| Doge of Venice | |
|---|---|
 Coat of arms | |
| Style | His Serenity |
| Residence | Palazzo Ducale |
| Appointer | Serenissima Signoria |
| Formation |
|
| First holder |
|
| Final holder | Ludovico Manin |
| Abolished | 12 May 1797 |
| Salary | 4,800ducats p.a. (1582)[1] |
Thedoge of Venice (/doʊdʒ/DOHJ)[2][a] – in Venetian,doxe de Venexia[ˈdozedeveˈnɛsja] – was thedoge or highest role of authority within theRepublic of Venice (697–1797).[3] The worddoge derives from theLatindux, meaning 'leader', andVenetian for 'duke', highest official of the republic of Venice for over 1,000 years.[4] InItalian, the cognate isduce (/duːtʃeɪ/DOO-chay,Italian: [ˈduːt͡ʃe]), one ofNational Fascist Party leader Benito Mussolini's titles. The title is also cognate to the English "duke", with a different meaning.
Originally referring to any military leader, it became in theLate Roman Empire the title for a leader of an expeditionary force formed by detachments (vexillationes) from the frontier army (limitanei), separate from, but subject to, the governor of a province, authorized to conduct operations beyond provincial boundaries.
The doge of Venice acted as both the head of state and head of the Venetianoligarchy. Doges were elected for life through a complex voting process.[5]
The office and title ofdoge, in relation toVenetia (region) andVenice (city), emerged from olderducal offices (lat.Dux) that existed in the lateRoman and earlyByzantine empires.
During the second half of the 6th and throughout the 7th century, Byzantine province ofVenetia was gradually reduced to coastal lagoons, while the hinterland was occupied by theLombards. The remaining Byzantine regions along the coast were governed by amagister militum, subordinated to the imperialexarch of Ravenna. Thus, in 639, provincial governor of Byzantine Venetia wasmagister militum Mauricius,[6][7] and the same office was in the first half of the 8th century held by Marcellus,[8][9] as recorded in a later document known asPactum Lotharii (840). Initially, the seat of local administration was situated inOderzo, and later moved first toEraclea (Cittanova), and than toMalamocco, to be finally settled inRialto (lat.civitas Rivoalti, the Venice proper) since the first half of the 9th century.[10][11][12][13]
The first historically attested doge wasOrso Ipato, who served in the first half of the 8th century, while accounts on his alleged predecessorsPaolo Lucio Anafesto andMarcello Tegalliano were created by laterVenetian chroniclerJohn the Deacon at the beginning of the 11th century, and then expanded by later chroniclers. According to modern scholars, those accounts are not considered as reliable.[14][15][16]
In the latter half of the eighth century,Mauritius Galba was elected doge and took the titlemagister militum, consul et imperialis dux Veneciarum provinciae, 'master of the soldiers, consul and imperial duke of the province of Venice'.[17] DogeJustinian Partecipacius (d. 829) used the titleimperialis hypatus et humilis dux provinciae Venetiarum, 'imperialhypatos and humble duke of Venice'.[18]
These early titles combinedByzantine honorifics and explicit reference to Venice's subordinate status.[19] Titles likehypatos,spatharios,protospatharios,protosebastos andprotoproedros were granted by the emperor to the recipient for life but were not inherent in the office (ἀξία διὰ βραβείου,axia dia brabeiou), but the titledoux belonged to the office (ἀξία διὰ λόγου,axia dia logou). Thus, into the eleventh century the Venetian doges held titles typical of Byzantine rulers in outlying regions, such asSardinia.[20] As late as 1202, the DogeEnrico Dandolo was styledprotosebastos, a title granted to him byAlexios III Angelos.[21]
As Byzantine power declined in the region in the late ninth century, reference to Venice as a province disappeared in the titulature of the doges. The simple titlesdux Veneticorum (duke of the Venetians) anddux Venetiarum (duke of the Venetias) predominate in the tenth century.[22] The plural reflects the doge's rule of several federated townships and clans.[23]
After defeatingCroatia and conquering some Dalmatian territory in 1000, DogePietro II Orseolo adopted the titledux Dalmatiae, 'Duke of Dalmatia',[24] or in its fuller form,Veneticorum atque Dalmaticorum dux, 'Duke of the Venetians and Dalmatians'.[25]
This title was recognised by theHoly Roman EmperorHenry II in 1002.[26] After a Venetian request, it was confirmed by the Byzantine emperorAlexios I Komnenos in 1082. In achrysobull dated that year, Alexios granted the Venetian doge the imperial title ofprotosebastos, and recognised him as imperialdoux over theDalmatian theme.[27]
The expressionDei gratia ('by the grace of God') was adopted consistently by the Venetian chancery only in the course of the eleventh century.[28] An early example, however, can be found in 827–29, during the joint reign of Justinian and his brotherJohn I:per divinam gratiam Veneticorum provinciae duces, 'by divine grace dukes of the Venetian provinces'.[23]
