Thesavi del Consiglio dei Pregadi (lit. 'sages of the Council of the Invited'), also known as thesavi grandi ('great sages'),[1] were senior magistrates of theRepublic of Venice.
The magistracy was created in 1380 to assist the councils comprising the government of the Republic.[1][2] The duty of thesavi del Consiglio was to "prepare [the government's] agenda, frame resolutions, defend them, and supervise their execution".[3]
Their number was not fixed in the beginning, but was eventually set at six.[1] They were chosen from the members of theVenetian Senate, orConsiglio dei Pregadi, whence their name.[2] As with other higher magistracies of Venice, restrictions were placed on the eligibility to the office: the members served a term of six months and could not be re-elected to the same office for six months thereafter. To ensure continuity, the appointments to the office were staggered: three took office on 1 October, three on 1 January, three on 1 April, and three on 1 July.[4] They rotated through their duties, withsavio holding office for a week.[1] Like all boards ofsavi, the office did not carry a salary, but could be held in tandem with other public offices.[4]
Thesavi del Consiglio were always present in, and in charge of the agenda of, the daily deliberations of theFull College (the Venetian cabinet). They were also obliged to be present in all sessions of theCouncil of Ten that had to do with foreign affairs. Consequently, and since no proposal could appear for vote before the Senate without having first been reviewed by the College, thesavi del Consiglio came to be part of a small core of officials who exercised the most control over the governance of the Republic, alongside theDoge of Venice, the sixducal councillors, and the heads of theTen.[5] The post was accordingly given exclusively to the most highly regarded members of theVenetian patriciate.[1]
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