334).] [Footnote 103: Mocenigo told Ciotto: I wish first to see what I can get from him of those things which he promised me, so as not wholly to lose what I have given him, and afterwards I mean to surrender him to the censure of the Holy Office' (Berti, p.

335).] In an evil hour Bruno accepted this invitation.

No doubt he longed to see Italy again after so many years of exile.

Certainly he had the right to believe that he would find hospitality and a safe refuge in Venice.
Had not a Venetian noble pledged his word for the former?
Was not the latter a privilege which S.Mark extended to all suppliants?
The Republic professed to shield even the outlaws of the Inquisition, if they claimed her jurisdiction.

There was therefore no palpable imprudence in the step which Bruno now took.