Gasparo Contarini was an Italian diplomat, cardinal, and Bishop of Belluno. He advocated for dialogue with Protestants during the Reformation. Born in Venice, he served as the Republic's ambassador to Charles V during its war with him. He was the first to explain the time discrepancy in the Magellan–Elcano circumnavigation due to Earth's rotation. He participated in diplomatic efforts and reconciliations, and became a cardinal, even though he was initially a layman. Contarini was a leader in the reform movement within the Roman Catholic Church. He played a role in the papal approval of the Society of Jesus (Jesuits). He was also involved in attempts to restore religious unity in Germany.
Francesco Foscari was the 65th Doge of the Republic of Venice from 1423 to 1457. His reign, the longest of all Doges in Venetian history, lasted 34 years, 6 months and 8 days, and coincided with the inception of the Italian Renaissance.
The Doge of Venice was the highest role of authority within the Republic of Venice. The word Doge derives from the Latin Dux, meaning "leader," originally referring to any military leader, becoming in the Late Roman Empire the title for a leader of an expeditionary force formed by detachments from the frontier army, separate from, but subject to, the governor of a province, authorized to conduct operations beyond provincial boundaries.
The Doge's Palace is a palace built in Venetian Gothic style, and one of the main landmarks of the city of Venice in northern Italy. The palace was the residence of the Doge of Venice, the supreme authority of the former Republic of Venice. It was built in 1340 and extended and modified in the following centuries. It became a museum in 1923 and is one of the 11 museums run by the Fondazione Musei Civici di Venezia.
Marino Faliero was the 55th Doge of Venice, appointed on 11 September 1354.
The Republic of Venice, officially the Most Serene Republic of Venice and traditionally known as La Serenìssima, was a sovereign state and maritime republic with its capital in Venice. Founded, according to tradition, in 697 by Paolo Lucio Anafesto, over the course of its 1,100 years of history it established itself as one of the major European commercial and naval powers. Initially extended in the Dogado area, during its history it annexed a large part of Northeast Italy, Istria, Dalmatia, the coasts of present-day Montenegro and Albania as well as numerous islands in the Adriatic and eastern Ionian seas. At the height of its expansion, between the 13th and 16th centuries, it also governed the Peloponnese, Crete and Cyprus, most of the Greek islands, as well as several cities and ports in the eastern Mediterranean.
The Council of Ten, or simply the Ten, was from 1310 to 1797 one of the major governing bodies of the Republic of Venice. Elections took place annually and the Council of Ten had the power to impose punishments upon patricians. The Council of Ten had a broad jurisdictional mandate over matters of state security. The Council of Ten and the Full College constituted the inner circle of oligarchical patricians who effectively ruled the Republic of Venice.
A doge was an elected lord and head of state in several Italian city-states, notably Venice and Genoa, during the medieval and Renaissance periods. Such states are referred to as "crowned republics".
Bajamonte Tiepolo was a Venetian noble, great-grandson of Doge Jacopo Tiepolo, grandson of Doge Lorenzo Tiepolo, son of Giacomo Tiepolo. Bajamonte's wife was the Princess of Rascia. Marco Querini, a fellow conspirator, was his father-in-law.
Pietro Gradenigo was the 49th Doge of Venice, reigning from 1289 to his death.
Antonio Priuli was the 94th Doge of Venice from 1618 until his death in 1623. Priuli became Doge in the midst of an ongoing Spanish conspiracy orchestrated by the Spanish Ambassador to Venice, Alfonso de la Cueva, 1st Marquis of Bedmar, a "spy war" that did not end until 1622.
Giovanni I Corner or Cornaro was the 96th Doge of Venice from 4 January 1625 until his death in 1629.
Giovanni Soranzo was a Venetian statesman of the prominent Soranzo family who served as the 51st Doge of Venice. He ascended to the position on 13 July 1312 and served until his death. Soranzo was a member of a noble family; he was married to Franchesina. In 1310 his son-in-law, Niccolo' Querini was exiled for life from Venice for taking part in the Tiepolo conspiracy to overthrow the state. Soranzo was succeeded as Doge by Francesco Dandolo. He was also an Italian politician, diplomat and admiral.
The Senate, formally the Consiglio dei Pregadi or Rogati, was the main deliberative and legislative body of the Republic of Venice.
The Great Council or Major Council was a political organ of the Republic of Venice between 1172 and 1797. It was the chief political assembly, responsible for electing many of the other political offices and the senior councils that ran the Republic, passing laws, and exercising judicial oversight. Following the lockout of 1297, its membership was established on hereditary right, exclusive to the patrician families enrolled in the Golden Book of the Venetian nobility.
The Concio, in the Republic of Venice, was the general assembly of freemen from which the Doge was elected. It existed between the years 742 and 1423, although it was mostly ceremonial after the Serrata del Maggior Consiglio passed power into the hands of the aristocratic class.
The Great Council Lockout refers to the constitutional process, started with the 1297 Ordinance, by means of which membership of the Great Council of Venice became hereditary. Since it was the Great Council that had the right to elect the Doge, the 1297 Ordinance marked a relevant change in the constitution of the Republic. This resulted in the exclusion of minor aristocrats and plebeians from participating in the government of the Republic. Although formerly provisional, the Ordinance later became a permanent Act, and since that time it was disregarded only at times of political or financial crisis.
The Minor Council or Ducal Council was one of the main constitutional bodies of the Republic of Venice, and served both as advisors and partners to the Doge of Venice, sharing and limiting his authority.
The Republic of Venice was dissolved and dismembered by the French general Napoleon Bonaparte and the Habsburg Monarchy on 12 May 1797, ending approximately 1,100 years of its existence.
The Venetian patriciate was one of the three social bodies into which the society of the Republic of Venice was divided, together with citizens and foreigners. Patrizio was the noble title of the members of the aristocracy ruling the city of Venice and the Republic. The title was abbreviated, in front of the name, by the initials N.H., together with the feminine variant N.D.. Holding the title of a Venetian patrician was a great honour and many European kings and princes, as well as foreign noble families, are known to have asked for and obtained the prestigious title.
