Marino Faliero

For the opera, see Marino Faliero (opera).

Coat of arms of Marino Faliero

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

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

He attempted a coup d'etat in 1355, at the time being Doge himself, but with the intention of declaring himself Prince. This failed action is mostly attributed to a combination of a strong hatred for nobility and his senility (he was in his seventies at the time). He pleaded guilty to all charges and was beheaded and his body mutilated. Ten additional ringleaders were hanged on display from the Doge's Palace on St Mark's Square.

He was condemned to damnatio memoriae, and as such 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 reads: Hic est locus Marini Faletro decapitati pro criminibus ("This is the location of Marino Faliero, beheaded for his crimes").

The story of Marino Faliero's uprising was made into a drama by Lord Byron in 1820 and an opera by Gaetano Donizetti in 1835.^{[citation needed]}

Bibliography

• Brown, H. (1907) Studies in Venetian History, London
• L. V. (1911) "Faliero", Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th ed.
• Lazzerini, V. (1892) "Genealogia d. M. Faliero" in the Archivio Veneto
• — (1893) "M. Faliero avanti ii Dogado," ibid.
• — (1897) "M. Faliero, la Congiura," ibid.
• Norwich, J. J. (2003) [1977]. A History of Venice. London: Penguin. ISBN 9780141013831. 
• Romanin, S. (1855) Storia documentata di Venezia, Venice, lib. ix. cap. ii.
• Sanudo, M. (1900) Le Vite dei Dogi in a new edition by Muratori fasc., Citta di Castello, 3, 4, 5

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

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