Agnello Participazio (Latin: Agnellus Particiacus) was the tenth traditional and eighth (historical)

doge A doge (; ; plural dogi or doges) was an elected lord Lord is an appellation for a person or deity who has authority, control, or power (social and political), power over others, acting as a master, a chief, or a ruler. The appellation c ...

doge

of the

Duchy of Venetia The Republic of Venice ( it, Repubblica di Venezia; vec, Repùblega de Venèsia) or Venetian Republic ( it, Repubblica Veneta; vec, Repùblega Vèneta), traditionally known as La Serenissima ( en, Most Serene Republic of Venice, italics=yes; ...

from 811 to 827. He was born to a rich merchant family from Heraclea and was one of the earliest settlers in the Rivoalto group of islands. His family had provided a number of '' tribuni militum'' of Rivoalto. He owned property near the Church of Santi Apostoli. A building in the nearby Campiello del Cason was the residence of the tribunes. Agnello was married to the dogaressa Elena. The name Agnello appeared in the earliest documents (819 and 820) and in John the Deacon's chronicle Historia Veneticorum. It appeared as Angelo in a document datable to 1023. The surname is attested only later, in John the Deacon's chronicle, who attributed it only to

Orso II Participazio Orso II Participazio (died 932) was the eighteenth Doge of Venice, doge of the Republic of Venice, by tradition (historically, he was the sixteenth), from 912 to 932. History In 912 he was kidnapped in the Adriatic by a Serb prince of Zachlumia b ...

(911-932). Its attribution to the whole household and to the prior Participazio doges (Agnello Giustiniano (827–829), Giovanni I (829–836), Orso I (864–881) and Giovanni II (881–887) was established by 19th century scholars. Pozza, Marco, Patriciaco Agnello, Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani, Vol. 81, 2014
/ref> According to some historians Agnello was elected, while others say that he was appointed by Arsaphios, a Byzantine envoy.

Dogeship

With the attempt of Pepin, the king of Italy and son of the emperor

Charlemagne Charlemagne ( , ) or Charles the Great ( la, Carolus Magnus; 2 April 748 – 28 January 814) was King of the Franks The Franks—Germanic-speaking peoples that invaded the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century—were first led by i ...

, to invade the

Lagoon of Venice The Venetian Lagoon ( it, Laguna di Venezia; vec, Łaguna de Venesia) is an enclosed bay of the Adriatic Sea The Adriatic Sea () is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkans. The Adriatic is the northernmost arm of the ...

, the co-doges Obelerio, Beato, and Valentino degli Antenori fled the duchy of Venetia. After Pepin withdrew, Agnello was elected to the dogeship. He moved the ducal seat from Malamocco to Rivolato. He built the first doge's palace near the old church of San Teodoro. The location was (and still is) where St. Marks Square is now. It was like a castle to defend him more from possible internal enemies than external ones. It burned down when it was set alight during a rebellion against the doge

Pietro IV Candiano Pietro IV Candiano (died 976) was the twenty-second (traditional) or twentieth (historical) doge of Venice The Doge of Venice (; vec, Doxe de Venexia ; it, Doge di Venezia ; all derived from Latin ', "military leader"), sometimes translated a ...

(959-76). Pepin's attempt to invade the duchy of Venetia led the

Carolingian The Carolingian dynasty (known variously as the Carlovingians, Carolingus, Carolings, Karolinger or Karlings) was a Frankish Frankish may refer to: * Franks The Franks ( la, Franci or ) were a group of Germanic peoples The historic ...

and the

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire, or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinople. It survi ...

empires to agree the Peace of Aachen in 812, which was ratified in 814. In this the duchy of Venetia remained under the Byzantines. Its protection against enemies form the mainland was guaranteed. Its boundaries with the Kingdom of Italy were defined. Its rights to sail freely in the

Adriatic Sea The Adriatic Sea () is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkans. The Adriatic is the northernmost arm of the Mediterranean Sea, extending from the Strait of Otranto (where it connects to the Ionian Sea) to the northwest ...

were recognised. Agnello sent his elder son, Giustiniano, on a mission to

Constantinople la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه , alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse Old Norse, Old Nordic, or Old Scandinavian is a stage of development of North Germa ...

. While Giustiniano was away, he appointed his other son

GiovanniGiovanni may refer to: * Giovanni (name), an Italian male given name and surname * Giovanni (meteorology), a Web interface for users to analyze NASA's gridded data * ''Don Giovanni'', a 1787 opera by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, based on the legend of D ...

as co-doge. Giustiniano was enraged. He refused to go to the palace and went to live at the nearby church of San Severo. He managed to change his father’s mind. Giustiniano and his young son Agnello were raised to the co-dogeship. Giovanni was demoted and exiled to Zara (

Zadar Zadar ( , ; see also Zadar#Etymology and historical names, other names) is the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest continuously inhabited Croatian city. It is situated on the Adriatic Sea, at the northwestern part of Ravni Kota ...

Zadar

). He escaped and went to

Dalmatia Dalmatia (; hr, Dalmacija ; it, Dalmazia; see #Name, names in other languages) is a region on the east shore of the Adriatic Sea, a narrow belt stretching from the island of Rab in the north to the Bay of Kotor in the south. The Dalmatian Hin ...

. He then went to

Bergamo Bergamo (, also ; ; lmo, label=Eastern Lombard Eastern Lombard is a group of closely related dialects of Lombard language, Lombard, a Gallo-Italic languages, Gallo-Italic language spoken in Lombardy, mainly in the provinces of Bergamo, Bresc ...

