Caterino Zeno (12 July 1418 - 1478) was an Italian politician and diplomat of Republic of Venice, known for having been ambassador to Aq Qoyunlu's ruler Uzun Hassan.
Caterino Zeno (12 July 1418 - 1478) was an Italian politician and diplomat of Republic of Venice, known for having been ambassador to Aq Qoyunlu's ruler Uzun Hassan.
Caterino Zeno was born in Venice (Republic of Venice) on 12 July 1418. He was a member of the noble Zeno family, son of Dragone Pietro Zeno (died before 1430) and Anna Morosini di Giovanni, nephew of Doge Michele Morosini. He had two brothers, Antonio and Nicolò, and a sister, Antonia (who married Antonio Zorzi in 1439). [1] [2]
He was introduced into society on 2 December 1439 by his mother and his maternal uncles. In 1445 and 1446 he took part in expeditions to Alexandria and Tanais. [1] [2]
From 1448 he began to hold public offices: he was State Advocate for the minor curiae (1448-1450), he was elected numerous times to the Council of Forty (1448-1455) and was caposestiere of San Marco (1450). [1] [2]
In 1453 he married Violante Crispo, daughter of Nicolò Crispo. By her he had at least one son, Pietro (born in 1457, ambassador to Constantinople) and at least two daughters, Adriana (who married Federico Gradenigo in 1476) and another (who married Leone di Sommaripa, lord of Andros). For the merits acquired by Caterino, on 8 January 1476 the Republic of Venice assigned a dowry of 1,500 ducats to each of his daughters. However, it is uncertain whether he also had a second son named Octavian. [1] [2]
In 1455 Caterino financed a commercial route to Syria and Beirut, in 1463 he was captain of a ship and in 1467 port officer in Venice, responsible for the transport of goods. [1] [2]
On 7 March 1471, after two candidates declined, Caterino was chosen as ambassador to the Aq Qoyunlu ruler Uzun Hassan. The aim was to build an alliance against the Ottoman Sultan Mehmed II. Caterino was also chosen because his wife was said to be a relative of one of Uzun Hassan's consorts, the Byzantine princess Theodora Despina Komnene (but their relationship and their degree of kinship is still uncertain and unproven [3] ). [1] [2]
Caterino Zeno reached the Uzun's court in April 1472 and stayed for a year and a half. He became a personal friend of Uzun Hassan and also had friendly relations with Theodora Despina and her daughters, whom he also saw again in Damascus in 1473. [4] Caterino Zeno laid the foundations of a solid alliance which survived even when he returned to Europe with Uzun Hassan's reply ( his place in Aq Qoyunlu was taken by Giosafat Barbaro and Ambrogio Contarini). During his return he risked being captured by the Ottomans and ran out of money, so much so that he had to give one of his servants as a slave to continue the journey. Before returning to Venice he sought further alliances with the Emperor Frederick III, the King of Poland Casimir II and the King of Hungary Matthias Corvinus, without great results, although King Matthias knighted him on 20 April 1474. In Venice, he expounded Uzun Hassan's response, introducing himself as "Magnificent Domino Caterino Zeno". [1] [2]
On 22 August 1474, Caterino took part in diplomatic missions to Rome and Naples. On 8 August he was elected governor of the revenue, a position he assumed in January 1475. On 29 September 1476 he was appointed to the Council of Ten, of which, in the following months, he was several times head or inquisitor; then, in May 1477, he was elected patron of the Arsenal, a position of great importance, traditionally entrusted to the former leaders of the Ten. [1] [2]
Caterino Zeno died before June 1478, probably of the plague. He was buried in the church of the Crociferi. [1] [2] He left a large amount of writings, reworked, expanded and published in 1558 by his great-grandson Nicolò, with the name of Commentari. [2] [4] Caterino's fame as a traveler also inspired fantastic literature such as Storia Curiosa by Vincenzo Formaleoni (1783). [1]
Uzun Hasan or Uzun Hassan was a ruler of the Turkoman Aq Qoyunlu state and is generally considered to be its strongest ruler. Hasan ruled between 1452 and 1478, and would preside over the confederation's territorial apex when it included parts or all of present-day Iraq, Turkey, Azerbaijan, Iran, Transcaucasia and Syria.
Alexios IV Megas Komnenos or Alexius IV, Emperor of Trebizond from 5 March 1417 to 26 April 1429. He was the son of Emperor Manuel III and Gulkhan-Eudokia of Georgia.
