Tiepolo conspiracy

The Tiepolo conspiracy or Tiepolo-Querini conspiracy was an attempt to overthrow the government of the Republic of Venice under Doge Pietro Gradenigo. Headed by the disaffected patricians Bajamonte Tiepolo, Marco Querini, and Badoero Badoer but backed by a sizeable number of other patricians, churchmen, and commoners, the conspiracy resulted in a coup attempt on 15 June 1310, in which three columns, each led by one of the chief conspirators, were meant to converge on the Piazza San Marco, seize the Doge's Palace, and overthrow the Venetian government. Warned of the plot at the last minute, the Doge mobilized his followers and loyalist forces. Coupled with the conspirators' poor coordination, the Doge's decisive counter-action led to the coup's failure. Querini, the main driving force of the conspiracy, was killed in the subsequent fighting along with one of his sons. Badoer was captured while trying to cross the Venetian Lagoon from Padua and executed for treason. Tiepolo was pushed back and barricaded in the Rialto. The Great Council let Tiepolo and his main supporters leave in exile.

Various motives have been attributed to the conspiracy, from personal ambitions to a populist reaction to the increasingly exclusive, aristocratic nature of the Venetian state after the Serrata of the Great Council that excluded the lower classes from power. As the grandson and great-grandson of Doges and son of the commoners' candidate in the 1289 election against Pietro Gradenigo, Tiepolo was the heir to his family's perceived championship of the lower classes against Gradenigo, the candidate of the established families of the traditional aristocracy. In later times, Tiepolo was seen as a heroic champion of the people, but modern historians view the conspiracy as factional strife among the patrician elites, exaggerated by the recent and disastrous War of Ferrara and the resulting papal interdict over Venice.

After the coup's suppression, a policy of public damnation of the participants followed. The houses of Tiepolo and Querini were torn down and replaced with monuments warning against treason. Ordinary citizens who helped in resisting the coup were prominently rewarded and celebrated in subsequent legend. The Council of Ten was established to monitor the conspiracy's exiles and any attempt to subvert the Venetian regime. Initially a temporary measure, the Council proved efficient, and was made permanent, becoming one of the most powerful institutions of the Venetian government.