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Grand chancellor (Republic of Venice)

The grand chancellor ({{langx|it|cancelliere grande}}) was one of the most senior offices in the Republic of Venice. Alone among the senior magistracies, which were reserved for the Venetian patriciate, it was held by common citizens ({{lang|it|cittadini}}).

History and functions

File:Venezia, Biblioteca Marciana, It VII, 770 (=7795) Rafaino Caresini Initiale.jpg showing Grand Chancellor Rafaino Caresini, on his knees, handing a copy of his chronicle to Doge Antonio Venier, from a manuscript in the Biblioteca Marciana]]

The origins of the title are unknown. It appeared along with the chancery of the Doge of Venice, and is first mentioned in the sources in 1268.{{sfn|Da Mosto|1937|p=219}} It was the highest office held exclusively by {{lang|it|cittadini}}, the non-noble citizens of the Republic of Venice, and as a result it was also the de facto head of this social class, just as the Doge was for the patriciate.{{sfn|Da Mosto|1937|p=219}}{{sfn|Brown|1887|pp=204–205}}{{sfn|Lane|1973|pp=180, 201, 266}} The holder of the office enjoyed unusual privileges: the title of Excellency, purple clothing like the Doge's, and a very high place in the order of precedence—right after the Doge, the ducal councillors, and the Procurators of Saint Mark.{{sfn|Da Mosto|1937|p=219}}

The grand chancellor was elected by the Great Council of Venice,{{sfn|Da Mosto|1937|p=219}}cf. {{harvnb|Chambers|Fletcher|Pullan|2001|pp=274–276}}. and supervised the Doge's chancery and the archives of the Venetian state.{{sfn|Da Mosto|1937|pp=1, 219}} Exceptionally for Venetian magistracies, tenure was for life,{{sfn|Iordanou|2019|p=110}} as for the Doge and the Procurators of Saint Mark.{{sfn|Lane|1973|p=266}} The chancellor had the right to enter all governing councils of the Republic, along with the Doge.{{sfn|Da Mosto|1937|p=219}}{{sfn|Chambers|Fletcher|Pullan|2001|p=60}} He kept the registers of elections to the councils, was responsible for the appointment of notaries, and kept the state treaties with foreign powers in a locked closet (the {{lang|it|Secreta}}), to which only he had access.{{sfn|Da Mosto|1937|p=219}}{{sfn|Brown|1887|p=205}}

His deputies were the {{lang|it|reggente}} and {{lang|it|vice-reggente}} of the chancery.{{sfn|Da Mosto|1937|p=219}} The chancery comprised a hundred clerks, likewise recruited exclusively from the non-noble citizenry;{{sfn|Lane|1973|pp=180, 201}} The historian Ioana Iordanou stresses that "[t]hese were different from other public officers in a significant way: recruitment was subject to rigorous public examinations, formal training, and,

more often than not, continuous professional development".{{sfn|Iordanou|2019|p=110}} After an examination, they attained the rank of extraordinary clerk ({{lang|it|notaio straordinario}}), and after five years progressed to become ordinary clerk ({{lang|it|notaio ordinario}}).{{sfn|Iordanou|2019|p=111}} The clerks were often entrusted with sensitive missions on behalf of the state, including as residents in embassies abroad (though not as ambassadors).{{sfn|Brown|1887|pp=205–206}} Higher levels still were as secretary to the Venetian Senate and ultimately as secretary to the Council of Ten, posts which were attained after further years of service or successful missions abroad.{{sfn|Brown|1887|p=205}}{{sfn|Iordanou|2019|p=111}}

List of grand chancellors

References

{{Reflist|30em}}

Sources

  • {{cite book | title = Venice: A Documentary History, 1450-1630 | editor1-first = David Sanderson | editor1-last = Chambers | editor2-first = Jennifer | editor2-last = Fletcher | editor3-first = Brian | editor3-last = Pullan | publisher = University of Toronto Press | year = 2001 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=ZaHt76Uk2m8C | isbn = 978-0-802084248 }}
  • {{cite book | title = Venetian Studies | last = Brown | first = Horatio F. | authorlink = Horatio Brown | location = London | publisher= Kegan Paul, Trench & Co | year = 1887 | url = {{GBurl|Dek7AQAAIAAJ}} | oclc = 458907462}}
  • {{cite book | last = Da Mosto | first = Andrea | title = L'Archivio di Stato di Venezia. Indice Generale, Storico, Descrittivo ed Analitico. Tomo I: Archivi dell' Amministrazione Centrale della Repubblica Veneta e Archivi Notarili | url = https://www.icar.beniculturali.it/biblio/_view_volume.asp?ID_VOLUME=69 | language = it | location = Rome | publisher = Biblioteca d'arte editrice | year = 1937 | oclc = 772861816 | access-date = 2023-05-10 | archive-date = 2021-11-13 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20211113193249/https://www.icar.beniculturali.it/biblio/_view_volume.asp?ID_VOLUME=69 | url-status = dead }}
  • {{cite book | last = Iordanou | first = Ioanna | title = Venice's Secret Service: Organizing Intelligence in the Renaissance | publisher = Oxford University Press | location = Oxford | year= 2019 | isbn = 978-0-19-879131-7| url = {{GBurl|fMS4DwAAQBAJ}} }}
  • {{cite book | last = Lane | first = Frederic Chapin | authorlink = Frederic C. Lane | title = Venice, A Maritime Republic | location = Baltimore, Maryland | publisher = Johns Hopkins University Press | year = 1973 | isbn = 0-8018-1445-6 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=PQpU2JGJCMwC }}

Further reading

  • {{cite journal | first = Matteo | last = Casini | title = Realtà e simboli del Cancellier Grande veneziano in età moderna (sec. XVI–XVII) | journal = Studi veneziani | volume = 22 | year = 1991 | pages = 195–251 | language = Italian}}
  • {{cite journal | first = Paola | last = De Peppo | title = "Memorie di veneti cittadini." Alvise Dardani, cancellier grande | journal = Studi veneziani | volume = 8 | year = 1984 | pages = 413–453 | language = Italian}}
  • {{cite book | first = Antonio | last = Milledone | title = Mandarini veneziani. La cancelleria ducale nel Settecento | year = 2009 | location = Rome | publisher = Aracne | language = Italian}}
  • {{cite journal | first = Mary F. | last = Neff | title = A Citizen in the Service of the Patrician State: The Career of Zaccaria de' Freschi | journal = Studi veneziani | volume = 5 | year = 1981 | pages = 33–61}}
  • {{cite journal | first = Giuseppe | last = Trebbi | title = La cancelleria veneta nei secoli XVI e XVII | journal = Annali della Fondazione Luigi Einaudi | volume = 14 | year = 1980 | pages = 65–125 | language = Italian}}
  • {{cite journal | first = Giuseppe | last = Trebbi | title = Il segretario veneziano | journal = Archivio Storico Italiano | volume = 144 | year = 1986 | pages = 35–73 | language = Italian}}
  • {{cite book | first = Andrea | last = Zannini | title = Burocrazia e burocrati a Venezia in età moderna: I cittadini originari (sec. XVI–XVIII) | year = 1993 | location = Venice | publisher = Instituto Veneto di Scienze, Lettere ed Arti | language = Italian}}

{{Republic of Venice topics}}

Category:1797 disestablishments in the Republic of Venice

Category:Lists of office-holders