The Washington times. [volume], March 19, 1922, SUNDAY MORNING, Page 2, Image 42

About The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939

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BenM orurdinte eln
HE orl-fmou "Bide ofBih
atVncwih a1encle
th0 ads ptintewoewrd
will encefrth.b on- a lc o ap
Bwint beasoated irn anyh a with the
tri ngconeWnaion Wof unapypr
onr . O ..tVitos
T he woeldbrad bridgconct tihe
at' Panace whe host beertnt cll
bldnnthe cdetyo wih the whoen worat,
Pion heeeothbe monpcuous happ
tamsciain, reqmntead byloodstenths,
tourid and excuity. rs
AFtorg the Dsttie' inle orhundoeg
wbllnt use manyiae in ant wayswum, the
tralcetpoe and codmatin of nhpp pos
otris. pioeso eetyash
be cniedebre Onridew conets tho
the beaafu, Cutest iroskant acised
bfuing ihectwt theananscicoer Stt
Prison wherethaed mr toiurser,
was' dined romnthis n prio.tfl hs
Te andseeciu ed. dwoaclsl
beued myaitnyans an aong museum, the
.conydn hasu tonoam the olsevd pis
tocthetcourthose -and mank agonf the s
bpencaonsfaed thpitre. nafws aro
ceof asin oer tte canahls ofwVenico
the aer inftroglaemted aofre th turde-.
dwes dand mnces prson.tmsthth
maThe msteryios veie womarin, cloel
garddcyi tenanainlognlak,.a
Butvye in autureoa fceero thes kod prion
sbe actats wth this piceturuprof
cesiongpss.ngThetate Prasnals tor encen
the pwenrng scunlpyureminde othetr ae-l
distuy an oncs oxle imes t that hae
madae, the srey of Veist. hrilli andr
famscb ding ,wihaedie rt r
tr fortureosentoesover ithis knt will
biere ainarmon with moderancie gropat
buisb. Thsoer ad Prinais houeld
crtea iodant cnte, amdwhee btuent
tfu purrndingspu. adote r.wl
Aleg tfasihe ofist. Mars ocapnd othe
tremasue.s a patcula prlynsuital cen
posre for students Moreoeriti ot ona
freely au the Pridgeon was, ue bne
end was closed to them. In ancient times
prisnners were tried in the .Judgmaat Hal
Tn
Groa
C a Wd
A RecentPrisoner th out
A Rce - PStepsef the ut
of the Doge's Palace and then conveyed
for excution, torture or imprisonment to
the neighboring prison.
So many prisoners have passed over the
bridge that it has naturally grown tob'
regarded as -leeply touched with sad mem
orles, and even haunted with the spirits of
the departed. Unhappy men and women
have stopped here countless times during
the centuries and aooked out of the win
dows of the covered bridge and sighed as
they took their last look at the sunligfit.
Some were on their way to death arnd
others to torture and lifelong imprison.
ment in the gloomy dungeons beneath the
prison.
Byron has expressed the feelings that
have impresseJi visitors to this thrilling
spot in his lines which begin:
"istood 'in Venice on the Bridge of
Sigh.
A prison and a palace on each hand."
The bridge passes over the Rio Canal.
It Is beautiful in design, but the canal is
narrow, the buildings high and the water
dark. Littie sunlight comes here during
moat of the day, and the appearance of the
bridge Is in harmony with its gloomy story.
So suitable is the bridge considered for its
purpose that it has been copied in prison
architecture in various parts of the world,
.a Ne.w er'st risn (te Tmbs)
istoric"
Fer Echoing fop
od of the Coi
1- 1
ns of the Tort
iy of Hope and
One Of khe cg
:the
is Tarnowska, Passing Down the
Ancient Pison.
is connected with the neighboripg criminal
Court by a similar structure.
The history of Venice is more deeply
crowded with tragedies and romances than
that of any ottier medlaeval State. There
are good reasons for this. 'The Republic
of Venice became, early in the middle
ages, the wealthieet and most luxurious
community in Europe.
It struggled for riches by every means
in its power without a shadow of scrupU
louasness. It intrigued for wealth and In
fluence in every corner of the globe. Its
envoys subsidized the monarchs of distant
lands when they aided Vesletian designs
and murdered or ruined them when they
opposed those designs.
