Pietro Tradonico
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Pietro Tradonico ( la, Petrus Tradonicus; c. 800 - 13 September 864) was
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 ...
from 836 to 864. He was, according to tradition, the thirteenth doge, though historically he is only the eleventh. His election broke the power of the Participazio family.


History

An
Istria Istria ( ; Croatian language, Croatian and Slovene language, Slovene: ; ist, Eîstria; Istro-Romanian language, Istro-Romanian, Italian language, Italian and Venetian language, Venetian: ; formerly in Latin and in Ancient Greek) is the larges ...
n native, he was perhaps born in the late eighth or early ninth century. His family, originally from
Pula Pula (; also known as Pola, it, Pola , hu, Pòla, Venetian language, Venetian; ''Pola''; Istriot language, Istriot: ''Puola'', Slovene language, Slovene: ''Pulj'') is the largest city in Istria County, Croatia, and the List of cities and town ...
, had come to
Rialto The Rialto is a central area of Venice, Italy, in the ''sestiere'' of San Polo. It is, and has been for many centuries, the financial and commercial heart of the city. Rialto is known for its prominent markets as well as for the monumental Rialto ...
from
Jesolo Jesolo or Iesolo (; vec, Gèxoło) is a seaside resort town and ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Venice, Italy of 26,447 inhabitants. With around six million visitors per year, Jesolo is one of the largest beach resorts in the country, and ...
. He was illiterate and thus signed many state documents with a ''
signum manus ''Signum manus'' (transl. ''sign of the hand'', sometimes also known as ''Chrismon'') refers to the medieval European practice of signing a document or charter with a special type of monogram or royal cypher. The practice is documented from ...
''. He was a warrior, not an administrator. At his election in 836 he nominated his son Giovanni as co-regent, continuing the process begun a century earlier of establishing a hereditary dukedom with dynastic succession. All previous attempts had failed and this would turn out no differently. He fought the
Saracens file:Erhard Reuwich Sarazenen 1486.png, upright 1.5, Late 15th-century Germany in the Middle Ages, German woodcut depicting Saracens Saracen ( ) was a term used in the early centuries, both in Greek language, Greek and Latin writings, to refer ...
of
Bari Bari ( , ; nap, label= Barese, Bare ; lat, Barium) is the capital city of the Metropolitan City of Bari and of the Apulia region, on the Adriatic Sea, southern Italy. It is the second most important economic centre of mainland Southern Italy a ...
and
Taranto Taranto (, also ; ; nap, label= Tarantino, Tarde; Latin: Tarentum; Old Italian: ''Tarento''; Ancient Greek: Τάρᾱς) is a coastal city in Apulia, Southern Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Taranto, serving as an important com ...
, who had earlier defeated Venice at Sansego, an island south of
Pula Pula (; also known as Pola, it, Pola , hu, Pòla, Venetian language, Venetian; ''Pola''; Istriot language, Istriot: ''Puola'', Slovene language, Slovene: ''Pulj'') is the largest city in Istria County, Croatia, and the List of cities and town ...
. He had to deal not only with Saracen pirates, but with
Slavs Slavs are the largest European ethnolinguistic group. They speak the various Slavic languages, belonging to the larger Balto-Slavic branch of the Indo-European languages. Slavs are geographically distributed throughout northern Eurasia, main ...
as well. He led a large fleet against in 839 to punish the Narentines (also called Neretvians) for raiding and slaughtering several Venetian traders returning from
Benevento Benevento (, , ; la, Beneventum) is a city and ''comune'' of Campania, Italy, capital of the province of Benevento, northeast of Naples. It is situated on a hill above sea level at the confluence of the Calore Irpino (or Beneventano) and the ...
in 834–835. He made peace with
Duke Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they are ran ...
Mislav Mislav ( la, Muisclavo) was a duke () in Croatia from around 835 until his death around 845. Mislav came to power at some point after Vladislav as the Duke of Dalmatian Croatia. He ruled from Klis in central Dalmatia, when he made Klis Fortress ...
of the
Croats The Croats (; hr, Hrvati ) are a South Slavic ethnic group who share a common Croatian ancestry, culture, history and language. They are also a recognized minority in a number of neighboring countries, namely Austria, the Czech Republic, G ...
of
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 ...
and a Narentine prince by the name of Družak (''Drosaico, Marianorum judice''). His military assault on the Neretvians in 840 failed and he lost more than 100 men and had to return to Venetia. The Neretvians continued to push against him and, in 846, breached Venice itself and raided the neighbouring lagoon city of
Caorle Caorle (; vec, Càorle) is a coastal town in the Metropolitan City of Venice, Veneto, northern Italy, located between the estuaries of the Livenza and Lemene rivers. It is situated on the Adriatic Sea between two other tourist towns, Eraclea and ...
. In 840, the
Emperor An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereignty, sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), ...
Lothair I Lothair I or Lothar I (Dutch and Medieval Latin: ''Lotharius''; German: ''Lothar''; French: ''Lothaire''; Italian: ''Lotario'') (795 – 29 September 855) was emperor (817–855, co-ruling with his father until 840), and the governor of Bavar ...
recognised the independence of Venice and its authority over the lagoon as far as the "", i.e., the sea ("salt waters"), already recognised by
Byzantium Byzantium () or Byzantion ( grc, Βυζάντιον) was an ancient Greek city in classical antiquity that became known as Constantinople in late antiquity and Istanbul today. The Greek name ''Byzantion'' and its Latinization ''Byzantium'' cont ...
. From the latter he received the titles of ''
spatharius The ''spatharii'' or ''spatharioi'' (singular: la, spatharius; el, σπαθάριος, literally " spatha-bearer") were a class of Late Roman imperial bodyguards in the court in Constantinople in the 5th–6th centuries, later becoming a purely ...
'' and '' hypatus''. In Spring 856, Pietro and his son and co-regent Giovanni hosted
Emperor Louis II Louis II (825 – 12 August 875), sometimes called the Younger, was the king of Italy and emperor of the Carolingian Empire from 844, co-ruling with his father Lothair I until 855, after which he ruled alone. Louis's usual title was ''impera ...
and his wife
Engelberga Engelberga (or Angilberga, died between 896 and 901) was the wife of Emperor Louis II and thus Carolingian empress to his death on 12 August 875.Bougard, François (1993)"ENGELBERGA (Enghelberga, Angelberga), imperatrice"‘’Treccani’’. As ...
in a three-day visit to Venice. During this visit the Emperor stood godfather to Giovanni's daughter, whose name is not known. Giovanni died in 863. Pietro himself died a year later on 13 September 864, having been ambushed and attacked by a group of malcontents while returning from vespers at the Church of San Zaccaria. His body was recovered a while later by monks of San Zaccaria, who buried him in the church. Those responsible for his murder were punished accordingly: some were executed, others condemned to exile in France and Constantinople. He was succeeded by Orso Participazio, whose rise to power was perhaps facilitated by the absence of a Tradonico heir.


Sources

* Norwich, John Julius. ''A History of Venice''.
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:
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, 1982. {{DEFAULTSORT:Tradonico, Pietro 800s births 864 deaths 9th-century Doges of Venice Year of birth uncertain People from Pula