He had been punished, but
less than he deserved, and, for his father's sake, the sentence of exile
had been altogether remitted.
less than he deserved, and, for his father's sake, the sentence of exile
had been altogether remitted.
Byron
A hundred
bridesmaids accompanied the bride. Her dowry exceeded 16,000 ducats, and
her jewels, which included a necklace worn by a Queen of Cyprus, were
"rich and rare. " And the maiden herself was a pearl of great price. "She
behaved," writes her brother, "and does behave, so well beyond what
could have been looked for. I believe she is inspired by God! "
Jacopo had everything which fortune could bestow, but he lacked a
capacity for right conduct. Four years after his marriage (February 17,
1445) an accusation was laid before the Ten (Romanin, _Storia_, etc. ,
iv. 266) that, contrary to the law embodied in the Ducal _Promissione_,
he had accepted gifts of jewels and money, not only from his
fellow-citizens, but from his country's bitterest enemy, Filippo
Visconti, Duke of Milan. Jacopo fled to Trieste, and in his absence the
Ten, supported by a giunta of ten, on their own authority and
independently of the Doge, sentenced him to perpetual banishment at
Nauplia, in Roumania. One of the three _Capi di' dieci_ was Ermolao (or
_Venetice_ Almoro) Donato, of whom more hereafter. It is to be noted
that this sentence was never carried into effect. At the end of four
months, thanks to the intervention of five members of the Ten, he was
removed from Trieste to Treviso, and, two years later (September 13,
1447), out of consideration to the Doge, who pleaded that the exile of
his only son prevented him from giving his whole heart and soul to the
Republic, permitted to return to Venice. So ends the first chapter of
Jacopo's misadventures. He stands charged with unlawful, if not
criminal, appropriation of gifts and moneys.
He had been punished, but
less than he deserved, and, for his father's sake, the sentence of exile
had been altogether remitted.
Three years went by, and once again, January, 1451, a charge was
preferred against Jacopo Foscari, and on this occasion he was arrested
and brought before the Ten. He was accused of being implicated in the
murder of Ermolao Donato, who was assassinated November 5, 1450, on
leaving the Ducal Palace, where he had been attending the Council of the
Pregadi. On the morning after the murder Benedetto Gritti, one of the
"avvogadori di Commun," was at Mestre, some five miles from Venice, and,
happening to accost a servant of Jacopo's who was loading a barge with
wood, asked for the latest news from Venice, and got as answer, "Donato
has been murdered! " The possession of the news some hours before it had
been made public, and the fact that the newsmonger had been haunting
the purlieus of the Ducal Palace on the previous afternoon, enabled the
Ten to convict Jacopo. They alleged (Decree of X. , March 26, 1451) that
other evidence ("_testificationes et scripturae_") was in their
possession, and they pointed to the prisoner's obstinate silence on the
rack--a silence unbroken save by "several incantations and magic words
which fell from him," as a confirmation of his guilt. Moreover, it was
"for the advantage of the State from many points of view" that convicted
and condemned he should be. The question of his innocence or guilt
(complicated by the report or tradition that one Nicolo Erizzo confessed
on his death-bed that he had assassinated Donato for reasons of his own)
is still under discussion. Berlan (_I due Foscari_, etc. , 1852, p. 36)
sums up against him. It may, however, be urged in favour of Jacopo that
the Ten did not produce or quote the _scripturae et testificationes_
which convinced them of his guilt; that they stopped short of the
death-penalty, and pronounced a sentence inadequate to the crime; and,
lastly, that not many years before they had taken into consideration the
possibility and advisability of poisoning Filippo Visconti, an event
which would, no doubt, have been "to the advantage of the State from
many points of view. "
Innocent or guilty, he was sentenced to perpetual banishment to the city
of Candia, on the north coast of the island of Crete; and, guilty or
innocent, Jacopo was not the man to make the best of what remained to
him and submit to fate. Intrigue he must, and, five years later (June,
1456), a report reached Venice that papers had been found in his
possession, some relating to the Duke of Milan, calculated to excite
"nuovi scandali e disordini," and others in cypher, which the Ten
could not read. Over and above these papers there was direct evidence
that Jacopo had written to the _Imperatore dei Turchi_, imploring him to
send his galley and take him away from Candia.
