Girolamo Zane (1495 - 13 October 1572) was a of the Venetian fleet during the

War of Cyprus War is an armed conflict between the armed forces of states, or between governmental forces and armed groups that are organized under a certain command structure and have the capacity to sustain military operations, or between such organize ...

. After being sent to Costantinople as the Venetian in 1542, in 1566 he was appointed , receiving power on 27 March 1570. The same year he commanded the Venetian fleet in the unsuccessful expedition to save

Cyprus Cyprus (), officially the Republic of Cyprus, is an island country in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Situated in West Asia, its cultural identity and geopolitical orientation are overwhelmingly Southeast European. Cyprus is the List of isl ...

, attacked by 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 ...

. In December, his request for leave was accepted. Back 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 ...

he was arrested for alleged failures in the management of the fleet during the mission in the East. He died in

prison A prison, also known as a jail, gaol, penitentiary, detention center, correction center, correctional facility, or remand center, is a facility where Prisoner, people are Imprisonment, imprisoned under the authority of the State (polity), state ...

on 13 October 1572.

Biography

He was born in

in 1495, to Bernardo di Girolamo, from the so-called branch of S. Polo, and Elisabetta Morosini di Roberto, who were married in 1487. He had at least three siblings: Pietro, a canon of

Treviso Treviso ( ; ; ) is a city and (municipality) in the Veneto region of northern Italy. It is the capital of the province of Treviso and the municipality has 87.322 inhabitants (as of December 2024). Some 3,000 live within the Venetian wall ...

, Carlo, , counselor in

Rethymno Rethymno (also Rethymnon; ) is a city in Greece on the island of Crete. It is the capital of Rethymno regional unit, and has a population of more than 35,000 inhabitants (nearly 40,000 for the municipal unit). It is believed to have been built ...

, ; and sister Giovanna. On 31 May 1531, having returned to Venice after an adventure in

Alessandria Alessandria (; ) is a city and commune in Piedmont, Italy, and the capital of the Province of Alessandria. It is also the largest municipality of the region. The city is sited on the alluvial plain between the Tanaro and the Bormida rivers, ...

and five years spent in

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, where he was consul, he married Elisabetta Vitturi di Matteo, by whom he had four children: Bernardo, a senator and counselor; Matteo, ambassador; Agnes, wife of Alvise

Venier Venier (, ) is a Venetian surname, derived from the Medieval name Venerius. Notable people with the surname include: * Andrea Venier, castellan of Scutari * Annibale Venier (born 1951), an Italian rower * Anton Venier, Austrian luger * Antonio Ve ...

di Lorenzo; and Maria, wife of Giovanni Soranzo di Francesco. In 1542 he was sent to

Constantinople Constantinople (#Names of Constantinople, see other names) was a historical city located on the Bosporus that served as the capital of the Roman Empire, Roman, Byzantine Empire, Byzantine, Latin Empire, Latin, and Ottoman Empire, Ottoman empire ...

as the Venetian ambassador ()Emmanuele Antonio Cicogna, Delle inscrizioni Veneziane, Volume 2, p. 359 a position he held until 1544. In that same year, he was elected captain of

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 ...

and, in 1558, 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 ...

War of Cyprus

On 28 March 1570 the ambassador of the Ottoman sultan

Selim Salim, Saleem or Selim may refer to: People *Salim (name), or Saleem or Salem or Selim, a name of Arabic origin **Salim (poet) (1800–1866), Kurdish poet **Saleem (playwright), Palestinian-American gay Muslim playwright, actor, DJ, and dancer * ...

arrived in Venice, with the request for the surrender of the island of Cyprus. This was flatly rejected by the Council, who instead prepared for war, having already put Zane in command of the fleet on 27 March 1570, Monday of Easter. The Venetian fleet, commanded by Zane, then moved to

Zara Zara may refer to: Businesses * Zara (retailer), a fashion retail company based in Spain * Zara Investment Holding, a Jordanian holding company * Continental Hotel Zara, Budapest, Hungary People and fictional characters * Zara (name), primari ...

on 3 April to wait for the other galleys. During the long stop in Zara a terrible epidemic of petechial typhus broke out which decimated the crews and which was to affect the expedition in the future. On 30 May Zane was ordered to head to

Corfu Corfu ( , ) or Kerkyra (, ) is a Greece, Greek island in the Ionian Sea, of the Ionian Islands; including its Greek islands, small satellite islands, it forms the margin of Greece's northwestern frontier. The island is part of the Corfu (regio ...

where he was to join Gianandrea Doria's fleet if they reached them in time. However, the had to wait until all the galleys were available and only reached Corfu on 29 June, where there was no trace of Doria. On 23 July the Venetian fleet headed east and, after having made stopovers in

Kefalonia Kefalonia or Cephalonia (), formerly also known as Kefallinia or Kephallonia (), is the largest of the Ionian Islands in western Greece and the 6th-largest island in Greece after Crete, Euboea, Lesbos, Rhodes and Chios. It is also a separate regio ...

