify the Republic in 
 the erection of a memorial of its victories and an apotheosis of 
 its grandeur. There is no similar trophy in the world: naval 
 combats, ships with curved prows like swan's necks, galleys 
 with crowded banks of oars, battlements discharging showers of 
 arrows, floating standards amidst masts, a tumultuous strife of 
 struggling and engulfed combatants, crowds of Illyrians, Sara- 
 cens, and Greeks, naked bodies bronzed by the sun and deformed 
 by contests, stuffs of gold, damascene armor, silks starred with 
 pearls, all the strange medley of that heroic, luxurious display 
 which transpires in Venetian history from Zara to Damietta, 
 and from Padua to the Dardanelles; here and there, grand 
 nudities of allegorical goddesses; in the triangles the 'Virtues ' 
 of Pordenone, a species of colossal virago with herculean, san- 
 guine, and choleric body; throughout, a display of virile strength, 
 active energy, sensual gayety, and, preparing the way for this 
 bewildering procession, the grandest of modern paintings, a 
 'Paradise ' by Tintoretto, eighty feet long by twenty wide, with 
 six hundred figures whirling about in a ruddy illumination, as if 
 from the glowing flames of a vast conflagration."
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 THE ACCADEMIA; CHURCHES AND SCUOLE. 
 
 'T V HE Accademia delle Belle Arti, although on the 
 A Grand Canal, may be reached by a short walk from 
 the Piazza, passing San Moise and Santa Maria Zobenigo, 
 and through the Campo San Stefano to the ugly bridge 
 which leads directly to the Campo della Carita. The 
 Convent of Charity was one of the edifices upon which 
 Palladio lavished the greatest care and study. Much of 
 it was burned in 1630, and the pride of the old architect 
 no longer remains. After the suppression of the convent 
 it was used as a barrack ; but in 1807 Napoleon decreed 
 the establishment of an Academy of Art, and the spacious 
 buildings of La Carita were devoted to its use. 
 
 Here are pictures from the very earliest days in which 
 even the glimmerings of a Venetian Art could he dis- 
 cerned ; and this was as late as the middle of the fifteenth 
 century, when the Vivarini of Murano painted their dry, 
 meagre Virgins and other figures in colors so rich as 
 even then to foreshadow the glorious blooming time which 
 followed. 
 
 As we are not writing of Art with any special method, 
 we will speak only of a few works of interest to all, to 
 the picture-lover as well as to the connoisseur and stu- 
 dent, merely saying, en passant, that one who has time 
 will do well to spend a good share of it here. 
 
 Tt is to be expected that, as in other portions of Italy, 
 the early pictures should almost without exception be
 
 THE ACCADEMIA, CHURCHES AND SCUOLE. 357 
 
 devoted to religious subjects; and none could be more 
 sweet and attractive in sentiment than are those of 
 Giovanni Bellini, whose Madonnas are good and simple, 
 self-effacing mothers, anxious only to show the sacred 
 Child to all beholders, and offer him for the world to 
 worship. How many of these pure, grave, reverential 
 mothers the good Zuan painted! and we can never see 
 them too often. We are sure that he who represented 
 this Divine Mother, with the "splendid column of her 
 throat, holding her head high in a noble and simple 
 abstraction," and the Infant King, with his lovely angelic 
 children in attendance, tenderly respected women, and 
 idolized children. We are almost sure that he reproduced 
 on his canvas the inmates ol his own home. One of these 
 Madonnas, in the Contarini collection of the Academy, is 
 an exquisite example of this younger and most excellent 
 Bellini. 
 
 Two unusually interesting works by Gentile Bellini are 
 "Miracles of the Holy Cross," and were painted in 1466 
 and 1500 for the School of St. John the Evangelist. 
 The first represents a scene in the Piazza when a miracu- 
 lous cure is made by a fragment of the True Cross there 
 displayed. This Bellini could not confine himself to an 
 endless repetition of Madonnas and Saints; his interest 
 in the humanity about him was far too strong for him to 
 turn from it to paint the ideal, and we rejoice in his real- 
 istic picturing of the Venice of his day. He shows us 
 San Marco with but a single mosaic that still remains; 
 the bell-turrets of the fa9ade ; the Corinthian (?) horses ; 
 the statues, less numerous than now; and the foliage- 
 like decorations, all brilliant with gold and color. The 
 loggietta was not yet built; but the Campanile was there, 
 not, however, unattached as now. The Clock-Tower was 
 not in existence, and the Procuratie were so different 
 from those of to-day as to be scarcely recognizable.
 
 358 THE QUEEN OF THE ADRIATIC. 
 
 The procession has entered the Piazza through a gate- 
 way between San Marco and the Ducal Palace. Groups 
 of idlers here and there are watching the ceremony, and 
 are composed of Oriental merchants, Venetian gallants, 
 and an occasional magistrate in his toga, or perhaps some 
 women and children. Mrs. Oliphant says : 
 
 "The picture is like a book, more absolutely true than any 
 chronicle, representing not only the looks and customs of the 
 occasion, but the very scene. How eagerly the people must 
 liave traced it out when it first was made public, finding out in 
 every group some known faces, some image all the more inter- 
 esting because it was met in the flesh every day! Is tbat per- 
 haps Zuan Bellini himself, with his bair standing out round his 
 face, talking to his companions about the passing procession, 
 pointing out the curious effects of light and shade upon the 
 crimson capes aud berettas, and watching while the line defiles 
 with its glimmer of candles and sound of psalms against the 
 majestic shadow of the houses? " 
 
 The fragment of the True Cross which performs, in this 
 first painting, the miracle of a great cure, was presented 
 to the Brotherhood of the Scuola di San Giovanni Evan- 
 gel ista by the Grand Chancellor of Cyprus, who had in 
 turn received it from the Patriarch of Constantinople. 
 This relic had performed so many wonders that the Con- 
 fraternity felt the importance of recording them, so to 
 speak, on these enormous canvases, that all the world 
 might see and believe. 
 
 A second picture commemorates an occasion when the 
 sacred relic was carried in procession to the Church of 
 San Lorenzo, and when on the bridge near the church it 
 was dropped into the canal. Many persons among the 
 profane crowd which followed the procession leaped into 
 the water, and are seen in the picture swimming about in 
 search of the relic. Some boats also have come near for 
 the same purpose ; but not until Andrea Vendramini, the
 
 THE ACCADEMIA, CHURCHES AND SCUOLE. 359 
 
 chief vrarden of the Scuola, descended into the canal in 
 his full habit, could the precious object be found. For 
 him it floated upright, because, as the tradition teaches, 
 of his being granted this great privilege by miraculous 
 favor. 
 
 This scene is even more characteristic of Venetian life 
 than the first. The houses near the bridge are orna- 
 mented with draperies ; and heads of women in coifs and 
 hoods are seen in the windows. The bridge is crowded 
 densely by the procession arrested to watch the search for 
 the relic, and the light is thrown on the faces of the 
 priests and monks who chiefly compose it. All along the 
 Fondamenta is a concourse of richly dressed ladies in 
 magnificent costumes and gorgeous jewels, whose shoulders 
 and faces are increased in beauty by the thin veils that 
 soften but do not conceal their features or their rich 
 necklaces and coronets. They kneel closely together, 
 and no doubt will follow the procession when it moves. 
 They are not young, but in the height ot womanly dignity 
 and grace ; and it is said that she who wears a crown is 
 Caterina Cornaro, who has come from Asolo to see this 
 ceremony at San Lorenzo. In one of the boats stands the 
 priest of San Lorenzo, his hands clasped in prayer ; and 
 Ridolfi declares that Gentile introduced his own portrait 
 in the crowd at the side of the canal. Charles Blanc 
 places great value on this picture on account of its accu- 
 rate representation of the costumes and manners of the 
 time, the ceremonials, buildings, bridges, and quays of 
 Venice ; but as a work of art he finds it inferior to the 
 "Procession in the Piazza of St. Mark." 
 
 We have not space to speak with any justice of that 
 marvellous series of nine pictures by Carpaccio, which 
 tell the story of Saint Ursula with such power as to strike 
 ail beholders with astonishment. We can mention but 
 one work by this master, a work in the same vein as
 
 360 THE QUEEN OF THE ADRIATIC. 
 
 the two by Gentile Bellini of which we have spoken. It 
 is called the "Patriarch of Grado;" and the bridge of the 
 Rialto, then built of wood, is seen, as well as the gondolas, 
 which were open, decked with garlands, and painted in 
 colors, as if ready for a fete. 
 
