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| Andrea Contarini | |
|---|---|
| Name | Andrea Contarini |
| Birth date | c. 1300 |
| Birth place | Venice |
| Death date | 5 September 1382 |
| Death place | Venice |
| Office | Doge of Venice |
| Term start | 1367 |
| Term end | 1382 |
| Predecessor | Pietro Gradenigo |
| Successor | Giovanni Gradenigo |
| Nationality | Republic of Venice |
Andrea Contarini (c. 1300 – 5 September 1382) was the 60th Doge of the Republic of Venice, serving from 1367 until his death in 1382. His dogeship coincided with a critical phase of Venetian history marked by rivalry with the Republic of Genoa, intervention in the affairs of the Kingdom of Hungary and the Republic of Florence, and the War of Chioggia that imperiled Venetian maritime hegemony. Contarini is remembered for mobilizing civic resources, promoting naval reconstruction, and sponsoring public works that reinforced Venice's position as a Mediterranean commercial power.
Contarini was born into the patrician Contarini family of Venice, a lineage that produced multiple doges, diplomats, and podestàs such as Pietro Contarini and Tommaso Contarini. His upbringing occurred amid the political milieu shaped by the Great Council of Venice, the aristocratic networks of the Venetian nobility, and the commercial circuits linking Flanders, Constantinople, Alexandria, and Catalonia. Contarini’s early career involved mercantile and civic roles that connected him to leading houses like the Dandolo family, the Morosini family, and the Franchezzi family, and to administrative institutions such as the Council of Ten and the Signoria of Venice. He maintained family alliances through marriages and patronage ties with figures associated with the Scuola Grande di San Marco and the confraternities of San Zaccaria.
Contarini’s election as Doge in 1367 followed the death of Pietro Gradenigo and a period of factional contestation involving patrician coalitions tied to maritime commerce in the Adriatic Sea and diplomatic rivalries with Genoa. As head of state, he presided over the Great Council sessions, coordinated with magistracies such as the Avogadoria della Comun, and negotiated with foreign courts including envoys from the Kingdom of Naples, the Papal States, and the Byzantine Empire. His tenure saw diplomatic outreach to the Republic of Ragusa, the Duchy of Milan, and the County of Savoy to secure alliance networks. Contarini also worked with proveditors and capitani del popolo, interacting with officials posted at strategic locations like Candia and Corfu to manage trade and defense.
The War of Chioggia (1378–1381) between Venice and Genoa culminated during Contarini’s dogeship; the crisis peaked with the Genoese capture of Chioggia and the threat to Venice itself. Contarini played a direct role in organizing resistance alongside military leaders such as Vettor Pisani and Pietro Corner. He oversaw the levy of ships and funds from commercial partners in Pisa, Barcelona, Antwerp, and Cairo financiers, and coordinated naval sorties involving captains from Padua and Ferrara. Contarini famously agreed to substantial loans and taxes, joining the citizenry on the decks of galleys and sanctioning blockades of the Adriatic Sea to cut Genoese supply lines. The eventual Venetian victory at Chioggia, aided by the admiralty coordination of commanders and the diplomacy of envoys to the Kingdom of Hungary and the Papal Curia, secured a favorable negotiated settlement and restored Venetian maritime supremacy.
Facing wartime exigencies, Contarini implemented fiscal policies that expanded revenue through state loans, emergency levies, and the monetization of tolls at ports such as Ravenna and Ancona. He reformed aspects of public finance by enhancing the role of the Banco di San Giorgio-style mechanisms later echoed by Venetian creditors, and improved administration in the alum and salt trades linking Sicily, Tunis, and Cyprus. Contarini’s measures aimed to stabilize commerce routed through marketplaces like the Rialto and to protect mercantile interests of houses trading with Alexandria and Constantinople. He also strengthened customs enforcement cooperating with podestàs in provincial centers including Treviso, Cattaro, and Zadar to curtail smuggling and secure state revenues for naval rebuilding.
Contarini sponsored public works and charitable foundations that linked him to institutions such as the Basilica di San Marco, the Scuola Grande di San Rocco, and confraternal hospitals like Ospedale degli Incurabili. Under his auspices, repairs and embellishments were undertaken on facades, canals, and defensive installations at the Lido di Venezia and the lagoon forts near Pellestrina and Malamocco. His patronage extended to religious orders including the Dominican Order and the Franciscan Order, and he supported artistic commissions that involved workshops connected to artists influenced by the schools of Padua and Treviso. Contarini’s name entered Venetian civic memory through monuments, civic chronicles maintained by chroniclers of the Venetian chancery, and references in diplomatic dispatches preserved in the archives of the Doge's Palace.
Contarini died on 5 September 1382 in Venice and was interred according to patrician funerary customs alongside members of the Contarini family. His death precipitated the election of Giovanni Gradenigo and succession procedures orchestrated by the Great Council and the electoral tribunals such as the Serrata. Contarini’s legacy influenced subsequent policy debates involving naval funding, mercantile regulation, and the balance of power with Genoa, while his administration remained a reference point in Venetian chronicles and state correspondence archived in the Archivio di Stato di Venezia.
Category:Doges of Venice Category:14th-century Venetian people