Zakynthos Zakynthos (also spelled Zakinthos; ; ) or Zante (, , ; ; from the Venetian language, Venetian form, traditionally Latinized as Zacynthus) is a Greece, Greek island in the Ionian Sea. It is the third largest of the Ionian Islands, with an are ...

and

Modone Methoni (), formerly Methone or Modon (), is a village and a former municipality in Messenia, Peloponnese, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality of Pylos-Nestor, of which it is a municipal unit. The municip ...

, arrived on 4 August in

Candia The name Candia can refer to: People * The House of Candia, a noble family from Savoy (14th-16th) * Alfredo Ovando Candía, 56th president of Bolivia * Antoinette Candia-Bailey, American academic administrator * Cecilia Maria de Candia, British-It ...

. The orders given to Zane required him to head immediately to Cyprus, but the captain general decided to wait until he had substituted all the rowers who died during the epidemic. In the meantime, on 6 August,

Marcantonio Colonna Marcantonio II Colonna (sometimes spelled Marc'Antonio; 1535 – August 1, 1584), Duke of Tagliacozzo and Duke and Prince of Paliano, was an Italian aristocrat who served as Viceroy of Sicily in the service of the Spanish Crown, general of ...

had arrived in Otranto with the 12 papal galleys and was awaiting the arrival of Gianandrea Doria from

Messina Messina ( , ; ; ; ) is a harbour city and the capital city, capital of the Italian Metropolitan City of Messina. It is the third largest city on the island of Sicily, and the 13th largest city in Italy, with a population of 216,918 inhabitants ...

to set sail to the east. The latter however, not completely convinced of the whole project, deliberately delayed the reunion with Colonna, which took place only on 21 August. The following day the fleet headed for Crete where it arrived on 31 August. Despite Doria's attempts to mess everything up, accusing the Venetian fleet of being in poor condition, the Holy League sailed from the port of

Sitia Sitia (Latin language, Latin and Italian language, Italian) or Siteia (, ) is a port town and a municipality in Lasithi, Crete, Greece. The town has 11,166 inhabitants and the municipality has 20,438 (2021). It lies east of Agios Nikolaos, Cre ...

on the night of 17-18 September. Alvise Bembo was sent in advance near Castelrosso. He returned with the news that the Turks had conquered

Nicosia Nicosia, also known as Lefkosia and Lefkoşa, is the capital and largest city of Cyprus. It is the southeasternmost of all EU member states' capital cities. Nicosia has been continuously inhabited for over 5,500 years and has been the capi ...

. This news further undermined the fragile balance of the alliance and in the war council of 22 September the Venetians were unable to impose the continuation of the expedition against the Turks. The fleet withdrew that same evening to Crete and from there to Italy. In December 1570 his request for leave was accepted and on 13 December he was replaced by

Agostino Barbarigo Agostino Barbarigo (3 June 1419 – 20 September 1501) was Doge of Venice from 1486 until his death in 1501. While he was Doge, the imposing Clock Tower in the Piazza San Marco with its archway through which the street known as the Merceria le ...

first and then

Sebastiano Venier Sebastiano Venier (or Veniero) (c. 1496 – 3 March 1578) was Doge of Venice from 11 June 1577 to 3 March 1578. He is best remembered in his role as the Venetian admiral at the Battle of Lepanto. Biography Venier was born in Venice around 1496. ...

The process

Returning to Venice on 11 April, Zane was arrested for alleged failures in fleet management during the mission to the East. During the trial many officers were called to testify, including Marcantonio Colonna, who always proved to be kind to the Zane claiming that he had no fault for the failed expedition. The trial lasted for a long time and, before being able to hear the sentence, Zane died in prison on 13 October 1572.

References

Bibliography

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Zane, Girolamo 1495 births 1572 deaths Commanders in chief Republic of Venice people of the Ottoman–Venetian Wars Republic of Venice admirals 16th-century Venetian people Prisoners and detainees of the Republic of Venice Italian people who died in prison custody Baili of Constantinople