What happened on March 14 in Venice

According to the Venetian Liturgical Calendar, today is St. Matilde Empress’ Day (mother of Otto II Emperor)

- March 14, 1800: the Conclave gathers in Venice with just 36 cardinals after the death of Pope Pius VI, a prisoner of Revolutionary France which is occupying Rome; finally, on December 1, 1799, Pope Pius VII, Cardinal B. G. Chiaramonti, is elected his successor; the Benedictine Abbey of San Giorgio was chosen as it is under the control of Emperor Francis of Habsburg. By order of Napoleon, the new Pope Pius VII is then arrested by the French gendarmes and imprisoned in Savona, finally confined to Fontainebleau, and subjected to the orders of the Jacobin tyrant.

- March 14, 1883: an electric light experiment at Theater Eretenio in Vicenza; in the courtyard of an adjacent building there is a nine-horsepower machine that transmits the electricity to 16-candela 60 lamps, placed in the theater. Newspapers in Vicenza write: 'Our greatest theater offered a brand-new show, due to the progress of physical sciences'.

Taken from 'Almanacco di Venezia -1600 anni ab Urbe còndita' by Andrea Gersich and Edoardo Rubini

Venice, 14th March 2021