April 17, 1515, Sanudo Diaries, 20:126

April 17, 1515: "Today at none [about 3pm] a most heartrending event took place in this city, which should be recorded. That is, ser Hironimo di Mezo ... wounded his father in the stomach with a sword. As a result of the wound, the father died.... All the same, he forgave his son. Moreover, when he gave his statement to the signore di norte, he said that he himself, not his son, had inflicted the wound. He did this to spare his son from banishment. ... Thus the entire city is full of this case, the like of which has not been seen here for many years except for the case of Ludovico Fioravante, who was killed by his son Ludovico while he was listening to the sermon in the church of the Friars Minor [the Frari] on Holy Friday evening. The son later was given a safe conduct because of things that he had done in France benefiting the Venetian state and is [now] in this city."

Editor's footnote: "Here service to the state was used to justify a pardon for the otherwise unforgivable crime of patricide. The priority of the public good outweighed private guilt."

Editor's note: "Sanudo continues under the same date with another unusual event, concluding that such deplorable events are caused by pardons too easily obtained by money." p 141.

"Another noteworthy event took place on Sunday. There was a woman named Paula Cavrasecha, very beautiful and a courtesan. A Paramour of hers, named ser Bernardo Grimani ---, seeing that she no longer wanted him but others, entered her house and took hold of her nose with his teeth and bit it off, so that she was given stitches. Such strange happenings are taking place in this city in these times. The reason is that every sorry miscreant hopes to rectify his crime with money and ransom himself from banishment."

In those days, anybody could 'ransome' themselves from capture by any 'forces' or power, whether civil, state, or foreign power. A soldier - usually knights and captains, nobles -  on the battlefield could be ransomed from capture, or held indefinitely waiting for such ransom from their allies beyond the walls of confinement. The culture was so well-developed over centuries in Europe and the East that there were non-official bodies - foreign companies, brigands, outlaws mostly - who would essentially kidnap 'important persons' or information, a coach of goods, a messenger, in hopes they would receive a fee in exchange for their capture's release. This time-'honored' principle extended from highwaymen to captains on the battlefield to notables in the city of Venice. Sometimes. If you had the money, the connections or the entourage you could do most anything. Timing was important too.

All quotes from Sanudo Diaries including Editor's notes and Editor's footnotes from Venice, Cita Excellentissima, Selection from the Renaissance Diaries of Marin Sanudo translated by Linda L Carroll,  editors: Patricia H LaBalme and Laura Sanguineti White, published by Johns Hopkins University Press, 2008