Francesco Morosini | |
|---|---|
%2c_half-length%2c_in_armour_.jpg) Portrait byGiovanni Carboncino | |
| Doge of Venice | |
| In office 1688–1694 | |
| Preceded by | Marcantonio Giustinian |
| Succeeded by | Silvestro Valier |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 26 February 1619 Venice,Republic of Venice |
| Died | 6 January 1694(1694-01-06) (aged 74) Nauplia, Republic of Venice |
Francesco Morosini (26 February 1619 – 16 January 1694) was theDoge of Venice from 1688 to 1694, at the height of theGreat Turkish War. He was one of the manyDoges and generals produced by theVenetian nobleMorosini family.[1] He is said to have "dressed always in red from top to toe and never went into action without his cat beside him."[2]
Morosini first rose to prominence asCaptain-General of the Venetian forces onCrete during thesiege of Candia by theOttoman Empire. He was eventually forced to surrender the city, and was accused of cowardice and treason on his return to Venice; however, he was acquitted after a brief trial.[1]
In 1685, at the outbreak of theMorean War, Morosini took command of a fleet against the Ottomans. Over the next several years, he captured theMorea with the help ofOtto Wilhelm Königsmarck, as well asLefkada and parts of western Greece. He also brieflycaptured Athens but was unable to hold it, and attempted a failedsiege of the former Venetian fortress ofNegroponte. His fame reached such heights that he was given thevictory titlePeloponnesiacus, and was the first Venetian citizen to have a bronze bust placed during his own lifetime in the Great Hall, with the inscriptionFrancisco Morosini Peloponnesiaco, adhuc viventi, Senatus.[3]
During theMorean War, theParthenon was used as agunpowder magazine by theOttoman Army. On September 26, 1687, a mortar during the Venetian bombardment ofAthens scored a direct hit on the edifice, igniting the stored powder—the subsequent explosion of which caused the greatest destruction in the Parthenon's history.[4] An attaché of the Swedish field commander General Otto Wilhelm Königsmarck wrote later: "How it dismayed His Excellency to destroy the beautiful temple which had existed three thousand years!" By contrast Morosini, who was the commander in chief of the operation, described it in his report to the Venetian government as a "fortunate shot".
When he conquered the Acropolis in early 1688, Morosini attempted to loot Athena's and Poseidon's horses and chariots from the westernpediment of the Parthenon, but the sculptures fell on the ground and smashed.[5][6] This was the first documented attempt to remove sculptures from the pediments.[7] TheOttoman Empire regained possession of the monument in the following year.[8]
Morosini also took thePiraeus Lion as awar trophy to theVenetian Arsenal.
In the summer of 1688, Morosini, now having been proclaimedDoge of Venice,attacked Negropont but was unable to capture it and was forced to return to Venice when plague broke out among his troops. He embarked on a final campaign in 1693, but was again unsuccessful in takingNegropont, and returned to Venice after sacking some minor coastal towns. After his death in 1694, a large marble arch was placed in his honor at theDoge's Palace.Nini, the cat of which Morosini was notably fond, wasembalmed along with a mouse between her paws.Nini and the mouse are current exhibits at theMuseo Correr in Venice.[9]
| Political offices | ||
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| Preceded by | Doge of Venice 1688–1694 | Succeeded by |
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