Between 1091 and 1102, theKing of Hungary acquired the Croatian kingdom ina personal union. In these circumstances, the Venetians appealed to the Byzantine emperor for recognition of their title to Croatia (like Dalmatia, a former Byzantine subject). Perhaps as early as the reign ofVital Falier (d. 1095), and certainly by that ofVital Michiel (d. 1102), the titledux Croatiae had been added, giving the full dogal title four parts:dux Venetiae atque Dalmatiae sive Chroaciae et imperialis prothosevastos, 'Duke of Venice, Dalmatia and Croatia and ImperialProtosebastos'.[27] In the fourteenth century, the doges periodically objected to the use of Dalmatia and Croatia in the Hungarian king's titulature, regardless of their own territorial rights or claims.[29] Later medieval chronicles mistakenly attributed the acquisition of the Croatian title to DogeOrdelaf Falier (d. 1117).[30]
According to theVenetiarum Historia, written around 1350, DogeDomenico Morosini addedatque Ystrie dominator ('and lord of Istria') to his title after forcingPula onIstria to submit in 1150. Only one charter, however, actually uses a title similar to this:et totius Ystrie inclito dominatori (1153).[31]
The next major change in the dogal title came with theFourth Crusade, which conquered the Byzantine Empire (1204). The Byzantine honorificprotosebastos had by this time been dropped and was replaced by a reference to Venice's allotment in thepartitioning of the Byzantine Empire. The new full title was 'By the grace of God duke of the Venices, Dalmatia and Croatia and lord of a fourth part and a half [three eighths] of the whole Empire of Romania' (Dei gratia dux Venecie [orVenetiarum]Dalmatiae atque Chroatiae, dominus [ordominator]quartae partis et dimidie totius imperii Romaniae).[32]
Although traditionally ascribed by later medieval chroniclers to Doge Enrico Dandolo, who led the Venetians during the Fourth Crusade, and hence known as thearma Dandola,[33] in reality the title of 'lord of a fourth part and a half of the Empire of Romania' was first claimed by the ambitious Venetianpodestà of Constantinople, Marino Zeno, in his capacity as the Doge's representative in the 'Empire of Romania', and it was only subsequently adopted as part of the dogal title by DogePietro Ziani.[34]
The Greek chroniclerGeorge Akropolites used the termdespotes to translatedominus, 'lord', which has led to some confusion with the Byzantine court title ofdespot. The latter title was never claimed by the doges, but was sometimes used by the Venetianpodestàs of Constantinople in their capacity as the doge's representatives.[35]
The title of 'lord of a fourth part and a half of the whole Empire of Romania' was used in official titulature thereafter, with the exception, after there-establishment in 1261 of theByzantine Empire under the Palaiologos dynasty, of Venice's relations with the Byzantine emperors, when that part of the dogal titulature was substituted by 'and lord of the lands and islands subject to his dogate' (dominus terrarum et insularum suo ducatui subiectarum) or similar formulations.[36]
In a similar manner, the disputes between Venice and Hungary over Dalmatia and Croatia led to the kings of Hungary addressing the doges of Venice without that part of their title, while in turn the Venetians tried to force the Hungarian kings to drop any title laying claim to the two provinces.[37]
This dispute ended in theTreaty of Zadar of 1358, where Venice renounced its claims to Dalmatia; a special article in the treaty removed Dalmatia and Croatia from the doge's title. The resulting title wasDux Veneciarum et cetera, 'Duke of the Venices and the rest'.[38] Even though Dalmatia would be regained by Venice in the early 15th century, the title was never modified, and remained in use until theend of the Republic.[39] Even when the body of such documents was written in Italian, the title and dating clause were in Latin.[40]
The doge's prerogatives were not defined with precision. While the position was entrusted to members of the inner circle of powerful Venetian families, after several doges had associated a son with themselves in the ducal office, this tendency toward a hereditary monarchy was checked by a law that decreed that no doge had the right to associate any member of his family with himself in his office, nor to name his successor.[41]
After 1172 the election of the doge was entrusted to a committee of forty, who were chosen by four men selected from theGreat Council of Venice, which was itself nominated annually by twelve persons. After adeadlocked tie at the election of 1229, the number of electors was increased from forty to forty-one.[41]
