Rocco Benedetti lived and worked in the Republic of Venice, and he mentions quite a few of the republic’s institutions. This appendix serves to give a quick overview of those bodies.
Firstly, the Republic of Venice was an aristocratic republic, where only the nobles had a vote. They were approximately two percent of the population of the city, much less of the entire state.
Most of the constitutional order, the legal system and administration had roots in the Middle Ages, so it was a rather different state than the ones we live in.
The Republic of Venice never had a codified constitution, so magistracies were created and allowed to lapse, as the conditions of the time demanded.
Maggior Consiglio
The Maggior Consiglio (Greater Council, Great Council or Grand Council) was the sovereign body of the republic. All authority emanated from the Greater Council, where all noblemen, aged twenty-five or more, participated, and were, indeed, obliged to participate.
In a way, the republic was the nobility, and the nobility was the republic, and the will of the nobility was expressed through the Greater Council.
It had at times over two thousand members, so debates and votes were slow and cumbersome affairs, so much of its authority was delegated in bits and pieces to other councils, colleges, tribunals and magistracies.
Much of the work of the Greater Council was therefore to appoint councillors and magistrates to all the other offices of the state, to which it had delegated power.
Benedetti recounts how a madman ran around, freeing people who were in quarantine in their homes. He did that during a session of the Greater Council, when all the noblemen were in the Doge’s Palace to ‘create magistrates’. In practice, the city was devoid of authority figures on such afternoons when the Greater Council was in session.
Also, everybody in the city knew the Greater Council was in session because the meeting was called by ringing a bell in the bell tower at St Mark’s.
The Doge
The Doge was the head of state, elected for life by the Greater Council. At the time of Benedetti in the late 1500s, the position was mostly, but not entirely, ceremonial.
The Doge was often styled Principe (Prince) or Sua Serenità (His Serenity).
Benedetti sometimes used the word ‘Prince’ to mean the state as such, or the government in a general sense, rather than the actual figure of the Doge.
The (Full) College
The Greater Council appointed six councillors annually to aid the Doge, called the Minor Consiglio (the Smaller Council or Lesser Council). This was originally a way of curbing the excessive power of the Doge, and it had, by the 1500s, absorbed most of his authority.
The College, or the Signoria (Lordship), was the Doge and his six councillors, and it was the closest the republic had to an executive.
Most day-to-day state business happened in the Signoria, as they were practically always present in the palace. For more important matters, they would often refer to the Senate.
Senate
The Senate was appointed by the Greater Council annually, with sixty senators and (in the 1500s) also sixty adjunct members.
In practice, the Greater Council delegated most matters, but for the most important, to the Senate, which would meet much more often than the Greater Council.
The Senate was therefore one of the most important bodies of the republic.
Simplifying a bit, the Greater Council would meet one or more times each month, the Senate once or more each week, while the Signoria was there almost every day.
Magistrato alla Sanità
The Magistrato alla Sanità (Magistracy of Public Health) was the primary office in charge of the safeguards against the plague, but they were responsible for almost everything related to public health, such as drinking, gambling, prostitution, food safety and much more.
It was created by the Senate, with three Provveditori (Superintendants) appointed annually. Later, the Greater Council took over the appointments of the magistrates, after which the Senate added two Sopraprovveditori (Over-superintendants), bringing the magistracy to five members.
Given their responsibilities, it is not a surprise that Benedetti’s account contains many references to the magistracy and the magistrates, under a number of different titles, like the Signori alla Sanità (Lords of Health) and such.
The Council of Ten
The Consiglio dei Dieci (Council of Ten) was primarily responsible for the safety of the republic, so it had roles as secret police, secret services and tribunal in criminal cases against members of the nobility.
Benedetti mentions the Council of Ten in the passing, related to keeping public order around the Doge’s Palace.
Power was not personal
Most appointments of magistrates in the Republic of Venice were for one year, with no reelection allowed.
The main exceptions were the Greater Council, where membership was for life by birthright, and likewise the Doge, who also served for life.
Almost all councils and magistracies had multiple members, usually three, but four, five, seven, ten and other numbers also appeared. As the republic didn’t have a formal constitution, such things were never codified.
Benedetti mostly doesn’t name the various individuals, who occupied the posts in the various magistracies. The way offices were assigned to groups of noblemen, serving short terms, meant that power was exercised in a much less personal way than in other contemporary states.
His references are therefore to the office itself, and not to the individual holders of the office.
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