Any Venelian who hindered in any way
the prosperity or power of his city was
considered to have merited the most dread
fl death. Men who had merely counter
feited the money of the republic were tor
tured to death in a terrible manner. be
cause they had attacked the commercial
stability of the community. Even those
who had simply entered into trade arrange
ments with other States were put to death
in a spectacular manner.
When Venice was at the height of her
power and wealth she fell under the con
trol of a vt ry powerful oligarchy of rich
families. This oligarchy was represented
hy the natorious Concilt of Ten_ which
Bridge o
Centurw~o*
d'emned nd t
red It Will ati
Arti8tiG$yei
eatest Tragedies in Vehbdtian History
escarl Breught Befoe. His Fathe,
a, After a Terteed ad
I Over the ge .f Sighs to
the Judgament 1a .
beard accusatioas a*nst anyb"dy
passed judgment Is seeret, infficting any
term of death or imprisonment it pleased.
The swiftness and cruelty of Its judgments
beame notorlou, throughout the iorld.
The ruling oligarchy was deteraned that
no individual, however able or powe ,
should become stronger than the domin
class, and the Mission of the Osuncil of 1ee
was to carry out this policy. Hence no
person in the State. however high or noble,
was safe from ith terrible and secret judg
ments. Even the Dege, the Chief Magis
trate of Yence, was subject to the forts
diction of the dreaded Council of Ten. One
Dogs after another lost his head simply
because he was acused of havlng ee
sIT ambitions.
It the Dogs plinned to marry his fair
young daughter to a fmep pftee the ter
rible Council might sedher -t the block
or the torture chamber iIthout the 1east
compunetlon, becauee they thought she
weald be the meas of giving her fhther
or her husband too much power ever
Venice.
In order to faeilitate the makin et ae
cusations there was the celebrate ioa's
head. at the entrane t6 the ante4*eber
et the Council of Tea. Any yoyps
wished could, under cover of 4VlArkpas
place an anonymous accusation la the Hos's
mouth, bringing charges agaient any per
he chose to name, even the DoWe hself.
This was'bound to be investigated by the
Council, and often swift snd terrible as
tion followed upon thle nameless accusa
tion.
Thus everyhody i4 Venice lived in more
or less danger of torture and execution.
But in spite of this they lived a merry
life. Their motto- ifas "Let us eat, drink
and be merry for we may die at any mo
ment."
Their carnivals, masked balls, water
fetes and other gayeties becamp noted in
every country. Never wasn there sneh
splendor, such sensual enjoyment, suash
ardent romance as la the beautiful pai~5
of Veniee. And nobody knew whether !he
nocturnai delights trould end in a sumn
mene before tht dreaded Council of Ten,
Among the many tragedies that arose
from these conditions in Venice the most
conspicuous naturally centred about the
Dogs's Palace, the Bridge of Sighs and the
State Prison. For many centuries Important
mrisonere were tried in the Judgment Hall
of the Palace and conveyed over the
Br .ige to the Prison for execution or in
carreration. Roth beneath the Dog5e
Palace and the Prison thiere are subt*
ranean torture chambers. Theme are filled
with racks. thumbaarews, huge gridirons
and many other dreadful instruments- of
iediaeval torture. These were used upon
the unhappy prisoneig both before and
after trial.
P'ehaps the most tremendous of all the
tragedies that have been enacted In these
buildings was that of the l)oge Foscari
and his son. The circuinstangse have been
used in Byron's play, "The Two Poscari."
Franceso Foecari was Dogs from 1423 to
1457. and greatly increased the territory
of Venie..
His only son, Giacopo Foacari, was un
justly accused by trecherous enemies be
fore the CnunnM of Tan at treasonable @ne.
d
'n te
-Prismers Have Been Cc
lasbI to Be Transf
flepo oe 1ththe Turks. He was
hdr 1CIy tortured In the subterranean
dungen of the pt-ison and then dfagged
61edSihg and halt dead across the Bridge
of SIis to the presence of his father in
the J2ggnent Hlall of the Degee Palace.
The Doge, because of his great patriot
Isa3, buppressed his feeling as a father
and conirnmed the sentence of banishment
passed by the Council. Th4e son~uoon a!
terwaryf sucesabed to his Injuriee and the
fatheidled of a brokes heart.
