Markuslöwe
Venice, about 1620. The Doge attends a nightly ball to celebrate the betrothal of his son Manrico with Lady Isabella Fiesci and his appointment as ambassador at the royal court of France. Manrico, a patriot and soldier at heart, is not delighted about this arranged marriage, and Gualtiero, his uncle and the Doge's brother-in-law, supports him against his father's opinion. The party is suddenly raided by a gang of Skokian pirates led by Titta and his mate Rossana, who strip the guests of their valuables. Angered by the pirates' boldness and the inability of Venice's mercenary troops under Captain Ostenburg to catch them, Manrico assembles his friends and organizes his own armed resistance movement, assuming the masked identity of The Lion of Saint Mark, after the symbol of Venice.