L'Italo-Americano

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 16, 2017 www.italoamericano.org 12 L'Italo-Americano ELIZABETH SALTHOUSE V enice at the height of its power conjures images of merchant traders , carnival masks and debauch- ery. But for all its decadence Venetian life was governed by a well-established democracy with strict standards of behavior that held society together. The State empowered citizens to police each other and even encouraged them to denounce unlawful mis- conduct via a network of bocche di leone, or lion's mouths, post boxes. And despite sounding like an invitation for backstabbing, slander and malicious gossip, it arguably worked well. Here's what you need to know before posting your accusation. To unders tand w hy this unusual practice began we have to delve back in Venetian history to one particular man born in the late 1200s. Baiamonte Tiepolo belonged to one of Venice's most presti- gious families. His great grand- father and grandfather were both D oges , or pres idents , of the lagoon city-state. His family occupied the top echelons of the old aristocracy and he himself was married to a princess. But Baiamonte wasn't happy. He disagreed with the way the gov- ernment was running the city so set about a coup to overthrow Doge Gradenigo in 1310. Fortunately for the president the plot was uncovered before he was deposed. Unfortunately for Baiamonte he w as detained, charged and, along with his co- conspirators, convicted. Lifelong expulsion from Venice followed along with the demolition of Tiepolo's family palazzo. It was a tough penalty meant to serve as a stark warning to anyone else in the mood for revolution. And it would lead directly to the foundation of the bocche di leone. A fter exiling Tiepolo the Republic's reaction was swift and decis ive, immediately implementing a new s ecret police style governing body – the Council of Ten or Consejo de i Diexe in Venetian - to over- see the ruling classes and protect the Doge against suprises. The Ten had one ace up their sleeves – their new lion's mouths mail- boxes. Embedded in the walls of key justice, civic or church buildings across every sestiere of the city, the bocche di leone looked like ornate letterboxes. Typically carved with the open-mouthed faces of the emblematic lion of Venice, the slots were intended for the use of ordinary citizens and subjects. And residents in the 1300s would have seen them springing up all over the place as every district had one. But this was not a mail service as you or I would understand it, as it cost nothing to post your letter and there could only ever be one des- tination: the Council of Ten. Upstanding residents, and not- so upstanding ones too, were encouraged to bring criminal, unsanitary, immoral or treaso- nous matters to the state's atten- tion by writing letters to the Council. Denouncing your neigh- bor's bad behavior was positively promoted in fact. But anyone thinking of making false accusa- tions was quickly dissuaded. All accusations had to be signed by the accuser, partly because some offenses carried a payment for the informant and partly so the story could be veri- fied. Later denouncements had to be witnessed too. There was some privacy protection for the snitch, however, as very few peo- ple had access to the messages left in the lion's mouth mailbox- es. For defendants a secret accu- sation could be devastating. They'd be summonsed and led in to appear in front of the Council sitting in the Sala del Consiglio dei Dieci. The councillors had authority as a state court and if answers were not forthcoming could employ three inquisitors who used "alternative" powers of coercion. And if the suspects survived the inquisitors, they faced a vote by the Council of Ten. Convic- tion required a simple majority and punishment could be severe. Some were lucky enough to just be exiled from the Republic, like the traitor Tiepolo, whilst others were condemned to slavery on the galleys made in Venice's famous Arsenale shipyard. Imprisonment had two options, neither pleasant. Many men were destined to walk across the Bridge of Sighs to the canalside prison. The jail was dank, dark and regularly flooded so few people ever survived their sentences. But the alternative wasn't much better. Noblemen, priests and Giaco- mo Casanova had the dubious pleasure of incarceration in the Leads, or Piombi, a prison in the attic of the Doge's Palace itself. Named after the lead sheeting that covered the roof the loft had no insulation in winter and absorbed every last ray of the summer sun making cells bitterly cold or intolerably hot. And just like the new prison, the Leads had a reputation of impenetrabil- ity, except for Casanova who was the first and only ever escapee, never having learnt who had accused him or of what, such was the secrecy of the Ten's lion mouth process. Venice also used the death penalty, ending lives via a vari- ety of measures. But even at the height of the council's powers executions were not common with around a dozen per year. In truth, although every com- plaint received via the Venetian lion mailboxes was discussed and considered carefully mis- takes could still be made. In 1507 the baker Pietro Faccioli was mistakenly, some would say lazily, accused of murder solely because he was unlucky enough to find the body on his way home. It wasn't until his head had been severed from his body, however, that the true murderer confessed. And from that day on the phrase "Remember the poor innocent Fornaretto" had to pre- cede any judgement made by the Ten as a reminder to vote judi- ciously. And so it did until the ulti- mate fall of the Republic and dis- solution of the Council by Napoleon in 1797. The Ten had fought any suggestion of revolu- tion, corruption or criminality mercilessly and with chilling authority via a network of spies and denouncements posted in their unique bocche di leone slots for a total of 487 years con- demning dozens of men to prison, exile or death. Their lethal repute was the perfect weapon against rebellion and whilst we'll never know what was written in most of the letters, one thing's for sure – the Venet- ian Republic would not have sur- vived so long without them. So who would you denounce and why – makes you think, doesn't it? Venice's mouths of truth LA VITA ITALIANA TRADITIONS HISTORY CULTURE La Serenissima Venezia had its own way to keep traitors at bay: the bocche di leone

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