Pietro Barbolano (sometimes Pietro Barbo Centranico) was the 28th Doge of Venice. Reportedly a descendant of the legendary Eraclea (after whom the town near

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 ...

is named), he was elected by the assembly of the nobles after the deposition of his predecessor,

Otto Orseolo Otto Orseolo ( it, Ottone Orseolo, also ''Urseolo''; c. 992−1032) was the Doge of Venice from 1008 to 1026. He was the third son of Pietro II Orseolo and Maria Candiano, whom he succeeded at the age of sixteen, becoming the youngest doge in Ven ...

. The dates of his birth and death are unknown.

Doge of Venice

Barbolano's reign occurred during a rather difficult time in Venice. The people had spoken out against

hereditary monarchy A hereditary monarchy is a form of government and succession of power in which the throne passes from one member of a ruling family to another member of the same family. A series of rulers from the same family would constitute a dynasty. It is h ...

when they deposed Otto Orseolo following the scandals over nepotism. He was never fully able to win over the Venetians as he was not nearly as charismatic as the two previous Doges from the Orseolo family. For the four years of his reign, he struggled to bring the city back together, but he could not. Because the Orseoli had created so many links between their family and the hereditary ruling dynasties of Europe, various actions were taken against Venice as a retaliation for deposing Otto Orseolo. The

Byzantine Emperor This is a list of the Byzantine emperors from the foundation of Constantinople in 330 AD, which marks the conventional start of the Eastern Roman Empire, to its fall to the Ottoman Empire in 1453 AD. Only the emperors who were recognized as le ...

not only took Otto Orseolo in as a relative (in fact, he was), but he also withdrew the trading privileges granted to Pietro Orseolo in 992. He tried to obtain from the

Holy Roman Emperor The Holy Roman Emperor, originally and officially the Emperor of the Romans ( la, Imperator Romanorum, german: Kaiser der Römer) during the Middle Ages, and also known as the Roman-German Emperor since the early modern period ( la, Imperat ...

Conrad II Conrad II ( – 4 June 1039), also known as and , was the emperor of the Holy Roman Empire from 1027 until his death in 1039. The first of a succession of four Salian emperors, who reigned for one century until 1125, Conrad ruled the kingdoms ...

, a renewal of Venetian commercial privileges that had been granted to them by

Otto III Otto III (June/July 980 – 23 January 1002) was Holy Roman Emperor from 996 until his death in 1002. A member of the Ottonian dynasty, Otto III was the only son of the Emperor Otto II and his wife Theophanu. Otto III was crowned as King of ...

, but he was not able to do so. In the meantime, King Stephen of

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, whose sister

Grimelda of Hungary Grimelda of Hungary was a Hungarian princess and a Dogaressa of Venice by marriage to Doge Otto Orseolo (r. 1009—1026). She was the daughter of Géza, Grand Prince of the Hungarians and Princess Sarolt. Grimelda married the Doge Otto Orseolo (r ...

was the wife of Otto Orseolo, attacked

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and annexed a number of cities that had been captured by Pietro II. The Republic appeared to be collapsing and many people went back to supporting Otto Orseolo, though not the Orseolo family as hereditary rulers. In 1032, Pietro Barbolano abdicated under heavy pressure and Otto Orseolo was called back to rule from his exile in

Constantinople la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه , alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya (Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis (" ...

. However, when the messengers got there, Otto was approaching his death causing Domenico Orseolo, his relative in Venice, to attempt to seize power. This bold action was extremely ill-received in Venice as the populace displayed its animosity for the notion that an Orseolo was somehow entitled to the Dogeship. Barbolano's successor was chosen in 1032 to be the wealthy merchant Domenico Flabanico, who had few noble ties, to spite the idea of creating a royal family in Venice. The Venetian noble

Salamon family The Salamon family - sometimes Salomon or Salomoni - was a Patrician (post-Roman Europe), patrician Venetian nobility, Venetian noble family of ancient but uncertain origin, counted among the so-called “Case Vecchie” (''Old Houses'') of the R ...

, one of the oldest patrician houses of the

Republic of Venice The Republic of Venice ( vec, Repùblega de Venèsia) or Venetian Republic ( vec, Repùblega Vèneta, links=no), traditionally known as La Serenissima ( en, Most Serene Republic of Venice, italics=yes; vec, Serenìsima Repùblega de Venèsia, ...

, according to some sources would descend from the Centranico-Barbolano family through the Doge Pietro, who was the first to assume this surname.

References

*Rendina, Claudio (2007), ''I dogi. Storia e segreti,'' ed. Newton Compton, Roma. *Da Mosto, Andrea (2003), ''I dogi di Venezia'', ed. Giunti, Firenze. *Castagnetti, Andrea (1992), ''Famiglie e affermazione politica'', in ''Storia di Venezia'', vol. I, ''Origini - Età ducale'', ed. Istituto dell'Enciclopedia italiana, Roma.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Barbolano, Pietro 11th-century deaths 11th-century Doges of Venice Year of birth unknown

Doge of Venice

See also

References

Notes