Nicolò Sagredo (8 December 1606 – 14 August 1676) was the 105th

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 ...

, reigning from 6 February 1675 until his death less than two years later. Little of note occurred during his reign as Venice was still recovering from the

Cretan War (1645–1669) The Cretan War ( el, Κρητικός Πόλεμος, tr, Girit'in Fethi), also known as the War of Candia ( it, Guerra di Candia) or the Fifth Ottoman–Venetian War, was a conflict between the Republic of Venice and her allies (chief among ...

, which had ended in the reign of his predecessor.

Biography

He was born in

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

, the son of Zaccaria Sagredo and Paola

Foscari The House of Foscari () was an ancient Venetian patrician family, which reached its peak in the 14th–15th centuries, culminating in the dogeship of Francesco Foscari (1423–1457). History According to family tradition, they originated from ...

. Nicolò's career was initially hampered by his father's reputation as a

coward Cowardice is a trait wherein excessive fear prevents an individual from taking a risk or facing danger. It is the opposite of courage. As a label, "cowardice" indicates a failure of character in the face of a challenge. One who succumbs to cow ...

. In May 1630, at the Battle of Valeggio, a part of the

War of the Mantuan Succession The War of the Mantuan Succession (1628–1631) was a related conflict of the Thirty Years' War, caused by the death in December 1627 of Vincenzo II, last male heir in the direct line of the House of Gonzaga and ruler of the duchies of Mantua ...

, the elder Sagredo had deserted in the midst of a battle that saw Venetian forces thoroughly trounced. His family disgraced, Nicolò was unable to embark on the life of politics he might otherwise have begun at this time. The Sagredo family managed to redeem itself through providing Venice with several heroic deaths during the course of the Cretan War, and meanwhile the family had grown quite rich. Sagredo was able to parlay his wealth and new-found respect into a series of

embassies A diplomatic mission or foreign mission is a group of people from a state or organization present in another state to represent the sending state or organization officially in the receiving or host state. In practice, the phrase usually deno ...

on behalf of the Most Serene Republic, before eventually becoming a

Procurator of St Mark's 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 ...

. Doge

Domenico II Contarini Domenico II Contarini (Venice, January 28, 1585 – Venice, January 26, 1675) was the 104th Doge of Venice, reigning from his election on October 16, 1659 until his death. Background, 1585–1659 Domenico Contarini was the son of Giulio Contarin ...

died on 26 January 1675. On 6 February 1675 Sagredo was easily elected as Doge. He celebrated his election as Doge with festivities and gifts. Such ceremony was the only notable characteristic of his reign as Doge: in 1675, he celebrated the traditional marriage of Venice with the sea with a level of pomp and ceremony that was long remembered by Venice for its splendor. Sagredo died in

on 14 August 1676, after three days in a coma.

References

This article was based on this article on

Italian Wikipedia The Italian Wikipedia ( it, Wikipedia in italiano) is the Italian-language edition of Wikipedia. This edition was created on May 11, 2001 and first edited on June 11, 2001. As of , , it has articles and more than registered accounts. It is t ...

. 1606 births 1676 deaths 17th-century Venetian people 17th-century Doges of Venice Nicolo Procurators of Saint Mark {{Italy-politician-stub