Domenico I. Contarini

Coat of arms of "Domenico Contarin" based on ideas from the 17th century

Domenico I. Contarini († 1071 in Venice ) was Doge of Venice from 1043 to 1071 . However, recent research suggests that he became a Doge as early as 1041. According to the historiographical tradition, as the state-controlled historiography of Venice is called, he was the 30th Doge.

He succeeded in the disputes between the Patriarchs of Aquileia , behind which especially Conrad II , but also Heinrich III. stood, and the Patriarch of Grado , whose leading clergy determined Venice, to decide in favor of Grado. This was achieved through a delegation to Pope Leo IX. , who recognized a corresponding recognition of Grado's rights to the suffragan dioceses in Veneto and Istria , perhaps because he himself was under massive foreign policy pressure. However, this could not stop Grado's slow decline.

During the reign of Contarini, the city of Zara and other cities in Dalmatia fell back to Venice in 1150 or 1162. The trading privileges in the Roman-German Empire were recognized again after a long break in 1055, and the Doge also received unusual Byzantine honorary titles that were more likely to be a provincial governor. This, too, was probably due to the same pressure that the Normans exerted with the conquest of southern Italy . The Pope sought allies against them, as did the two great empires. In southern Italy, so the Venetian historiography claimed at times, there were even sea battles between Venetians and Normans. But the Doge stayed largely out of the conflict.

origin

The Contarini are among the oldest families in Venice. They are documented for the first time in the year 960. Over the centuries the family branched out into over twenty lines. Domenico was the first of the Contarini doges. In total, the family provided eight doges and 44 procurators.

Doge's Office

Since the chronicle of Doge Andrea Dandolo , Domenico Flabiano's death has been dated to 1043. But according to a breviarium recordationis , Domenico Contarini's predecessor was already dead in June 1041. Roberto Cessi believes that Flabiano most likely died in the first months of 1041, so that Contarini's reign should be in spring-summer 1041. From the silence of the sources it was concluded that he came into office in an irreproachable, peaceful election.

Italy around 1050

Although statements can be made about the political environment, it is above all the simmering conflict with the main pillar of imperial politics in Italy, the Patriarchate of Aquileia , which shaped the first years of his Dogat. Papal politics came to the fore, while Byzantium was increasingly concerned with its own problem areas. Ultimately, the Normans of southern Italy fundamentally changed the political situation, which between 1061 and 1091 conquered Arab Sicily and the remaining Byzantine cities. Bari fell as their last bastion there in 1071 .

It is possible that the Patriarch of Aquileia Poppo used the opportunity of the change of power in Venice to conquer Grado , which he claimed for his patriarchy, in one stroke: “totam videlicet civitatem cum ecclesiis incendit, altaria confregit, thesauros abstulit et quidquid ab igne remansit pagan secum detulit ”, so he had the whole city burned down with its churches, the altars destroyed and the treasures stolen, and what the fire spared he took with him in a heathen way. Orso Orseolo , the Patriarch of Grado, protested against Pope Benedict IX. Poppo died surprisingly in September 1042.

But this did not solve the fundamental question of whether Grado should remain an independent patriarchate with suffragan bishops in Venice, Friuli and Istria , or whether it was a suffragan diocese of Aquileia. In addition, the privilege, the de Gradensis ecclesiae subiectione , the John XIX. Poppo had admitted in 1027 to be revoked. To this end, Orso protested at the beginning of 1044, with the support of the Doge and the whole people, represented by Benedetto, the abbot of S. Trinità e S. Michele Arcangelo in Brondolo , by Giovanni Storlato and the cleric Gregorio, against the action of Aquileia. They asked for the return of all stolen property, the confirmation of Grado's rights and property as well as its independence, and finally the annulment of the said decree. After the condemnation of Poppo's attacks, Pope Benedict IX, who simply referred to Poppo as "Foroiuliensis praesul", revoked and finally recognized the Patriarchate of Grado. In June, two months later, the Pope also recognized the privileges of the Brondolo Monastery.

In contrast to his predecessor, Domenico I. Contarini not only succeeded in having Grado recognized again as a patriarchate, but he was also able to cooperate again with Orso Orseolo, and consequently with the Orseolo family, which had fallen in 1026 and 1032 respectively. Inner peace was thus also considered to be assured.

In terms of foreign policy, the Doge also achieved improvements. It is therefore certain that the traditional contacts with Constantinople were successfully restored. As a result, the Doge obtained the title of Imperial Patricius by 1046 , and in 1049 that of Archipato , then Imperial Patricius Anthypatus et dux . Domenico Contarini was the only doge who bore these titles, which were actually intended for deserving military personnel of the highest ranks and for the governors of the subjects , the strategoi . This is important as the conflict between the civil administration and the military apparatus, which until then had been responsible for the expansion under the Macedonian dynasty , came to a head. This is all an indication that the court still viewed the ruler of the lagoon as a kind of provincial governor.

However, the rapprochement with the Pope on the Grado question prompted Heinrich III. , the overlord of the Patriarchate Aquileia, to hold on to his open hostility towards Venice. In May 1047 he granted the Bishop of Treviso , Rotari II, an important privilege. In addition to all sorts of other rights, the Venetian monastery of Sant'Ilario was subordinated to the diocese, as well as some courtyards with the Decima and the associated church district. The monastery, which is directly subordinate to the Doge, never paid taxes and did not submit to the bishop, but a synod under the leadership of the new Patriarch of Aquileia, Gotebald (1043-1063), demanded the implementation of the privilege. Domenico Contarini intervened personally and addressed the emperor directly. Then there was a complete reversal of the alliances in the years 1049 to 1051. First Gotebald recognized the monastic rights by returning to earlier decisions. Then in January 1052 in Altinum in a placitum the monastery was allowed the peaceful use of its properties. The Emperor recognized all old privileges vis-à-vis Domenico Silvo and Bono Dandolo, the Doge's envoy. Even Karl Schmid believed this change in political relations have stood the death Poppos related: "Symptomatic overlooking Aquileia and its pre-eminence as a patriarchy it is that Henry III. Poppos did not continue his anti-Graden and thus anti-Venetian politics after his death [...] ”.

