Doge of Venice: Encyclopedia II - Doge of Venice - Regulations

Doge of Venice - Regulations

While doges had great temporal power at first, after 1268, the doge was under strict surveillance: he must wait for other officials to be present before opening dispatches from foreign powers; he was forbidden to leave the city and was not allowed to possess any property in a foreign land. He was by law confined for the rest of his life to the Doge's Palace complex and the connected Basilica di San Marco (Compare with the podestà of other Italian republics who were confined by the term of their rules).

After a doge's death, a commission of inquisori passed judgment upon his acts, and his estate was liable to be fined for any discovered malfeasance. The official income of the doge was never large, and from early times holders of the office remained engaged in trading ventures. These ventures kept them in touch with the requirements of the grandi.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Regulations", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki