creation of a Great Council, which was to be the ultimate
source of political power in Venice from this point on. The
council was made up of officeholders of the Venetian state,
such as judges, and was dominated by aristocrats. In
addition to these officeholders, each year a hundred new
members were nominated to the council by a nominating
committee whose four members were chosen by lot from
the existing council. The council also subsequently chose
the members for two subcouncils, the Senate and the
Council of Forty, which had various legislative and
executive tasks. The Great Council also chose the Ducal
Council, which was expanded from two to six members.
The second innovation was the creation of yet another
council, chosen by the Great Council by lot, to nominate the
doge. Though the choice had to be ratified by the General
Assembly, since they nominated only one person, this
effectively gave the choice of doge to the council. The third
innovation was that a new doge had to swear an oath of
office that circumscribed ducal power. Over time these
constraint