Domenico Pisani was a Venetian nobleman and briefly the lord of the Aegean island of

Santorini Santorini ( el, Σαντορίνη, ), officially Thira (Greek: Θήρα ) and classical Greek Thera (English pronunciation ), is an island in the southern Aegean Sea, about 200 km (120 mi) southeast from the Greek mainland. It is the ...

in 1479–1480. He was the son of Giovanni Pisani, the Venetian

Duke of Candia This is a list of the rulers and governors of the island of Crete throughout its history. Antiquity Crete was conquered for the Roman Republic by Quintus Caecilius Metellus Creticus in 69 BC and united with the Cyrenaica in the Roman province, p ...

, and was chosen by the

Duke of Naxos The Duchy of the Archipelago ( el, Δουκάτο του Αρχιπελάγους, it, Ducato dell'arcipelago), also known as Duchy of Naxos or Duchy of the Aegean, was a maritime state created by Venetian interests in the Cyclades archipelago ...

Giacomo III Crispo Giacomo III Crispo (died 1480), was the seventeenth Duke of the Archipelago, ruling from 1463 when he succeeded Francesco II Crispo Francesco II Crispo (died 1463) was the sixteenth Duke of the Archipelago, ruling for less than one year in 1463 wh ...

, as the husband of his daughter Fiorenza. Giacomo III awarded Pisani the fief of

as his daughter's dowry, on condition that no son was born to Giacomo III, whereupon the island would revert to the ducal domain. The festivities for the wedding at

Milos Milos or Melos (; el, label=Modern Greek, Μήλος, Mílos, ; grc, Μῆλος, Mêlos) is a volcanic Greek island in the Aegean Sea, just north of the Sea of Crete. Milos is the southwesternmost island in the Cyclades group. The ''Venus d ...

and on Santorini itself were extravagant and lasted for an entire month. Pisani busied himself with restoring the island's agriculture and commerce, and placed his domain under the protection of his motherland, Venice; the

Venetian Senate The Senate ( vec, Senato), formally the ''Consiglio dei Pregadi'' or ''Rogati'' (, la, Consilium Rogatorum), was the main deliberative and legislative body of the Republic of Venice. Establishment The Venetian Senate was founded in 1229, or le ...

confirmed his possession of the island on 22 June 1480. His good fortune was not to last, however, as Giacomo III died in the same year. As the duke had died without a son, this should have secured Pisani's possession of Santorini, but the new duke, Giacomo's brother

Giovanni III Crispo John III Crispo ( it, Giovanni III Crispo) was the eighteenth Duke of the Archipelago, ruling from 1480 when he succeeded his brother, Giacomo III Crispo (r. 1463–1480). Shortly after this, he reincorporated Santorini, which had been ruled by ...

—due to

Salic Law The Salic law ( or ; la, Lex salica), also called the was the ancient Frankish civil law code compiled around AD 500 by the first Frankish King, Clovis. The written text is in Latin and contains some of the earliest known instances of Old Du ...

, Pisani's wife could not inherit the duchy—landed on Santorini and occupied the island. Pisani and his wife turned to Venice for aid, but Giovanni III and his soldiers managed to repel a Venetian fleet attacking Skaros, the chief fortress of Santorini. In the end, after a complicated legal battle, the Venetian Senate resolved on 4 October 1486 that Santorini was to remain with Crispo, after paying compensation to the Pisani.

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* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Pisani, Domenico 15th-century births 15th-century deaths Year of birth unknown 15th-century Venetian people

Domenico Domenico is an Italian given name for males and may refer to: People * Domenico Alfani, Italian painter * Domenico Allegri, Italian composer * Domenico Alvaro, Italian mobster * Domenico Ambrogi, Italian painter * Domenico Auria, Italian archit ...

Lords of Santorini