Consiglio di dieci

Country

IT

Name of institution (English)

State Archives of Venice

Name of institution (official language of the state)

Archivio di Stato di Venezia

Language of name of institution

ita

Contact information: postal address

Campo dei Frari, San Polo 3002, 30125 Venice

Contact information: phone number

0039 0415222281

Contact information: web address

https://www.archiviodistatovenezia.it/it/

Contact information: email

as-ve@archivi.beniculturali.it

Reference number

Consiglio di dieci

Title (English)

Council of Ten

Title (official language of the state)

Consiglio di dieci

Language of title

ita

Creator / accumulator

Consiglio di dieci

Date(s)

1310/1797

Language(s)

ita

Extent

4,700 storage units

Type of material

Textual Material

Physical condition

Good

Scope and content

The Consiglio di dieci fonds contains mostly documentation related to judicial and court cases. The fonds is divided into ten major series, with different extensions and materials in each one. They are the following: Deliberazioni (resolutions, 1310-1797), Esposizioni Roma (expositions Rome, 1580-1582), Diari (diaries, 1605-1797), Proclami (proclamations, 1457-1796), Proclami a stamp (printed proclamations, 1571-1797), Processi (Processes, 1594-1797), Indici per materie (indices by subject, 1632-1641), Copie di parti (partial copies, 16th-18th centuries), Miscellanea codici (miscellany, 1289-1796), Cifre, chiavi e scontri di cifra con studi successivi (figures, keys and numbers with studies, 16th-18th centuries).
The documentation about the Jewish community of Venice is abundant, including various records related to Portuguese and Spanish Jews and conversos. Some examples are the following:
Deliberazioni, Criminali, reg. 8, fols. 7lv-72v, 76v-81v: records referring to a kidnapping case, the abduction of Beatrice Mendes, Brianda di Luna's daughter, by Joseph Nasi and his accomplices. January-March 1553.
Deliberazioni, Secreti, filza 12: a memorandum regarding the negotiations made by Joseph Nasi's agents in Venice to lift the banishment that he was sentenced to as a result of the condemnation for the abduction. April 9, 1567.
Deliberazioni, Secreti, reg. 8, fol. 121: document where the Consiglio di dieci recognised the respect that the Jewish communities held to Joseph Nassi, in particular after he became Duke of Naxos. June 12, 1568.
Parti Secrete, reg. 10, fol. 159-160, December 23, 1573: declaration stating that the Jews' privilege would extend only to those who declared themselves to be Jews, wearing the yellow hat, living in the ghetto, and causing no scandal in matters of faith after their arrival in Venice. December 23, 1573. Therefore, this declaration excluded the New Christians. Published in di Leone Leoni (1998).
Deliberazioni Roma, reg. 4: documents regarding the trial of Giorgio (Jorge) Cardoso.
Capi del consiglio di dieci, lett. CP, busta 5, no. 66: translation of some Hebrew letters written by Jewish merchants, which were found floating in a Venice canal in March 1570, and were delivered to the Consiglio di dieci to be translated.
Registro Criminalium II, fols. 86v-87, 26 September 1570: resolution on the fact that Henrique Nunes, alias Abraam Benvenisti, the Righetto, should be handed over to the Inquisition. Nunes was accused of living as a Christian in Florence and as a Jew in Venice.

Archival history

In 1797, the year of the fall of the Republic of Venice, the archive of the Consiglio di dieci, then located in the Doge's Palace, was undergoing a reform hat was never completed. In the following decades, further modifications were made. These gave way, for instance, to the creation of the Miscellanea codici (Miscellany), that resulted in the extraction of documents from other archival collections, which were produced initially by the Consiglio di dieci.
Currently, this fonds contains almost exclusively documentation produced by the Consiglio di dieci. Still, some documents produced by these institutions can be found in other fonds, namely, the Capi del consiglio di dieci (Heads of the Council of ten) and the Camerlengo del Consiglio di dieci (Camerlengo of the Council of ten). All these fonds are currently undergoing a reorganisation process that aims to restore their original structure.

Administrative / Biographical history

The Consiglio di Dieci (Council of Ten) was created on July 10, 1310, by the Consiglio Maggior (Major Council) in order to punish and sentence the culprits of the Tiepolo-Querini conspiracy and to prevent new attacks that could threaten the security of the Republic. With this aim, ten "savi" (literally, wise men) were appointed to deal with every matter related to the said conspiracy and take all measures needed to guarantee public tranquility, together with the "capi" (heads) of the Quarantia (Council of forty).
Created to execute a specific task, the Consiglio di dieci eventually evolved to a permanent institution with proper jurisdiction.
The Consiglio di dieci consisted of: 1) ten ordinary members chosen from the Senate, from the most respectable citizens over 40 years old; 2) the Doge and the six "consiglieri ducali" (ducal councilors), who held the presidency of the Council; 3) at least one of the members of the Avogadori di comun (literally, public prosecutors), whose intervention was required to protect the regularity of the documents and proceedings in accordance to the law.
The Consiglio di dieci was the supreme criminal court. It could interfere in any matter relating to the peace and security of the Republic, the freedom of subjects, and the discipline of the patrician class and the clergy. It could also interfere in political, financial and administrative matters. The powers of the Consiglio were subject to detailed rules and procedures under the laws that governed it.
It also acted with the aim of protecting public morality in a broad sense. It had control over fraternities, the "arti" (craft guilds) and religious entities. It also had supervision capacity over forests and mines.
The Consiglio's mission was to judge serious criminal cases of the city and the Republic, with power to delegate its inquisitorial capacity to magistrates and public representatives in other areas and towns.
It also had autonomous judicial functions, such as the power of deciding in urgent matters, or in cases against the sentences of the censors as an appeal court. In short, the activity of the Consiglio di dieci was mainly carried out in three directions: tranquility and prosperity of the state; defense of the legal rights of the citizenship under the laws; and protection of the public morality.
As a guarantee of its political autonomy, the Consiglio di dieci had its own funds for secret expenses. Internally, it had at its service a Provveditore alle Sale (literally, a Superintendent of the Halls), who was entrusted with the custody of the weapons, which were kept ready in case of sudden danger.
Despite some transformations during its existence, mostly as a consequence of its tendency to exceed the limits of its functions, the Consiglio di dieci was one of the most important and powerful institution of Venice. It ceased to produce documentation with the fall of the Republic in 1797.

Access points: locations

Florence (Italy)

Venice (Italy)

Access points: persons, families

Cardoso, Jorge

Costa, Tristão da

Gomes, Duarte

Luna, Brianda de

Mendes, Beatriz (Beatriz de Luna, Grácia Nasi)

Nasi, Joseph

Nunes, Henrique (Abraham Benveniste, Righetto)

Access points: corporate bodies