The bells of St. Mark's Basilica sang five heavy tolls, reflecting the weight of sadness that hung over the Floating City. Agostino Barbarigo, the 74th Doge of the Most Serene Republic of Venice, was dead. Having lived to the old age of 82, he had long been a force in Venetian life, making his passing all that much harder for the citizens of Venexia. Men and women across the City donned black in mourning, but that could not - and would not - stop the inexorable tide of political maneuvering and plotting that would dominate the next week.

On April 24th, 1501, 10 days after the death of Doge Barbarigo, the Great Council of Venice got together to begin the extremely complex process of deciding who would vote for the next Doge. This began with a simple urn, in which the name of every Councillor over the age of 30 was placed twice; the first instance was followed with the word "Elector", the other with the word "No". They then journeyed out to St. Mark's Square, where the first boy they met would begin drawing ballots. The first 30 names to be drawn with the word "Elector" would then return to their chamber and repeat this process, reducing the 30 chosen Councillors to just 9.

This small group of 9 Councillors then, with a super-majority of 7 votes required, indicate the names of 40 Councillors. These new 40 Councillors would then follow the same ballot system, reducing their number to 12. The new 12 would indicate the names of 25 new Councillors, which would be reduced to 9 with the same ballot system. These 9 would indicate 45 new Councillors, who would at random be reduced to 11. These 11 Councillors would decide through a super-majority a list of 41 Councillors who would, finally, be the real electors of the next Doge of the Republic.

The 41 electors finally recede into their chambers, and each would deposit the name of their nominee to be Doge into a new urn. At random, a name was to be drawn from this urn and read aloud. At this point, and and all electors could voice their opinions on this option to be Doge, after which the nominee would be able to step forward and respond with his justification. After this he would leave, and the electors would vote; if the nominee received at least 25 votes, they would be proclaimed the next Doge of the Republic. If not, this process was repeated, until a successful vote became clear.

This, obviously, could go on for days, but luckily for a grieving republic at war, the first name chosen in this process was Leonardo Loredan, a man of 64 currently serving as the Procurator of San Mark's, a position in which he had gained considerable influence. Perhaps more importantly, however, was his wife Giustina Giustiniani, who until her death the previous year had been one of the most influential women in Venice due to the wealth of her family. Deliberations over his candidacy were decidedly short, and after just one hour and twelve minutes, with a vote of 37-4, Leonardo Loredan was elected as the 75th Doge of the Most Serene Republic of Venice.