 1 can scarcely equal Mr. Ruskin in enthusiasm for 
 Carpaccio ; but it is certain that this man, whose origin is 
 unknown and the date of whose death cannot be given, 
 whose whole history, in fact, is enveloped in impenetra- 
 ble shadows, was a great poetic artist; and Blanc well 
 says : " His works are not precious to Venetians only ; 
 they have an infinite charm for all the world, because 
 they reveal the imagination of an artist. In them one 
 admires the ingenuousness of a precursor, and feels the 
 soul of a poet ; and nothing is more true than the saying 
 of Zanetti, ' Carpaccio bears the truth in his heart. ' : 
 
 The "Assumption" and "The Presentation of the Vir- 
 gin " by Titian are among the invaluable treasures of the 
 Accademia. As we gaze on the magnificent Assumption, 
 we can but wonder, and even feel indignant, at the dense 
 stupidity of those monks of the Frari for whom it was 
 painted. They were like buzzing, stinging gnats about 
 him while the work was going on, and only accepted it at 
 last because a minister of Charles V. offered a goodly 
 sum for it, and wished to take it away from Venice. Its 
 only worth in their eyes depended on the fact that others 
 wished to have it. 
 
 It is really in three parts. At the top is the Eternal 
 Father, in resplendent glory, with arms open to receive 
 the Holy Virgin, who ascends to him surrounded by an 
 aureole of cherubim. Below the grand, colossal figures 
 of the Apostles are grouped. The Virgin is modest, and 
 yet triumphant. She has no mystic expression, but is of 
 the same healthy, vigorous race which Titian saw all 
 about him. She might be a sister or daughter of one of
 
 THE ACCADEMIA; CHURCHES AND SCUOLE. 361 
 
 the bronzed apostles below. Her double mantle of red 
 and blue, in its many folds, does not disguise the athletic 
 grace of her superb form, in which there is neither languor 
 nor effeminacy. 
 
 In this picture, in which the climax of Venetian 
 painting was reached, which is by its position and 
 arrangement in the Academy the acknowledged Queen of 
 Pictures, a wonderful power of invention is displayed, 
 and a boldness of execution is shown which Titian had 
 not before employed, and which was much criticised at 
 the time of its completion ; but it has endured the chances 
 and changes of almost four centuries only to be placed in 
 the first rank of existing paintings. 
 
 In the "Presentation of the Virgin" we have a truly 
 Venetian treatment of a subject which has been made of 
 small effect in the hands of other masters. The nice 
 little girl, with her plump face and blue gown, can have 
 no possible conception of the meaning of her pale aureole. 
 She is childishly innocent of what is to be done, and, in 
 fact, has simply been used by Titian as an excuse for 
 bringing together fifty people, an obelisk, a portico, the 
 f aQade of a temple, a long flight of gray stone steps ; and 
 not content with these, he has added hillsides, mountains, 
 and trees, with banks of clouds above all. 
 
 The Pontiff and a group of priests are above the child 
 at the top of the steps. She raises her hand towards 
 them. Below are her father and mother, and near the 
 steps the famous old countrywoman, with her basket of 
 eggs. There are also men and women of quite another 
 class, dressed in long garments, who make a sort of pass- 
 ing procession. It is as if one were in the midst of a city 
 where people of various classes are occupied with their 
 personal affairs, a city in the midst of a noble land- 
 scape, which is glowing with sunlight, a city, too, 
 on which its people have bestowed the riches of art, and
 
 362 THE QUEEN OF THE ADRIATIC. 
 
 everything that money can produce to make life luxurious 
 and attractive. It is no wonder that Titian lived without 
 a rival ; that his works were sought by emperors and 
 kings, and that in his power of portraiture he has not 
 been surpassed. 
 
 "The Supper in the House of Levi " was painted by 
 Paul Veronese for the Refectory of SS. Giovanni and 
 Paolo, in 1572 ; and a year later the artist was summoned 
 before the Sacred Tribunal to answer to the charge of 
 irreverence, based upon his having painted "dwarfs, buf- 
 foons, drunkards, Germans, and similar indecencies " at 
 supper with Our Lord. Veronese defended himself on the 
 ground that Michael Angelo, "in the Papal Chapel at 
 Rome, painted Our Lord Jesus Christ, His Mother, Saint 
 John, and Saint Peter, and all the court of heaven, from 
 the Virgin Mary downwards, naked, and in various atti- 
 tudes, with little reverence." Veronese was dismissed 
 with a command to correct his picture within three 
 months ; but more than three hundred years have passed, 
 and it remains untouched. 
 
 The suppers of Christ and his disciples and friends were 
 so often painted by Veronese, that he could scarcely vary 
 them very much. That in the house of Levi is subject to 
 criticism on account of the prominence given to the archi- 
 tecture, which is of too florid a type to please a severe 
 taste, although it may correspond with the disorder and 
 movement of the peculiar figures of the composition to 
 which the Sacred Tribunal objected. 
 
 Rich in masterpieces as the Ducal Palace and the 
 Academy are, one must still go elsewhere for some of the 
 grandest works of the Venetian school. For example, 
 the Santa Barbara of Palma Vecchio is in the Church of 
 S. Maria Formosa, which I always remember was built in 
 1492, that important year in which our part of the world 
 may be said to have been born. This church is very near
 
 THE ACCADEMIA; CHURCHES AND SCUOLE. 363 
 
 the Piazza; aiid the walk from the Academy, where one 
 so often is, after crossing the bridge, leads through a 
 maze of calli in the very heart of the city. 
 
 Santa Barbara was the patroness of soldiers, and this 
 picture was painted for the Bombardieri. She makes the 
 centre of an altarpiece, having two male saints on each 
 side, and a Pieta above. The whole work is excellent, 
 and were the central figure not seen, the Virgin above 
 would attract much attention; but the Saint Barbara 
 fills the place. 
 
 She stands there in full majesty, a beautiful young girl, 
 proud in her bearing, but full of human, attraction. She 
 is not saint-like, and wears her crown with no humility, 
 and holds her palm as it might be a sceptre. Her rich 
 brown robe, carelessly held about her waist by a knotted 
 ribbon, is in exquisite contrast with her crimson mantle. 
 A white veil is twisted in her golden crown, falls on one 
 side, and crosses her breast; while her magnificent hair 
 falls in wavy tresses on each side her throat, and rests on 
 her bosom. Cannon are at her feet, and her tower is seen 
 behind her. It is a splendid, lovable woman who is here 
 portrayed in a marvellous manner. 
 
 Charles Blanc tells us that when he first entered this 
 church with his friend, Mass was being said before the 
 altar of Santa Barbara; but in spite of the ceremony and 
 the place they were both surprised into cries of admira- 
 tion as they saw the picture. Naturally the priests and 
 worshippers were scandalized, and our author was publicly 
 reproved. 
 
 Tradition teaches us that this Barbara was a portrait of 
 Palma's daughter, Violante, who was passionately loved 
 by Titian. So good an authority as Blanc tells us that 
 44 it is certain " that Palma's daughter was the mistress of 
 Titian late in his life. Both these masters made several 
 portraits of her, introducing her into a variety of scenes.
 
 364 THE QUEEN OF THE ADRIATIC. 
 
 One knows her by her limpid, wide-open eyes, her volup- 
 tuous mouth and peculiar nose. She is often represented 
 in dishabille, with her large shoulders and beautiful 
 bosom half bare. When attired, she is much decorated, 
 with puffs and slashes in her gowns, with bows of ribbon, 
 and numerous chains and other ornaments. 
 
 Just at the left of the western front of Santa Maria 
 Formosa is the entrance to the Ponte del Paradiso, with 
 its exquisite Gothic archway. one of the most charming 
 bits of old architecture in Venice. 
 
 A very short walk takes one to the Canipo of SS. 
 Giovanni and Paola, on which are situated the grand 
 Dominican church of the same name ; the Scuola of San 
 Marco, now a hospital; and the chapel of Santa Maria 
 della Pace, in which the Falieri were buried, and where, 
 in 1815, the skeleton of the unhappy Doge was found with 
 the head between the knees. 
 
 Here too is the splendid statue of Verrochio's, of which 
 Ruskin says, "I do not believe that there is a more 
 glorious work of sculpture existing in the world than the 
 equestrian statue of Bartolommeo Colleoni," which to 
 me seems rather extreme praise. 
 
 The church, best known as San Zanipolo, is in the 
 cheerful Italian Gothic, and with its broad arches and 
 white windows does not at all suggest its grand sepul- 
 chral character. But it is crowded with monuments and 
 tombs. Here many Doges were laid in state, and here 
 their funeral services were held. While living they also 
 came here on the 7th of October, in all their bravery and 
 dignity, to celebrate the anniversary of the victory over 
 the Turks in the Dardanelles. But now, these pageants 
 being over, it is essentially a great tomb; and taken 
 together with Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari, we have 
 the double Mausoleum of Venice. 
 
