A doge ( , ; plural dogi or doges; see

below Below may refer to: *Earth *Ground (disambiguation) *Soil *Floor * Bottom (disambiguation) *Less than *Temperatures below freezing *Hell or underworld People with the surname * Ernst von Below (1863–1955), German World War I general * Fred Belo ...

) was an elected

lord Lord is an appellation for a person or deity who has authority, control, or power (social and political), power over others, acting as a master, chief, or ruler. The appellation can also denote certain persons who hold a title of the Peerage o ...

and

head of state A head of state is the public persona of a sovereign state.#Foakes, Foakes, pp. 110–11 "

he head of state He or HE may refer to: Language * He (letter), the fifth letter of the Semitic abjads * He (pronoun), a pronoun in Modern English * He (kana), one of the Japanese kana (へ in hiragana and ヘ in katakana) * Ge (Cyrillic), a Cyrillic letter cal ...

being an embodiment of the State itself or representative of its international persona." The name given to the office of head of sta ...

in several

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

city-state A city-state is an independent sovereign city which serves as the center of political, economic, and cultural life over its contiguous territory. They have existed in many parts of the world throughout history, including cities such as Rome, ...

s, notably

Venice Venice ( ; ; , formerly ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 islands that are separated by expanses of open water and by canals; portions of the city are li ...

and

Genoa Genoa ( ; ; ) is a city in and the capital of the Italian region of Liguria, and the sixth-largest city in Italy. As of 2025, 563,947 people live within the city's administrative limits. While its metropolitan city has 818,651 inhabitan ...

, during the medieval and

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...

periods. Such states were referred to as

crowned republic A crowned republic, also known as a monarchical republic, is a system of monarchy where the monarch's role is almost entirely ceremonial and where nearly all of the royal prerogatives are exercised in such a way that the monarch personally has ...

s. Doges wore a special hat, the

Corno ducale The corno ducale (), a unique ducal hat, was the headgear and symbol of the Doge of Venice. It was a stiff horn-like bonnet, which was made of gemmed brocade or cloth-of-gold and worn over a '' camauro''. The ducal horn was a fine linen cap with ...

and usually ruled life-long. The office of the doge in English is termed a ''dogeship''.

Etymology

The word ''doge'' comes from Venetian Italian, and, like its standard Italian cognate ''duce'' (as in Mussolini's title "Il

Duce ( , ) is an Italian title, derived from the Latin word , 'leader', and a cognate of ''duke''. National Fascist Party leader Benito Mussolini was identified by Fascists as ('The Leader') of the movement since the birth of the in 1919. In 192 ...

"), is derived from the

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

', meaning either "spiritual leader" or "military commander". The political term ''doge'' reached English via French, along with the related English derivation ''duke''. In standard

, the two derivations from the Latin word ''dux'' – ' and ' (both masculine; feminine: ') – are not interchangeable. ''Duca'' is an aristocratic and hereditary title similar to the English word ''duke''. The wife of a doge is styled a ''

Dogaressa Dogaressa ( , , ) was the official title of the wife of the Doge of Venice. The title was unique for Venice: while the heads of the Republic of Genoa were also called Doge, the wives of the Doges of Genoa were not called ''Dogaressa'', nor did ...

.''

Usage

The title of ''doge'' was used for the elected chief of state in several

s". The two best known such republics were

(where in Venetian he was called ) and

(where he was called a ) which rivalled each other, and the other regional great powers, by building their historical city-states into maritime, commercial, and territorial empires. Other Italian republics to have doges were

Amalfi Amalfi (, , ) is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Salerno, in the region of Campania, Italy, on the Gulf of Salerno. It lies at the mouth of a deep ravine, at the foot of Monte Cerreto (1,315 metres, 4,314 feet), surrounded by dramatic c ...

and the small town of

Senarica Senarica (in Old Italian: ''Sinarcho'') is a village in the Abruzzo region of central Italy. With a population of fewer than 300 people, it is a ''frazione'' of the ''comune'' of Crognaleto. The Vomano River flows nearby and the village is visib ...

Selection

After 1172 the election of the Venetian doge was entrusted to a committee of forty, who were chosen by four men selected from the

Great Council of Venice Great may refer to: Descriptions or measurements * Great, a relative measurement in physical space, see Size * Greatness, being divine, majestic, superior, majestic, or transcendent People * List of people known as "the Great" * Artel Great (bo ...

, which was itself nominated annually by 12 persons. After a deadlocked tie at the election of 1229, the number of electors was increased from forty to forty-one. New regulations for the

elections An election is a formal group decision-making process whereby a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has operated ...

of the doge introduced in 1268 remained in force until the end of the republic in 1797. Their object was to minimize as far as possible the influence of individual great families, and this was affected by complex elective machinery. Thirty members of the Great Council, chosen by lot, were reduced by lot to nine; the nine chose forty and the forty were reduced by lot to twelve, who chose twenty-five. The twenty-five were reduced by lot to nine and the nine elected forty-five. Then the forty-five were once more reduced by lot to eleven, and the eleven finally chose the forty-one who elected the doge. None could be elected but by at least twenty-five votes out of forty-one, nine votes out of eleven or twelve, or seven votes out of nine electors. Initially, the

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 ...

was elected without restriction and by popular

suffrage Suffrage, political franchise, or simply franchise is the right to vote in public, political elections and referendums (although the term is sometimes used for any right to vote). In some languages, and occasionally in English, the right to v ...

