Pietro IV Candiano (925–976) 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 as Duke (compare the Italian '), was the chief magistrate and leader of the Republic of Venice between 726 ...
from 959 to his death. He was the eldest son of
Pietro III Candiano, with whom he co-reigned and whom he was elected to succeed.
Rise
Pietro was appointed co-doge by his father. However, towards the end of his father's dogeship, Pietro IV revolted against him, but failed thanks to popular support for the doge. Pietro III pleaded for his son's life and managed to prevent his execution, but could not stop his exile.
[Bertolini, Margherita Giuliana, CANDIANO, Pietro, Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani - Volume 17 (1974]
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The rebellion of Pietro IV was probably related to the situation in Italy at the time. Pietro IV had supported Berengar II, the Frankish king of Italy, while his father pursued a neutral policy. Berengar II's Kingdom of Italy was taken over by Otto I (who would later become Holy Roman Emperor) in 952. Berengar swore loyalty to Otto I, who gave him back the title of king of Italy as vassal
A vassal or liege subject is a person regarded as having a mutual obligation to a lord or monarch, in the context of the feudal system in medieval Europe. While the subordinate party is called a vassal, the dominant party is called a suzerain. ...
king. Berengar later revolted against Otto, attacking the March of Verona and invading the Papal States
The Papal States ( ; it, Stato Pontificio, ), officially the State of the Church ( it, Stato della Chiesa, ; la, Status Ecclesiasticus;), were a series of territories in the Italian Peninsula under the direct Sovereignty, sovereign rule of ...
.
The exiled Pietro IV went to Ivrea
Ivrea (; pms, Ivrèja ; ; lat, Eporedia) is a town and ''comune'' of the Metropolitan City of Turin in the Piedmont region of northwestern Italy. Situated on the road leading to the Aosta Valley (part of the medieval Via Francigena), it stradd ...
, where the margrave
Margrave was originally the medieval title for the military commander assigned to maintain the defence of one of the border provinces of the Holy Roman Empire or of a kingdom. That position became hereditary in certain feudal families in the E ...
, Guy of Ivrea took him to his father, Berengar II. He then joined the military campaigns which Adalbert, the son of Berengar II, and Hubert, were conducting against Theobald II, Duke of Spoleto Theobald II (923/925 – July 957/961 or 964) was the Duke of Spoleto and Margrave of Camerino from 953. He was the son of Boniface II of Spoleto and Waldrada.
In 959, Berengar and Guy of Ivrea led an expedition against Theobald. They defeated ...
and Camerino. Berengar II allowed Pietro to conduct military operations in Ravenna
Ravenna ( , , also ; rgn, Ravèna) is the capital city of the Province of Ravenna, in the Emilia-Romagna region of Northern Italy. It was the capital city of the Western Roman Empire from 408 until its collapse in 476. It then served as the ca ...
. With six ships from Ravenna, he captured seven Venetian ships. He returned to Venice when his father died, two and a half months after he had been exiled.[
]
Dogeship
When Pietro III died in 959, Pietro IV surprisingly became the next doge.
Probably due to the turbulent recent past, Pietro imposed an oath of loyalty to his power, which was not a Venetian custom. It was probably an import from the mainland. He resumed Venice's relationship with the Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantin ...
, which his father had interrupted. He renewed a ban of the slave trade. His ban was with regard to this trade with the Byzantines. No Venetian could lend money to them which would be used to buy slaves, transport slaves to their territories or receive money from them to carry slaves.
In a nepotist
Nepotism is an advantage, privilege, or position that is granted to relatives and friends in an occupation or field. These fields may include but are not limited to, business, politics, academia, entertainment, sports, fitness, religion, an ...
move, Pietro had the rival candidate to the position of Bishop of Torcello accused of simony
Simony () is the act of selling church offices and roles or sacred things. It is named after Simon Magus, who is described in the Acts of the Apostles as having offered two disciples of Jesus payment in exchange for their empowering him to im ...
, blinded and expelled so that he could install his brother Vitale to this bishopric
In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop.
History
In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associate ...
. In 969 he procured him the Patriarchate of Grado, the most powerful