Venice’s Secret Agents (original) (raw)

Venice's Secret Service

Abstract

This chapter discusses the different types of secret agents whom the Venetian authorities employed for their intelligence pursuits. These were drawn from all strata of Venetian society. Representing the patriciate, Venetian ambassadors and governors acted as semi-professional informants whose intelligence-gathering activities were coterminous with the norms of diplomatic decorum. Venetian merchants from either the patriciate or the social order of the cittadini also offered their services as amateur intelligence gatherers, protected under the guise of their professional activity. For outright espionage missions, however, when the spy had to infiltrate foreign lands, the Ten handpicked run-of-the-mill mercenary spies who were willing to risk their lives for a cash reward, an official privilege, or a political favour. The chapter shows how the Council of Ten commodified the practice of intelligence-gathering and espionage and turned it into a business transaction between the governmen...

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