Francesco Erizzo (

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 ...

, 18 February 1566 – Venice, 3 January 1646) was the 98th

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 ...

, reigning from his election on 10 April 1631 until his death fifteen years later. His reign is particularly notable because the last year of his reign saw the beginning of

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with the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

for control of

Crete Crete ( ; , Modern Greek, Modern: , Ancient Greek, Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the List of islands by area, 88th largest island in the world and the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, fifth la ...

that would last for 24 years and dominate the

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of the

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Background, 1566–1631

Francesco Erizzo was born into the Erizzo family, a patrician family from

Istria Istria ( ; Croatian language, Croatian and Slovene language, Slovene: ; Italian language, Italian and Venetian language, Venetian: ; ; Istro-Romanian language, Istro-Romanian: ; ; ) is the largest peninsula within the Adriatic Sea. Located at th ...

. Although he was not particularly rich (in no small part because he had to cover for the debts of his brother), he nevertheless had a successful career in the service of Venice. He acted as Venetian

ambassador An ambassador is an official envoy, especially a high-ranking diplomat who represents a state and is usually accredited to another sovereign state or to an international organization as the resident representative of their own government or so ...

to both

Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand II (9 July 1578 – 15 February 1637) was Holy Roman Emperor, King of Bohemia, King of Hungary, Hungary, and List of Croatian monarchs, Croatia from 1619 until his death in 1637. He was the son of Archduke Charles II, Archduke of Austr ...

and

Pope Urban VIII Pope Urban VIII (; ; baptised 5 April 1568 – 29 July 1644), born Maffeo Vincenzo Barberini, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 6 August 1623 to his death, in July 1644. As pope, he expanded the papal terri ...

. He also served as ''

provveditore The Italian title ''prov ditore'' (plural ''provveditori''; also known in ; ), "he who sees to things" ( overseer), was the style of various (but not all) local district governors in the extensive, mainly maritime empire of the Republic of Venice. ...

'' of various Venetian possessions. Erizzo never married.

Doge, 1631–1646

Erizzo was elected Doge of Venice on 10 April 1631 in the midst of the

Italian plague of 1629–1631 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 ...

, which killed one third of the population of Venice, including Erizzo's predecessor

Nicolò Contarini Nicolò Contarini (26 September 15531 April 1631), was the 97th Doge of Venice from 2 January 1630 until his death in 1631. During his tenure the Italian plague of 1629–1631 reached Venice, killing one third of the population. Biography Nicol� ...

. He was elected by a vote of 40–1, although

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Claudio Rendina has pronounced this election fraudulent. (The only dissenting vote was cast for Renier Zen, the opponent of Giovanni I Cornaro known for his incorruptibility.) In light of the

bubonic plague Bubonic plague is one of three types of Plague (disease), plague caused by the Bacteria, bacterium ''Yersinia pestis''. One to seven days after exposure to the bacteria, flu-like symptoms develop. These symptoms include fever, headaches, and ...

then decimating the city (it would claim 45,000 victims in all), Erizzo's election was not accompanied by the customary festivities. The plague finally subsided in November 1631. Erizzo's predecessor,

, had taken a

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to build a

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in honour of the

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once the plague was over, which church was built and named

Santa Maria della Salute Santa Maria della Salute (; ), commonly known simply as La Salute (), is a Roman Catholic church and minor basilica located at the Punta della Dogana in the Dorsoduro sestiere of the city of Venice, Italy. It stands on the narrow finger of Pun ...

. Erizzo now ordered that Venice would celebrate the Feast of the

Presentation of Mary The Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, known in the East as The Entry of the Most Holy Theotokos into the Temple, is a liturgical feast celebrated on November 21 by the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, and some Anglo-Catholic Churches. The fea ...

(21 November) as the ''Festa della Madonna della Salute'', where the city's officials parade from

San Marco San Marco is one of the six sestiere (Venice), sestieri of Venice, lying in the heart of the city as the main place of Venice. San Marco also includes the island of San Giorgio Maggiore. Although the district includes Piazza San Marco, Saint Mar ...

to the Salute in the

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Dorsoduro Dorsoduro is one of the six sestiere (Venice), sestieri of Venice, in northern Italy. Dorsoduro includes the highest land areas of the city and also Giudecca island and Isola Sacca Fisola. Its name derives from the Italian language, Italian fo ...

for a service in gratitude for deliverance from the plague. This tradition is still observed in Venice to this day. The 1630s were a time of relative tranquility for the

Republic of Venice The Republic of Venice, officially the Most Serene Republic of Venice and traditionally known as La Serenissima, was a sovereign state and Maritime republics, maritime republic with its capital in Venice. Founded, according to tradition, in 697 ...

. The

Procuratie The Procuratie (English: Procuracies) are three connected buildings along the perimeter of Saint Mark's Square in Venice, Italy. Two of the buildings, the Procuratie Vecchie (Old Procuracies) and the Procuratie Nuove (New Procuracies), were c ...

were expanded (with

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becoming a popular pastime there), and the

Teatro San Cassiano The Teatro San Cassiano (or Teatro di San Cassiano and other variants) was the world's first public opera house, inaugurated as such in 1637 in Venice. The first mention of its construction dates back to 1581. The name with which it is best known co ...

, Europe's first public

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opened in 1637, with the

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following in 1640. The tranquility of the era was interrupted briefly by the First War of Castro, in which the

Papal States The Papal States ( ; ; ), officially the State of the Church, were a conglomeration of territories on the Italian peninsula under the direct sovereign rule of the pope from 756 to 1870. They were among the major states of Italy from the 8th c ...

claimed the

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, which was under the control of the

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. Venice intervened on Parma's side, and in 1644 a peace treaty was signed that saw Castro remain with Parma. In September 1644, the

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captured a

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of Turkish pilgrims bound for

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and then sought refuge in Candia (modern

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) on Venetian-controlled

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blamed Venice for the attack and determined to conquer Crete from Venice. The war originally went poorly for Venice, which led Erizzo to ask the Senate of Venice to appoint him captain-general, which they did, over the objection of future doge

Giovanni Pesaro Giovanni Pesaro (September 1, 1589 – September 30, 1659) was the 103rd Doge of Venice, reigning from his election on April 8, 1658 until his death. The Cretan War (1645–1669) was ongoing for the entirety of his brief reign. Background, 1589 ...

Death and legacy

Erizzo began assembling a

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to sail against the Turks, but, at age 78, his health failed him, and he died only one month after his military appointment, on 3 January 1646. The Sala Erizzo in the Ducal Apartment at the Doge's Palace in Venice is named after Doge Francesco Erizzo, and his coat of arms appears on the fastigium.

References

Most of this article was based on this article on

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Citations

{{DEFAULTSORT:Erizzo, Francesco 1566 births 1646 deaths Republic of Venice people of the Ottoman–Venetian Wars Italian untitled nobility 16th-century Italian nobility 17th-century Italian nobility 17th-century Doges of Venice Erizzo family