Antoniotto II Adorno (c. 1479 – 12 September 1528) was

Doge A doge ( , ; plural dogi or doges) was an elected lord and head of state in several Italian city-states, notably Venice and Genoa, during the medieval and renaissance periods. Such states are referred to as " crowned republics". Etymology The ...

of 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 ...

from 1522 to 1527. Adorno was the last of the Genoese doges elected for life.

Biography

Member of the patrician

Adorno family The Adorno family was a noble family of the Republic of Genoa, with the branches of Botta in Milan, several of whom were Doges of the republic. The family is considered one of the most influential in the history of the republic. The elder branc ...

, considered one of the most influential in the history of the republic, Antoniotto is particularly remembered for having sent the members of the Fregoso family out of Genoa. An enemy of doge

Giano II di Campofregoso Giano II di Campofregoso (1455–1529) was the 43rd Doge of Genoa, ruling from 29 June 1512 to 25 May 1513. The son of Tommasino Fregoso and Caterina Malaspina, he first trained in Corsica, then moved to Rome where he received a cavalry command ...

, in 1512 he allied with King

Louis XII of France Louis XII (27 June 14621 January 1515), was King of France from 1498 to 1515 and King of Naples from 1501 to 1504. The son of Charles, Duke of Orléans, and Maria of Cleves, he succeeded his 2nd cousin once removed and brother in law at the tim ...

in the course of the

Italian Wars The Italian Wars, also known as the Habsburg–Valois Wars, were a series of conflicts covering the period 1494 to 1559, fought mostly in the Italian peninsula, but later expanding into Flanders, the Rhineland and the Mediterranean Sea. The pr ...

between France and Spain, and attacked

Genoa Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Italian region of Liguria and the List of cities in Italy, sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of the 2011 Italian ce ...

. The defeat suffered by the French at

Novara Novara (, Novarese: ) is the capital city of the province of Novara in the Piedmont region in northwest Italy, to the west of Milan. With 101,916 inhabitants (on 1 January 2021), it is the second most populous city in Piedmont after Turin. It is ...

forced him to take refuge in

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

. Antoniotto tried two further attacks against Genoa in 1513 and 1514, both without success. When the new doge, Ottaviano di Campofregoso, during the French occupation of Lombardy (September 1515), allied with

Francis I of France Francis I (french: François Ier; frm, Francoys; 12 September 1494 – 31 March 1547) was King of France from 1515 until his death in 1547. He was the son of Charles, Count of Angoulême, and Louise of Savoy. He succeeded his first cousin once ...

, Antoniotto switched to the Spanish party. The Spanish victory at the

battle of Bicocca The Battle of Bicocca or La Bicocca ( it, Battaglia della Bicocca) was fought on 27 April 1522, during the Italian War of 1521–26. A combined French and Venetian force under Odet de Foix, Vicomte de Lautrec, was decisively defeated by an I ...

(1522) granted him the position of doge. In the same year he had the port of

Savona Savona (; lij, Sann-a ) is a seaport and ''comune'' in the west part of the northern Italy, Italian region of Liguria, capital of the Province of Savona, in the Riviera di Ponente on the Mediterranean Sea. Savona used to be one of the chie ...

destroyed in retaliation for their rebellion against the

. He held the title, with little popular support, for five years until, attacked by the French general

Odet de Foix Odet de Foix, Vicomte de Lautrec (1485 – 15 August 1528) was a French military leader. As Marshal of France, he commanded the campaign to conquer Naples, but died from the bubonic plague in 1528. Biography Odet was the son of Jean de Foi ...

and by

Andrea Doria Andrea Doria, Prince of Melfi (; lij, Drîa Döia ; 30 November 146625 November 1560) was a Genoese statesman, ', and admiral, who played a key role in the Republic of Genoa during his lifetime. As the ruler of Genoa, Doria reformed the Repu ...

, he left Genoa. He retired to Milan, where he died in 1528.

Popular culture

He is a character in the opera ''

Die Gezeichneten ' (''The Branded'' or ''The Stigmatized'') is an opera in three acts by Franz Schreker with a German-language libretto by the composer. Composition history Schreker wrote the libretto in 1911 at the request of composer Alexander Zemlinsky based ...

'' (first performed 1918) by Austrian composer

Franz Schreker Franz Schreker (originally ''Schrecker''; 23 March 1878 – 21 March 1934) was an Austrian composer, conductor, teacher and administrator. Primarily a composer of operas, Schreker developed a style characterized by aesthetic plurality (a mixture ...

Sources

* 1470s births 1528 deaths 16th-century Doges of Genoa {{Italy-noble-stub