Career
He was sometimes referred to simply as Marin Falier (Venetian rather than standard Italian) or Falieri. Faliero was a naval and military commander and then a diplomat before being elected doge in succession to Andrea Dandolo. The populace of Venice was at that time disenchanted with the ruling aristocrats who were blamed for a recent naval defeat by the fleet of Genoa at Portolungo.
Faliero learned of his election while he was on a diplomatic mission to the papal court at Avignon.
Within months of being elected, Faliero attempted a coup d"etat in April 1355, aiming to take effective power from the ruling aristocrats. The plot was badly organised, with poor communication between the conspirators, and was quickly discovered.
Faliero pleaded guilty to all charges and was beheaded and his body mutilated. Ten additional ringleaders were hanged on display from the Doge"s Palace in Street Mark"s Square.
Faliero was condemned to damnatio memoriae, and accordingly his portrait displayed in the Sala del Maggior Consiglio (Hall of the Great Council) in the Doge"s Palace was removed and the space painted over with a black shroud, which can still be seen in the hall today.
The story of Faliero"s uprising was made into dramas by Lord Byron (1820) and Casimir Delavigne (1829). The latter"s version was adapted as an opera with a score by Gaetano Donizetti in 1835.