During this time the new Patriarch of Grado, Dominicus IV. Marango, successor to Orso Orseolo from 1049 or 1050, reopened the conflict between the two patriarchates. This dispute, however, was in a completely different context. The Gradenser hung namely Leo IX. on, one of the reform popes . He demanded the rights of the original Patriarchate Aquileia and thus the legality of jurisdiction over the dioceses of Istria. These were permanently recognized in Rome in April 1053: "ut ecclesia Gradensis Nova Aquileia totius Venetiae et Istriae caput et metropolis perpetuo haberetur". The Pope, who returned from Germany a month ago, recognized the immunities of the Brondolo monastery and the prerogatives of the Olivolo diocese, whose seat was in Venice. Dominicus Marango thus triumphed completely, and a few months later he called himself "Gradensis et Aquileiensis ecclesiae patriarca". His rival was left with the title of Bishop of Friuli , more precisely of "Foroiuliensis antistes". The fact that the Doge was not present at the Synod in Rome is a sign of a later more clearly tangible crisis between Dogat and high clergy in Venice.

But after Marango's triumph, there are increasing signs of the gradual disintegration of the Grado patriarchate, even if Domenico Contarini tried in vain to weaken or at least modify the papal legal authority. As a result, Pope Alexander II reminded the Doge in 1063 that no one had the right to annul or modify a legal ruling by the Pope. Nevertheless, the requests of the suffragan bishops to obtain papal privileges, the ambition of simple communities to elevate themselves to dioceses, and the disputes between the churches over ownership were signs that a general revolt against the dominance of the patriarch and a diffuse process of disintegration were noticeable . All this gradually led to an impoverishment of the patriarchy, especially since the doge endowed the church structures in his sphere of influence with enormous fortunes and organizational structures against which the patriarchy fell back. This can be seen in the renovation of St. Mark's Church between 1063 and 1079, which at the same time received growing administration from the Procurators of San Marco , the second highest state office, but also in the dominical monasteries such as San Zaccaria or San Ilario. For the latter monastery a law firm was established whose task was to defend the monastic claims and rights. On this occasion, the Doge described himself for the first time as "Dei gratia dux". Perhaps towards the end of the Contarini's rule, a compromise was reached in which the patriarchal seat was to be financed from contributions from the laity and the churches. But the people's assembly never approved the agreement. So nothing changed in the decay process.

Apart from church politics, little is known about the domestic politics of the Doge, apart from the decentralization of the financial administration. In terms of foreign policy, it should be noted that Byzantium awarded the title of “magister” to a Doge for the first time (before 1064), which may indicate an improvement in relations with Constantinople. However, the focus was much more on the chaotic situation in Dalmatia from the middle of the 11th century. Later chronicles assume that there was an intervention of the fleet under the leadership of the Doge in 1050 or 1062, but it remains unclear whether this intervention was of a diplomatic or military nature.

Map showing the confessional boundaries as a result of the church split in 1054

In the long term, much more serious was the fact that a new schism broke out with the Eastern Church in 1054 , which led to a division of the Church that continues to this day. The mutual excommunication was not lifted until 1965.

Domenico Contarini died in 1071. He was buried in the monastery of San Nicolò di Lido , which he himself founded in 1053 together with the Patriarch Domenico Marango and the Bishop of Olivolo, who was also called Domenico Contarini, perhaps a relative of the Doge. The grave was destroyed when the church was rebuilt between 1626 and 1629. A bust from the 17th century on the facade of the church commemorates the Doge. An inscription located there should keep his deeds publicly visible.

reception

Until the end of the Republic of Venice

Venice's relationship to the Roman-German Empire had deteriorated under Konrad II and Heinrich III. further deteriorated, but the Contarini managed a decisive turn. The interpretation given by Venetian historiography to the life of the Doge was, on the one hand, based on the external disputes with the Patriarchate of Aquileia and thus the empire, and on the other hand with those about the rights of the Pope, whereby sources of the Roman Curia are increasingly gaining importance. finally the state organization that is becoming more differentiated. The focus of the most important and most frequently cited chronicle of Venice, that of Doge Andrea Dandolo , represents in perfect form the views of the political leadership bodies that were already firmly established in his time, in the 14th century, which have steered history especially since this Doge. His work was repeatedly used as a template by later chroniclers and historians. Hence it became immensely dominant in ideas of Venetian history prior to its time. Dandolo focused on the derivation and legitimation of the territorial claim of his hometown, because only this eluded Roman-German rule in Northern Italy, but also the defense against papal attempts at interference. In this context, the recognition and, if possible, the extension of the “old treaties” by the newly appointed emperors (and kings) has always been of enormous importance. The strategies of balancing interests between the predominant families at that time, but above all the state of constitutional development, led to the increasing involvement of the Doge, who had been denied the possibility of a hereditary monarchy since Contarini's predecessor. The Doge, from 912 onwards only to be determined by election, then partially controlled by tribunes, now restricted in its power by blocking the succession, was now surrounded by a small council, the importance of which increased. In addition, its financial management was partially separated. The stages of political developments that finally led to the disempowerment of the Doge, who was increasingly assigned representative tasks, but no longer allowed independent decisions, was a further objective of the presentation. At the same time, on the one hand, the balance between the ambitious and dominant families remained one of the most important goals; on the other hand, the derivation of the prominent position of the 'nobili' in the state was of great importance, partially contradicting the above goal. Because the church offices played an essential role in the struggles, the Patriarch of Aquileia and the empire behind it, but also the Pope, opened up new possibilities for interference, against which Venice for its part defended itself by creating a patriarchate under its control, Grado which was eventually converted to the Venice Patriarchate.

