[3] The Faliero family was one of the oldest in the Venetian patriciate, legend tracing its origins to the myths surrounding the foundation of Venice itself in Late Antiquity.

[8] The first known public post of Faliero is attested in October 1315, when he was one of the three heads (capi) of the Council of Ten, convened to examine the case of a sympathizer of the failed 1310 Tiepolo conspiracy.

Back again in Venice he again served in the Ten, he left shortly after to be elected to the police board of the Five Elders to Peace (cinque anziani alla pace).

[20] Faliero held the post until February 1339,[19] and during this time cooperated with the city's lord, Ubertino I da Carrara, in a comprehensive overhaul of the Paduan statutes to secure the position of the new Carraresi regime and its ruling family.

Among the reforms was a revision of the eligibility criteria for the Paduan Great Council that echoed Venice's own Serrata of 1297, by making membership more restrictive and founded on a hereditary basis.

[22] During the next year he was a member of various commissions of 'wise men' (savi) on diverse issues, domestic as well as foreign, ranging from preparations in Dalmatia for a possible war with King Louis I of Hungary to an examination of usury practices, or supervising road construction in Venice.

With the defeat of a relief attempt by King Louis I of Hungary in early July, the military situation dramatically shifted in favour of the Venetians, and by the end of the same month Faliero was back in Venice.

By the time he arrived in Venice and began preparations, however, the revolt was already subdued, and he only went to Capodistria as a commissioner in November, to ensure its defence and examine how the revenue derived from it could be increased.

[32] He was then sent as envoy to the papal legate, Guy de Montfort [fr], on the issue of the accumulated arrears, due to the plague and the imminent war with Genoa, of the decima dei morti, the tithe that ought to be paid to the Church from the property of deceased Venetians.

In July the same year, in a ceremony at Ceneda, he was invested with the fief of Valmareno, which was ceded by Rizzardo VII da Camino in exchange for a loan from the Republic.

[34] In May 1350, he served in a board on the affairs of Dalmatia, was briefly again envoy to the papal legate, and in June was appointed to the five-member commission examining relations with Genoa.

Elected ambassador to the Duke of Austria, Albert II, Faliero was eventually replaced in this task and sent instead to an embassy to Genoa, in hopes of averting the imminent conflict.

[35] Officially confirmed on 31 July, Faliero set out, but already on 2 August, he received messages that instructed him to stay put, and then to turn back, leaving only his secretary, Amadeo, to continue with the mission.

Even though newer messages confirmed this not to be the case, the subsequent proposals for Faliero to continue his journey, or for another ambassador to be sent in his stead, fell through, making war inevitable.

[36] In 1352 Faliero was sent on a diplomatic mission and met with the Bulgarian Tsar Ivan Alexander in Nicopolis, giving him a letter from the doge Andrea Dandolo.

[37] The populace of Venice was at that time disenchanted with the ruling aristocrats who were blamed for a recent naval defeat by the fleet of the Republic of Genoa at the 1354 Battle of Portolungo during the Third Venetian–Genoese War.

A Latin language inscription on the painted shroud reads: Hic est locus Marini Faletro decapitati pro criminibus ("This is the space for Marino Faliero, beheaded for his crimes").