Giovanni Dolfin, also known as Giovanni Delfino or Delfin (died 12 July 1361) was the fifty-seventh

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 the Italian '), was the chief magistrate and leader of the Republic of Venice between 726 a ...

, appointed on August 13, 1356. Despite his value as general, during his reign

Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 ...

lost

Dalmatia Dalmatia (; hr, Dalmacija ; it, Dalmazia; see #Name, names in other languages) is one of the four historical region, historical regions of Croatia, alongside Croatia proper, Slavonia, and Istria. Dalmatia is a narrow belt of the east shore of ...

. He was blind from one eye after a wound received in battle.

Biography

He was born in Venice into one of the most ancient, noble and wealthy families of the city, as the son of Gregorio Delfin. The Dolfin family was allied with the Gradenigo, with whom they shared a common origin. Since the aristocratic coup of 1297, the Dolfin and the Gradenigo where among the favourites to occupy the ducal throne, and so they did, one after the other (Giovanni Dolfin's brother in law,

Giovanni Gradenigo Giovanni Gradenigo (died 8 August 1356) was the fifty-sixth Doge of Venice, appointed on 21 April 1355. During his reign, Venice signed a peace treaty with Genoa. Biography Gradenigo was born in Venice. He was married to Adriana Borromeo and then ...

was doge before him). Dolfin was elected while defending

Treviso Treviso ( , ; vec, Trevixo) is a city and ''comune'' in the Veneto region of northern Italy. It is the capital of the province of Treviso and the municipality has 84,669 inhabitants (as of September 2017). Some 3,000 live within the Veneti ...

, then besieged by Hungarian troops; being denied safe passage by his enemies, he broke the encirclement and reached Venice to be enthroned. In the war which had broken out under Dolfin's predecessor, Hungary under King

Louis I Louis I may refer to: * Louis the Pious, Louis I of France, "the Pious" (778–840), king of France and Holy Roman Emperor * Louis I, Landgrave of Thuringia (ruled 1123–1140) * Ludwig I, Count of Württemberg (c. 1098–1158) * Louis I of Blois ( ...

had conquered Dalmatia and was pushing other Venetian colonies to revolt. The Venetian defeat at Nervesa in February 1358 forced the Republic to sue for peace. In the resulting

Treaty of Zadar The Treaty of Zadar, also known as the Treaty of Zara, was a peace treaty signed in Zadar, Dalmatia on February 18, 1358 by which the Venetian Republic lost influence over its Dalmatian holdings. The Treaty of Zadar ended hostilities between Loui ...

the Venetians lost Dalmatia, Zara and

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 ...

, but maintained their naval predominance in the

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

as the King of Hungary accepted not to build a fleet of his own. Also in 1358–1359

Padua Padua ( ; it, Padova ; vec, Pàdova) is a city and ''comune'' in Veneto, northern Italy. Padua is on the river Bacchiglione, west of Venice. It is the capital of the province of Padua. It is also the economic and communications hub of the ...

started to menace the Venetian trades on the

Brenta River The Brenta is an Italian river that runs from Trentino to the Adriatic Sea just south of the Venetian lagoon in the Veneto region, in the north-east of Italy. During the Roman era, it was called Medoacus (Ancient Greek: ''Mediochos'', ''Μηδ� ...

and forced the city to stop trading with

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...

. These events triggered an economical crisis in Venice, which ended only after the

War of Chioggia The War of Chioggia ( it, Guerra di Chioggia) was a conflict between Genoa and Venice which lasted from 1378 to 1381, from which Venice emerged triumphant. It was a part of the Venetian-Genoese Wars. The war had mixed results. Venice and her alli ...

, in 1382. Doge Giovanni Dolfin died in 1361 and was buried in the Basilica di San Giovanni e Paolo, a traditional burial place of the doges. His funerary monument is still visible today, showing the coat of arms of the noble Dolfin family.

In fiction

The plot of

Donna Leon Donna Leon (; born in Montclair, New Jersey) is the American author of a series of crime novels set in Venice, Italy, featuring the fictional hero Commissario Guido Brunetti. In 2003, she received the Corine Literature Prize. Leon lived in Veni ...

's 2000 Detective Mystery novel ''Friends in High Places'', set in contemporary Venice, involves present-day (fictional) descendants of the Dolfin Family, who are inordinately proud of their descent from the 13th-century doge (and who have little else to be proud of).

Biography

In fiction

See also