The very brief Cronica di Venexia detta di Enrico Dandolo from the late 14th century, the oldest vernacular chronicle of Venice, depicts the events, like Andrea Dandolo, on a level that has long been familiar at this time and largely dominated by individuals, especially the Doges This also applies to “Domenego Contarini”, as the chronicler called the doge in the dialect of the day. The individual doges even form the temporal framework for the entire chronicle, as was customary in Venice. At Contarini, the chronicle recognizes two events worth communicating. Because of his "sapiencia et grandeça" he was elected Doge by the whole people. According to the chronicler, the patriarch "a Agolia" conquered the city of Grado and burned it down and destroyed it. That is why the Doge sent envoys to Rome - "al papa Benedetto che era a quel tempo, et decimo", the tenth of this name, as he incorrectly inserts, because it must have been the ninth Pope of this name - who obtained a privilege , the Grados Patriarchate secured its spiritual and material rights, "essendo spiritual et temporal". According to this chronicle, he also drove with a large fleet ("cum grande exercito de galeie et nave") against Zara, which he captured, and where he punished the rebels and drove in 1000 Libra. After 25 years and 9 months, Domenico Contarini died, who was buried in San Nicolò di Lido.

Robert Guiskard's coin († 1085), who from 1059 became one of the pillars of the reform papacy and ended Byzantine rule in southern Italy. He began to conquer Sicily (1072 Palermo) and attacked Byzantium in 1081, but his fleet was sunk by Venice. In 1084/85 the Venetians won again, but lost to Corfu.

Pietro Marcello meant in 1502 in his work later translated into Volgare under the title Vite de'prencipi di Vinegia , the doge “Domenico Contarini Doge XXIX.” “Fu creato poi doge” ('was then made a doge'). This happened in the year "MXLIIII", ie in the year 1044, not, as Gian Giacomo Caroldo later wrote, in the year 1043. Marcello was unsure whether Zara had submitted to the Croatians or the King of Hungary, but in any case he led Doge sent a large fleet to Dalmatia, besieged and conquered Zara, whereupon the other cities of Dalmatia, also ready to rebel, remained loyal to Venice. Poppo inflicted even greater damage on Grado in the second conquest than in the first. The Venetians, ready for “vendetta”, then turned to the Pope first. Poppo submitted to the Pope because if he hadn't done so, the Venetians would have forced him. It is said, according to the author, that Pope Benedict visited St. Mark's Church during this time and granted it many privileges, as well as other churches. In addition, according to Marcello, "Roberto Guiscardo, di natione Normando" was said to have fought many battles with the Venetians in Apulia. The doge died in the 26th year of his reign. He not only deviates from the older chronicles with regard to the exact period of Contarini's reign, but also mentions Robert Guiscard as one of the first in connection with this Dogat.

According to the somewhat more detailed history venete dal principio della città fino all'anno 1382 by Gian Giacomo Caroldo , "Dominico Contarino" was promoted to Doge in the year "MXLIIJ" ("publicato"). During this time Poppo of Aquileia was subordinated to the Gradensian church by the Roman church. This then "furtivamente" penetrated the city and burned it, destroyed its altars, and, 'as is the barbaric custom of the Germans, he brought everything to Germany' ("come è il barbaro costume di Tedeschi, portò in Alemagna" ). The Doge immediately wrote to the Pope. But before he could react, Poppo died "senza li sacramenti della Chiesa ord ^ri: " - it is unclear whether it was 'ordinari', the usual sacraments of death , as the editor notes. Benedetto, the abbot of “San Trinità di Brondolo” and the other two ambassadors, namely “Gioanni Storlato” and “Giorgio Clerico” were to demand the return of the rights and the stolen goods, and the Doge should have the “privilegio di confirmatione della Chiesa di Grado ”, the right of confirmation for the Church of Grado. This happened "in ampla forma". From then on, the Doge devoted himself to the reconstruction and fortification of the city destroyed by Poppo. After the Patriarch Orso (Orseolo) died after a term of office of "XXXVII" years and "XLV" days, he was followed by "Dominico Vulcano Capellano di San Marco", who only lived two days. Then Dominico Marango came into office. "Mauro Torsillo" and his son "Bortolamio", who were trading in southern Italy, brought an arm relic of the Apostle Bartholomew with them from certain "Calogeri di Benevento" - by means of prayers and money and promises, as it is expressly said - which they found in the " Chiesa di San Hieremia Profetta ”( San Geremia Profeta ), which they founded themselves. After the death of the Bishop of Olivolo, the chronicler continues, he was succeeded by Dominico Contarini, "consobrino del Doge". At that time, "Rolomeo Re di Dalmatia" sent envoys to "Solomone Re d'Hungeria et a Gresa suo cognato" who asked for help against enemies who were conquering the places in Dalmatia, namely the "Venetiani et altri confederati del Greco Imperio" - Caroldo therefore sees Venice as an ally of Constantinople. “Solomone”, the Hungarian king, sent an army to Dalmatia and incited Zara to rebellion, the inhabitants of whom had been “haveano servata fede a Venetiani integralmente” up until then, and who had been completely loyal to Venice. In the 7th year of his reign, the Doge used the opportunity of the dispute with the Hungarian royal brothers "Zeycha et Ladislao" to intervene himself. So the doge appeared “con potente armata”, so that the cities of Dalmatia submitted at the sight of it. The Hungarians, on the other hand, fought a great battle while the Byzantine emperor had negotiations conducted. Pope Leo IX sent the pallium to the Patriarch Dominicus and confirmed "la Patriarchal sede sua". He also wrote to the bishops of Veneto and Istria that they should recognize him as their “Matropolita et Primate”. The Patriarch then visited Venice and St. Mark's Church, where he was received with all honors by the Doge and the people. He granted indulgences to some churches and to the “Ducale Dominio molte immunità et essentioni”. Two ambassadors reached Heinrich III. the renewal of the old treaties that his father Heinrich II did not want to sign. Finally he had the monastery of San Nicolo Vescovo equipped, whose monks lived according to the Benedictine Rule . After 27 years and 9 months, Caroldo's time as a doge ended.

