Pietro Barbolano (sometimes Pietro Barbo Centranico) was the 28th Doge of Venice. Reportedly a descendant of the legendary Eraclea (after whom the town near

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 ...

is named), he was elected by the assembly of the nobles after the deposition of his predecessor,

Otto Orseolo Otto Orseolo (, also ''Urseolo''; c. 992−1032) was the Doge of Venice from 1008 to 1026. He was the third son of Doge Pietro II of the House of Orseolo, and Maria Candiano, whom he succeeded at the age of sixteen, becoming the youngest doge ...

. The dates of his birth and death are unknown.

Doge of Venice

Barbolano's reign occurred during a rather difficult time in Venice. The people had spoken out against

hereditary monarchy A hereditary monarchy is a form of government and succession of power in which the throne passes from one member of a ruling family to another member of the same family. A series of rulers from the same family would constitute a dynasty. It is ...

when they deposed Otto Orseolo following the scandals over nepotism. He was never fully able to win over the Venetians as he was not nearly as charismatic as the two previous Doges from the Orseolo family. For the six years of his reign, he struggled to bring the city back together, but he could not. Because the Orseoli had created so many links between their family and the hereditary ruling dynasties of Europe, various actions were taken against Venice as a retaliation for deposing Otto Orseolo.

Constantine VIII Constantine VIII (;Also called Porphyrogenitus (), although the epithet is almost exclusively used for Constantine VII. 960 – 11/12 November 1028) was ''de jure'' Byzantine emperor from 962 until his death. He was the younger son of Empe ...

not only took Otto Orseolo in as a relative (in fact, he was), but he also withdrew the trading privileges granted to Pietro Orseolo in 992. He tried to obtain from the

Holy Roman Emperor The Holy Roman Emperor, originally and officially the Emperor of the Romans (disambiguation), Emperor of the Romans (; ) during the Middle Ages, and also known as the Roman-German Emperor since the early modern period (; ), was the ruler and h ...

, Conrad II, a renewal of Venetian commercial privileges that had been granted to them by

Otto III Otto III (June/July 980 – 23 January 1002) was the Holy Roman emperor and King of Italy from 996 until his death in 1002. A member of the Ottonian dynasty, Otto III was the only son of Emperor Otto II and his wife Theophanu. Otto III was c ...

, but he was not able to do so. In the meantime, King Stephen of

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 ...

, whose sister Grimelda of Hungary was the wife of Otto Orseolo, attacked

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 ...

and annexed a number of cities that had been captured by Pietro II. The Republic appeared to be collapsing and many people went back to supporting Otto Orseolo, though not the Orseolo family as hereditary rulers. In 1032, Pietro Barbolano abdicated under heavy pressure and Otto Orseolo was called back to rule from his exile in

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 ...

. However, when the messengers got there, Otto was approaching his death causing Domenico Orseolo, his relative in Venice, to attempt to seize power. This bold action was extremely ill-received in Venice as the populace displayed its animosity for the notion that an Orseolo was somehow entitled to the Dogeship. Barbolano's successor was chosen in 1032 to be the wealthy merchant Domenico Flabanico, who had few noble ties, to spite the idea of creating a royal family in Venice. The Venetian noble

Salamon family The Salamon family - sometimes Salomon or Salomoni - was a patrician Venetian noble family of ancient but uncertain origin, counted among the so-called “Case Vecchie” (''Old Houses'') of the Republic of Venice. History According to som ...

, one of the oldest patrician houses 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 ...

, according to some sources would descend from the Centranico-Barbolano family through the Doge Pietro, who was the first to assume this surname.

References

*Rendina, Claudio (2007), ''I dogi. Storia e segreti,'' ed. Newton Compton, Roma. *Da Mosto, Andrea (2003), ''I dogi di Venezia'', ed. Giunti, Firenze. *Castagnetti, Andrea (1992), ''Famiglie e affermazione politica'', in ''Storia di Venezia'', vol. I, ''Origini - Età ducale'', ed. Istituto dell'Enciclopedia italiana, Roma.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Barbolano, Pietro 11th-century deaths 11th-century Doges of Venice Year of birth unknown

Doge of Venice

See also

References

Notes