page_title: Marino Faliero
section_title: Biography
hierarchical_section_title: Marino Faliero / Biography
context_page_description: Marino Faliero was the 55th Doge of Venice, appointed on 11 September 1354.
  He was sometimes referred to simply as Marin Falier or Falieri. He was executed for attempting a coup d'etat.
context_section_description: Faliero was a naval and military commander and then a diplomat before being elected doge in succession to Andrea Dandolo. The populace of Venice was at that time disenchanted with the ruling aristocrats who were blamed for a recent naval defeat by the fleet of the Republic of Genoa at the 1354 Battle of Portolungo during the Third Venetian–Genoese War. Faliero learned of his election while he was on a diplomatic mission to the papal court at Avignon.
  Within months of being elected, Faliero attempted a coup d'etat in April 1355, aiming to take effective power from the ruling aristocrats. According to tradition, this came about because the dogaressa, Faliero's second wife, Aluycia Gradenigo, had been insulted by Michele Steno, a member of an aristocratic family, but in a study of doges of Venice Antonella Grignola suggests that Faliero's move was consistent with a prevailing trend in Italian cities to move away from oligarchic government to absolute, dynastic rule.
  The plot was badly organised, with poor communication between the conspirators, and was quickly discovered. Faliero pleaded guilty to all charges and was beheaded on 17 April and his body mutilated. Ten additional ringleaders were hanged on display from the Doge's Palace in St Mark's Square.
caption: The Execution of Marino Faliero, by Eugène Delacroix (1827, Wallace Collection).
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