Even Heinrich Kellner said in his 1574 published Chronica is Warhaffte actual vnd kurtze description, all Hertzogen to Venice lives , "Dominicus Contarin" had been "gekohren Hertzog" 1044th He is also not sure whether “those from Zara” “fell” to Croatia or Hungary. That is why the Doge “equips a large Ankal ship”, besieges Zara and “ultimately conquers with force”. As a result, the other cities of Dalmatia, also ready for rebellion, stayed “with the Venetians”. "Pepo of Aquilegia" conquered and damaged Grado again, but complied with the orders of the Pope on the diplomatic initiative of the Doge in Rome, because Poppo "worries / if he does not do this / the Venetians would argue with a rifled hand." It is said that “Pope Benedict came to Venice,” p. Marten Body visited / and gave a lot of freedom of the same and other Holy Churches / that time there. ”“ It is also said ”that Robert Guiscard“ out of Normandy ”fought many battles with the Venetians in Apulia. According to Kellner, Contarini died "in the 26th year of his duchy."

Bust of the Doge at the Church of San Nicolò di Lido with an inscription from 1611 listing the merits of the Doge as contemporaries saw them: Zara and Dalmatia, Grado and the Normans, peace and religion, church building

In the translation of Alessandro Maria Vianoli's Historia Veneta , which appeared in Nuremberg in 1686 under the title Der Venetianischen Herthaben Leben / Government, und Absterben / Von dem First Paulutio Anafesto an / bis on the now-ruling Marcum Antonium Justiniani , the author counts, deviating by Pietro Marcello, "Dominicus Contarini, Der 30. Hertzog". After him the Tsarese made themselves the "Salamone, as the then King of Hungarn / submissive". On the other hand, the Doge "hastily assembled a very large armada of ships / which he himself commands in person". Vianoli knew that “he had already stood under their walls with his people of war / who attacked with such power and fury / that they seized them in the first attack”. The following punishments have the effect that "the other surrounding cities / so already wanted to become rebellious / their perception immediately changed / and remained steadfast and loyal to the Republic." This was hardly done, "when the Meinydige Paponus of Aquileja" ... " this nefarious man ... attacked the city of Grado for the third time with the Hungarians ”. But Venice preferred to find a diplomatic settlement, it should "the matter should be settled and compared much more easily through a good treaty". The Pope listened to both parties and "also enabled, by a public decree, the Patriarch of Aquileia to cede such unlawful possession" and return the city. But Poppo did not follow, as Vianoli reports strangely, so that he was "put under the spell of Benedicto / and declared to be eight". The doge had defeated him and taken him prisoner, he was "bricked in alive between two walls, bit his head / and was kept day and night with 200 armed soldiers / bit that his tyrannical soul had taken its leave from the body." (P. 178). Under Contarini, "the St. Mark's Church has once again attained complete perfection: also for the first time the procurator dignity / and at the very beginning of his government / several noble families / by mam in the year 1043. two procuratores di S. Marco, or the administrator of H. Marci. ”Finally, the author briefly touches on the“ Normander ”Robert Guiscard, at whose time the Pope is said to have visited Venice. In the year 1071, in the 27th year and 9th month of his office, “he concluded his life time”.

1687 noted Jacob von Sandrart in his Opus Kurtze and increased description of the origin / recording / areas / and government of the world famous republic of Venice laconically, in a nutshell, that “Dominic. Contarenus ”in 1041 as“ (XXIX.) Hertzog set up ”. In addition, he only considers the recovery of Zara and Grado to be worth mentioning. His successor "Dominicus Sylvius" came into office in 1069.

Historical-critical representations

The east Adriatic coast with the Italian city names

From 1769 Johann Friedrich LeBret published his four-volume State History of the Republic of Venice , in which "Dominicus Contarini is declared a Doge" who "in the disputes with the Patriarch of Aquileia ... seriously defended the rights of his people". He sees the “private hatred” of Contarini's predecessor against the Orseolo as one of the causes of the unrest in Dalmatia, the other being the “infidelity of the new subjects”. In LeBret's view, the latter were disappointed that the doges after the two Orseolo no longer held their title of Duke of Dalmatia, “and did not treat their province with Urseolian tenderness and attention.” They were also no longer defended against Croats and Saracens, “ and the weak Greeks at that time drew more advantages from the Ragusians than from the Venetians ”(what is meant is today's Dubrovnik ). Croatia, which had temporarily submitted to Byzantium, achieved independence, soon also unity, so that the king succeeded in subjugating Dalmatia. Zara drove out his “Venetian prior or consul” and swore “loyalty and obedience” to the king. While the latter included Dalmatia in his title, to the satisfaction of the court in Constantinople, he again paid “some tribute” to the emperor, which it had not paid under Venice. The Venetian “fleet was equipped in the same way; the Doge got on ships and sailed to meet his enemies. "LeBret even knows of a trading party in Zara that hoped for more advantages from Venice than from King" Cresimir-Peter ":" At all times the people of Zara have their fickle and unstable Character asserts. ”The Doge forced the city to surrender, but treated it with“ generosity ”and“ probably carefully reassumed the title of Duke of Dalmatia, which Flabenigo from Hasse had omitted against the Urseolians ”(p. 270). After the death of "Emperor Conrad, who was an enemy of the Venetians and the Italians in general", in 1039 Heinrich III succeeded him. in the royal office. He expressed greater "complacency towards the Italian classes", and from then on, until the time of Frederick I , the Venetian privileges were consistently recognized. Heinrich confirmed it in Verona in 1055. He also protected the claims of the monastery of San Zaccaria and visited the monastery, according to LeBret, “probably in 1037.”, yes, he even removed those expressions from the office language that could have suggested “that the emperors had jurisdiction over the servants of Venice ”. Contarini's "wisdom, his affability, his attention to the public good deserved that he was held in high esteem." In his first year in office he let "the monastery of St. Build Nicholas of Lido; not far from it, however, he laid the nuns of salvation. Angelus, whose supervision he will give to the abbot of Heil. Nicholas handed over. “The author follows Andrea Dandolo, who from the visit of Leo IX. reports who had decided the dispute between the patriarchs in favor of Grados. For this visit he had "not yet found any evidence", but he considered the visit to be "very likely" because of the many privileges in favor of Venice. Contarini died after a government of "seven and twenty years and nine months."

