Giovanni Badoer or Zuan Badoer ( – January 1535) was a poet, politician and diplomat 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 ...

. Badoer was the resident ambassador in

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

(1498–1499; 1512–1514),

Naples Naples ( ; ; ) is the Regions of Italy, regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its Metropolitan City of N ...

(1500–1501),

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

(1501–1503), the

Holy See The Holy See (, ; ), also called the See of Rome, the Petrine See or the Apostolic See, is the central governing body of the Catholic Church and Vatican City. It encompasses the office of the pope as the Bishops in the Catholic Church, bishop ...

(1507–1508) and

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

(1516–1517; 1520–1524), and special ambassador to

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

(1502) and the Holy See (1534). The low point of his career came with his failure to stop the

League of Cambrai The League of Cambrai was a military coalition against the Republic of Venice formed on 10 December 1508, by the main European powers (Holy Roman Empire, France, Aragon and their allies), to maintain their hegemony over the Italian Peninsula. Th ...

in 1509. He was ''

podestà (), also potestate or podesta in English, was the name given to the holder of the highest civil office in the government of the cities of central and northern Italy during the Late Middle Ages. Sometimes, it meant the chief magistrate of a c ...

'' of

Chioggia Chioggia (; , ; ) is a coastal town and (municipality) of the Metropolitan City of Venice in the Veneto region of northern Italy. Geography The town is located on a small island at the southern entrance to the Venetian Lagoon about sou ...

(1504–1506),

Brescia Brescia (, ; ; or ; ) is a city and (municipality) in the region of Lombardy, in Italy. It is situated at the foot of the Alps, a few kilometers from the lakes Lake Garda, Garda and Lake Iseo, Iseo. With a population of 199,949, it is the se ...

(1518–1519) and

Padua Padua ( ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) in Veneto, northern Italy, and the capital of the province of Padua. The city lies on the banks of the river Bacchiglione, west of Venice and southeast of Vicenza, and has a population of 20 ...

(1531–1532), and captain of

Verona Verona ( ; ; or ) is a city on the Adige, River Adige in Veneto, Italy, with 255,131 inhabitants. It is one of the seven provincial capitals of the region, and is the largest city Comune, municipality in the region and in Northeast Italy, nor ...

(1525–1526). He played a leading role in the reform of Venetian statutes in 1528–1529. In his youth, Badoer wrote poetry. He obtained a doctorate from the

University of Padua The University of Padua (, UNIPD) is an Italian public research university in Padua, Italy. It was founded in 1222 by a group of students and teachers from the University of Bologna, who previously settled in Vicenza; thus, it is the second-oldest ...

and a knighthood in Hungary. He was also a patron of humanist scholars recovering the

classics Classics, also classical studies or Ancient Greek and Roman studies, is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, ''classics'' traditionally refers to the study of Ancient Greek literature, Ancient Greek and Roman literature and ...

, such as

Giorgio Valla Giorgio Valla (Latin: ''Georgius Valla''; Piacenza 1447–Venice January 23, 1500) was an Italian academic, mathematician, philologist and translator. Life He was born in Piacenza in 1447. He was the son of Andrea Valla and Cornelia Corvini. At ...

and

Vettor Fausto Vettor Fausto or Vittore Fausto (1490–1546) was Venetian Renaissance humanist and naval architect. He was an expert in Greek and the classics. He worked as a copyist and a soldier in his youth. His studies led him to propose the construction o ...

Education and entry into politics

Giovanni was born around 1465. His father was Renier, his uncle the noted diplomat Andrea Badoer. He obtained a doctorate from the

, where he befriended

Pietro Bembo Pietro Bembo, (; 20 May 1470 – 18 January 1547) was a Venetian scholar, poet, and literary theory, literary theorist who also was a member of the Knights Hospitaller and a cardinal of the Catholic Church. As an intellectual of the Italian Re ...

. In his youth, he composed three

eclogue An eclogue is a poem in a classical style on a pastoral subject. Poems in the genre are sometimes also called bucolics. The term is also used for a musical genre thought of as evoking a pastoral scene. Classical beginnings The form of the word ...

s under the title ''Filareto all'aurea sua catena'' in the style of the '' Arcadia'' of

Jacopo Sannazzaro Jacopo Sannazaro (; 28 July 1458 – 6 August 1530) was an Italian poet, humanist, member and head of the Accademia Pontaniana from Naples. He wrote easily in Latin, in Italian and in Neapolitan, but is best remembered for his humanist classic ...

