Venice. The Guelph conspiracy (a pro-Pontiff faction) between Tiepolo and Guerini. Tiepolo’s conspirators, in a poorly coordinated attack, plunder the public treasury at Rialto, while Badoer is prevented from leaving in time due to a storm. Querini’s column reaches St. Mark’s Square first, but Querini himself is killed in combat. Tiepolo is confronted in the narrow streets leading to St. Mark’s. A woman drops a vase on the head of Tiepolo’s standard-bearer, which falls to the ground, knocking down the standards as well. The men, deprived of a reference point, disperse. The Doge’s victory is complete: Badoer is captured and executed, and Baiamonte Tiepolo and the other nobles accept exile. The woman with the vase obtains permission to display the standard of St. Mark on feast days and an assurance that her rent would not be increased. The palaces of Tiepolo and Querini are razed to the ground. A ten-member judiciary was established to try the conspirators. This commission was later made permanent.
