April 21, 1499: Sanudo Diaries 2:637-8

Sanudo Diaries, Editor's Note: p. 243:

"During the spring of 1499, as the Turkish fleet prepared for war and Venetian banks faltered and failed, the Venetian government tried to ready its forces and find funds to pay for them. On April 12 the savi and four of the councillors ... proposed to the Senate that the Great Council elect a captain general of the sea to lead the Venetian naval forces against the Turks. "And ser Antonio Grimani went to the podium and excused himself, saying he did not wish to be made captain at this time. He offered [instead] to meet the need and to arm ten galleys with his own funds".[2:613] Two days later, in spite of his disclaimer, Antonio Grimani was easily elected captain general [2:619-20]. And a week after that election he appeared prominently in public, resplendent in his naval garb, and standing next to a counter stacked high with coins, he made good his offer to hire the crews and arm the ships."

April 21, 1499: Sanudo Diaries 2:637-8: "Sunday in the Collegio. The doge, with the ambassadors and the usual ceremonies, that is, [accompanied by] patricians, went to San Ziminian at the head of the Piazza.. This solemnity should take place on the morning of Pentecost Sunday, but it occurred today."

Editor's footnote: "Pentecost was on 19 May, the Seventh Sunday after Easter, which was on 31 March that year. In this case, the ceremony may have been advanced into April to assert the stability of government and the reliability of its political and military representatives, that is, the doge and the captain General, so to assuage anxiety about the bank, a not unusual use of religious ceremony to serve a political purpose. San Germignano was the church at the western end of the Piazza.It was later destroyed by Napoleon to permit a grander entrance to the Piazza."

"And also today, as soon as the doge had been accompanied to the Ducal Palace and after the ambassadors departed, ser Antonio Grimani, procurator, captain general, dressed in crimson velvet, with a velvet cap, came down the stairs in the midst of procurators, councillors, knights, and others, so that whoever had accompanied the doge went on to accompany the captain general to the opening of the recruitment bench. On the counter, for the manning of the ships, were five piles of gold ducats of different sorts, including Venetian, ... so that the total was said to be 40,000. Grimani's sons were seated there; the captain general stayed awhile, then left, and everyone went home."

Editor's Note: "Griman's fate would take a sharp downturn a few months later when he led the naval forces to a shocking defeat, but at this moment his popularity stood high, and it would return later to carry him toward the highest office." p. 244

Venice , cita excelentissima : selections from the Renaissance Diaries of Marin Sanudo edited by Patricia H LaBalme, Laura Sanguineti White, translated by Linda L Carroll