![Paolo Veronese - Siege of Scutari - WGA24944](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c8/Paolo_Veronese_-_Siege_of_Scutari_-_WGA24944.jpg)
Antonio Loredan ( lat, Antonius Lauretanus) (1420 – August 1482)
was a member of the
Venetian noble family of
Loredan, captain of Venetian-held Scutari (
Shkodër
Shkodër ( , ; sq-definite, Shkodra) is the fifth-most-populous city of the Republic of Albania and the seat of Shkodër County and Shkodër Municipality. The city sprawls across the Plain of Mbishkodra between the southern part of Lake Shkod ...
in modern
Albania
Albania ( ; sq, Shqipëri or ), or , also or . officially the Republic of Albania ( sq, Republika e Shqipërisë), is a country in Southeastern Europe. It is located on the Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea and shares ...
) and governor in
Split
Split(s) or The Split may refer to:
Places
* Split, Croatia, the largest coastal city in Croatia
* Split Island, Canada, an island in the Hudson Bay
* Split Island, Falkland Islands
* Split Island, Fiji, better known as Hạfliua
Arts, enterta ...
(
Venetian Dalmatia
Venetian Dalmatia ( la, Dalmatia Veneta) refers to parts of Dalmatia under the rule of the Republic of Venice, mainly from the 15th to the 18th centuries. Dalmatia was first sold to Venice in 1409 but Venetian Dalmatia was not fully consolidated f ...
),
Albania Veneta
Venetian Albania ( vec, Albania vèneta, it, Albania Veneta, Serbian and Montenegrin: Млетачка Албанија / ''Mletačka Albanija'', ) was the official term for several possessions of the Republic of Venice in the southeastern Adria ...
, and the
Morea
The Morea ( el, Μορέας or ) was the name of the Peloponnese peninsula in southern Greece during the Middle Ages and the early modern period. The name was used for the Byzantine province known as the Despotate of the Morea, by the Ottoman ...
.
Family
![Portrait of Antonio Loredan, by Giacomo Piccini](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/50/Portrait_of_Antonio_Loredan%2C_by_Giacomo_Piccini.jpg)
Antonio Loredan was born into the
Santa Maria branch of the noble
House of Loredan
The House of Loredan (, ) is a Venetian noble family of supposed ancient Roman origin, which has played a significant role in shaping the history of the entire Mediterranean. A political dynasty, the family has throughout the centuries produced a ...
. His wife was Orsa (Orsola) Pisani,
with whom he had three sons: Giovanni, Marco and Jacopo.
Morea and Dalmatia
In 1466 Loredan was governor in the
Morea
The Morea ( el, Μορέας or ) was the name of the Peloponnese peninsula in southern Greece during the Middle Ages and the early modern period. The name was used for the Byzantine province known as the Despotate of the Morea, by the Ottoman ...
.
In the period 1467—69 he was a governor of
Split
Split(s) or The Split may refer to:
Places
* Split, Croatia, the largest coastal city in Croatia
* Split Island, Canada, an island in the Hudson Bay
* Split Island, Falkland Islands
* Split Island, Fiji, better known as Hạfliua
Arts, enterta ...
in
Venetian Dalmatia
Venetian Dalmatia ( la, Dalmatia Veneta) refers to parts of Dalmatia under the rule of the Republic of Venice, mainly from the 15th to the 18th centuries. Dalmatia was first sold to Venice in 1409 but Venetian Dalmatia was not fully consolidated f ...
.
Albania Veneta
Loredan was appointed as captain of
Scutari and governor of
Albania Veneta
Venetian Albania ( vec, Albania vèneta, it, Albania Veneta, Serbian and Montenegrin: Млетачка Албанија / ''Mletačka Albanija'', ) was the official term for several possessions of the Republic of Venice in the southeastern Adria ...
on 12 July 1473.
He was one of Venetian military commanders during the
Siege of Shkodra (1474)
The siege of Shkodra of 1474 was an Ottoman attack upon Venetian-controlled Shkodra (Scutari in Italian) in Albania Veneta during the First Ottoman-Venetian War (1463–79). It is not to be confused with the siege of Shkodra of 1478–79.
...
.
According to some sources, when Scutari garrison complained for lack of food and water, Loredan told them ''"If you are hungry, here is my flesh; if you are thirsty, I give you my blood."''
Because of the successful defense of the city he was considered a war hero.
Venetian government awarded Loredan with title of ''"Knight of San Marco"''.
To celebrate this victory Venetians decided on 4 September 1474 to construct a hospital.
Cyprus and Venice
After successful defense of Scutari, Loredan was ordered by the Venetian government to seize
Cyprus
Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is geo ...
and garrison its castles
after destroying
Ottoman forts on Bojana first. The purpose of this move was to prevent the
Republic of Genoa
The Republic of Genoa ( lij, Repúbrica de Zêna ; it, Repubblica di Genova; la, Res Publica Ianuensis) was a medieval and early modern maritime republic from the 11th century to 1797 in Liguria on the northwestern Italian coast. During the Lat ...
to use unstable situation at Cyprus and capture it first.
In 1478 Loredan was elected as a
Procurator of San Marco
The office of Procurator of Saint Mark ( Venetian: Procurador de San Marco) was one of the few lifetime appointments in the government of the Venetian Republic and was considered second only to that of the doge in prestige. Da Mosto, ''L'Archivio d ...
.
He died of
marsh fever
The history of malaria extendes from its prehistoric origin as a zoonotic disease in the primates of Africa through to the 21st century. A widespread and potentially lethal human infectious disease, at its peak malaria infested every continent e ...
in 1482, during the
War of Ferrara
The War of Ferrara (also known as the Salt War, Italian: ''Guerra del Sale'') was fought in 1482–1484 between Ercole I d'Este, Duke of Ferrara, and the Papal forces mustered by Ercole's personal nemesis, Pope Sixtus IV and his Venetian allies. ...
.
In literature and the arts
Loredan is mentioned in many works of literature, such as those authored by
Stjepan Mitrov Ljubiša
Stjepan (modernist: Stefan) Mitrov Ljubiša ( sr-cyr, Стјепан Митров Љубиша; 29 February 1824 – 11 November 1878), was a Serbian and Montenegrin writer and politician. He is famous for his unique short stories, generally r ...
and
Marin Barleti
Marin Barleti ( la, Marinus Barletius, it, Marino Barlezio; – ) was a historian and Catholic priest from Shkodër who was a humanist. He is considered the first Albanian historian because of his 1504 eyewitness account of the 1478 siege of ...
.
References
External links
George Merula ''The Siege of Shkodra'' (1474)- published on the website of
Robert Elsie
Robert Elsie (June 29, 1950 – October 2, 2017) was a Canadian-born German scholar who specialized in Albanian literature and folklore.
Elsie was a writer, translator, interpreter, and specialist in Albanian studies, being the author of numerou ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Loredan, Antonio
1420 births
1482 deaths
Republic of Venice military personnel
Antonio
Antonio is a masculine given name of Etruscan origin deriving from the root name Antonius. It is a common name among Romance language-speaking populations as well as the Balkans and Lusophone Africa. It has been among the top 400 most popular male ...
Procurators of Saint Mark