Imigla Venture's History

Father : Lenuzo Querini da Chioggia b. late 1322 d. 1382 age 60

Mother : Arcade Foscari b. early 1325 d. 1358 age 33

Stepmother: Iacoba Barberigo née Foscari

The third son of his family, a minor branch of the larger Querini family, Lenuzo Querini was expected to make an advantageous marriage and assist his two older brothers with the business of pottery trading. At 19 he married 17 year old Arcade, of the powerful Foscari family, in 1341. In the following year, Arcade gave birth to a stillborn boy. No pregnancy followed for many years, until they were blessed with their daughter Imigla in late 1347.

The Black Death swept Venice in 1358 and took Arcade's life. Lenuzo remarried the following year, to one of Arcade's cousins who had also been widowed by the plague. Iacoba helped him raise Imigla, and they saw her married, at an unusually mature age, in 1368 to Zappa Venture.

In 1377 Lenuzo became embroiled in some minorly unethical business dealings, and when he was discovered and confessed, he was penalized with a pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela. Unfortunately, the War of Chioggia prevented him from leaving immediately, but in the Spring of 1382 he set forth with his daughter and son-in-law on the long road to Compostela. It was slow going, and they arrived quite late in the Fall, with Lenuzo in very poor health. Although cautioned to stay the winter in Compostela, Lenuzo insisted on returning home, and they booked passage on a ship bound for Venice. Bad weather plagued their voyage, and the ensuing seasickness proved too much for Lenuzo's health. He died two days from Venice. Imigla and her husband returned home to find that Iacoba had passed away less than a month after their departure. Fortunately, Lenuzo's brothers were honest, caring men, and ensured that Imigla was able to claim her father's property and stake in the family business.

Background info

for use in developing family history and understanding the setting of 14th century Venice

Questions:

What business/trade would her family be involved in?

Would her family/father belong to any of the scuole grandi or scuole piccoli?

From Research Questions for Developing a Persona

5. What are the climates of your persona's native and current countries?

6. What are the terrains of your persona's native and current countries?

10. What are/were your persona’s parents’ occupation(s)?

11. Does your persona have any siblings, and if so, are any still alive?


13. What are the marriage customs and typical age of marriage for your persona's culture/time-frame?

14. What type of building does your persona currently live in?

15. With whom does your persona live?

16. Are there members of your persona's household that are not related to your persons

(servants/retainers, wards/fosterlings, guests, etc.)?

17. Were pets kept during your persona’s culture/time-frame? If so, what kind, if any, does your persona have?

18. What is your persona’s occupation?

19. How old is your persona?

20. How long do people like your persona tend to live?

21. What is your persona’s ethnicity?

22. Who is your persona’s current employer?

23. Would your persona have been literate in your chosen culture/time-frame?

24. What level of education does your persona have?

25. Where was your persona educated?

26. What languages does your persona speak?

Veneto, some French, possibly some of the Tuscan language

Resources:

27. What units of measure were used by your persona’s culture/time-frame?

28. What type of money did people of your persona’s culture/time-frame use?

  • Lire ai grossi / Lire di grossi / Lire a grossi

29. What kind of legal system exists in your persona’s culture/time-frame, and who make the laws?

30. What is the status of women among your persona’s culture/time-frame, and can they own property

or conduct business?

31. What major events have occurred during your persona’s lifetime?

(Natural catastrophes, wars, revolutions, discoveries, etc.?)

32. Does your persona fight? If so, where did your persona learn to fight?

33 What type of armour and weapons were used by fighters in your persona’s culture/time-frame?

And how were such obtained?

34. List your persona’s skills and hobbies. For each, write down where your persona learned them.

35. What "class" is your persona? (I.e., royalty, nobility, merchant, middle, artisan, slave, etc.)

36. How widely has your persona traveled?

37. In what capacity has your persona traveled? (I.e., military, sailor, rich person’s hobby, etc.)

38. Who is your persona’s current monarch?

39. Who is the current Pope during your persona time?

40. What religion is your persona?

41. What kind of religious duties would be required of your persona?

42. How did people of your persona’s culture/time-frame deal with trade?

43. With respect to international relations, does your persona favor colonization, isolationism, conquest/conversion,

open trade, etc.?

44. How does your persona personally obtain goods (food, drink, clothes, etc.)?

45. How did people of your persona’s culture/time-frame tell time?

46. How did people of your persona’s culture/time-frame keep track of days?

47. What type of clothes does your persona normally wear?

48. What type of clothes does your persona wear for special occasions?

49. Are there any (sumptuary) laws restricting what your persona can wear?

50. What does your persona eat in a normal day?

51. How is food prepared and preserved in your persona’s culture/time-frame?

52. What spices were available to your persona and how expensive were they?

53. What were the eating habits of people of your persona’s culture/time-frame?

54. What are the cleaning/bathing habits of your persona’s culture/time-frame?

55. What types of wildlife live in your persona's area?

56. Name your persona’s favorite musicians/artists/dances.

57. What political figure/party/movement does your persona support?

58. Who is the most significant thinker of your persona’s time?

59. What does your persona consider to be the greatest social problem their country?

60. What is most likely to cause your persona’s death?

61. What type of medical aid is available in your persona’s culture/time-frame, and does your persona have access to it?

62. List at least three of your persona’s goals in life. (Learn to write, become apprenticed to a craftsman, visit the "big city",

take over the family business, go to the Holy Land, usurp the crown, etc.)

63. What does your persona know of history/science/medicine/geography?

64. What’s the most striking scientific achievement of which your persona is aware?

65. Does your persona consider the Earth to be flat, round, or hollow?

66. Does your persona believe that the Earth revolves around the Sun, or vice-versa?

67. What does your persona consider to be the causes of criminal behavior?

68. What does your persona consider to be the true measure of a man?

69. Who has most influenced your persona’s thoughts on these questions?

70. Did your persona’s culture/time-frame have heraldry?