The ''Savi agli Ordini'' or ''Savi ai Ordini'' () were senior magistrates of the

Republic of Venice The Republic of Venice ( vec, Repùblega de Venèsia) or Venetian Republic ( vec, Repùblega Vèneta, links=no), traditionally known as La Serenissima ( en, Most Serene Republic of Venice, italics=yes; vec, Serenìsima Repùblega de Venèsia, ...

, charged with supervision of maritime matters, including commerce, the Venetian navy and the Republic's oversees colonies ().

History

The five were the earliest board of experts (, 'sages') to be established to help the leadership of the Venetian Republic—the

Signoria of Venice The Signoria of Venice (''Serenissima Signoria'') was the supreme body of government of the Republic of Venice. The older Commune of Venice was replaced by the Signoria from 1423 on, being later officially adopted in the ''Promissione Ducale'' b ...

—prepare legislation for submission to the

Venetian Senate The Senate ( vec, Senato), formally the ''Consiglio dei Pregadi'' or ''Rogati'' (, la, Consilium Rogatorum), was the main deliberative and legislative body of the Republic of Venice. Establishment The Venetian Senate was founded in 1229, or le ...

, the Council of the Forty, or the Great Council. As such, along with the other boards of established in the 14th/15th centuries, they sat on the

Full College The Full College ( vec, Pien Collegio) was the main executive body of the Republic of Venice, overseeing day-to-day governance and preparing the agenda for the Venetian Senate. Composition The Full College comprised the Doge of Venice and the ...

(), the Republic's effective cabinet. In 1442, they were aggregated to the Senate, becoming ''ex officio'' members of it. They were originally elected every November for a term of a month, simply to formulate commercial policy—on the size and destination of the trade convoys that sailed each spring—and naval policy—the outfitting of the 'guard fleet', intended for operations in the

Adriatic Sea The Adriatic Sea () is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkan Peninsula. The Adriatic is the northernmost arm of the Mediterranean Sea, extending from the Strait of Otranto (where it connects to the Ionian Sea) to t ...

, the

Aegean Sea The Aegean Sea ; tr, Ege Denizi (Greek: Αιγαίο Πέλαγος: "Egéo Pélagos", Turkish: "Ege Denizi" or "Adalar Denizi") is an elongated embayment of the Mediterranean Sea between Europe and Asia. It is located between the Balkans ...

, and the Eastern Mediterranean. By the had become a fixture of the government, and their terms of office were extended to cover an entire year. In the 15th century, as with other higher magistracies of Venice, restrictions were placed on the eligibility to the office: the members were elected by the Senate, served a term of six months, beginning on 1 April or 1 October, and could not be re-elected to the same office for six months thereafter. Their significance declined considerably after the end of the disastrous

Second Ottoman–Venetian War The second (symbol: s) is the unit of time in the International System of Units (SI), historically defined as of a day – this factor derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes and finally to 60 seconds ...

in 1503. The office was increasingly used as a political training position, usually given to younger and less experienced

patricians The patricians (from la, patricius, Greek: πατρίκιος) were originally a group of ruling class families in ancient Rome. The distinction was highly significant in the Roman Kingdom, and the early Republic, but its relevance waned after ...

than those chosen for the other boards of ; they sat in a lower place in the hall where the Full College's sessions took place, and when the heads of the

Council of Ten The Council of Ten ( it, Consiglio dei Dieci; vec, Consejo de i Diexe), or simply the Ten, was from 1310 to 1797 one of the major governing bodies of the Republic of Venice. Elections took place annually and the Council of Ten had the power to i ...

entered the chamber, they had to depart it. As the 16th-century political thinker Donato Giannotti put it, "their office is to be silent and listen". Like all , the office did not carry a salary, but could be held in tandem with other public offices.

References

Sources

* * * * * * {{Venetian navy Stato da Màr Government of the Republic of Venice Venetian navy