New regulations for the elections of the doge introduced in 1268 remained in force until the end of the republic in 1797. Their intention was to minimize the influence of individual great families, and this was effected by a complex electoral machinery. Thirty members of the Great Council,chosen by lot, were reduced by lot to nine; the nine chose forty and the forty were reduced by lot to twelve, who chose twenty-five. The twenty-five were reduced by lot to nine, and the nine elected forty-five. These forty-five were once more reduced by lot to eleven, and the eleven finally chose the forty-one who elected the doge.[41]
Election required at least twenty-five votes out of forty-one, nine votes out of eleven or twelve, or seven votes out of nine electors.[42][b]
Before taking the oath of investiture, the doge-elect was presented to theconcio with the words: "This is your doge, if it please you."[41] This ceremonial gesture signified the assent of the Venetian people. This practice came to an end with the abolition of the concio in 1423; after the election ofFrancesco Foscari, he was presented with the unconditional pronouncement – "Your doge".[43]
_Doge%2527s_Palace_and_campanile_of_St._Mark%2527s_Basilica_facing_the_sea.jpg)
While doges had great temporal power at first, after 1268, the doge was constantly under strict surveillance: he had to wait for other officials to be present before opening dispatches from foreign powers; he was not allowed to possess any property in a foreign land.[41]
The doges normally ruled for life (although a few were forcibly removed from office). After a doge's death, a commission ofinquisitori passed judgment upon his acts, and his estate was liable to be fined for any discovered malfeasance. The official income of the doge was never large, and from early times holders of the office remained engaged in trading ventures.[41] These ventures kept them in touch with the requirements of thegrandi.
From 7 July 1268, during a vacancy in the office of doge, the state was headedex officio, with the stylevicedoge, by the seniorconsigliere ducale (ducal counsellor).
One of the ceremonial duties of the doge was to celebrate the symbolicmarriage of Venice with the sea. This was done by casting a ring from the state barge, theBucentaur, into theAdriatic. In its earlier form this ceremony was instituted to commemorate the conquest ofDalmatia by DogePietro II Orseolo in 1000, and was celebrated onAscension Day. It took its later and more magnificent form after the visit to Venice in 1177 ofPope Alexander III and theHoly Roman EmperorFrederick I. On state occasions the doge was surrounded by an increasing amount of ceremony, and in international relations he had the status of a sovereignprince.[41]
The doge took part in ducal processions, which started in thePiazza San Marco. The doge would appear in the center of the procession, preceded by civil servants ranked in ascending order of prestige and followed by noble magistrates ranked in descending order of status.Francesco Sansovino described such a procession in minute detail in 1581. His description is confirmed and complemented byCesare Vecellio's 1586 painting of a ducal procession in the Piazza San Marco.
From the 14th century onward, the ceremonial crown and well-known symbol of the doge of Venice was calledcorno ducale, a unique ducal hat. It was a stiff horn-like bonnet, which was made of gemmed brocade or cloth-of-gold and worn over thecamauro. This was a fine linen cap with a structured peak reminiscent of thePhrygian cap, a classical symbol of liberty. This ceremonial cap may have been ultimately based on thewhite crown of Upper Egypt.[44] EveryEaster Monday the doge headed aprocession fromSan Marco to theconvent ofSan Zaccaria, where theabbess presented him a newcamauro crafted by the nuns.
The Doge's official costume also included golden robes, slippers and a sceptre for ceremonial duties.
_-_Monument_of_doge_Leonardo_Loredan.jpg)
Until the 15th century, the funeral service for a deceased doge would normally be held atSt Mark's Basilica, where some early holders of this office are also buried. After the 15th century, however, the funerals of all later doges were held at theBasilica di San Giovanni e Paolo. Twenty-five doges are buried there.
As the oligarchical element in the constitution developed, the more important functions of the ducal office were assigned to other officials, or to administrative boards. The doge's role became a mostly representative position. The last doge wasLudovico Manin, who abdicated in 1797, when Venice passed under the power ofNapoleon's France following his conquest of the city.[41]
While Venice would shortly declare itself again as a republic, attempting to resist annexation by Austria, it would never revive the title of doge. It used various titles, includingdictator, and collective heads of state to govern the jurisdiction, including atriumvirate.
One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Doge".Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 8 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 379–380.
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Media related toDoges of Venice at Wikimedia Commons
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