. He was the patron of

, who dedicated some translated ancient Greek mathematical texts to him in 1498. At the start of his public career,

Marino Sanuto the Younger Marin Sanudo, born Marin Sanudo de Candia, italianised as Marino Sanuto or Sanuto the Younger (May 22, 1466 – 1536), was a Republic of Venice, Venetian historian and diarist. His most significant work is his ''Diarii'', which he had intended to w ...

praised Giovanni as learned, humane and gracious. He was already the '' provveditore di Comun'' when, on 3 July 1498, he was named ambassador to

. He arrived at the Spanish court on 3 December. His term was short, for he was recalled in February 1499 after Venice entered into an alliance with

Louis XII of France Louis XII (27 June 14621 January 1515), also known as Louis of Orléans was King of France from 1498 to 1515 and King of Naples (as Louis III) from 1501 to 1504. The son of Charles, Duke of Orléans, and Marie of Cleves, he succeeded his second ...

. On his return journey, he was fêted by the

duke of Milan Milan was ruled by dukes from the 13th century to 1814, after which it was incorporated into the Kingdom of Lombardy–Venetia by the Congress of Vienna. List of dukes of Milan House of Visconti In 1395, Gian Galeazzo Visconti was titled Duke ...

Ludovico Sforza Ludovico Maria Sforza (; 27 July 1452 – 27 May 1508), also known as Ludovico il Moro (; 'the Moor'), and called the "arbiter of Italy" by historian Francesco Guicciardini,

, who sought an alliance with Venice. A few days after his return to Venice in July 1499, he was made a

senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or Legislative chamber, chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the Ancient Rome, ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior ...

Early diplomacy and knighthood

On 16 January 1500, Giovanni was elected

orator An orator, or oratist, is a public speaker, especially one who is eloquent or skilled. Etymology Recorded in English c. 1374, with a meaning of "one who pleads or argues for a cause", from Anglo-French ''oratour'', Old French ''orateur'' (14 ...

to the

Kingdom of Naples The Kingdom of Naples (; ; ), officially the Kingdom of Sicily, was a state that ruled the part of the Italian Peninsula south of the Papal States between 1282 and 1816. It was established by the War of the Sicilian Vespers (1282–1302). Until ...

, although he did not set out until 29 October. He secured grain supplies from the kingdom, since Venice's imports from the Balkans had been interrupted by its war with the Ottomans. As Louis XII threatened Naples with invasion, he was ordered to withdraw. He was back in Venice by August 1501, when he was elected orator to the

Kingdom of Hungary The Kingdom of Hungary was a monarchy in Central Europe that existed for nearly a millennium, from 1000 to 1946 and was a key part of the Habsburg monarchy from 1526-1918. The Principality of Hungary emerged as a Christian kingdom upon the Coro ...

. He left in November with the goal of bringing Hungary into the war against the Ottomans. Immediately upon his arrival in

Buda Buda (, ) is the part of Budapest, the capital city of Hungary, that lies on the western bank of the Danube. Historically, “Buda” referred only to the royal walled city on Castle Hill (), which was constructed by Béla IV between 1247 and ...

, he was ordered to go to

to congratulate the new King

Alexander Alexander () is a male name of Greek origin. The most prominent bearer of the name is Alexander the Great, the king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia who created one of the largest empires in ancient history. Variants listed here ar ...

on his accession. He remained in Poland some months. From February 1503 to January 1504, he was the head of Venice's mission in Buda. On 8 January 1504, he was made a

knight A knight is a person granted an honorary title of a knighthood by a head of state (including the pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church, or the country, especially in a military capacity. The concept of a knighthood ...

by King Vladislaus II. On 13 December 1504, Giovanni was named ''

'' of

. In October 1506, he became '' avogadore di Comun''. On 22 December, he was elected ambassador to the

. He arrived in Rome in March 1507. Early in 1508, on the eve of the

War of the League of Cambrai The War of the League of Cambrai, sometimes known as the War of the Holy League and several other names, was fought from February 1508 to December 1516 as part of the Italian Wars of 1494–1559. The main participants of the war, who fough ...

, he met with Costantino Arianiti, who suggested that

Pope Julius II Pope Julius II (; ; born Giuliano della Rovere; 5 December 144321 February 1513) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 1503 to his death, in February 1513. Nicknamed the Warrior Pope, the Battle Pope or the Fearsome ...

would break up the league if Venice handed over

Rimini Rimini ( , ; or ; ) is a city in the Emilia-Romagna region of Northern Italy. Sprawling along the Adriatic Sea, Rimini is situated at a strategically-important north-south passage along the coast at the southern tip of the Po Valley. It is ...

and

Faenza Faenza (, ; ; or ; ) is an Italian city and comune of 59,063 inhabitants in the province of Ravenna, Emilia-Romagna, situated southeast of Bologna. Faenza is home to a historical manufacture of majolica-ware glazed earthenware pottery, known ...

