'sages of the Council of the Invited'), also known as the savi grandi ('great sages'),[1] were senior magistrates of the Republic of Venice.
The magistracy was created in 1380 to assist the councils comprising the government of the Republic.
[1][2] The duty of the savi del Consiglio was to "prepare [the government's] agenda, frame resolutions, defend them, and supervise their execution".
[4] The savi del Consiglio were always present in, and in charge of the agenda of, the daily deliberations of the Full College (the Venetian cabinet).
Consequently, and since no proposal could appear for vote before the Senate without having first been reviewed by the College, the savi del Consiglio came to be part of a small core of officials who exercised the most control over the governance of the Republic, alongside the Doge of Venice, the six ducal councillors, and the heads of the Ten.