Miracle of the Cross on Campo San Lio , Giovanni di Niccolò Mansueti around 1494, tempera on canvas, 318 * 458 cm, originally in the Scuola Grande di San Giovanni Evangelista , since 1820 in the Accademia . The facade of the church can be seen on the left, which was built in 1054 after Pope Leo IX. was named.

Somewhat different, less educative and moralizing than looking for contemporary motifs, said Samuele Romanin , the historian embedded in the wider historical context, who portrayed this period in 1853 in the first of ten volumes of his Storia documentata di Venezia . For him, "Domenico Flabianico" died in 1042. According to the author, historians had very little to say about Domenico Contarini - in the meantime there was consensus to consider him the 30th Doge. In these precarious years for Venice, on the one hand, Poppo of Aquileia continued his foreign policy directed against Venice, where he was soon followed by Henry III. was supported. Poppo wrested the port of Pilo from the Venetians and destroyed Grado in 1044. But now Benedict IX transferred. patriarchy at Orso Orseolo and threatened Poppo when not publishing the robbery goods by excommunication . Poppo died shortly afterwards without remorse, "impenitente", the Doge forcibly recaptured Grado. Most of the patriarch resided on Rialto anyway, where he owned a palace near San Giovanni Elemosinario . Another point of contention arose from "Cresimiro-Pietro (1052-1073)", who assumed the title of 'King of Croatia and Dalmatia'. The Tsarese had expelled the "conte Orso Giustiniano", as Romanin deduces from the Dandolochronic without specifying the location. He also assumes that the Doge brought back the city by force in order to use his son Marco there, "alla tutela degli interessti veneziani", in order to protect the Venetian interests. The author takes from a document from 1049 that the doge adorned himself with the title "Patrizio imperiale e Protosebaste". These titles are unknown to his predecessor, so Romanin suspects that they were related to the double threat to the Eastern Empire, namely from the Russians and the Normans, which was looking for allies. Pope Leo IX in turn sought help from the Byzantine Emperor against the Normans, but then also from Heinrich III. The author assumes that Pope Leo's visit to Venice was due to the fact that the Pope also hoped for help from there. In his honor, the Santa Caterina church was renamed S. Lio or Leone. In 1053, appropriately, the rights of the Patriarch of Grado were restored. The Pope himself led an army against the Normans, who were ready to submit to the Pope and take their territory as a fief . But the Germans in the army rejected this out of mistrust. In the battle of Civitella the Normans conquered on June 18, 1053. Although the Pope got into her captivity, but surprisingly, the victors accused the Pope's feet and brought him safely to Benevento . At the same time, the Byzantine units were defeated. Meanwhile, the Venetians obtained confirmation of their privileges from Henry III. in 1055. But Heinrich died again the next year, which gave the Reform Party a strong boost. Even Alexander II. Was elected in 1061 without the consent of the emperor. According to Romanin, the Doge stayed away from these disputes and founded an abbey in 1053 for the patron saint of sailors, San Nicolò , at the port of the Lido. The monastery there achieved a special reputation when the relics of St. Nicholas of Myra got there during the Crusades .

The miracle of the cross relic on Rialto , miraculous healing by Francesco Querini, the Patriarch of Grado, Vittore Carpaccio , 365 × 389 cm, tempera on canvas, around 1496, originally in the Scuola Grande di San Giovanni Evangelista , since 1820 in the Accademia

In his Il Palazzo ducale di Venezia from 1861, Francesco Zanotto grants the popular assembly greater influence, but this people has always been 'gullible because ignorant' ('credulo perchè ignorante') and 'fickle as the sea'. In contrast, Contarini, elected by a majority in 1043, led a 'long, wise and peaceful regiment'. From Emperor Constantine XI. he received the Byzantine title of "patrizio imperiale e protosebaste", as it is called in a document from 1049, in which disputes between the residents of the "due Chioggie" and Pietro Orseolo, a son of that Domenico Orseolo , who for had been a 'usurper' of the Doge's office for one day. In the next year, “alla esaltazione del Contarini”, Poppo attacked the island city and 'left it to the flames' with a papal decree in his back, which placed the Patriarchate of Grado under him. Moved by this 'godless' attack, the Doge and the Patriarch Orso Orseolo sent envoys to Rome. A synod revoked Poppo’s privilege and threatened him with the most severe punishment if he did not return the booty and repair the damage. When the ambassadors returned, they learned of Poppo's death, in which Zanotto saw a punishment for the evil one. The latter had obtained privileges from Henry II and Conrad II, and had damaged Venice's trade by wresting the port of Pilo from it and taking its capital, Aquileia, into a great boom. Even if Contarini succeeded in recapturing Grado, the damage was too great so that the city did not recover. In addition, the Patriarchs resided in Venice, in a palace that is reminiscent of a painting by Vittore Carpaccio . - Around 1050, 'Cresimiro, King of the Croats' tempted the cities of Dalmatia to withdraw from any kind of dependence (“soggezione”). Zara sold his "conte Orso Giustiniano" and submitted to the king. With him, too, a fleet enforced 'compliance with the treaties', other fickle cities were induced to 'a rimanere in fede' (to remain faithful). The conflict over Grado was caused by Leo IX. resolved, who annulled Poppo's privileges and placed the bishops of Veneto and Istria back under Grado. When this Pope was in Mantua , or when he returned from Germany, 'as others say', he went to Venice to get help against the Normans. Not only did the Venetians bid farewell to the Pope with great solemnity, they also renamed the Church of Santa Caterina San Lio . By the election of Henry III. As the successor to Conrad II, relations with the empire improved, although Heinrich did not recognize the old privileges of Venice until 1055, which was particularly important for trade. The results of the negotiators Domenico Silvo and Buono Dandolo found their way into the 'famous' Codice Trevisano. The Doge managed to maintain internal and external peace, even if the fortunes of the Normans upset the Venetian trade ("turbasse") by setting an 'example of wisdom, temperance and piety'. The latter brought about the Church of San Nicolò di Lido and the construction of the St. Mark's Church in its current form. According to Zanotto, the doge died in 1070.

