Marino Faliero, Doge of Venice, beheaded for treason

1355

The seventy-five-year-old doge plotted with arsenal workers to overthrow the patrician oligarchy and become prince of Venice. The plot leaked. Faliero was tried by his own Council of Ten and decapitated on the staircase of the Doge's Palace. His portrait in the Sala del Maggior Consiglio was painted over with black.