The Italian titleprov[v]editore (pluralprovveditori; also known inGreek:προνοητής, προβλεπτής;Serbo-Croatian:providur), "he who sees to things" (overseer), was the style of various (but not all) local district governors in the extensive, mainly maritime empire of theRepublic of Venice. Like many political appointments, it was often held bynoblemen as a stage in their career, usually for a few years.
In theStato di Terraferma, the continental part of northern Italy acquired by Venice, mainly in the 15th century, they were appointed in considerable number as part of a complex hierarchical structure, including territories (the upper level),podesterias,capitanatos,vicariatos, ecclesiastical and private jurisdictions etc.
Under French rule, Dalmatia was styled aprovveditorate generale, or in Frenchinspection générale in 1808, when it was integrated in the Napoleonic Italian kingdom, with three military subdivisions, Zara (Zadar), Spalato (Split, Spalatro), Bouches-du-Cattaro ('mouths of the riverKotor'), soon joined be the absorbedRagusa (Dubrovnik), but on 14 October 1809 abolished and annexed into France'sIllyrian provinces.
