Leonardo Donà, or Donato (

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 ...

, 12 February 1536Venice, 16 July 1612) was the 90th

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 ...

from his election on 10 January 1606 to his death in 1612. His reign is chiefly remembered for Venice's dispute with the

papacy The pope is the bishop of Rome and the Head of the Church#Catholic Church, visible head of the worldwide Catholic Church. He is also known as the supreme pontiff, Roman pontiff, or sovereign pontiff. From the 8th century until 1870, the po ...

, which resulted in

Pope Paul V Pope Paul V (; ) (17 September 1552 – 28 January 1621), born Camillo Borghese, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 16 May 1605 to his death, in January 1621. In 1611, he honored Galileo Galilei as a mem ...

placing a papal interdict on Venice 1606–1607.

Background, 1536–1606

The son of Giovanni Battista Donato and Giovanna Corner, Donato was born into a merchant family. Through his shrewd business sense, he was able to turn his family's average amount of wealth into a fortune. His wealth established, Donato began a public career in Venice, serving in turn as the Venetian ambassador 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 ...

, ''

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 Venice, and as governor and Procurator of St Mark's. Donato later served as the Venetian ambassador to the

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and lived at Rome for many years. His opposition to the ambitions of the

led him to conflict with Cardinal Borghese, the future

. Donato's staunchly anti-papal stance led to rumours that he was secretly a Protestant, although historians have not found any evidence of this.

Reign as Doge, 1606–1612

Donato became one of the candidates for Doge upon the death of Marino Grimani on 25 December 1605. Donato faced two opponents in this election (including Marcantonio Memmo, who would eventually succeed him as Doge), but ultimately received both of their support, resulting in his election as Doge on 10 January 1606. Donato inherited a conflict with the papacy from Grimani: Between 1601 and 1604, Venice, under Grimani's leadership, had passed a number of laws limiting the power of the papacy within 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 ...

and withdrawing a number of clerical privileges. This came to a head in late 1605 when Venice charged two priests as common criminals, thus denying their clerical immunity from facing charges in secular courts. On 10 December 1605, two weeks before Grimani's death, Pope Paul V sent a formal protest to Venice. Shortly after his election as Doge, Donato, at the urging of

Paolo Sarpi Paolo Sarpi, O.S.M. (14 August 1552 – 15 January 1623) was an Italian Servite friar and Catholic priest who was a notable historian, scientist, canon lawyer, polymath and statesman active on behalf of the Venetian Republic during the period ...

, rejected Paul V's protest. As a result, in April 1606, Paul V issued a papal interdict on Venice, thus

excommunicating Excommunication is an institutional act of religious censure used to deprive, suspend, or limit membership in a religious community or to restrict certain rights within it, in particular those of being in communion with other members of the con ...

the entire Venetian population. At Sarpi's urging, Donato ordered all Roman Catholic clergy to ignore the Pope's interdict and continue to perform the

mass Mass is an Intrinsic and extrinsic properties, intrinsic property of a physical body, body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the physical quantity, quantity of matter in a body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physi ...

, on pain of immediate expulsion from the Venetian Republic. The Venetian clergy all continued to perform mass, except for the

Jesuits The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

, who left the Republic (or were expelled depending on one's perspective) rather than violate the papal interdict. The Jesuits would not return to Venice until 1655. Donato and Sarpi were also personally excommunicated by Paul V. The

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acted as a mediator in the dispute between Venice and the papacy. On 21 April 1607 a deal was reached under which the two priests that Venice had charged as common criminals would be handed over to French custody, and, in exchange, the pope would remove the interdict against Venice. The remainder of Donato's reign as Doge is largely without note. Donato was not at all popular with the Venetian

crowd A crowd is as a group of people that have gathered for a common purpose or intent. Examples are a Demonstration (people), demonstration, a Sport, sports event, or a looting (classified in sociology as an acting crowd). A crowd may also simply ...

, so, after his first year as Doge, Donato significantly restricted his public appearances as Doge. Many rumours circulated about the reclusive Donato during these years, but none were ever substantiated. He died on 16 July 1612.

References

This article is based on this article from

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. {{DEFAULTSORT:Donato, Leonardo 1536 births 1612 deaths People excommunicated by the Catholic Church 16th-century Venetian people 17th-century Doges of Venice Procurators of Saint Mark Baili of Constantinople