 San Zanipolo was founded because of a dream which
 
 THE ACCADEMIA, CHURCHES AND SCUOLE. 365 
 
 the Doge Giacomo Tiepolo dreamed in 1226. "Were 
 dreams of more consequence in those days, or are we less 
 attentive to them ? The Doge saw in his sleep the little 
 chapel of the Dominicans surrounded with the most lovely 
 red roses, so fragrant that all the air was sweet with their 
 perfume ; and in the midst of the roses white doves with 
 gold crosses on their heads were flying all about. Then 
 angels descended, bearing smoking golden censers, and 
 they passed through the chapel, and out among the flow- 
 ers, and the incense was like clouds, and a voice said, 
 " This is the place I have chosen for my preachers. " 
 
 Instantly the Doge awoke and went to the Senate to tell 
 his dream ; and at once a large plot of ground was added 
 to the domain of the Dominicans, and after eight years 
 the foundation of the church was laid under the super- 
 vision of the Doge and the Senators. 
 
 The two great pictures of this church the " Death of 
 Saint Peter Martyr " by Titian, and a beautiful work by 
 Giovanni Bellini were burned, and the remaining paint- 
 ings are scarcely as interesting as are the monuments, 
 some of which are very curious, and many of which per- 
 petuate the names and deeds of the greatest men of the 
 Republic. The most absurd, perhaps, is the monument 
 to the two Doges Yalier, and to the Dogaressa, the wife 
 of the younger. The effect of the enormous curtain, per- 
 haps seventy feet high, with ropes, fringes, and tassels 
 galore, and sustained by cherubs, thus making a back- 
 ground for the effigies of the three figures, is something 
 indescribable. Victory, Fame, the Virtues, Genii, a lion, 
 and a dragon have all been made to contribute to the 
 glory of this family ; and the inscription tells us that this 
 ugly Dogaressa, with her jewels, laces, furs, ruffs, and 
 embroidery, was "Distinguished by Roman virtue, Vene- 
 tian piety, and the Ducal Crown." One wonders what 
 she could have asked for in her prayers. Having all this,
 
 366 THE QUEEN OF THE ADRIATIC. 
 
 what could be added unto her ? Would beauty have been 
 worth while ? 
 
 The two Bellini and Palma Giovane are entombed at 
 San Zanipolo, while the tombs of Titian and Canova are 
 at the Frari, all of them being in most masterful com- 
 pany ; but in the last-named church there exists a beauti- 
 ful Madonna and Saints by Giovanni Bellini, and the 
 splendid altarpiece by Titian called " La Pala dei Pesari. " 
 It is a Madonna with Saints and some of the Pesari 
 family. It is the finest ex-voto picture in the world. It 
 was ordered in 1519, and Titian was paid ninety-six 
 ducats for it. 
 
 We have barely mentioned Tintoretto, his " Paradiso " 
 and his " Miracle of Saint Mark." He is to many the most 
 unusual man among the Venetian painters of his time, 
 and to others an artist who was not surpassed. He seized 
 and still holds his own domain in the Church of Santa 
 Maria, dell' Orto and the Scuola di San Rocco. " Boiling 
 with thoughts," having means to live without earning, he 
 but desired space and opportunity to paint; and these 
 he secured when he offered to work -without price for the 
 fathers of the Orto. 
 
 The two enormous pictures of the " Last Judgment " 
 and " The Israelites worshipping the Golden Calf " still 
 remain to prove that he was no vain boaster when he pro- 
 posed to satisfy himself and win a glorious fame; and 
 these two great pictures finished, he proceeded, so to speak, 
 to decorate the whole church. 
 
 It was not alone in the palaces and churches of Venice 
 that the artists found opportunities for the indulgence 
 of their imagination in depicting historical and ideal 
 religious subjects. The Scuole, of which there were five, 
 were associations of private individuals for benevolent 
 purposes. They are remarkable monuments to the peo- 
 ple, not to the government, and are all the more interest-
 
 THE ACCADEMIA; CHURCHES AND SCUOLE. 367 
 
 ing because in this regard they are unique. They were 
 largely endowed; and their edifices, built by voluntary 
 gifts, are among the chief ornaments of Mediaeval Venice. 
 Among their objects were the provision of occupation for 
 boys, and the gift of dowries to maidens, fifteen hundred 
 of these being annually married by the aid of these 
 confraternities. 
 
 Perhaps the Scuola di San Marco on the Campo of the 
 same name, was as remarkable as any one of these insti- 
 tutions. For this brotherhood Tintoretto painted the 
 "Miracle of Saint Mark," now in the Academy. No 
 words can describe this picture, of which Taine says: 
 "No painting, in my judgment, surpasses or perhaps equals 
 his Saint Mark in the Academy ; at all events, no paint- 
 ing has made an equal impression on my mind." And 
 Blanc says : " Tintoretto has here employed all his know- 
 ledge, all his love. It is the work of a colorist, who could 
 be made to pale by no other, even in Venice. ... By 
 this resplendent painting Tintoretto attained to the high- 
 est rank, and he could no longer be ignored in the decora- 
 tion of the Ducal Palace. " 
 
 Vasari and Ridolfi concur in the account of the bold 
 manner in which Tintoretto bore off the prize in a contest 
 at the Scuola di San Rocco. This was the most interest- 
 ing and the richest of the Scuole ; and the Brotherhood, 
 having obtained the relics of the saint, albeit in a manner 
 not to be commended, had built their fine church and 
 Scuola in his honor. From Antonio Grimani to the fall 
 of the Republic, the Doges were enrolled in this order, 
 and the Confraternity of San Rocco was a liberal patron 
 of art. Mrs. Jameson gives this account of the acquisition 
 of the relics : 
 
 " In the year 1485 the Venetians, who from their commerce 
 with the Levant were continually exposed to the visitation of 
 the plague, determined to possess themselves of the relics of
 
 368 THE QUEEN OF THE ADRIATIC. 
 
 S. Roch. The conspirators sailed to Montpellier, under pre- 
 tence of performing a holy pilgrimage, and carried off the body 
 of the saint, with which they returned to Venice, and were re- 
 ceived by the Doge, the Senate, the clergy, and all the people 
 with inexpressible joy." 
 
 When on one occasion the Brotherhood of San Rocco 
 demanded cartoons for a picture they wished to have 
 painted from five celebrated artists, Tintoretto secretly 
 measured the space, and painted the scene in a few days. 
 When the day of competition arrived, he managed to 
 fasten his canvas in the place for the intended decoration 
 and covered it; and when the other designs had been dis- 
 played, he snatched the covering from his picture, and 
 electrified all present. The judges were as angry as the 
 competitors, and told the painter that they had met to 
 judge of cartoons, and not to have a picture forced on 
 them. Tintoretto replied that this was his only method 
 of design ; that designs and models should always be so 
 executed that the full effect of the completed work could 
 be seen ; and, finally, he said that he set no price on his 
 picture, which he wished to present to them. As they 
 were not permitted to refuse a gift to their saint, they 
 were forced to keep it. 
 
 At length, the excitement having passed, the larger 
 number of votes was cast in favor of Tintoretto, and he 
 was formally appointed to do all that was necessary for 
 the decoration of the Scuola, receiving a hundred ducats a 
 year during his life, and promising to paint for it one 
 picture annually. The picture which he nailed to the 
 roof while his rivals made their drawings may still be 
 seen there. It was executed in 1560, and represents " The 
 Apotheosis of Saint Roch." 
 
 Thus it happened that the Lower and Upper Halls, the 
 Staircase and the Albergo of the Scuola became galleries 
 of the works of Tintoretto, while still others are in the
 
 THE ACCADEMIA; CHURCHES AND SCUOLE. 369 
 
 Church of San Rocco. When the Scuola was finished, it 
 became, in a sense, a school of painting. Ridolfi says it 
 was 
 
 "the resort of the studious in painting, and in particular of 
 all the foreigners from the other side of the Alps who came to 
 Venice at that time : Tintoretto's works serving as examples of 
 composition, of grace, and harmony of design, of the manage- 
 ment of light and shade, and force and freedom of color ; and, 
 in short, of all that can be called most accurate, and can best 
 exhibit the gifts of the ingenious painter." 
 
 All over Venice his works exist, in the humblest 
 chapels and sacristies, as well as in the Hall of the Great 
 Council ; and yet many have been burned, have perished 
 by neglect, or have become indistinguishable with time. 
 