bridesmaids accompanied the bride. Her dowry exceeded 16,000 ducats, and
her jewels, which included a necklace worn by a Queen of Cyprus, were
"rich and rare. " And the maiden herself was a pearl of great price. "She
behaved," writes her brother, "and does behave, so well beyond what
could have been looked for. I believe she is inspired by God! "
Jacopo had everything which fortune could bestow, but he lacked a
capacity for right conduct. Four years after his marriage (February 17,
1445) an accusation was laid before the Ten (Romanin, _Storia_, etc. ,
iv. 266) that, contrary to the law embodied in the Ducal _Promissione_,
he had accepted gifts of jewels and money, not only from his
fellow-citizens, but from his country's bitterest enemy, Filippo
Visconti, Duke of Milan. Jacopo fled to Trieste, and in his absence the
Ten, supported by a giunta of ten, on their own authority and
independently of the Doge, sentenced him to perpetual banishment at
Nauplia, in Roumania. One of the three _Capi di' dieci_ was Ermolao (or
_Venetice_ Almoro) Donato, of whom more hereafter. It is to be noted
that this sentence was never carried into effect. At the end of four
months, thanks to the intervention of five members of the Ten, he was
removed from Trieste to Treviso, and, two years later (September 13,
1447), out of consideration to the Doge, who pleaded that the exile of
his only son prevented him from giving his whole heart and soul to the
Republic, permitted to return to Venice. So ends the first chapter of
Jacopo's misadventures. He stands charged with unlawful, if not
criminal, appropriation of gifts and moneys.
He had been punished, but
less than he deserved, and, for his father's sake, the sentence of exile
had been altogether remitted.
Three years went by, and once again, January, 1451, a charge was
preferred against Jacopo Foscari, and on this occasion he was arrested
and brought before the Ten. He was accused of being implicated in the
murder of Ermolao Donato, who was assassinated November 5, 1450, on
leaving the Ducal Palace, where he had been attending the Council of the
Pregadi. On the morning after the murder Benedetto Gritti, one of the
"avvogadori di Commun," was at Mestre, some five miles from Venice, and,
happening to accost a servant of Jacopo's who was loading a barge with
wood, asked for the latest news from Venice, and got as answer, "Donato
has been murdered! " The possession of the news some hours before it had
been made public, and the fact that the newsmonger had been haunting
the purlieus of the Ducal Palace on the previous afternoon, enabled the
Ten to convict Jacopo. They alleged (Decree of X. , March 26, 1451) that
other evidence ("_testificationes et scripturae_") was in their
possession, and they pointed to the prisoner's obstinate silence on the
rack--a silence unbroken save by "several incantations and magic words
which fell from him," as a confirmation of his guilt. Moreover, it was
"for the advantage of the State from many points of view" that convicted
and condemned he should be. The question of his innocence or guilt
(complicated by the report or tradition that one Nicolo Erizzo confessed
on his death-bed that he had assassinated Donato for reasons of his own)
is still under discussion. Berlan (_I due Foscari_, etc. , 1852, p. 36)
sums up against him. It may, however, be urged in favour of Jacopo that
the Ten did not produce or quote the _scripturae et testificationes_
which convinced them of his guilt; that they stopped short of the
death-penalty, and pronounced a sentence inadequate to the crime; and,
lastly, that not many years before they had taken into consideration the
possibility and advisability of poisoning Filippo Visconti, an event
which would, no doubt, have been "to the advantage of the State from
many points of view. "
Innocent or guilty, he was sentenced to perpetual banishment to the city
of Candia, on the north coast of the island of Crete; and, guilty or
innocent, Jacopo was not the man to make the best of what remained to
him and submit to fate. Intrigue he must, and, five years later (June,
1456), a report reached Venice that papers had been found in his
possession, some relating to the Duke of Milan, calculated to excite
"nuovi scandali e disordini," and others in cypher, which the Ten
could not read. Over and above these papers there was direct evidence
that Jacopo had written to the _Imperatore dei Turchi_, imploring him to
send his galley and take him away from Candia.
