Lords of the Night (Venice)

Filippo Nani Mocenigo, Capitolare dei signori di notte, 1877

The criminal Lords of the Night courts are mentioned as early as the 12th century, first as two, finally as six nobles, one for each district (sestiere) of Venice since 1260. Their name is derived from the initial responsibility of monitoring what was happening throughout the city during the night. In short, their powers were extended to include theft, murder, bigamy, carnal crimes of slaves, firearms, assaults, criminal conspiracy, homelessness, rape, night dances, desertion from galleys, non-payment of rents, etc. They gathered in a dining room of the Doge's Palace in the Chamber of Torment: interrogations and trials took place mostly at night or at dusk, provided, among other things that they can apply the rope torture and the three judges had the defendant turned their shoulders to a wide window that partially concealed their appearance with its lightening. From their sentence they could appeal the ruling by the Criminal Council of Forty through the Avogadori de Comùn.

By the end of 1544, the Civil Lords of the Night (Signori della Notte al Civìl) were created and part of their duties was transferred from the criminal system: enforcement of foreign sentences, sales of pawns, exile criminals and the unwanted replaced all those magistratures that did not operate during public holidays.

• Chambers, David Sanderson; Fletcher, Jennifer; Pullan, Brian, eds. (2001). Venice: A Documentary History, 1450-1630. University of Toronto Press. ISBN 978-0-802084248.
• Nani Mocenigo, Filippo (1877). Capitolare dei signori di notte (in Italian). Venezia: Tipografia del tempo.