Grand chancellor (Republic of Venice)

[1] It was the highest office held exclusively by cittadini, the non-noble citizens of the Republic of Venice, and as a result it was also the de facto head of this social class, just as the Doge was for the patriciate.

[1] The grand chancellor was elected by the Great Council of Venice,[1][4] and supervised the Doge's chancery and the archives of the Venetian state.

[1][8] He kept the registers of elections to the councils, was responsible for the appointment of notaries, and kept the state treaties with foreign powers in a locked closet (the Secreta), to which only he had access.

[1] The chancery comprised a hundred clerks, likewise recruited exclusively from the non-noble citizenry;[10] The historian Ioana Iordanou stresses that "[t]hese were different from other public officers in a significant way: recruitment was subject to rigorous public examinations, formal training, and, more often than not, continuous professional development".

[11] The clerks were often entrusted with sensitive missions on behalf of the state, including as residents in embassies abroad (though not as ambassadors).