Ordelafo Faliero de Doni (or Dodoni) (died 1117 in

Zadar Zadar ( , ; historically known as Zara (from Venetian and Italian: ); see also other names), is the oldest continuously inhabited Croatian city. It is situated on the Adriatic Sea, at the northwestern part of Ravni Kotari region. Zadar ser ...

Kingdom of Hungary The Kingdom of Hungary was a monarchy in Central Europe that existed for nearly a millennium, from the Middle Ages into the 20th century. The Principality of Hungary emerged as a Christian kingdom upon the Coronation of the Hungarian monarch, c ...

) was the 34th

Doge of Venice The Doge of Venice ( ; vec, Doxe de Venexia ; it, Doge di Venezia ; all derived from Latin ', "military leader"), sometimes translated as Duke (compare the Italian '), was the chief magistrate and leader of the Republic of Venice between 726 ...

Biography

He was the son of the 32nd Doge, Vitale Faliero de' Doni. He was a member of the Minor Council (''minor consiglio''), an assembly formed from members of the so-called "apostolic families" that, in

oligarchical Oligarchy (; ) is a conceptual form of power structure in which power rests with a small number of people. These people may or may not be distinguished by one or several characteristics, such as nobility, fame, wealth, education, or corporate, r ...

Venice, assumed the governmental functions of judges, military councilmen, ambassadors and heads of state. His first name, which is otherwise unknown in Venetian history, is thought to have been derived from a backwards spelling of the Venetian name "Faledro", or from the

Ordelaffi The House of Ordelaffi was a noble family that ruled the lower Romagna and Napoli from the 13th century to 1504, with some interregnums. History The Ordelaffi origins are unclear, but themselves claimed a lineage with "Lor de Laffia", a Germanic ...

family, of which the Faliero family is thought to be a stirpe. During his reign as Doge, Faliero went to

war War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular o ...

against the

Croats The Croats (; hr, Hrvati ) are a South Slavic ethnic group who share a common Croatian ancestry, culture, history and language. They are also a recognized minority in a number of neighboring countries, namely Austria, the Czech Republic ...

and

Hungarians Hungarians, also known as Magyars ( ; hu, magyarok ), are a nation and ethnic group native to Hungary () and historical Hungarian lands who share a common culture, history, ancestry, and language. The Hungarian language belongs to the ...

, ruled at the time by

Coloman Coloman, es, Colomán (german: Koloman (also Slovak, Czech, Croatian), it, Colomanno, ca, Colomà; hu, Kálmán) The Germanic origin name Coloman used by Germans since the 9th century. * Coloman, King of Hungary * Coloman of Galicia-Lodomeri ...

, which lasted from 1105 to 1115. Faliero succeeded in recapturing Zadar and

Šibenik Šibenik () is a historic city in Croatia, located in central Dalmatia, where the river Krka flows into the Adriatic Sea. Šibenik is a political, educational, transport, industrial and tourist center of Šibenik-Knin County, and is also the ...

( it, Sebenico). Afterwards, Faliero was engaged in an expedition to

Syria Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...

, comprising 100 Venetian ships, which succeeded in conquering a part of

Acre The acre is a unit of land area used in the imperial and US customary systems. It is traditionally defined as the area of one chain by one furlong (66 by 660 feet), which is exactly equal to 10 square chains, of a square mile, 4,840 square ...

. Objects from the local Syrian

convent A convent is a community of monks, nuns, religious brothers or, sisters or priests. Alternatively, ''convent'' means the building used by the community. The word is particularly used in the Catholic Church, Lutheran churches, and the Angl ...

of Christ Pantocrator were taken back to

Saint Mark's Basilica The Patriarchal Cathedral Basilica of Saint Mark ( it, Basilica Cattedrale Patriarcale di San Marco), commonly known as St Mark's Basilica ( it, Basilica di San Marco; vec, Baxéłega de San Marco), is the cathedral church of the Catholic Pa ...

. In Venice, Faliero established the nucleus of what would become the

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostl ...

. He was married to

Matelda Matelda, anglicized as Matilda in some translations, is a minor character in Dante Alighieri's ''Purgatorio'', the second canticle of the ''Divine Comedy.'' She is present in the final six cantos of the canticle, but is unnamed until Canto XXXII ...

, traditionally portrayed as an ideal of spousal fidelity. Staley, Edgcumbe: The dogaressas of Venice : The wives of the doges. London : T. W. Laurie
/ref> He was killed at Zadar during a battle against the Croats and Hungarians.

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Faliero 11th-century births 1117 deaths Republic of Venice military personnel killed in action 12th-century Doges of Venice

Biography

See also

References