Anoiber very .celebrated tragedy was
that df the Doge Marino lalleri, who was
executed in 1355. Hie had been offended
hy an Insult to, his beautiful wife by .
voudg nobleman who had relatives on the
Great (lonntt. ftnaaied with the alight
puipen t inflicted on the nobleman, the
Toeospired with the plebeians to make
himself saftIg of Venice.
He .was convieted and beheaded in a
moot ?gpettculer madner at the foot of
the #6bnd thirway of the Doge's Palace.
14.isace 14i the gallery of portraits of all
the eogs fit the "batage Is taken by a
picture showing' an empty throne with a
blach pall thvown Over it.
The methods of the Venetian Coneil of
Ten at ofie period have been retealed in
a rem tbe diary by Marino Sando,
who WSa mman oftthe opnull. A
typlaal pe the awful swiftnes
with th1 e Test stenck dewn traitors
Ic sffte by en entry Ia Sanedo's dairy.
'Oae s. ordilng '1n' 14W8," Sanudo
writes:
"Purs atg me wntd way to'the Palee
I tieali eiverybodly saying: 'This night,
jtistice bath been done :' and as 1 passed
along tie plassa I raised my eyes to the
4to c* mns,. andi thtere saw hanging An
tonio *i Lando, our gecretary, who used
to keep all our secrets, translate our
cypherand attend the geaate.
"Afl the city marvelled for that nothing
was -knsw about it, and he was hanged
by ni lti the official dress with sleeves
aomnel; and this te what had ed:
Now ReIt known this was done eause
he h reveded our sedrets to one Eu n
Battist TEeVian, formetty of ear chan
etery, bet cashiered and aetta as a kitad
of seretary to the Marqnis of Vana.
nd ths, t w.. ls.anv==d- Trhis An.
Photograph
Aof the Bridg
of Sigh. WhCih
Connects the Dog.'s
Palace and the State
Prison 'a nd Passe.s
Over the Rio Canal. '
inducted in Gondolas to the Prison,
emed into an Art Centre.
tonio. licet he was old, and had only 180
ducats a year, kept a certain mistress
called Laura Trovolo at St. Trinita, and this
Zuan Battista did also visit her, and dur
Ing the evenings they spoke in Latin to
gether. Now, Laura told this to her love',
one Hieronimo Amadi, who concealed him
self behind the arras and heard the two
speak in Latin of State secrets.
"And the said Laura had not the courage
to turn informer, but sent her'lover to the
Ten, who arrested both lover and mistress,
and seized Antonio at Laura's lhouse on
Sunday, who lay sick there; and Zuan was
caught in a boat on Monday morning. And
so L.orenzo Venier, the Councillor; Troyola
Malipiero, eilef of tho Ten; the Avogador
of the Clommune and 'the Inquisitor met.
barred all access to the Palace and put the
prisoners to the torture. That same night
Antonio swung from the gallows. lHe died
imp~nitent, and woid neither eat, confess
nor take the sactament.
"No one was allowed on the Piazza, and
so swiftly was the execution determined
on that no rope could he found; and since
all the shops were closed, a messenger was
dispatched, hot foot, to the arsenal, who
returned with some ship's cordage, and
Antonio wala straight way throttled ; and
while hanging, uat dicitur, he fell and broke
his arm, and was then hauled up again. No
woed was heard,. and folk said he was
strangled in prison. But this is how things
happened, and I saw him with the rope
round his neck in two knots, and his dress
all muddy; and the said Antonio was left
a whole day on the gallows, and at evening
was buried. He had served the Seigniory
for forty years, was very poor and had a
wife at Pa dua."
False coiners we're punished with terrihie
severily. After*torture they were usually
burned alive.
The Ten were equally a vere against
biasphemners. In March .180, one was
taken between the columns, his ha cut
off and tongue and eyes plucked out. In
1619 some blasphemers, including a priest.
were exposed .n a boat along the canal,
their crime being proclaimed, then taken
to the hostelry where they had blasphemed.
Then their tongues were cut out as an
example to others. In Septemnber of 1612
the noses of ten smugglers were cut of
hetweon the columns.