. He was unable to prevent a papal declaration of war and left Rome on 18 June 1509.

Post-blacklist diplomacy

Giovanni was effectively blacklisted for two years following the disastrous war. In July 1511 and again in March 1512, he was elected one of the ''

savi di Terraferma The or () was a board of five senior magistrates of the Republic of Venice, initially charged with the defence of the Republic's possessions in the Italian mainland (). Gradually they assumed specific roles pertaining to the supervision of public ...

''. In the interim, he was elected to the '' zonta'' of the

Council of Ten The Council of Ten (; ), or simply the Ten, was from 1310 to 1797 one of the major governing bodies of the Republic of Venice. Elections took place annually and the Council of Ten had the power to impose punishments upon Venetian nobility, patric ...

. In June 1512, he set out as orator to Spain. His main job was to justify Venice's new alliance with France, which put her at odds with Spain. He was back in Venice by January 1514, having failed to prevent Hispano-Venetian hostilities in Italy. In 1516, Giovanni was again a ''savio di Terraferma''. Around that time, he encouraged

's translation of the Pseudo-Aristotelian ''Mechanics'' into

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 ...

. In 1516–1517, he was ambassador to France. In 1517, he was named ''podestà'' of

. He served for a year and a half before returning to France as ambassador in 1520. In June 1520, he was the Venetian representative at the

Field of the Cloth of Gold The Field of the Cloth of Gold (, ) was a summit meeting between King Henry VIII of England and King Francis I of France from 7 to 24 June 1520. Held at Balinghem, between Ardres in France and Guînes in the English Pale of Calais, it was a ...

, where King Francis I met with

Henry VIII of England Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is known for his Wives of Henry VIII, six marriages and his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. ...

. His reports are a valuable source for the meeting. Later that year, he held Francis I's daughter, Madeleine, at the baptismal font in the name of Venice. After the outbreak of the Four Years' War, he vainly urged Francis to come to Italy with an army. The

Treaty of Brussels The Treaty of Brussels, also referred to as the Brussels Pact, was the founding treaty of the Western Union (WU) between 1948 and 1954, when it was amended as the Modified Brussels Treaty (MTB) and served as the founding treaty of the Western Eu ...

with the

Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire, also known as the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation after 1512, was a polity in Central and Western Europe, usually headed by the Holy Roman Emperor. It developed in the Early Middle Ages, and lasted for a millennium ...

in 1523 ended Venice's French policy.

Later years and statutory reform

Between February 1525 and May 1526, Giovanni was captain of

. In October 1526, he joined the ''zonta'' of the senate, where he successfully argued against breaking the treaty with the Empire to help the pope. In 1528, the Doge

Andrea Gritti Andrea Gritti (17 April 1455 – 28 December 1538) was the Doge of the Venetian Republic from 1523 to 1538, following a distinguished diplomatic and military career. He started out as a successful merchant in Constantinople and transitioned into ...

charged Badoer, Daniele Renier and Francesco Bragadin with reforming the Venetian statutes, first set down in the 13th century. For this purpose, the committee of three were elected to the senate and the '' Maggior Consiglio''. The result of their labour was the '' Libro d'Oro Vecchio'', published in 1529. In this work, Badoer, as a doctor, took the lead. From 25 July 1531 to 9 September 1532, Giovanni was ''podestà'' of Padua. In his final years, he was one of the ''

savi del Consiglio The (), also known as the ('great sages'), were senior magistrates of the Republic of Venice. History The magistracy was created in 1380 to assist the councils comprising the government of the Republic. The duty of the was to "prepare he gover ...

'' and sat on the

and its ''zonta''. In 1534, he was one of the delegation sent to congratulate

Pope Paul III Pope Paul III (; ; born Alessandro Farnese; 29 February 1468 – 10 November 1549) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 13 October 1534 to his death, in November 1549. He came to the papal throne in an era follo ...

on his election. He died in January 1535.

Notes

Bibliography

* * * * * * {{Authority control 1460s births 1535 deaths Badoer family University of Padua alumni Ambassadors of the Republic of Venice to Spain Ambassadors of the Republic of Venice to the Holy See Ambassadors of the Republic of Venice to France Republic of Venice people of the Ottoman–Venetian Wars Venetian governors of Brescia Venetian governors of Padua Venetian governors of Verona