 It is a curious fact that of all the Venetian school of 
 painters there were but two born in Venice, Giovanni 
 Bellini and Tintoretto; and yet, so perfectly have the 
 others suited themselves to her atmosphere that we feel 
 their art to be hers individually, in perfect accord with 
 her spirit and her needs. 
 
 So, in architecture, Scamozzi, Palladio, Sansovino, and 
 San Micheli were all born on the mainland ; not one of 
 them first saw the light in Venice. But who that stands 
 in the Piazza, or passes up and down the Grand Canal, 
 feels for a moment that any other architecture would have 
 suited Venice, or that this would please us were it repro- 
 duced elsewhere ? Assuredly Mediaeval Venice possessed 
 a charm which worked its spell on all who dwelt within 
 her borders, which enabled her to impress them with her 
 own signet, and draw out in her service the best that was 
 in them. Venice was of old an enchantress ; and in spite 
 of years and the many maladies from which she has suf- 
 fered, she has not yet lost her spell. The charm is still 
 there. It is over you while within her borders, and fills 
 you with delight. It surges around you from time to 
 
 24
 
 370 THE QUEEN OF THE ADRIATIC. 
 
 time when you are far, far away, and you long to be with 
 her again as you long for the beloved faces into which you 
 cannot look, and which distance and time make no less 
 dear. 
 
 You shut your eyes on what is near you, and you think 
 of the shimmer of her lagoons, the pearly tints of the cool 
 hours of day, and the rosy, golden atmosphere of the 
 warmer time. Her domes and palaces rise before you. 
 You almost feel the motion of the gondola as you sweep 
 around a curve, and a new and fascinating vista reveals 
 itself. You hear a soft, musical language, or listen to 
 the well-known cries of the gondoliers and the distant 
 song or serenade, and you echo the words of Saint Victor : 
 " Other cities have admirers ; Venice alone has lovers. "
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Abano, Baths of, 192, 194, 195. 
 
 Abbiati, 187. 
 
 Abydos, 47. 
 
 Academy of Fine Arts, 347, 363, 367. 
 
 Accademia delle Belle Arti, 356, 360. 
 
 Adams, Charles Kendall, 254. 
 
 Adda, The river, 192, 194, 275, 281. 
 
 Adrian IV., Pope, 3. 
 
 Adrianople, 67, 68. 
 
 Adriatic, The, 48, 70, 167, 237, 266. 
 
 ./Egean, The, 48, 70. 
 
 Alberti, Pietro, 61. 
 
 Aldus the Printer, 255, 326-332. 
 
 Alexander III., Pope, 3-9, 11, 13, 31, 
 
 90, 347, 350. 
 
 Alexandria, 227, 233, 263, 278, 304. 
 Alexius, 44-47, 49, 50, 52-58. 
 Alexius III., 68. 
 Alexius Ducas, 56. 
 Alexius the Elder, 48, 51. 
 Alfonso of Naples, 231, 233, 234. 
 Aliense, 341, 350. 
 Altina, 167. 
 
 Araadeo, Duke of Savoy, 188. 
 Anafesto, Luca, 25. 
 Ancona, 31, 149, 349, 350. 
 Andata alii due Castelli, 9. 
 Angeli, The, 55, 59. 
 Angels, Church of the, 124. 
 Anna of Padua, 325. 
 Antelao, 168. 
 Anti-Doge, The, 10, 11. 
 Aquileia, 149, 167. 
 Archipelago, The, 48. 
 Armenia, 313, 314. 
 Armenia, Queen of, 229. 
 Armenians, 68, 69. 
 Arqua del Monte, 207, 208. 
 Arrengo, The, 28, 29. 
 
 Arsenal, The, 30, 161, 202, 213-216, 
 
 251, 325. 
 
 Arsenalotti, The, 215. 
 Arundel, Lady, 290. 
 Ascension Day, 6, 11, 12. 
 Asolo, 236-239, 280, 359. 
 Asolo, Lady of, 237. 
 Athens, 285. 
 Aucher, Dr., 315. 
 Austria, 149. 
 
 Austria, Emperor of. 293, 294, 301. 
 Avignon, 140. 
 
 B. 
 
 Badoer, 109, 110. 
 Badoer II., 305. 
 Badoer III., 210. 
 Badoeri, The, 208. 
 Bagnolo, Peace of, 276. 
 Bajamonte, 108-113. 
 Baldwin, Emperor, 65-68. 
 Ballerini, Giorgio, 138. 
 Bandello, 212. 
 Bank of Venice, 31. 
 Barbara's Day, St., 121. 
 Barbaria, Giorgio, 130. 
 Barbara, Daniel, 95. 
 Barbarossa, 3-5, 7, 31, 347. 
 Barberigo, 154. 
 Barberigo, Doge, 124. 
 Barbo, Paolo, 263. 
 Barbolano, Pietro, 309, 310. 
 Basaiti, Marco, 212. 
 Baschet, M. Arniand, 118. 
 Bassanio, 326. 
 Bassano, Francesco, 348. 
 Bassano, Jacopo, 342. 
 Bassano, Leandro, 344, 347. 
 Beauharnais, Eugene, 293, 333. 
 Bedmar, Marquis of, 288.
 
 372 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Belegno, Filippo, 110. 
 
 Bellini, 236. 
 
 Bellini, The, 219, 366. 
 
 Bellini, Gentile, 70, 357, 359, 360. 
 
 Bellini Giovanni, Juan or Zuan, 124, 
 
 205, 357, 365, 366, 369. 
 Beltramo, 143, 145. 
 Beni bo, Marco,.231. 
 Bembo, Pietro, 238, 324. 
 Benedict III., Pope, 204, 312. 
 Benevolent Institutions, Early, 258. 
 Beretta, The, 25, 28, 204. 
 Bergamo, 195, 198, 199, 275, 282. 
 Bernini, 121. 
 Beroviero, Angelo, 129, 131-135, 137, 
 
 138. 
 
 Beroviero, Marino, 138, 139. 
 Berri, Duchesse de, 337. 
 Bessarion, Cardinal, 332. 
 Bethune, Conon de, 55. 
 Bibliotheca di San Marco, 345. 
 Blachernse, Palace of, 52, 55, 61. 
 Blanc, Charles, 344,352, 359, 360, 363. 
 Blois, Count of, 33, 46, 69. 
 Boccaccio, 206. 
 
 Bocconio, Marino, 101, 106, 108. 
 Boniface Marquis, of Mouteferrato, 36, 
 
 43, 44, 46, 47, 4!>, 65-67. 
 Bordone, Paris, 307. 
 Borgia, Lucrezia, 238. 
 Bosphorus, The, 48, 49, 51, 54, 58. 
 Boucoleon, Palace of, 61, 65, 67, 69. 
 Boulogne, 33. 
 Bourienne, 293. 
 Bragadin, Giambattista, 289. 
 " Bravo, The," 114. 
 Brenta, The, 197, 237, 241, 297, 314. 
 Brescia, 191-193, 195, 239, 275, 282. 
 Bresciano, The, 194. 
 Briati, Giuseppe, 130. 
 " Brides of Venice," 210. 
 Bridge of Sighs, 203. 
 Broglio, The, 142, 177, 181. 
 Broletto, The, 186. 
 Brondolo, 149, 155, 297. 
 Bronze Horses, 269. 
 Brown, H. F., 112, 164, 233, 236, 276, 
 
 277. 
 
 Brown, Mr. Rawdon, 326. 
 Brunswick, Duke of, 337. 
 Brussels, Peace of, 281, 282. 
 Bucentaur, The, 9-11, 13, 140, 180, 216, 
 
 225, 229, 236, 306. 
 Buckingham, Duke of, 130. 
 
 Bulgaria, King of, 68. 
 Buono of Malainocco, 304. 
 Buranelli, The, 163. 
 Burano, 163, 164. 
 Byron, Lord, 80, 315. 
 
 c. 
 
 Cagliari, Carl or Carletto, 342, 847. 
 
 Cagliari, Gabriele, 347. 
 
 Caledonian Boar, 55. 
 
 Calendario, 143. 
 
 " Calza, Compagnia della," 177-179. 
 
 Cambray, League of, 240, 279, 280, 282, 
 
 287, 343. 
 Campania, 127. 
 Campanile, The, 150, 152, 159, 160, 209, 
 
 211, 265, 266, 296, 299, 310, 348. 
 Campo della Carita, 356. 
 Campo Fornio, 293. 
 Campo di San Agostino, 113, 326. 
 Campo dei SS. Giovanni e Paolo, 364. 
 Campo di San Marco, 367. 
 Campo di San Polo, 113. 
 Campo di San Stefano, 356. 
 Canabes, Nicholas, 57. 
 Canale, Martino da, 102, 131 132. 
 Candia, 67, 146, 153, 181, 182, 263, 266, 
 
 284. 
 