. Following reforms in 1528,

plebeians In ancient Rome, the plebeians or plebs were the general body of free Roman citizens who were not Patrician (ancient Rome), patricians, as determined by the Capite censi, census, or in other words "commoners". Both classes were hereditary. Et ...

were declared ineligible, and the appointment of the doge was entrusted to the members of the Great Council, the '.

Term of office and restrictions of power

In Venice, doges normally ruled for life, although a few were forcibly removed from office. While doges had great temporal power at first, after 1268, the doge was constantly under strict surveillance: he had to wait for other officials to be present before opening dispatches from foreign powers; he was not allowed to possess any property in a foreign land. After a doge's death, a commission of ' passed judgment upon his acts, and his estate was liable to be fined for any discovered malfeasance. The official income of the doge was never large, and from early times holders of the office remained engaged in trading ventures. Originally, Genoese doges held office for life in the so-called "perpetual dogeship"; but after the reform effected by

Andrea Doria Andrea Doria, Prince of Melfi (; ; 30 November 146625 November 1560) was an Italian statesman, ', and admiral, who played a key role in the Republic of Genoa during his lifetime. From 1528 until his death, Doria exercised a predominant influe ...

in 1528 the term of his office was reduced to two years. The ruling caste of Genoa tied them to executive committees, kept them on a small budget, and kept them apart from the communal revenues held at the '.

Gallery

(Venice) Portrait of the Venecian doge Francesco Foscari by Lazzaro Bastiani - Correr Museum.jpg,

Francesco Foscari Francesco Foscari (19 June 1373 – 1 November 1457) was the 65th Doge of the Republic of Venice from 1423 to 1457. His reign, the longest of all Doges in Venetian history, lasted 34 years, 6 months and 8 days, and coincided with the inception ...

Doge of Venice The Doge of Venice ( ) – in Italian, was the doge or highest role of authority within the Republic of Venice (697–1797). The word derives from the Latin , meaning 'leader', and Venetian Italian dialect for 'duke', highest official of the ...

(1423–1457) by

Lazzaro Bastiani Lazzaro Bastiani (1429 – 5 April 1512) was an Italian painter of the Renaissance, active mainly in Venice. He was born in Padua. He is first recorded as a painter in Venice by 1460 in a payment for an altarpiece of San Samuele, for the Procura ...

(Venice) Doge Giovanni Mocenigo by Gentile Bellini - Correr Museum.jpg, Portrait of Giovanni Mocenigo, Doge of Venice (1478–1485) by

Gentile Bellini Gentile Bellini (c. 1429 – 23 February 1507) was an Italian painter of the Venetian painting, school of Venice. He came from Venice's leading family of painters, and, at least in the early part of his career, was more highly regarded than his y ...

Gentile Bellini 010.jpeg, Pasquale Malipiero, Doge of Venice (1457–1462) by Gentile Bellini Portrait of Doge Marino Grimani by Domenico Tintoretto, Cincinnati Art Museum.JPG, Marino Grimani, Doge of Venice (1532–1560) by

Domenico Tintoretto Domenico Robusti, also known as Domenico Tintoretto (1560 – 17 May 1635), was an Italian painter from Venice. He grew up under the tutelage of his father, the renowned painter Tintoretto, Jacopo Tintoretto. Life Apprenticeship Domenico was bor ...

Accademia - Bernardo Strozzi Portrait de Francesco Erizzo.jpg, Francesco Erizzo, Doge of Venice (1631–1646) by

Bernardo Strozzi Bernardo Strozzi, named il Cappuccino and il Prete Genovese (c. 1581 – 2 August 1644), was an Italian Baroque painter and engraver. A canvas and fresco artist, his wide subject range included History painting, history, Allegory, allegorica ...

Anthony van Dyck - Portrait of Agostino Pallavicini - Google Art Project.jpg, Agostino Pallavicini, Doge of Genoa (1637–1639) by

Anthony van Dyck Sir Anthony van Dyck (; ; 22 March 1599 – 9 December 1641) was a Flemish Baroque painting, Flemish Baroque artist who became the leading court painter in England after success in the Spanish Netherlands and Italy. The seventh child of ...

Doge Simone Spinola-dipinto di Andrea Semino.jpg, Simone Spinola, Doge of Genoa (1567–1569) by Andrea Semoni Jan Hovaert - Portrait of Luca Giustiniani, the doge of Genoa.jpg, Luca Giustiniani, Doge of Genoa (1644–1646) by Jan Hovaert Francesco Maria Imperiale-doge.jpg, Francesco Maria Imperiale, Doge of Genoa (1711–1713) by Giovanni Maria delle Piane Michelangelo Cambiaso, Doge of Genoa, by Anton von Maron.jpg, Michelangelo Cambiaso, Doge of Genoa (1791–1793) by Anton von Maron

References