Right at the beginning, August Friedrich Gfrörer († 1861) explains in his history of Venice from its founding to 1084 , which was only published eleven years after his death , how it comes about that the death of "Flavanico" erroneously took place in 1043 instead of in the year Was dated 1042. Andrea Dandolo stated that he died “after a dogat of 10 years, 4 months and 12 days”, and then continued: “Then in 1043 Domenico Contareno was appointed as his successor”. Against the dating of Poppo's year of death, Gfrörer argues with Hermann the Lame , who dated Poppo's death in 1042. Therefore, Grado was conquered in 1042, not 1044. Gfrörer believes that in Venice they could not have agreed on a new Doge for three or four months (p. 487). The author suspects that Poppo used the dogless time to take Grado by surprise. It was not until the spring of 1044 that the new Doge received justice in Rome, which on the one hand had to do with the fact that the Pope was expelled from Rome from January to March 1044, and on the other hand the imperial appendix counteracted the Doge's envoys. Orso died shortly after Poppo, "it seems to me, around 1045". Domenico Bulcano, Gfrörer again expressly takes this from Dandolo's chronicle, chaplain of St. Markus, died just seven days after his election. The Doge's attempt to keep the Patriarchate of Grado in its dependency failed. With Bulcanos successor Domenico Marengo "a defender of church freedom, a Gregorian rose". The arm relic in question shows that it was extremely important to the Venetians, no matter what the means, to bring such relics to Venice, because it was believed that they were a guarantee “that heaven is their home in all activities on water and on land , will bless in war and peace ”(p. 490). Dandolo, according to Gfrörer, mentions only two of the Doge's military operations, namely against Grado and against Zara. The King of Hungary - here confuse Dandolo Salomon with the son of Doge Ottone Orseolo , Peter - had to give up Zara and other cities in Dalmatia in 1044 because he was fighting with Henry III. stood, cities "which Peter had united with the Crown of Hungary as a due heir of his grandfather Pietro II Orseolo ". Grado was by Leo IX. at the Easter Synod in 1053 reinstated all rights, Aquileia “had to be content with the parts of the Lombard mainland handed over to him” (p. 492). The ambassadors Domenico Silvio and Bono Dandolo, an ancestor of Andrea Dandolo, succeeded in renewing the old treaties which, according to Andrea Dandolo, his predecessor Konrad II “persistently refused”. He only found the underlying document mentioned in LeBret, Gfrörer expressly said. Whether Cardinal Hildebrand, who later became Pope Gregory VII , had a hand in this cannot be proven, but as Pope in 1074 he wrote to Contarini's successor “ Domenico Silvio ” that he “had great fondness for your country and the people in earlier times noble freedom, cherished by the Veneto people ”. He also had "this attitude because of the hatred of powerful and distinguished men". This “preference”, as he wrote in 1077, had been resented by powerful men many years before he took office as Pope. He saw in Venice "the freedom and the real spirit of ancient Rome" (p. 494). In a document dated September 1074, Contarini's successor confirmed that he had provided the Patriarchate Grado with a series of income: it received an estate from Cittanova, then the 100 buckets of wine that had been paid to the Doge's Palace up to then, plus 100 pounds in Venetian Denarii from the slopes of St. Markus, 200 pounds from that of the Dogate, finally 160 pounds from inclines of the council (this shows, as Gfrörer later states, that an advanced concept of statehood existed when this income was separated from the Doge's personal income, which was first shown in 933 ). There were also taxes and rights of numerous suffragan dioceses and a number of abbeys. However, according to the document, Contarini's decision was "not implemented out of negligence". On the one hand, Gfrörer concludes that Hildebrand had worked towards better endowing the patriarchate even before his election as Pope. The Doge, on the other hand, tried to prevent this in order to keep the patriarchy dependent and to be able to install its wealthy followers there. Candidates without wealth would have "run the risk of starving to death despite their magnificent title". Hildebrand's work at this point was more important than even the fundamental changes in the law by Contarini's predecessor Domenico Flabanico . Grado has become one of the most important levers to work towards the hereditary nature of the Dogate by Contarini and other doges: "As long as a free patriarch, independent of the despotic desires of the Doges, sat on Grado, the hereditary character of the Dogate remained a forbidden, an impossible fruit." a similar direction as a document of 28 August 1064. the monastery S. Ilario, which had been subordinate directly to the Doge since 819, which thus in "covert ways Pope and Oberabt about the monks the Seeland was" received the first time a box Vogt , the now stepped into legal representation between the Doges and the Abbot. Shortly before the end of Contarini's term of office, the renovation of St. Mark's Church began as it exists today. Under him a “procurator (calculator of income) of St. Markus used ”, as Gfrörer Dandolo quotes (p. 501). "The apparently so simple measure ... therefore barred the doge from unilateral entry into the treasury and, as the next consequence, made the renewal of the plans to enforce the hereditary nature of the Dogat very difficult, almost impossible." Gfrörer suspects that these permanent changes in Venice were the work behind them Pope Gregory VII

Heinrich Kretschmayr, on the other hand, describes the rule of Contarini comparatively briefly in his 1905 History of Venice “(Contarenus; summer? 1042/1043 – spring? 1071)”. Overall, according to the author, given the unfavorable sources, "our knowledge of history, especially the years 1032-1080, is shadowy enough" (p. 155), and so he describes the surrounding political upheavals, especially the history of the Normans in southern Italy, in more detail . After all, he considers the expansions of San Marco and San Nicolò di Lido, the “end of the patriarchal dispute and the glorious rise of the local church”, then the recognition of the privileges “- probably in 1055 -”, “their renewal, to be worth mentioning in brief sentences had been so persistently refused so far. It cannot be said whether the version still expressed the empire's claim to rule. ”His successor was the envoy from 1055 to Henry III,“ Domenico Silvio ”. He banishes the conquest of Zara in a footnote in which it says: “The reconquest of Zara by Domenico Contarini is scheduled for 1050 by Dand. (Cod. Zanetti 400) and Chron. Marci 259, for 1062 in the Annales Ven. breves 70 and Canale 293. ”Elsewhere the author mentions,“ Venice had to recapture the city in the years 1050 or 1062 ”(p. 156).

