Giovanni Soranzo

Giovanni Soranzo's coat of arms

Giovanni Soranzo (* around 1245 in Venice ; † December 31, 1328 there ) was the 51st Doge of Venice . His reign from 1312 to 1328 was a time of peace and economic prosperity for the republic.

family

The Soranzo family, originally from Burano , were among the oldest aristocratic families in Venice. Soranzo remained the only doge. However, a number of procurators emerged from the family . One of them was Antonio Soranzo, Giovanni's father.

Life

First shops (1257), settlement on Crete (1261–1281), fleet leader and Bailò

17-year-old Giovanni Soranzo received a sum of money from a Pietro Trevisan in order to conduct business of whatever kind he would prefer. He and his brother Marino resided in Candia , the capital of Venetian Crete , from 1261 to 1281 . In 1281 they sold their real estate there, including their vineyards, in a document that also proves Giovanni Soranzo's presence on the island for the last time.

After leaving Crete, he fought against the Byzantine expansion efforts. In 1285 he succeeded in retaking Negroponte, where his brother Marino acted as Bailò from 1287 to 1289 . Until 1294 he financed three war galleys, which he put into the service of the Republic of Venice. In the second war against Byzantium, which began in 1296, he ruled the Aegean Sea together with Menego Schiavo and their 25 galleys. With this fleet they sailed into the Black Sea in 1297 in order to recapture the Kaffa in the Crimea, which had been conquered by the Genoese .

Soranzo was married to Francesca Molin, with whom he had three sons and three daughters, including Soranza.

Soranzo was not only a naval commander, but also a general in the war for Ferrara against the Genoese and the Paduans . He supported the Doge Pietro Gradenigo in suppressing the unrest in Venice following the closure of the Great Council ( serrata ) in 1296. These violent clashes in 1310 directly affected Soranzo's family, as his son-in-law Niccolò Querini was one of the leaders of the rebellion. His wife Soranza Soranzo fled with him to the Aegean Sea, probably to be safe on Sifnos ; the property of the Querini, like that of all insurgents, was confiscated. Since Soranza was not involved in the conspiracy, she was pardoned in 1314. After her return, however, she was locked in a cell in the monastery of Santa Maria delle Vergini until her death. Her family was only allowed to visit her at night and in a covered boat through a side entrance of her father's palace, and only on rare occasions. Her more than 37 applications for the years between 1315 and 1335 are in the State Archives and have been edited. Her husband died around 1326, perhaps on Sifnos.

The Doge's Office

Grosso minted under Giovanni Soranzo

Soranzo was elected Doge on July 13, 1312 at the age of 72. During his reign the Pope finally repealed the interdict of 1308, which his predecessors had previously tried in vain. The uprising in Zara in Dalmatia came to a standstill and the island of Crete also recognized the Venetian supremacy, as did a number of cities on the Adriatic , which more or less voluntarily followed Zara's example. A period of peace followed for Venice with the possibility of expanding trade and establishing new trade connections in the Mediterranean, which was only disturbed by the usual skirmishes with the eternal competitor Genoa.

Venice's economy and handicrafts also took off, to which the silk weavers who immigrated from Lucca made a significant contribution. In August 1321, shortly before his death, Dante visited the city as the ambassador of Guido Novello da Polenta and was received with honor.

In contrast to his administration, there were more problems in his private life. The Dogaressa constantly disregarded the promissio , the strict laws that a Doge had to commit to when taking office. His daughter had married Niccolò Querini , nicknamed zoppo (the limp foot), who had been one of the conspirators in the 1310 attempt to overthrow Baiamonte Tiepolo . She had been condemned by the Council of Ten to follow Querini into exile, but returned to Venice anyway. She was then held in solitary confinement with only one maid at the Santa Maria delle Vergini Hospice. She remained a state prisoner until the end of her life, even if she was allowed to visit the sick Doge occasionally in the last months of his life.

Soranzo died on December 31, 1328. He was buried in the Baptistery of San Marco .

literature

• Andrea Da Mosto : I dogi di Venezia. Florence 2003. ISBN 88-09-02881-3
• Claudio Rendina: I dogi. Storia e segreti. Rome 1984, ISBN 88-8289-656-0
• Helmut Dumler: Venice and the Doges. Düsseldorf 2001.

Web links

Commons : Giovanni Soranzo  - Collection of Images, Videos and Audio Files

Remarks

1. ^ Raimondo Morozzo della Rocca , Antonino Lombardo (ed.): Documenti del commercio italiano nei secoli XI-XIII , V.II., R. Isitituto Storico Italiano per il Medio Evo, Rome 1940, no. 841, p. 366.
2. ↑ Eleni Mahaira-Odoni: Venetian Colonialism in the Aegean: Sifnos in the Thirteenth Century , Center for European Studies Working Paper Series 144 (2007) 1–28, here: p. 6.
3. ↑ Ferruccio Zago (ed.): Consiglio dei Dieci. Deliberazioni Miste Registri I & II (1310-1325) and III & IV (1325-1335) , Venice 1962.

predecessor	Office	successor
Marino Zorzi	Doge of Venice 1312-1328	Francesco Dandolo