Marino Faliero

For the verse play by Byron, see Marino Faliero, Doge of Venice.

For the opera by Donizetti, see Marino Faliero (opera).

File:Marino Faliero (detalle 2).jpg

Marino Faliero, by Francisco Pradilla.

Marino Faliero (1285 – 17 April 1355) was the fifty-fifth Doge of Venice, appointed on 11 September 1354. He was sometimes referred to simply as Marin Falier (Venetian rather than standard Italian) or Falieri.

Biography

File:Doge Marino Falier.png

Coat of arms of Marino Faliero

The Execution of Marino Faliero, Eugène Delacroix, 1827 (Wallace Collection).

Faliero was a naval and military commander and then a diplomat before being elected doge in succession to Andrea Dandolo. The populace of Venice was at that time disenchanted with the ruling aristocrats who were blamed for a recent naval defeat by the fleet of Genoa at Portolungo. Faliero learned of his election while he was on a diplomatic mission to the papal court at Avignon.

Within months of being elected, Faliero attempted a coup d'etat in April 1355, aiming to take effective power from the ruling aristocrats. According to tradition, this came about because the dogaressa, Faliero's second wife, Aluica Gradenigo, had been insulted by Michele Steno, a member of an aristocratic family, but in a study of doges of Venice Antonella Grignola suggests that Faliero's move was consistent with a prevailing trend in Italian cities to move away from oligarchic government to absolute, dynastic rule.

The plot was badly organised, with poor communication between the conspirators, and was quickly discovered. Faliero pleaded guilty to all charges and was beheaded and his body mutilated. Ten additional ringleaders were hanged on display from the Doge's Palace in St Mark's Square.

Legacy

Faliero was condemned to damnatio memoriae, and accordingly his portrait displayed in the Sala del Maggior Consiglio (Hall of the Great Council) in the Doge's Palace was removed and the space painted over with a black shroud, which can still be seen in the hall today. An inscription on the painted shroud reads: Hic est locus Marini Faletro decapitati pro criminibus ("This is the space reserved for Marino Faliero, beheaded for his crimes").

The story of Faliero's uprising was made into dramas by Lord Byron (1820) and Casimir Delavigne (1829). The latter's version was adapted as an opera with a score by Gaetano Donizetti in 1835. All three present the traditional story that Faliero was acting to defend his wife's honour.

Faliero's picture in the Great Council Hall. The black shroud painted in its place bears the Latin phrase, "This is the space reserved for Marino Faliero, beheaded for his crimes."

Bibliography

• — (1893) "M. Faliero avanti ii Dogado," ibid.
• — (1897) "M. Faliero, la Congiura," ibid.

Political offices
Preceded by Andrea Dandolo	Doge of Venice 1354–1355	Succeeded by Giovanni Gradenigo