In his History of Venice, John Julius Norwich is almost exclusively interested in the choice of Domenico Contarini. He quotes on the inauguration of Contarini's successor in English translation "Without delay the doge gave orders for the restoration and improvement of the doors, seats and tables which had been damaged after the death of Doge Contarini." Norwich sees no evidence of 'public disorder' , the doge was popular, after all, Silvo couldn't have followed him so quickly in office. The Venetians may have adopted the "barbarous tradition of papal Rome", according to which the Lateran Palace was plundered when a Pope died . At the beginning of the government he mentions the naval operation against Grado, and that after the death of the two opponents Poppo and Orso Orseolo the patriarchs "sensibly decide to establish their principal residence in Venice."

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Narrative sources

• Ester Pastorello (Ed.): Andrea Dandolo, Chronica per extensum descripta aa. 460-1280 dC , (= Rerum Italicarum Scriptores XII, 1), Nicola Zanichelli, Bologna 1938, pp. 209-214. ( Digital copy , p. 208 f.)
• Herimanni Augiensis Chronicon , in MGH, Scriptores, V, ed. GH Pertz, Hannover 1844, p. 124 ( Hermann von Reichenau ).
• Henry Simonsfeld (ed.): Annales Venetici breves , in: MGH, Scriptores, XIV, ed. G. Waitz, Hannover 1883, pp. 69–72, here: p. 70. ( digitized version )
• Roberto Cessi , Fanny Bennato (eds.): Venet. hist. vulgo Petro Iustiniano Iustiniani filio adiudicata , Venice 1964, p. 77 f.
• Alberto Limentani (Ed.): Martin da Canal . Les estoires de Venise. Cronaca veneziana in lingua francese dalle origini al 1275 , Florence 1972, p. 22 f.

Legislative sources, letters, inscriptions

• Venice State Archives , Mensa patriarcale , busta 5 A, n. 1; ibid., S. Daniele , busta 11, n.8.
• Jean-Baptiste Cotelier: Ecclesiæ Græcæ monumenta , Vol. II, Paris 1681, pp. 108-111 ( Epistola dominici Patriarchæ Venetiarum, ad Antiochiæ ​​Patriarcham ). ( Digitized version )
• Ferdinando Ughelli : Italia Sacra, sive De episcopis Italiae, et insularum adiacentium , cura et studio Nicolai Coleti, 10 vols., Venice 1717–1722, vol. V, Venice 1720, coll. 511, 1114 f .; Vol. X, Venice 1722, col. 134.
• Flaminio Cornelio: Ecclesiae Venetae, antiquis monumentis nunc etiam primum editis, illustratae ac in decades distributae , Vol. IX, Venice 1749, pp. 371-373; Vol. XIV, pp. 393-396.
• Giovan Domenico Mansi: Sacrorum conciliorum nova et amplissima collectio , vol. XIX, Venice 1774, coll. 605–610, 657.
• Karl Friedrich Stumpf-Brentano: Acta Imperii inde from Heinrico I ad Heinricum VI usque adhuc ined , Bd. I, Innsbruck 1866, n. 79, p. 82 f.
• Andrea Gloria: Codice diplomatico padovano, dal secolo sesto a tutto l'undicesimo , vol. I, Venice 1877, n.145 ( digitized ), 159, 190, 307, p. 182, 195 f., 219 f., 332 f .; Vol. II, 1, Venice 1879, n. 49, p. 40 f.
• Paul Fridolin Kehr : Italia pontificia , Vol. VII, 2, Berlin 1925, n. 28–31, 81–96, 1–3, 4, pp. 19, 53–57, 120 f., 130.
• Heinrici III Diplomata , in: MGH, Diplomata regum et imperatorum Gormaniae, ed. Paul Fridolin Kehr, Berlin 1931, n. 201a – 201b, pp. 258–261 ( digitized version ).
• Luigi Lanfranchi , Bianca Strina (eds.): Pp. Ilario e Benedetto e S. Gregorio , Venice 1965, n. 9, 11, 13, 16, pp. 41 f., 44–47, 49–51, 55–58 .
• Luigi Lanfranchi (Ed.): S. Giorgio Maggiore , II, Comitato per la Pubblicazione delle Fonti relative alla Storia di Venezia, Venice 1968, n. 311, pp. 92-99.
• Maurizio Rosada (ed.): S. Maria Formosa (1060-1195) , Venice 1972, n. 1, pp. 5-7.
• Emmanuele Antonio Cicogna : Delle Inscrizioni Veneziane , vol. 4, Venice 1834, p. 290 f.

literature

• Marco Pozza:  Contarini, Domenico. In: Alberto M. Ghisalberti (Ed.): Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani (DBI). Volume 28:  Conforto-Cordero. Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana, Rome 1983, pp. 136-139. (forms the basis for the performing part).
• Andrea Da Mosto : I dogi di Venezia nella vita pubblica e privata , Milan 1966, p. 62 f.
• Andrea Da Mosto: I dogi di Venezia con particolare riguardo alle loro tombe , Ferdinando Ongania, Venice 1939, p. 45 f.
• Roberto Cessi : Venezia ducale , Vol. II: Commune Venetiarum , Venice 1965, pp. 3, 23, 31-67.
• Claudio Rendina: I Dogi. Storia e segreti , 2nd edition, Newton & Compton, Rome 2002, p. 93 f. ISBN 88-8289-656-0

Web links

Commons : Domenico I Contarini  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Remarks