The Blue Mosque is a historic mosque in Tabriz, Iran. The construction for Blue Mosque, also known as Masjed-e Moẓaffariya, started during the rule of the Qarā Qoyunlu dynasty (1351-1469) and was completed in 1465 during the reign of the Āq Qoyunlu The famous Blue Mosque is widely recognized as the last remaining example of Turkmen architectural and decorative styles in the city. The features of Blue Mosque prompted the scholars to explore the innovative features of Tabriz's ceramic tile craftsmanship—highlighting its distinctive "blue-and-white" patterns, lusterware, and gilded cobalt tiles, which for a considerable time were recognized as the sole known example of their kind.
Khalilullah I, also known as Sultan-Khalil (سلطان-خلیل), was the Shirvanshah from 1418 to 1465. He was the son and successor of Ibrahim I. He was succeeded by his son Farrukh Yasar.
Giosafat Barbaro (1413–1494) was a member of the Venetian Barbaro family. He was a diplomat, merchant, explorer and travel writer. He was unusually well-travelled for someone of his times.
The Aq Qoyunlu or the White Sheep Turkomans was a culturally Persianate, Sunni Turkoman tribal confederation. Founded in the Diyarbakir region by Qara Yuluk Uthman Beg, they ruled parts of present-day eastern Turkey from 1378 to 1503, and in their last decades also ruled Armenia, Azerbaijan, much of Iran, Iraq, and Oman where the ruler of Hormuz recognised Aq Qoyunlu suzerainty. The Aq Qoyunlu empire reached its zenith under Uzun Hasan.
Theodora Kantakouzene Megale Komnene was the Empress consort of Alexios IV of Trebizond. Said to be very beautiful, according to the chronicle of Laonikos Chalkokondyles, she was accused by her son, John Megas Komnenos, of having an affair with the protovestiarios of the court of Trebizond; however, other accounts describe her as a faithful and loving wife, who kept the peace between Alexios and his sons. In either case, during her lifetime their son John fled to Georgia and did not return until after Theodora's death.
Bagrationi was the first Empress consort of John IV of Trebizond. Her name is unknown.
Nicholas Crispo, Patrizio Veneto, became Lord of Syros in 1420 and Regent of the Duchy of the Archipelago between 1447 and 1450. He was a son of Francesco I Crispo, tenth Duke of the Archipelago, and wife Fiorenza I Sanudo, Lady of Milos, and brother of Dukes Giacomo I, John II and William II.
Sheikh Junayd was the son of Shaykh Ibrahim, father of Shaykh Haydar and grandfather of the founder of Safavid dynasty, Shah Ismail I. After the death of his father, he assumed the leadership of the Safaviyya from 1447–1460.
Jalal al-Din Davani, also known as Allama Davani, was a theologian, philosopher, jurist, and poet, who is considered to have been one of the leading scholars in late 15th-century Iran.
Ambrogio Contarini was a Venetian nobleman, merchant and diplomat known for an account of his travel to Iran.
Sara Khatun was an influential woman of the Aq Qoyunlu state, as the political adviser of her son, Uzun Hasan. She was a successful and well-respected diplomatic mediator.
Theodora Megale Komnene, also known as Despina Khatun, was the daughter of John IV of Trebizond and Bagrationi who married the Aq Qoyunlu ruler Uzun Hasan in 1458. She became the mother of Halima Alamshah Hatun who became the mother of first Safavid king, Shah Ismail I.
Yaqub b. Uzun Hasan, commonly known as Sultan Ya'qub was the ruler of the Aq Qoyunlu from 1478 until his death on 24 December 1490. A son of Uzun Hasan, he became the ruler of the dynasty after the death of his brother Sultan Khalil. The borders of Aq Qoyunlu dynasty remained stable during his reign. In his book Alam-Aray-i Amini, Fazlallah Khunji Isfahani praised him as a decent successor of Uzun Hasan. Ya'qub received praise from other historians for supporting poets and scientists.
Sultan Khalil Mirza was a sultan of the Aq Qoyunlu State, ruling from 6 January 1478 to July 1478.
Jalal ad-Din Ali ibn Qara Yoluq Osman, or Ali Beg was the sixth bey of the Turkoman tribal federation of the Aq Qoyunlu from 1435 to 1438.
Alamshah Halima Begum (1460–1522) was a Turkoman Aq Qoyunlu princess. She was the daughter of Uzun Hasan and Teodora Despina Khatun, and the mother of Ismail I.
Marco Cornaro or Marco Corner (1406–1479) was a merchant, politician and diplomat of the Cornaro family of the Republic of Venice. He had already earned great wealth and made a prestigious marriage before entering politics in middle age. He was deeply involved commercially and politically in the Kingdom of Cyprus. In 1457, he was sentenced to exile from Venice for two years. He spent the next nine years in Cyprus. His daughter, Catherine, became queen of Cyprus in 1468. His grandson, James III, became king in 1473–1474, but died in infancy. In 1474–1476, Cornaro was in Cyprus to stabilize his daughter's rule. He was one of the electors of the doge in 1476 and 1478.