Targeting the Sovereign: Assassination as a War Tactic in the Republic of Venice

This article analyses the assassination practices of the Council of Ten of the Republic of Venice, with special reference to the plots organised by the Council to kill Sigismund, King of Hungary and future emperor. The article explores the context of the conspiracies, the language used by the Council to justify them, and the legal and normative issues raised by the Council’s assassination policy. The article shows that the Council resorted to the assassination of foreign sovereigns when it perceived that the Republic’s interests were seriously threatened. As an ideal type, this kind of organised, institutionalised and state-sponsored assassination practice, approved through established procedures by rotating Council members within the stable political structure of the Republic, can be distinguished from other typologies of political murder, notably those ordered in the context of court intrigues, where the 'public' nature of the act was less visible.