Palazzo Molin di Campo San Maurizio Stemma

Francesco Molin or Francesco Da Molin (21 April 1575 – 27 February 1655) was the 99th

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 20 January 1646 until his death. Molin's reign is notable because of Venice's participation in a prolonged war 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 ...

over

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 ...

; this war was begun during the reign of Molin's predecessor

Francesco Erizzo Francesco Erizzo (Venice, 18 February 1566 – Venice, 3 January 1646) was the 98th Doge of Venice, 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 rei ...

, and dragged on until 1669. To fund the cost of this war, Molin sold access to the Venetian patriciate at a cost of 100,000

ducats The ducat ( ) coin was used as a trade coin in Europe from the later Middle Ages to the 19th century. Its most familiar version, the gold ducat or sequin containing around of 98.6% fine gold, originated in Venice in 1284 and gained wide inter ...

per person.

Background, 1575–1645

The son of Marino Molin and Paola Barbarigo, Francesco Molin was born and died in

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 dedicated nearly his entire career to military – and particularly, naval – pursuits. As such, he 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 a number of Venetian possessions. In this, he gained a reputation as a practical and pragmatic man, and one given to diplomacy and compromise. He was chosen as

Procurator of San Marco The office of Procurator of Saint Mark ( Venetian: Procurador de San Marco) was one of the few lifetime appointments in the government of the Venetian Republic and was considered second only to that of the doge in prestige. Da Mosto, ''L'Archivio d ...

on his merits; on the outbreak of the

Cretan War (1645–1669) The Cretan War (; ), also known as the War of Candia () or the fifth Ottoman–Venetian war, was a conflict between the Republic of Venice and her allies (chief among them the Knights of Malta, the Papal States and France) against the Ottoman ...

, he was selected as Captain General of the fleet of 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 ...

. He suffered from

gout Gout ( ) is a form of inflammatory arthritis characterized by recurrent attacks of pain in a red, tender, hot, and Joint effusion, swollen joint, caused by the deposition of needle-like crystals of uric acid known as monosodium urate crysta ...

which rendered him intermittently unable to perform his duties. The Molin family lived at Palazzo Molin, in the San Marco district of Venice.PalazzoMolin.com, http://www.palazzomolin.com/palazzo/history.php

Reign as Doge, 1646–1655

On 20 January 1646, after 23 ballots and considerable expense, Molin was elected as the 99th Doge of Venice. During his first years as Doge, Molin strengthened Venetian forces in the area around Venice, and in

Dalmatia Dalmatia (; ; ) is a historical region located in modern-day Croatia and Montenegro, on the eastern shore of the Adriatic Sea. Through time it formed part of several historical states, most notably the Roman Empire, the Kingdom of Croatia (925 ...

, hoping to be able to carry the fight to Ottoman territory. Venice saw a number of victories in these years, climaxing with Venice's capture of

Klis Fortress The Klis Fortress (; ) is a medieval fortress situated above the village of Klis, near Split, Croatia. From its origin as a small stronghold built by the ancient Illyrian tribe Dalmatae, to a role as royal castle and seat of many Croatian k ...

, previously believed to be impregnable, although Venice proved unable to turn this to her strategic advantage. All of Venice's naval victories were met with fresh Ottoman troops, raised from the vast expanse of the Ottoman Empire. In an attempt to improve the situation, Venice led a fleet to the

Dardanelles The Dardanelles ( ; ; ), also known as the Strait of Gallipoli (after the Gallipoli peninsula) and in classical antiquity as the Hellespont ( ; ), is a narrow, natural strait and internationally significant waterway in northwestern Turkey th ...

, where more Ottoman ships were destroyed, although a decisive Venetian victory still eluded Molin. In the campaigns of 1654 and 1655, Admiral Lazaro Mocenigo blockaded the Dardanelles; Mocenigo was killed during a third attempt, in 1657. Given Venice's dire straits, it was forced to seek funds wherever it could. Molin determined to sell access to the Venetian nobility at a price of 100,000 ducats (60,000 ducats as a "gift" to the republic, and another 40,000 as a "loan"). These sales saw a number of new merchant families become Venetian patricians. Molin died of a

calculus Calculus is the mathematics, mathematical study of continuous change, in the same way that geometry is the study of shape, and algebra is the study of generalizations of arithmetic operations. Originally called infinitesimal calculus or "the ...

on 27 February 1655.

References

This article was based on this article on

Italian Wikipedia The Italian Wikipedia () is the Italian language, Italian-language edition of Wikipedia. This edition was created on 10 May 2001, and first edited on 11 June 2001. As of , it has articles and more than registered accounts. It is the -largest W ...

. {{DEFAULTSORT:Molin, Francesco 1575 births 1655 deaths Republic of Venice people of the Ottoman–Venetian Wars 16th-century Italian nobility 17th-century Italian nobility 17th-century Doges of Venice Procurators of Saint Mark