 Cane, Facino, 185. 
 Canea, 154. 
 Canova, 337. 
 Cape of Good Hope, 277. 
 Capo d' Istria, 94. 
 Cappelari, 122. 
 Carceri, The, 203, 206. 
 Cardona, 280, 281. 
 Carita, La, Convent of, 347, 356. 
 Carmagnola, 175, 184-198, 245, 281. 
 Carnival Thursday, 141. 
 Carpaccio, 359, 360. 
 Carrara, Francesco da, 161. 
 Camera, Andrea de Costantino, 241. 
 Camera, Rosalba, 218, 241-244. 
 Casa degli Spirit!, 172, 173. 
 Casalsecco, 194. 
 Casal Maggiore, 193. 
 Castellani, The, 83. 
 Castello, The, 83. 
 Castelnuovo, Count of, 192. 
 Castenedolo, 194. 
 Cattaro, 159. 
 Cavalli, 155.
 
 INDEX. 
 
 373 
 
 Cavour, 299. 
 
 Cephalonia, 123, 311. 
 
 Chambord, Comte de, 337. 
 
 Champagne, Count of, 33. 
 
 Chancellerie Secrete. Histoire de la, 118. 
 
 Charles Albert, 296, 298. 
 
 Charles V., 281, 360. 
 
 Charlotte Lusignan, 226, 227, 230, 232. 
 
 Chartres, Count of, 33. 
 
 Chicago, 125. 
 
 Chioggia, 98, 140, 149, 150, 152-158, 
 
 160, 167, 212. 
 Chios, 311. 
 Chiozzotti, The, 163. 
 Christina, St., 312. 
 Clerc, Le, 350. 
 Clough, Arthur Hugh, 266. 
 Colbert, 130. 
 
 Colleoni, 175, 198-201, 364. 
 Columbian Exposition, 125. 
 Columbus, Christopher, 251-254. 
 Columns of Executions, 140, 149, 197, 
 
 267, 268, 288-290, 351. 
 Comans, The, 68-70. 
 Como, Lake, 113. 
 Confederacy of the Lombards, 4. 
 Conon de Bt-thune, 55. 
 Constantine 67. 
 Constantine, Prefect, 51. 
 Constantine, Square of, 55. 
 Constantinople, 32, 42, 45-49, 53, 56, 
 
 57, 60, 62, 63, 65, 66, 71, 262, 283, 309, 
 
 313. 
 
 Contarini, 91, 332. 
 
 Contarini, Doge Andrea, 145, 154-157. 
 Contarini, Arrigo, 304, 310. 
 Contarini, Giovanni, 341. 
 Contarini, I.ucrezia, 177. 
 Contarini Palace, 179, 180, 183. 
 Cooper, 114. 
 Corbaro, 152, 158. 
 Corfu, 46, 47, 292. 
 Cornaro, 155. 
 
 Cornaro, Andrea, 226, 228, 229. 
 Cornaro, Caterina, 218, 226, 228-241, 
 
 245, 359. 
 
 Cornaro, Giorgio, 235, 236, 240. 
 Cornaro, Marco, 232. 
 Corpus Domini, 72. 
 Council of Three, 114, 115. 
 Council of Ten, 111-120, 126, 129, 143- 
 
 145, 152, 161, 177, 181, 182, 197, 216, 
 
 219, 235, 245, 246, 281, 286-292, 323, 
 
 325, 330, 340, 351. 
 
 Credi, Lorenzo di, 200. 
 
 Crema, 280. 
 
 Croatia, 67. 
 
 Crozat Hotel, 242. 
 
 Crozat, Pierre, 242, 243. 
 
 Curzola, 96. 
 
 Custom House, 83. 
 
 Custoza, 300. 
 
 Cyclades, The, 67. 
 
 Cyprus, 147, 161, 226-235, 263, 282, 
 
 283. 
 
 Cyprus, King of, 226, 227, 231. 
 Cyprus, Queen of, 218, 226, 228, 229, 
 
 232. 
 
 D. 
 
 Dalmatia, 67, 115. 
 
 Dandolo, 91, 98. 
 
 Dandolo, Andrea, 96, 97, 320. 
 
 Dandolo, Enrico, 32, 35, 40-45, 47, 49, 
 51, 57, 58, 65-71, 184, 262. 
 
 Dandolo, Giovanni, 93. 
 
 Dandolo, Raniero, 39, 46. 
 
 Dardanelles, The Straits of, 48. 
 
 Deacon John, 26. 
 
 Decameron, The, 206. 
 
 Decemvirs, The, 116, 117. 
 
 Diaz, 277. 
 
 Didymotichos, 67. 
 
 Dogado, The, 121. 
 
 Dogana, The, 80, 209. 
 
 Dogaressa, The, 9, 104, 105, 113, 141, 
 219, 225, 365. 
 
 Dolomitic Alps, 168. 
 
 Donatello, 199. 
 
 Donate, Marco, 108, 110. 
 
 Donate, St., 311. 
 
 Donato, San, Cathedral of, 123, 124. 
 
 Don John of Austria, 283. 
 
 Doria, 153, 155. 
 
 Doria, Lampa, 96, 97, 99. 
 
 Doria, Luciano, 146-148. 
 
 Doria, Pietro, 149-151. 
 
 Ducal Chapel, 159, 208. 
 
 Ducal Palace, 8, 27, 41, 71, 76, 103, 105, 
 106, 134, 159, 179-183, 202, 209, 215, 
 219, 221, 223, 228, 248, 256, 257, 268, 
 280, 332, 340, 349, 352, 358, 362, 367. 
 
 Ducas, Alexius, 56. 
 
 Durazzo, 46, 67. 
 
 Durer, Albert, 247.
 
 374 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 E. 
 
 Elena, Queen, 227. 
 
 Elena, St., 2. 
 
 Elenora of Portugal, 134. 
 
 Elisabetta, Sant', 23. 
 
 Emo, Governor, 313. 
 
 Emo, Pietro, 149, 150. 
 
 Erasmus, 330. 
 
 Ethereals, The, 178. 
 
 Euganean Hills, 167, 207, 237. 
 
 Evorea, Bishop of, 311. 
 
 F. 
 
 Falieri, The, 364. 
 
 Faliero, Marino, 140-144, 207, 245, 351, 
 
 352. 
 
 Famagosta, 230, 231, 233, 235, 283. 
 Fassone, 156. 
 Fenice, La, 317. 
 Ferdinand of Naples, 228, 230. 
 Fergusson, 204. 
 Ferrara, 238. 
 
 Ferrara, Peace of, 195, 276. 
 Festa delle Marie, 211. 
 Fiaramingo, 348. 
 Fieschi, Admiral, 146. 
 Filippo Maria, Duke, 186. 
 Flanders, Count of, 46, 58, 61-63, 65. 
 Florence, 188-190, 200. 
 Florentines, The, 176, 188, 189, 191, 278. 
 Florian Cafe", 317. 
 Fondachi, The, 247, 248. 
 Fondaco del Turchi, 236, 326. 
 Fondamenta Nuove, 121. 
 Forty, The, 175. 
 Fortunate, Patriarch, 27. 
 Fosca, Saint, 311. 
 Fosca, St., Church of, 169. 
 Foscari, The, 175. 
 Foscari, Doge Francesco, 175, 177, 182- 
 
 186, 196, 286. 
 
 Foscari, Jacopo, 177-184, 222, 282. 
 Foscari Palace, 76, 283. 
 Foscarini, Antonio, 289, 290. 
 Foscarini, Doge Marco, 319, 321. 
 Foulkes of Neuilly, 32. 
 Fountain Amorous, 235. 
 Fourth Crusade, 347, 350. 
 Francis I., 183, 281. 
 Francis Joseph, Emperor, 301. 
 Frari, The, 289, 366. 
 
 Frari, Convent of the, 245, 360. 
 Frederick Barbarossa, 3, 4, 6. 
 Frederick III., Emperor, 132-135. 
 Free Lances, 185. 
 Furber, Mr. H., 125. 
 
 G. 
 
 Galata, Tower of, 50, 59. 
 
 Gama, Vasco di, 277, 278. 
 
 (ia m Harare, 241. 
 
 Gamberato, Girolamo, 349. 
 
 Garibaldi, 84, 298, 299. 
 
 Gautier, 342. 
 
 Geminiano, San, Church of, 31. 
 