1. ^ Ester Pastorello (Ed.): Andrea Dandolo, Chronica per extensum descripta aa. 460-1280 dC , (= Rerum Italicarum Scriptores XII, 1), Nicola Zanichelli, Bologna 1938, p. 209.
2. ^ Roberto Cessi : Venezia ducale , vol. II: Commune Venetiarum , Venice 1965, n. 1, p. 3.
3. ↑ Ferdinando Ughelli : Italia Sacra, sive De episcopis Italiae, et insularum adiacentium , cura et studio Nicolai Coleti, 10 vols., Venice 1717–1722, vol. V, col. 1114.
4. ^ Paul Fridolin Kehr : Italia pontificia , Berlin 1925, n. 84, p. 54.
5. ^ Ferdinando Ughelli : Italia Sacra, sive De episcopis Italiae, et insularum adiacentium , cura et studio Nicolai Coleti, 10 vols., Venice 1717–1722,, vol. V, coll. 1114 f .; Paul Fridolin Kehr: Italia pontificia , Berlin 1925, n. 86–87, p. 54 f.
6. ^ Paul Fridolin Kehr : Italia pontificia , Berlin 1925, n. 1-2, p. 120 f.
7. ↑ Agostino Pertusi : "Quedam regalia insignia". Ricerche sulle insegne del Potere ducale a Venezia durante il Medioevo , in: Studi veneziani VII (1965), p. 107.
8. ^ Vittorio Lazzarini : I titoli dei dogi di Venezia , in: Scritti di paleografia e diplomatica , Padua 1969, p. 202 f.
9. ↑ Agostino Pertusi: Saggi veneto-bizantini , Olschki, Florenz 1990, p. 53 f.
10. ^ Digitized version of the MGH edition .
11. ↑ Karl Schmid : On the understanding of the house and rule of the Salians , in: Stefan Weinfurter (Ed.): Die Salier und das Reich , Vol. 1: Salier, Adel und Reichsverfassungs , Sigmaringen 1991, pp. 21–54, here: pp. 35.
12. ↑ Agostino Pertusi : "Quedam regalia insignia". Ricerche sulle insegne del Potere ducale a Venezia durante il Medioevo , in: Studi veneziani VII (1965) 3–124, here: p. 108.
13. ^ Roberto Pesce (Ed.): Cronica di Venexia detta di Enrico Dandolo. Origini - 1362 , Centro di Studi Medievali e Rinascimentali "Emmanuele Antonio Cicogna", Venice 2010, p. 51.
14. ↑ Pietro Marcello : Vite de'prencipi di Vinegia f in the translation of Lodovico Domenichi, Marcolini, 1558, p 52nd ( Digitized version ).
15. ↑ Șerban V. Marin (Ed.): Gian Giacomo Caroldo. Istorii Veneţiene , Vol. I: De la originile Cetăţii la moartea dogelui Giacopo Tiepolo (1249) , Arhivele Naţionale ale României, Bucharest 2008, pp. 93-95 on Dogat ( online ).
16. ↑ Heinrich Kellner : Chronica that is Warhaffte actual and short description, all life in Venice , Frankfurt 1574, p. 21r ( digitized, p. 21r ).
17. ↑ The inscription reads: “DOMINICO CONTARENO - QUI REBELLEM DALMATIAM, COMPRESSA IADERA DOMUIT - GRADUM, PULSI AQUILEIENSE, RECEPIT - NORMANOS IN APULIA VICIT - PACE PATRIAE REDDITA, RELIGIONE ETRIAE AUCTA, LUCI TATA, LUCI TATA, LUCTA, LUCTA. SACRIS Divorum CINERIBUS ORNAVIT - AETERNAE principis MEMORIAE - SEXCENTIS POST obitum ANNIS viginti SEPTEM CUM PRAEFUISSET - Monachi CASINATES Beneficiorum memores - HAC tumuli RENOVATIONE LITANT - ANNO MDCXI "(edited in Andrea Da Mosto: tombe I dogi di Venezia con particolare riguardo all loro , Ferdinando Ongania, Venice n.d., p. 323).
18. ↑ Alessandro Maria Vianoli : Der Venetianischen Herthaben Leben / Government, and withering / From the first Paulutio Anafesto an / bit on the now-ruling Marcum Antonium Justiniani , Nuremberg 1686, pp. 175-179 ( digitized ).
19. ↑ Jacob von Sandrart : Kurtze and increased description of the origin / recording / areas / and government of the world famous Republick Venice , Nuremberg 1687, p. 31 ( digitized, p. 31 ).
20. ↑ Johann Friedrich LeBret : State history of the Republic of Venice, from its origins to our times, in which the text of the abbot L'Augier is the basis, but its errors are corrected, the incidents are presented in certain and from real sources, and after a Ordered in the correct time order, at the same time new additions, from the spirit of the Venetian laws, and secular and ecclesiastical affairs, from the internal state constitution, its systematic changes and the development of the aristocratic government from one century to another , 4 vols., Johann Friedrich Hartknoch , Riga and Leipzig 1769–1777, Vol. 1, Leipzig and Riga 1769, pp. 269–271 ( digitized version ).
21. ↑ Samuele Romanin : Storia documentata di Venezia , 10 vols., Pietro Naratovich, Venice 1853-1861 (2nd edition 1912-1921, reprint Venice 1972), vol. 1, Venice 1853, pp. 304–309 ( digitized version ).
22. ↑ The church is located on the western edge of the Sestiere Castello , but it was radically rebuilt in 1783.
23. ↑ Francesco Zanotto: Il Palazzo Ducale di Venezia , Vol 4, Venice 1861, pp 71-73 (. Digitalisat ).
24. ↑ August Friedrich Gfrörer : History of Venice from its foundation to the year 1084. Edited from his estate, supplemented and continued by Dr. JB Weiß , Graz 1872, pp. 486-503 ( digitized version ).
25. ^ Heinrich Kretschmayr : History of Venice , 3 vol., Vol. 1, Gotha 1905, p. 155.
26. ^ John Julius Norwich : A History of Venice , Penguin, London 2003.

predecessor	Office	successor
Domenico Flabanico	Doge of Venice 1043-1071	Domenico Silvo