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Re: Off Beat Question? Venice, anyone?
From: "Paul Ferguson" <fergdawg () netzero net>
Date: Sat, 29 Mar 2008 05:19:07 GMT
-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA1 - -- "Paul Ferguson" <fergdawg () netzero net> wrote:
This is completely off topic, but it's something that has really been bugging me, and I can't find the answer (or perhaps I'm not asking Google -- or other places -- the right question). If you've never been to Venice, you can hit 'delete' now. I'm looking for a name, and additional references, to these "objects" that I recall seeing and being told about when I was in Venice a few years ago. The one I saw was on a wall, either adjacent to the Doge's Palace (Palazzo Ducale) or on a wall at the palace structure(s) itself, or on a wall adjacent to St. Mark's Square (Piazza San Marco). It looked like either a Lion's face, with an open mouth, or perhaps a Sun (Sol) -likeness with an open mouth, in which citizen's could surreptitiously insert letters to the authorities (Maggior Consiglio? All of the building surrounding Piazza San Marco were government officals, including 'law enforcement' who ran the prison -- also close by) informing on the 'criminal' activities -- or treasonous acts or religious descrepancies -- of other citizens or their neighbors. In the days in which religious persecution reigned (e.g. The Spanish Inquisition), this was very common. So what were this "secrets portals" called? Anyone? This has actually been keeping me awake at night. :-) I would really appreciate a pointer or two...
I did find one reference, as background, on Wikipedia: [snip] In 1454, the Supreme Tribunal of the three state inquisitors was established to guard the security of the republic. By means of espionage, counterespionage, internal surveillance and a network of informers, they ensured that Venice did not come under the rule of a single "signore", as many other Italian cities did at the time. One of the inquisitors - popularly known as Il Rosso ("the red one") because of his scarlet robe - was chosen from the Doge's councillors, two - popularly known as I negri ("the black ones") because of their black robes - were chosen from the Council of Ten. The Supreme Tribunal gradually assumed some of the powers of the Council of Ten. [snip] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republic_of_Venice#Government But alas, I still don't know what these "snitch portals" were actually called. :-) - - ferg -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: PGP Desktop 9.6.3 (Build 3017) wj8DBQFH7dFGq1pz9mNUZTMRAgcyAJ9EHEM9dAqk/8m5/aVwBu+vRi9w4ACZAZt7 Kv/1IzpyBXmD9Ie9HVh/Uf8= =3FKF -----END PGP SIGNATURE----- -- "Fergie", a.k.a. Paul Ferguson Engineering Architecture for the Internet fergdawg(at)netzero.net ferg's tech blog: http://fergdawg.blogspot.com/ _______________________________________________ Fun and Misc security discussion for OT posts. https://linuxbox.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/funsec Note: funsec is a public and open mailing list.
Current thread:
- Off Beat Question? Venice, anyone? Paul Ferguson (Mar 28)
- Re: Off Beat Question? Venice, anyone? Kitsune (Mar 28)
- <Possible follow-ups>
- Re: Off Beat Question? Venice, anyone? Paul Ferguson (Mar 28)
- Re: Off Beat Question? Venice, anyone? Paul Ferguson (Mar 28)
- Re: Off Beat Question? Venice, anyone? Les Bell (Mar 28)