 Genoa, 106, 115, 146, 149, 151, 158, 186, 
 
 187, 226, 232. 
 Ghost Stories, 170-173. 
 Giants' Staircase, 295, 351. 
 Giardini Pubblici, 3, 209. 
 Gibbon, 43, 48, 50, 60, 62, 63. 
 Giblet, Tristan, 334. 
 Gibraltar, Straits of, 278. 
 Giorgio (Ballerino), 132, 134-136. 
 Giorgio, San, 76, 79, 83, 84. 
 Giorgio Maggiore, San, 14, 203, 209, 
 
 307. 
 
 Giorgione, 219, 308. 
 Giudecca, La, 74, 75, 84, 153, 209. 
 Ginstina, Rosso, 110. 
 Giustiniani, 109, 152, 153, 284. 
 Giustiniani, Casa, 74. 
 Giustiniani, Niccolo, 73. 
 Giustiniani, Pietro, 309. 
 Giustiniani, Taddeo, 151. 
 Goethe, 262. 
 Golden Horn, The, 48, 50, 58, 70, 154, 
 
 309. 
 
 Golden Rose, The, 9, 225. 
 Gondolier's Cries, 173, 174. 
 Gonzago, Duchess Isabella, 330. 
 Good Friday, 88. 
 Goro, 4. 
 Gradenigo, 90, 94, 95, 101, 106, 108, 109, 
 
 111-113, 212. 
 Grand Canal, 76, 81, 229, 236, 239, 247, 
 
 301, 334, 347, 369. 
 Grassi, Giovanni, 268. 
 Great Council, The, 12, 13, 286, 287, 
 
 290-292. 330, 345. 
 Great Council-Chamber, 144, 346, 350, 
 
 369. 
 Gregory XVI., Pope, 122.
 
 INDEX. 
 
 375 
 
 Grimani, Antonio, 367. 
 
 Grimani, Cardinal, 332. 
 
 Grimani, Doge Marino, 225. 
 
 Gritti, Doge Andrea, 344. 
 
 Guattemalata, 199. 
 
 Guy, Abbot of Vaux-Cernay, 41, 42, 
 
 H. 
 
 Hagia Sophia, 63. 
 
 Hall of the Great Council, 228. 295. 
 
 Hawkwood, Sir John, 157. 
 
 Hazlitt, 7, 33, 64, 112, 115, 149, 176. 
 
 Hellespont, The, 67. 
 
 Henry III., 215, 222, 257, 283, 345. 
 
 Hippodrome, 55. 
 
 Histoire de la Chancellerie Secrete, 118. 
 
 Holy Land, 33. 
 
 " Holy League," 280. 
 
 Horses of St. Mark, 64, 262. 
 
 Hospital, Public, 27. 
 
 Hotels, Ancient, of Venice, 257. 
 
 Howells, Mr., 121, 203, 259. 
 
 Hungary, 149. 
 
 Hungary, King of, 43. 
 
 Hunt, Helen, 170. 
 
 I. 
 
 Ibrahim, Sultan, 284. 
 
 Illumination, The, 79. 
 
 II lyric Islands, 67. 
 
 Immortelles, The, 178. 
 
 Inner Temple, 115. 
 
 Innocent III., 32, 35, 42, 43, 45, 65, 66. 
 
 Inquisitor! dei Dieci, 117. 
 
 Inquisitors of the Ten, 117, 281, 287- 
 
 292. 
 
 Ionian Sea, 48. 
 Irene, 51. 
 
 Irene, Empress, 271. 
 Iron Crown of Lombardy, 300. 
 Isaac, Emperor, 44, 49, 52, 56-58. 
 Isidore, St., 311. 
 Istria, 167. 
 
 J. 
 
 James Lusignan, 227-231. 
 Jameson, Mrs., 367. 
 Jenson, Nicolas, 254. 
 Jerusalem, 34, 40, 45, 66, 161. 
 
 Jerusalem, Queen of, 229. 
 John of Venice, 26. 
 John, King, 69, 70. 
 Julius II., Pope, 280. 
 Justina, Saint, 312. 
 
 K. 
 
 Knights of Malta, 284. 
 Knights of Rhodes, 227. 
 Knights Templars, 80. 
 
 Lace and Lace-making, 164-166. 
 
 Lace-work Goblet, 133. 
 
 Lago di Garda, 192. 
 
 Lago d' Iseo, 194. 
 
 Lascaris, Theodore, 68, 69. 
 
 La Sensa, Feast of, 12. 
 
 Lateran, St. John, 350. 
 
 Lazzaro, San, 39, 312, 313. 
 
 Legnano, Battle of, 4. 
 
 Leonardo, Alessandro, 200, 264, 271. 
 
 Lepanto, 215, 283, 342. 
 
 Levant, The, 70, 247, 276, 282, 284. 
 
 Library of St. Mark, 122, 345. 
 
 Libreria Vecchia, 332, 333. 
 
 Libro d' Oro, 92. 
 
 Lido, The, 23, 36, 73, 76, 122, 142, 146, 
 
 149, 151, 152, 156, 215, 229, 235, 236. 
 Lido, Porto di, 2, 153. 
 Lioni, 143. 
 Lion of St. Mark, 8, 9, 99, 157, 267, 
 
 292. 
 
 Lion's Mouth, The, 341. 
 Lisbon, 253, 278, 279. 
 Lombardo, 271. 
 Lombardo, Moro, 121. 
 Lombardo, Santi, 336. 
 Lombards, The, 167. 
 Lombards, Confederacy of, 4. 
 Lombardy, 193, 197, 280. 
 Longfellow, 24. 
 Loredan, Andrea, 337. 
 Loredano, 182. 
 
 Loredano, Doge Leonardo, 2, 64. 
 Louis XL, 254. 
 Louis XII., 381. 
 Louis XIV., 166. 
 
 Louis, Count of Blois and Chartres, 33. 
 Louis of Savoy, 227.
 
 376 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Lucrezia Contarini, 179, 180, 182. 
 Luke, Saint, 64. 
 Lusignan, Caterina Veneta, 229. 
 Lusignan, James, 226, 228. 
 
 M. 
 
 Macalo, 194. 
 
 Mahomet the Second, 64. 
 
 Malamocco, 2, 149. 153, 288. 
 
 Malatesta, Pandolfo, 239. 
 
 Malpaga, 199. 
 
 Malpasso, Bridge of, 108. 
 
 Manfredonia, 157, 158. 
 
 Manin, Daniele, 294-298, 301. 
 
 Manin, Ludovico, 293. 
 
 Mannucci or Manutio, 326. 
 
 Mappamondo, The, 122, 352. 
 
 March of Treviso, The, 108. 
 
 Marcello, Countess of, 164. 
 
 Marciana, The, 345. 
 
 Marco Milione, 96, 340. 
 
 Marco Polo, 96-100, 338-340. 
 
 Marghera, 297. 
 
 Mark, St., Horses of, 64. 
 
 Mark, St., Library of, 122, 345. 
 
 Marmora, Sea of, 48. 
 
 Marne, The, 33. 
 
 Marriage of the Adriatic, 9, 216. 
 
 Marsh, John B., 133, 251. 
 
 Martin IV., Pope, 93. 
 
 Marzoufle, 56-59. 
 
 Mastichelli, 228. 
 
 Mauro, Frate, 122, 352. 
 
 Mazzorbo, 163, 164. 
 
 Mechitar, 312-314. 
 
 Mechitaristican Society, 313, 314. 
 
 Medici, 91. 
 
 Memmo, Jacopo, 183. 
 
 Memmo, Marin, 183. 
 
 Merceria, The, 108, 110. 
 
 Mestre, 197, 239, 295. 
 
 Metternich, 293, 294. 
 
 Michael Angelo, 349. 
 
 Michieli, 91. 
 
 Michieli, Anna, 73. 
 
 Michieli III., 29. 
 
 Michieli, Doge Domenico, 270, 311. 
 
 Michieli, Giovanni, 304, 310. 
 
 Michieli, Doge Vitale I., 128. 
 
 Michieli, Doge Vitale II., 27, 153, 257, 
 
 304. 
 Milan, 157, 160, 176, 181, 186, 188, 189, 
 
 191, 193, 195-197, 199, 232, 299, 344. 
 
 Milan, Cathedral of, 129. 
 
 Milan, Duke of, 181, 185-187, 192, 195, 
 
 216, 281. 
 
