Giovanni II Valente (1280–1360) was the third

Doge of Genoa The Doge of Genoa ( ) was the head of state of the Republic of Genoa, a city-state and soon afterwards a Maritime republics, maritime republic, from 1339 until the state's extinction in 1797. Originally elected for life, after 1528 the Doge (ti ...

from 1350 to 1353. His time in office was marked by the crushing defeat of the city against the Venetians at the naval Battle of Alghero. Giovanni had already asked to succeed the first doge of the Republic in December 1345 but had turn down the responsibility.

A doge at war

After the death of his predecessor, Giovanni I da Murta, a short crisis of succession ensued. The ''popolani'' supported Luchino Fieschi while the patricians and the partisans of the late doge backed his son, Tommaso da Murta. Giovanni Valente finally emerged as a candidate of compromise and was elected on 9 January 1350. When Valente abandoned the careful foreign policy of his predecessor and tried to expel entirely the Venetians from the

Black Sea The Black Sea is a marginal sea, marginal Mediterranean sea (oceanography), mediterranean sea lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bound ...

, the tension between Genoa and Venice erupted into open warfare, the "

War of the Straits The War of the Straits () or Third Genoese–Venetian War was a conflict fought between the Republic of Venice and the Republic of Genoa, and their allies, in 1350–1355. The third in a Venetian-Genoese wars, series of conflicts between the two m ...

". Each navy plundered the merchant fleets of the opposing side in the Eastern Mediterranean. Venice formed an alliance with

Byzantium Byzantium () or Byzantion () was an ancient Greek city in classical antiquity that became known as Constantinople in late antiquity and Istanbul today. The Greek name ''Byzantion'' and its Latinization ''Byzantium'' continued to be used as a n ...

and the

kingdom of Aragon The Kingdom of Aragon (; ; ; ) was a medieval and early modern Monarchy, kingdom on the Iberian Peninsula, corresponding to the modern-day Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Aragon, in Spain. It became a part of the larger ...

, forcing the Genoese to seek the support of the

Ottomans Ottoman may refer to: * Osman I, historically known in English as "Ottoman I", founder of the Ottoman Empire * Osman II, historically known in English as "Ottoman II" * Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empir ...

. On 17 November 1350, to pay for the expenses of the war, the Republic had to levy a forced-loan of 300,000 '' lire'' at an interest of 10% from an association of creditors known as the ''Compera imposita per gerra Venetorum''. On 9 March 1352 the Genoese fleet, under the command of

Paganino Doria Pagano or Paganino Doria was an Italian admiral from the prominent Genoese Doria family. He was the most significant commander of the Genoese naval forces in the 1350–1355 War of the Straits between the Republic of Genoa and its old rival, t ...

, won a naval victory at the Battle of the Bosporus against the coalition near

Constantinople Constantinople (#Names of Constantinople, see other names) was a historical city located on the Bosporus that served as the capital of the Roman Empire, Roman, Byzantine Empire, Byzantine, Latin Empire, Latin, and Ottoman Empire, Ottoman empire ...

. The following year, in August, near

Alghero Alghero (; ; ; ) is a city of about 45,000 inhabitants in the Italian province of Sassari in the north west of the island of Sardinia, next to the Mediterranean Sea. The city's name comes from ''Aleguerium'', which is a mediaeval Latin word m ...

, on the island of

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, the Genoese navy, under Antonio de' Grimaldi was crushed by the Venetians.

Resignation

Confronted with the threat of a new civil war breaking out in the city and the prospect of foreign invasion, the council had to call for the support of the

Visconti of Milan The Visconti of Milan are a noble Italian family. They rose to power in Milan during the Middle Ages where they ruled from 1277 to 1447, initially as Lords then as Dukes, and several collateral branches still exist. The effective founder of the V ...

. The doge lost any executive power and Giovanni Valente had to resign from the dogate on 8 October 1353 and the position became vacant. He died seven years later and may have been buried at the church of San Bartolomeo dell'Olivella in Genoa.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Valente, Giovanni 02 1360 deaths 14th-century Doges of Genoa 1280s births Year of birth uncertain People of the War of the Straits