Senate of the Republic

The governance of the St Mark’s Library was entrusted to the Senate, the principal constitutional body of the Republic of Venice, vested with the broadest legislative and judicial powers.

In addition to the senators and their Zonta (advisory board), the Senate included:

• the Signoria
• the Procurators of St Mark
• the Quarantia al Criminal
• the Council of Ten/li>
• the Avogadori di Comun
• the Censors
• the Governatori delle Entrate
• the Provveditori al Sal

With regard to the general administration of the Venetian State Library, in December 1544 the Senate decreed that responsibility should pass from the Procurators of St Mark – who had overseen it until that time – to the Reformers of the University of Padua, whose jurisdiction progressively extended over matters of education and culture.

By decree of 24 November 1626, the Senate assumed direct responsibility for the election of the Public Librarian, a position previously filled by the Reformers. It established that the Librarian should be an eminent patrician at the height of his cursus honorum, generally chosen from among the Procurators of St Mark, and appointed for life.

From 1775 onwards, however, the term of office was limited to three years.

The office of Librarian did not exempt patricians from other political and administrative obligations, including diplomatic assignments that could require residence abroad.

The decree of 1626 also provided for the appointment of a Custodian, responsible for the effective day-to-day management of the Library. Entrusted with the keys, he was responsible for opening the Library to scholars, receiving foreign visitors, maintaining the inventories of the volumes, overseeing the Statuario (the Library’s sculpture collection), and managing ordinary administration.

The Custodian was required to be “a person of proven learning and erudition in Latin, Greek, and other languages” and was appointed by the Reformers of the University of Padua.

He was assisted by a servant for more physically demanding tasks.

The Procurators of St Mark

The office of Procurator of St Mark, attested as early as the ninth century, was one of the most prestigious in the Venetian Republic and, apart from that of the Doge, the only magistracy held for life.

From 1231, the original single Procurator was joined by a second, no longer appointed by the Doge but elected by the Great Council. Their number increased progressively: three in 1259, four in 1261, six in 1319, and finally nine in 1442. At that point, the office was divided among three Procuracies:

1. de supra, responsible for the area of St Mark’s Square;
2. de citra (citra, “on this side” of the Grand Canal), responsible for the districts of San Marco, Castello, and Cannaregio;
3. de ultra (“beyond” the Canal), responsible for the districts of Dorsoduro, Santa Croce, and San Polo.

The Procurators’ jurisdiction primarily concerned the oversight of the transfer and administration of private wealth. In practice, they functioned as executors of wills, guardians of the assets of widows and minors, administrators of property left pro anima vel ad pias causas (for the soul or for pious purposes), and custodians of assets belonging to private individuals, often foreign princes.

The treasury of the Procurators also served as a depository for revenues collected by other magistracies.

The Procurators’ chancery staff included a gastaldo, a camerarius, two notaries, and an advocatus.

As early as the thirteenth century, in order to adjudicate disputes – primarily concerning inheritance matters – the Giudici del Procuratore (Procurators’ Judges) were established. These consisted of three patricians elected for a term of sixteen months.

Given the importance of the matters entrusted to them and their political influence, the Procurators were generally excluded from holding other offices (though some exceptions were permitted towards the end of the fifteenth century), exempted from attending sessions of the Great Council, and, from 1442 onwards, required to reside in public lodgings in St Mark’s Square.

From 1516, on several occasions, the office was conferred in exchange for the payment of substantial sums, particularly during the costly wars of Candia and the Morea.

The Procurators of St Mark de supra and the Libreria Marciana

The Procurators of St Mark de supra were responsible for the administration of St Mark’s Basilica and acted as custodians of donations – money, valuables, and real estate – offered by private individuals to the Church. The income derived from these assets could be used for the restoration of the Basilica or for works relating to St Mark’s Square.

Cardinal Bessarion resolved to donate his book collection to the Church of St Mark, entrusting it to the Procurators of St Mark de supra, as he himself specified: the books were to remain sub “eorundem Procuratorum, qui ut plurimum viri praeclari sunt, custodia” (“under the custody of those Procurators, who for the most part are distinguished men”).

They were to safeguard the collection until a suitable location could be identified – one capable of accommodating scholars and enhancing the city’s prestige.

It was therefore natural that a special curator should be appointed from within that influential circle, bearing the title Bibliothecarius Sancti Marci.

The importance of this office within the patrician cursus honorum is illustrated by the careers of the earliest holders of the position, who ascended to the ducal throne within a short span of time: first Marco Barbarigo, followed by his brother and successor, Agostino Barbarigo.

The Reformers of the University of Padua

The University of Padua, originally subject to episcopal authority, was subsequently placed under the supervision of Venetian representatives in the city. In 1516, responsibility for the University was entrusted to a new magistracy: the three Reformers of the University of Padua.

The Reformers were charged with overseeing the organisation of the University, including the structure of courses, the appointment of professors, and the supervision of public and private schools. Their authority also extended to censorship, the circulation of books, the regulation of the press and printers, and matters of official historiography.

In 1544, they were entrusted with the administration of the Public Library of St Mark. Until the early seventeenth century, they were also responsible for appointing the Public Librarian; thereafter, this prerogative passed to the Senate. The Reformers, however, continued to appoint the Custodian and the Library’s attendant.