 Milnes, Monckton, 173. 
 Minerva, Statue of, 56. 
 Minio, Bartolommeo, 251, 252. 
 Mocenigo, 131, 132, 137, 139, 230, 231. 
 Moceuigo, Admiral, 230, 231. 
 Mocenigo, Lazzaro, 285. 
 Mocenigo, Sebastiano, 313. 
 Mocenigo, Doge Tommaso, 175. 
 Mocetto, Girolamo, 129. 
 Molo, The, 140, 202, 203, 267, 317. 
 Montagnana, F. di F. da, 238. 
 Monte" di Pieta, 236. 
 Monteferrato, Boniface, Marquis of, 36, 
 
 41, 43-45, 62. 
 Montferrat, 61. 
 Montfort, Simon of, 43. 
 Montmorency, Baron de, 41. 
 Morea, The, 67, 70, 263, 285, 351. 
 Moro, Doge Cristoforo, 270. 
 Moro, Giulio dal, 350. 
 Morosini, 65, 66, 218, 225. 
 Morosini, Domenico, 262. 
 Morosini, Francesco, 285, 286, 351. 
 Municipal Museum, 10, 236. 
 Murano, 2, 77, 112, 121-131, 135, 137, 
 
 311, 356. 
 
 Muscorno, Giulio, 289. 
 Museo Civico, 248. 
 Music, Publishing of, 255. 
 Mutinelli, 248. 
 
 N. 
 
 Nani, 332. 
 
 Naples, 4, 149, 181. 
 
 Naples, Viceroy of, 288. 
 
 Napoleon, 209," 210, 292-294, 356. 
 
 Nauplia, 285. 
 
 Navagero, Andrea, 240, 321, 322, 324. 
 
 Negropont, 153. 
 
 Niccolo il Barattiere, 268. 
 
 Nicetas, 61. 
 
 Nicholas Canabes, 57. 
 
 Nick the Blackleg, 268. 
 
 Nicosia, 227, 231, 235, 283. 
 
 Nicosia, Archbishop of, 226, 230. 
 
 Nola, 127. 
 
 Novara, 296. 
 
 Novello, Francesco Carrara, 207.
 
 INDEX. 
 
 377 
 
 o. 
 
 Oliphant, lire., 73, 144, 184, 200,321, 
 
 326, 327, 358. 
 Olivolo, 210, 305. 
 Olivolo, Bishop of, 210. 
 Orio, Malipiero, 30 
 Orologio, Torre dell', 264. 
 Orseolo I., 27. 
 Orseolo, Pietro, 12, 270. 
 Oselle, 30. 
 
 Ossuna, Duke of, 288. 
 Otho the Great, 123. 
 Otho, son of Barbarossa, 5. 
 
 P. 
 
 Padua, 149, 160, 199, 233, 237, 324, 
 
 343. 
 
 Paglia, The, 203. 
 Pala dei Pesari, La, 366. 
 Palad'Oro, 270. 
 
 Palazzo Bern bo alia Celestia, 338. 
 Palazzo Contarini, 338. 
 Palazzo Cornaro, 228, 229. 
 Palazzo Corner della Regina, 236. 
 Palazzo delle due Torn, 205. 
 Palazzo Farsetti, 337. 
 Palazzo Ferrara, 236. 
 Palazzo Foscari, 76. 
 Palazzo Imperiale, 333. 
 Palazzo Loredan, 337. 
 Palazzo dei Poli, 338. 
 Palazzo Vendramin Calergi, 336. 
 Paleologo, Michele, 212. 
 Paleologus, Elena, 226. 
 Palestine, 32, 36, 45, 52. 
 Palladio, 283, 356, 369. 
 Pallium, The, 28. 
 Pal ma, Giovane, 337, 345, 349, 352, 
 
 366. 
 
 Palma Vecchio, 219, 362, 363. 
 Palm Sunday, 72. 
 " Paradise," The, 61. 
 Paris, 205- 
 
 Paris Opera House, 125. 
 Parthenon, The, 285, 351. 
 Paterniano, St., 301. 
 Patmos, 204. 
 Paul V., Pope, 122, 288. 
 Paulus, Bishop of Altina, 167. 
 
 Peacocks, The, 178. 
 Pears, 63. 
 Pelestrina, 155. 
 Pellegrini, Antonio, 242, 243. 
 Pelmo, 168. 
 Pentapolis, 167. 
 Pera, Quarter of, 53, 55. 
 Perkins, Mr. C. C., 166. 
 Persano, Admiral, 301. 
 Pesari, The, 366. 
 Peter of Capua, 37. 
 Peter II. of Cyprus, 147. 
 Petrarca, Cask del, 205. 
 Petrarch, 205-207, 282, 320, 329, 332. 
 Petrucci, Ottaviano, 255. 
 Philip, Duke, 189, 190-192. 
 Philip, Emperor of Suabia, 44-46, 66. 
 Phinea, 58. 
 Piane, The, 237. 
 
 Piazza of St. Mark, 3, 6, 7, 31, 37, 74, 
 79, 81, 93, 102, 105, 108, 141, 150, 179, 
 199, 204, 211, 225, 236, 259, 265-268, 
 272-274, 280, 295, 310, 328, 333, 348, 
 356-358, 363, 369. 
 Piazzetta, The, 3, 5, 24, 79, 180, 197, 202, 
 
 216, 267, 268, 288, 301, 317, 348. 
 Piccinino, 199. 
 Pico, Count, 327. 
 Piedmont, 160, 187, 296, 298. 
 Pierre, Giacomo, 288. 
 Pietra del Bando, 267. 
 Pietro, 129. 
 Pietro in Castello, San, 12. 
 
 "Pilgrim," The, 61. 
 
 Pisa, 32. 
 
 Pisani, The beautiful, 176, 218. 
 
 Pisani, Giorgio, 29L 
 
 Pisani, Vettore, 145-148, 152-158, 160, 
 245. 
 
 Pizzighettone, 280. 
 
 Pol, St., Count of, 46, 62, 66. 
 
 Polo, 176. 
 
 Ponte della Paglia, 203. 
 
 Ponte del Paradise, 364. 
 
 Ponte del Sepolcro, 205. 
 
 Pordenone, 163. 
 
 Porto d' Anzo, 146, 218. 
 
 Portugal, 252. 
 
 Presburg, 293. 
 
 Priuli, 235, 236, 278. 
 
 Procuratie, The, 79. 
 
 Procuratie, Nuove, 333. 
 
 Pyrenees, The, 33.
 
 378 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Q. 
 
 Qucrini, Angelo, 291. 
 Quirini, 97, 108-110. 
 Quirini, Marco, 107. 
 Quirini, Pietro, 107. 
 Quints Valle, 210. 
 
 R. 
 
 Radetzky, 298. 
 
 Ravenna, 167, 275, 276, 311. 
 
 Kedentore, Church of the, 74, 80, 82, 
 
 209. 
 
 Redentore, Fete of the, 74, 75. 
 Regatta, The, 76. 
 Renier, Doge Paolo, 291. 
 Renouard, 331. 
 Rhodes, 227. 
 Rhoetian Alps, 237. 
 Rialto, The, 164, 303, 360. 
 Riccio, 187. 
 
 Ridolfi, 189, 191, 359, 367, 369. 
 Rio, 352. 
 
 Rio di Sant' Anna, 210. 
 Riva di San Marco, 307. 
 Riva degli Schiavoni, 14, 76, 202, 203, 
 
 205-208. 
 
 Riviera, The, 154. 
 Rizzo, 269. 
 Rizzo, Marin, 234. 
 Romagna, The, 275. 
 Romanian Empire, 67. 
 Rome, 227, 232, 299. 
 Rosso, Giustina, 110. 
 Royals, The, 178. 
 Ruskin, Mr., 122, 168, 261, 272, 332, 
 
 335, 337, 360, 364. 
 Rusticiano, 100. 
 Rustico of Torcello, 304. 
 
 S. 
 
 Sabellico, Marco Antonio, 196, 320, 321. 
 
 Sadowa, 300. 
 
 Sagornino, Giovanni, 26, 320. 
 
 Sagra, The, 85. 
 
 Saint Victor, 370. 
 
 Sala del Anticollegio, 342. 
 
 Sala della Bussola, 341. 
 
 Sala del Collegio, 342. 
 
 Sala del Consiglio dei Died, 344. 
 
 Sala del Maggior Consiglio, 345. 
 
 Sala dei Pregardi, 343. 
 
 Salla delle Quattro Porte, 341. 
 
 Sala dello Scrutinio, 159, 285, 351. 
 
 Sala dello Scudo, 352. 
 
 Sala del Senate, 343. 
 
 Salboro, Battle of, 5, 348, 349. 
 
 Salute, Madonna della, 80. 
 
 Salute, Maria della. Church of, 79, 209. 
 
 Salviati, 124, 125, 128. 
 
 San Andrea, 153. 
 
 San Antonio, Church of, 169. 
 
 San Antonio di Castello, 158, 309, 310. 
 
 San Apostoli, 140, 240. 
 
 San Barnaba, 179. 
 
