The Council of Ten uncovered a conspiracy hatched by Doge Falier to attempt to overthrow the Republican regime and establish a personal Signoria. It is said that the prince had decided to launch the plot out of disillusionment with the aristocratic system of government, after several young nobles, including Michele Steno, had insulted him and his young wife with graffiti on the walls of the Doge’s Palace, and were punished by Venetian justice with only very light sentences. On April 15th, the day set for the coup, the conspirators were captured and executed on April 16th between the columns of St. Mark’s Square (among them Bertuccio Isarello and Filippo Calendario). April 16th, the day of St. Isidore, became a national holiday to celebrate the averted danger. On Friday, April 17th of that year, Doge Marin Falier himself was beheaded on the Giants’ Staircase of the Doge’s Palace (where coronations took place and the formula of the ducal promise was pronounced), with the executioner shouting, “Look, everyone! Justice has been served on the traitor!” On the 18th, his body was buried in a coffin in a corner of the church of SS. Giovanni e Paolo. The new Doge was Giovanni Gradenigo. Francesco da Carrara remained sole ruler of Padua, initiating a policy hostile to Venice, which concluded a very costly peace with Genoa.
