Maurizio Galbaio (Latin: Mauricius Galba) (died 787) was the seventh traditional, but fifth historical,

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 ...

from 764 to his death. He was the first great doge, who reigned for 22 years and set Venice on its path to independence and success.

History

Maurizio was raised to the dogeship at a time when two tribunes were being elected annually to check the power of the doge. His predecessor had been from a pro- Lombard faction, but Maurizio was a wealthy man from pro-

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...

Heraclea. He opposed both the strong republican faction, which supported moving towards ''de facto'' independence, and the pro-Frankish and pro-Lombard factions. He received the titles of ''

magister militum (Latin for "master of soldiers", plural ) was a top-level military command used in the later Roman Empire, dating from the reign of Constantine the Great. The term referred to the senior military officer (equivalent to a war theatre commander, ...

'' and ''

hypatos ''Hypatos'' ( gr, ὕπατος; plural: , ''hypatoi'') and the variant ''apo hypatōn'' (, "former ''hypatos''", literally: "from among the consuls") was a Byzantine court dignity, originally the Greek translation of Latin ''consul'' (the litera ...

'' from the

Emperor An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereignty, sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), ...

Leo IV.Raixe Venete, el jornale dei Veneti - RaixeVenete.net, el sito Veneto - in lingua veneta (dialetto veneto)
/ref> The Lombard king

Desiderius Desiderius, also known as Daufer or Dauferius (born – died ), was king of the Lombards in northern Italy, ruling from 756 to 774. The Frankish king of renown, Charlemagne, married Desiderius's daughter and subsequently conquered his realm. Des ...

, in light of the alliance between the papacy and the Frankish king

Charlemagne Charlemagne ( , ) or Charles the Great ( la, Carolus Magnus; german: Karl der Große; 2 April 747 – 28 January 814), a member of the Carolingian dynasty, was King of the Franks from 768, King of the Lombards from 774, and the first ...

and the strong clerical support for Frankish hegemony in Venice, ravaged the states of the church and Istria, even capturing the doge's son

Giovanni Giovanni may refer to: * Giovanni (name), an Italian male given name and surname * Giovanni (meteorology), a Web interface for users to analyze NASA's gridded data * ''Don Giovanni'', a 1787 opera by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, based on the legend of ...

. Through the pope, Maurizio sent ambassadors to Charlemagne and his son was released. Maurizio then made the first of many subsequent attempts to create a hereditary dogeship when, in 778, he had his son made a second doge. Maurizio obtained the consent of the emperor of the East for this last act. During Maurizio's final eleven years, the Venetians expanded permanently to the

Rialto The Rialto is a central area of Venice, Italy, in the ''sestiere'' of San Polo. It is, and has been for many centuries, the financial and commercial heart of the city. Rialto is known for its prominent markets as well as for the monumental Ria ...

islands. On the little island of Olivolo (now Castello), he reconsecrated the church of

Saints Sergius and Bacchus Sergius (or Serge) and Bacchus were fourth-century Roman Christian soldiers revered as martyrs and military saints by the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox Churches. Their feast day is 7 October. According to their hagiography, Se ...

as that of St Peter. It was raised to episcopal status and was the cathedral of Venice throughout the republican era. The low point of Maurizio's reign was the expulsion from the Pentapolis of Venetian traders for trading in slaves and eunuchs. Maurizio was succeeded by his son on his death. His name, Galbaio, came from his reputed descent from the ancient Roman emperor Galba.

Sources

* Norwich, John Julius. ''A History of Venice''.

Alfred A. Knopf Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. () is an American publishing house that was founded by Alfred A. Knopf Sr. and Blanche Knopf in 1915. Blanche and Alfred traveled abroad regularly and were known for publishing European, Asian, and Latin American writers in ...

: New York, 1982.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Galbaio, Maurizio 797 deaths 8th-century Doges of Venice Byzantine Empire–Republic of Venice relations Year of birth unknown