Bergamo

and put himself under the protection of the emperor

Louis II of Italy Louis II (825 – 12 August 875), sometimes called the Younger, was the king of Italy and emperor of the Carolingian Empire from 844, co-ruling with his father Lothair I until 855, after which he ruled alone. Louis's usual title was ''impera ...

. Agnello and Giustiniano sent envoys to the emperor to ask for Giovanni to be handed over. The emperor agreed and extradited Giovanni. He was sent to

with his wife. Later, in 820, the young Agnello was sent to Constantinople for the occasion of the coronation of Michael II, the new Byzantine emperor. He died while he was there. The dogeships of

Giovanni Galbaio Giovanni Galbaio was the eighth Doge of Venice (787–804) according to tradition, but only the sixth historically verifiable one. Life He succeeded his father Maurizio Galbaio, who had associated him as doge in 778. The Byzantine emperor Leo ...

(787–804) and Obelerio degli Antenori (804-811) had been marred by a bitter conflict between a pro-Byzantine faction and a pro-Frankish one, which caused great instability and contributed to Pepin's attempted invasion. Fortunato, the

patriarch of Grado This is a list of the Patriarchs of Grado (north-eastern Italy).
''

San Servolo San Servolo is an Italy, Italian island in the Venetian Lagoon, to the southeast of San Giorgio Maggiore. Earlier housing a monastery of Benedictine monks, later an asylum for the insane, the island is now home to a museum, Venice International Uni ...

. One of Agnello's first priorities was to repopulate the places Pepin had ravaged:

Chioggia Chioggia (; vec, Cióxa , locally ; la, Clodia) is a coastal town and ''comune'' of the Metropolitan City of Venice in the Veneto region of northern Italy. Geography The town is situated on a small island at the southern entrance to the Lag ...

and Albiola. As he was originally form Heraclea, which had been destroyed by his predecessor and by Pepin, he had it rebuilt and renamed Cittanova (New City). He had the church of San Pellegrino, which had been demolished by the inhabitants of

Grado Grado may refer to: People * Cristina Grado (1939–2016), Italian film actress * Jonathan Grado (born 1991), American entrepreneur and photographer * Francesco De Grado (floruit, fl. 1694–1730), Italian engraver * Gaetano Grado, Italian mafio ...

during Pepin's attack, rebuilt. Agnello took measures to coordinate the development of Rivoalto. He put Nicolò Ardisonio in charge of fortifying the ''lidi'' (

Lido In British English, a lido ( , ) is a public outdoor swimming pool and surrounding facilities, or part of a beach where people can swim, Sunbathing, lie in the sun, or participate in water sports. On a cruise ship or ocean liner, the lido d ...

and

Pelletrina

, the outlying islands of the lagoon) against the sea, also placing Lorenzo Alimpato in charge of land reclamation and

Pietro Tradonico Pietro Tradonico ( la, Petrus Tradonicus; c. 800 - 13 September 864) was Doge of Venice The Doge of Venice (; vec, Doxe de Venexia ; it, Doge di Venezia ; all derived from Latin ', "military leader"), sometimes translated as Duke (compare th ...

of the construction of new buildings. This was the beginning of the Rivolato group of islands developing into the city of Venice. Agnello founded monasteries on the islands of Barnaba and San Giuliano and provided priests with good supplies for the maintenance and decoration of churches wherever this was needed. He and his son Giovanni donated land on their properties in San Illario to the monks on the island of

. The Byzantine emperor

Leo V the Armenian Leo V the Armenian ( gr, Λέων ὁ ἐξ Ἀρμενίας, ''Leōn ho ex Armenias''; 775 – 25 December 820) was Emperor An emperor (from la, imperator The Latin word "imperator" derives from the stem of the verb la, imperare, la ...

sent the

relics In religion, a relic is an object or article of religious significance from the past, it usually consists of the physical remains of a saint or the personal effects of the saint or venerated person preserved for purposes of veneration Veneratio ...

relics

of St. Zachary, paid for the construction of a monastery and church of

San Zaccaria The Church of San Zaccaria is a 15th-century former monastic church in central Venice, Italy. It is a large edifice, located in the Campo San Zaccaria, just off the waterfront to the southeast of Piazza San Marco and St Mark's Basilica. It is dedic ...

dedicated to this saint and sent architects to build it. He needed the friendship of Venice to obtain its support against the

Saracens upright 1.5, Late 15th century German woodcut depicting Saracens Saracens () were primarily Arab Muslims, but also Turkish people, Turks, Persian people, Persians or other Muslims as referred to by Christian writers in Europe during the Middle Ag ...

who were invading Sicily.Norwich J. J., A History of Venice, p. 17

References

Sources

* Norwich, John Julius, ''A History of Venice'', Penguin, 2012; *Pozza, Marco, Patriciaco Agnello, Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani, Vol. 81, 2014 *Romanin Samuele, Storia Documentata Di Venezia, Volume 3. Ulan Press, 2012. {{DEFAULTSORT:Participazio, Agnello

Year of birth unknown This category (and within its own specific purpose, the analogous :Year of death unknown) is intended for placement in biographical entries about deceased individuals, primarily from antiquity (although, in some cases, reaching into the 19th centur ...

827 deaths 9th-century Doges of Venice Agnello