The Venetian Company

The Company Dispatched to Assist at Pavia, December 1524

The Company Is Dispatched to Assist in the Relief the Siege of Pavia, December 1524

     In mid-December I was surprised when at the general assembly of the company – held while we all shivered standing in ranks in the courtyard of the company compound near the Arsenal – Renier singled me out and announced he was making me his adjutant and secretary, to replace one Paolo (I didn’t know this person), who had passed away one year earlier.  I was to have the provisional rank of tenente. 

     My fellows regarded me mutely – which was a neutral statement.

    “But I want to be clear:  No one is to do anything Julian orders.”

    Laughter.

    “He will perform some routine administrative tasks.  He will act as courier and undertake such irregular or detached missions as I or Messere Zorzi might from time to time direct.  If there is some need for Julian to supervise this or that action, I will describe it in detail beforehand.  And there will be no doubt what his powers are.”

    We moved on to other matters.  Renier’s dismissive caveat aside, I was in high spirits.  If I was delivering messages or carrying the maps, who cared, as long as I went with the company into action.  There would surely be an opportunity to do something of interest along the way…  And there would also be a raise in pay to a heady 8 ducats per month.  Niko, my fellow member of the Xania band, who that year had entered the company with the initial pay of a footsoldier, earned 3 ducats per month.

     On the following Friday afternoon Renier asked if I had ever been to the Doge’s palace, which is situated in the southeast corner of the Piazza San Marco.  I should explain to readers that unlike in many cities such as antique Rome or Constantinople before its fall, there is little room on the small islands in our lagoon (mark me: I said “our lagoon”; I am changing -- ), thus the Doge’s palace contained not only the living quarters of the serving Doge but also the halls of state, the immense meeting chamber of the city council, the offices of the Group of Fifteen, chambers for secretaries, scribes, halls of records, and in an adjoining building even the city prison.  Thus what we called the palace of the Doge actually encompassed the entire machinery of the city government, except for the military barracks, the Arsenal, and the training grounds of the military units.

     I replied that I had never been to the palace (what occasion would I have had to go there --), but of course I had walked by it many times.

     “Come with me then.  You’ll find this interesting.  Say nothing.”

     In twenty minutes we were approaching San Marco Square.  At the entrance to the palazzo were two guards who recognized Renier by sight.  The captain unbuckled his sword and also handed over a dagger.

     “Whatever weapons you have, give them over,” he ordered.  “This is my assistant.”

     I had a light sword (I want to stress again that wearing a weapon like this was not some laughable theatrical gesture on my part – in those days all the young men who could afford a sword wore one, whether or not they knew how to use the thing -- ) and a stiletto which I relinquished.