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VENICE: CITY OF SECRETS

27

THE LION’S MOUTH

Venetian citizens were

encouraged to inform on those

they suspected of wrongdoing.

Stone letterboxes were

introduced throughout the city.

They originally took the form

of elaborately carved heads of

wild beasts or people with an

open mouth, and were called

bocche dei leoni (lion’s mouth).

The letters posted through the

mouth included accusations

ranging from adultery and

blasphemy to tax evasion and

treason. The denunciations

could not be anonymous,

however, and had to be signed

by at least two witnesses.

“SWEAR, FORSWEAR,

AND DO NOT REVEAL

THE SECRET.”

Oath taken by the Council of Ten

Above: Venice’s wealth and power were based around

its control of trade routes to the East, first opened up

by earlier explorers such as Marco Polo, pictured.

Below: Map of Venice from the fifteenth century,

when the city was the second-largest in Europe

and at the height of its power.

Above: This “lion’s mouth,” depicting

a wild-faced official, is located by the

Doge’s Palace in Venice.

FOREIGN AMBASSADORS

Venice introduced the system of resident ambassadors in the major cities of

Europe. The ambassadors represented Venice and its commercial interests to the

rulers of the host country, but they were also expected to send back intelligence

to the Council of Ten. Many ambassadors developed their own spy rings, using

foreign nationals to ferret out clandestine information.

By the early fifteenth century, Venice had become the foremost intelligence-

gathering nation in Europe. It relied heavily on the correspondence sent by its

merchants and ambassadors from around the world. To protect these letters from

prying eyes, the Venetians developed some of the most complex codes yet

formulated, and their codebreakers proved equally adept. Such was their skill that

the leading Venetian codebreaker, Giovanni Soro, was sometimes “loaned out” to

friendly foreign powers to help

break especially difficult codes.

Venice’s reputation as a center for

intelligence would last long after its

economic importance declined after

the opening of the Atlantic trade

routes shifted power to the west.