Today is the birthday of Nicholaus Copernicus, in 1473. His father, a Krakow merchant helped negotiate a settlement for the famed Polish King, Kasimir Jagiello, keeping this part of Prussia, along the Vistula river, in Polish hands, rather than go over to the Teutonic Order of those times. This settlement, the second peace of Torun/Thorn happened in 1466.
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There were several increases in the number of Venetian officials charged with keeping the flows of streams in the city clear of debris, starting in 1501. Our Editors tell us the appointments can be traced to at least 1415, but in 1501, three officials provedadori were named to the Magistrato all' Acque, and in 1505 a committee was appointed to aid the three in charge. They were not paid positions but specifically were entrusted with keeping silt from building up in, and that no one interfered with, the multitude of streams that carried all traffic and sewage, in every part of the city. The magistrate offices still exist and are carried out to this day, to a greater or less degree. The history of the modern plans to build a protective barrier around the lagoon - a huge unprecedented effort that is beset by all sorts of challenges - is just the kind of thing such a magistrate would incline toward.
On February 19, 1517, Sanudo tell us, three such provedadori came before the College asking for funds to dredge the Rialto, a massive undertaking. A machine had been built to do this but more money was needed. [p. 85]
notes here from 'our editors' 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
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