 San Donate, Cathedral of, 123, 124. 
 
 San Eustachio, 194. 
 
 San Fantino, 152, 159. 
 
 San Gervasio e Protasio, 244. 
 
 San Giacomo dell' Orio, 326. 
 
 San Gian Crisostomo, 338. 
 
 San Giorgio, 76, 79, 83, 84. 
 
 San Giorgio Maggiore, 203, 209, 307. 
 
 San Giovanni e Paola, 129, 362. 
 
 San Giovanni in Bragora, 208. 
 
 San Lazzaro, 312, 313. 
 
 San Lorenzo, 358, 359. 
 
 San Luca, Campo of, 109. 
 
 San Marco, 3-6, 9, 24, 27, 32, 34, 37, 
 38, 40, 64, 79, 81, 103, 127, 128, 144, 
 145, 155, 159, 184, 210, 215, 225, 229, 
 236, 267-269, 272, 273, 283, 295, 301, 
 303, 305, 306, 308, 311, 332, 358. 
 San Marcaola, 173. 
 San Michele, 21. 121, 122, 297. 
 San Moise, 356. 
 San Niccolo, 2, 4, 11, 36, 73, 83, 151,153, 
 
 236, 307. 
 
 San Niccolo di Bari, 311. 
 San Niccolo del Lido, 311. 
 San Pietro, 210. 212. 
 San Pietro di Castello, 210. 
 San Pietro, Island of, 210, 217. 
 San Salvadore, 240, 304. 
 San Silvestro, 4. 
 Sansovino, 208, 269, 332, 369. 
 Santa Maria Formosa, 211, 362. 
 Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari, 364. 
 Santa Maria dell' Orto, 366. 
 Santa Maria della Pace, Chapel of, 364. 
 Santa Maria Zobenigo, 356. 
 San Teodoro, 310. 
 Santo Spirito, 151, 153. 
 Sanudo II., Doge, 211. 
 Sanudo or Sanuto, Marino, 263, 280, 309, 
 321-326, 337.
 
 INDEX. 
 
 379 
 
 San Vio, 72. 
 
 San Vito, 110, 243. 
 
 ban Zaccaria, 204, 205, 208,218, 312, 
 
 325. 
 
 San Zaccaria, Quarter of, 216. 
 Sau Zanipolo, 199, 364. 
 Saracens, 32. 
 Sarpi, Fra Paolo, 121. 
 Savoy, 194, 232. 
 Savcy, Duke of, 227. 
 Scamozzi, 369. 
 Scuola di S. Giovanni Evangelista, 326, 
 
 358. 
 
 Scuola di San Marco, 199, 364, 367. 
 Scuola di San Rocco, 366, 367. 
 Scutari, 48, 49. 
 Selim the Drunkard, 282. 
 Selvo, Doge, 224. 
 Serenade, The, 78. 
 
 Serrata del Consiglio Maggiore, 95, 100. 
 Servia, 67. 
 Sforza, 199, 200. 
 Sforza, Francesco, 178. 
 Sforza Palace, 180. 
 Simon of Montfort, 43. 
 Sixtus IV., Pope, 276. 
 Soissons, Bishop of, 61. 
 Solferino, 299. 
 Solomon, Temple of, 271. 
 Sophia, St., 32, 53, 57, 64-67. 70, 270, 
 
 271. 
 
 Soranzo, 231, 232. 
 South Kensington Museum, 125. 
 Spalato, Archbishop of, 240. 
 Spanish Conspiracy, 288. 
 Spanish Succession, War of, 282. 
 Spinelli, 288. 
 Spires, John of, 254. 
 Sporades, The, 67. 
 Sposalizio, The, 11, 12. 
 Star Company of Milan, 157. 
 Steno, Michele, 141, 147. 
 Stocking, Company of the, 177. 
 Straits of Gibraltar, 278. 
 Strike of the Gondoliers, 20-22. 
 Suabia, Philip, Emperor of. 44. 
 Suleiman the Mngnificent, 282. 
 Syria, 47. 
 
 T. 
 
 Taine, 260, 345, 353, 367. 
 Tard Venus, The, 157. 
 Ten, Chief of the, 175. 
 
 Ten, Council of, 111, 112, 114-117, 119, 
 120, 126, 129, 143-145, 152, 161, 177, 
 181, 182, 197, 216, 219, 235, 245, 246, 
 281, 286-292, 323, 325, 330, 340, 351. 
 
 Ten, Inquisitors of the, 117, 175, 287- 
 292. 
 
 Thayer, W. R., 294, 295. 
 
 Theobald, Count of Champagne, 33. 36. 
 
 Theodora, Dogaressa, 224. 
 
 Theodore, St., 267, 303-306. 
 
 Thessaly, 67. 
 
 Thessalonica, King of, 70. 
 
 Thrace, 51. 
 
 Three, Council of, 114, 115. 
 
 Tiepolo, 73, 91, 93, 109, 111, 113. 
 
 Tiepolo, Bajamonte, 107, 326. 
 
 Tiepolo, Doge Giacomo, 365. 
 
 Tiepolo, Lorenzo, 103, 266. 
 
 Tintoretto, Domenico. 348-350. 
 
 Tintoretto, Jacopo, 219, 224, 283, 307, 
 332, 333, 343, 345-347, 349, 350, 352, 
 366-369. 
 
 Titian, 219, 229, 333, 343, 349, 360-363, 
 365, 366. 
 
 Tofano, 168. 
 
 Torcello, 166-170, 311, 312. 
 
 Tradenigo, Doge, 204. 
 
 Trajanople, 67. 
 
 Treasury of St. Mark, 271. 
 
 Trebizond, Emperor of, 226. 
 
 Treviso, 140, 181, 189, 197. 
 
 Treviso, March of, 108. 
 
 Trieste, 2, 33, 181, 211. 
 
 Troyes, Bishop of, 61. 
 
 True Cross, 271. 
 
 Turin, 159, 299. 
 
 Tyre, 270, 311. 
 
 V. 
 
 Valdemarino, Count of, 140. 
 
 Valier, The Doges, 365. 
 
 Valle dei Sette Morti, 172. 
 
 " Valli," The, 167. 
 
 Valtelline, War of the, 282. 
 
 Vaporetti, The, 20. 
 
 Varangians, The, 50, 52, 55, 57, 67. 
 
 Vasari, 367. 
 
 Vassilacchi, Antonio, 341. 
 
 Vatican, The, 66. 
 
 Vaux-Cernay, Abbot Guy of, 41, 42. 
 
 Vecelli, Marco, 343, 344. 
 
 Vendramini, Andrea, 358. 
 
 Venier, Sebastian, 283, 342.
 
 380 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Veroccbio, 200, 201, 364. 
 
 Verona, 140, 282, 291. 
 
 Veronese, 224, 283, 332, 342, 345, 349, 
 
 362. 
 
 Vioentino, Andrea, 159, 341, 349, 350. 
 Vicenza, 237, 282. 
 Victor Emmanuel, 300-302. 
 Vidaore, Andrea, 129. 
 Vienna, 294, 301. 
 Vienna, Royal Academy at, 325. 
 Villafranca, Peace of, 299. 
 Villa Marocco, 108. 
 Villehardouin, 33, 34, 47, 52, 63, 69. 
 Vio, San, 72. 
 
 Visconti, 91, 186, 189, 193, 195. 
 Visconti, FUippo Maria, 185. 
 Visconti, Galeazzo, 160. 
 Visconti, Gian Maria, 185. 
 Visconti, Valentina, 147, 
 Vittoria, Alessandro, 205, 349. 
 Vivarini, The, 356. 
 
 Y. 
 
 Yriarte, 128, 220. 
 
 z. 
 
 Zanetti, 360. 
 
 Zanipolo, The, 144, 199, 364. 
 
 Zara, 3T, 41-44, 66. 
 
 Zaratines, The, 41, 42, 46, 99, 115. 
 
 Zarla Lusignan, 231, 233. 
 
 Zattere, The, 23, 317. 
 
 Zeno, Cardinal, 271. 
 
 Zeno, Carlo, 145, 147, 149, 150, 154, 156, 
 
 157, 160, 161, 320. 
 Zeno, Donato, 148. 
 Zeno, Jacopo, 160. 
 Zeno, Marino, 71. 
 Zeno, Pietro, 161. 
 Zeno, Doge Renier, 102, 103. 
 Zeno the Unconquered, 162. 
 Ziani, 91. 
 Ziani, Doge Sebastiano, 4, 5, 13^30-32, 
 
 268, 350. 
 Zonta, The, 286. 
 Zucchero, Federigo, 349. 
 Zurla, Placido, 122.
 
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