Giovanni Bellini, portrait of Doge Leonardo Loredan

A doge ( , ; plural dogi or doges) was an elected

lord Lord is an appellation for a person or deity who has authority, control, or power over others, acting as a master, chief, or ruler. The appellation can also denote certain persons who hold a title of the peerage in the United Kingdom, or are ...

and

head of state A head of state (or chief of state) is the public persona who officially embodies a state Foakes, pp. 110–11 " he head of statebeing an embodiment of the State itself or representatitve of its international persona." in its unity and l ...

in several

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

city-state A city-state is an independent sovereign city which serves as the center of political, economic, and cultural life over its contiguous territory. They have existed in many parts of the world since the dawn of history, including cities such as ...

s, notably

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 ...

and

Genoa Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Italian region of Liguria and the sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of the 2011 Italian census, the Province of ...

, during the medieval and

renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history The history of Europe is traditionally divided into four time periods: prehistoric Europe (prior to about 800 BC), classical antiquity (800 BC to AD ...

periods. Such states are referred to as " crowned republics".

Etymology

The word is from the

Venetian language Venetian, wider Venetian or Venetan ( or ) is a Romance language spoken natively in the northeast of Italy,Ethnologue mostly in the Veneto region, where most of the five million inhabitants can understand it. It is sometimes spoken and of ...

, reaching

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

via French. ', along with the related English word ''duke'' and the

'', '' (masculine) and ' (feminine) all descend from the

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

', meaning either "spiritual leader" or "military commander". However, the words ''duce'' and ''Duca'' are not interchangeable. Moreover, ''Duca'' (duke) is an aristocratic and hereditary title. The wife of a doge is styled a ''

Dogaressa Dogaressa ( , , ) was the official title of the wife of the Doge of Venice. The title was unique for Venice: while the head of the Republic of Genoa were also called Doge, the wives of the Doges of Genoa were not called ''Dogaressa'', nor did t ...

'' and the office of the doge is termed ''dogeship''.

Usage

Archive-ugent-be-79D46426-CC9D-11E3-B56B-4FBAD43445F2 DS-240 (cropped)

The title of ''doge'' was used for the elected chief of state in several

crowned republic A crowned republic, also known as a monarchial republic, is an informal term that has been used to refer to a system of monarchy where the monarch's role may be seen as almost entirely ceremonial and where nearly all of the royal prerogatives are ...

s". The two best known such republics were

(where in Venetian he was called ) and

(where he was called a ) which rivalled each other, and the other regional great powers, by building their historical city-states into maritime, commercial, and territorial empires. Other Italian republics to have doges were

Amalfi Amalfi (, , ) is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Salerno, in the region of Campania, Italy, on the Gulf of Salerno. It lies at the mouth of a deep ravine, at the foot of Monte Cerreto (1,315 metres, 4,314 feet), surrounded by dramati ...

and the small town of

Senarica Senarica is a village in the Abruzzo region of central Italy. With a population of fewer than 300 people, Senarica was an independent republic for about four centuries until the end of the eighteenth century. It was the smallest state to maintain ...

. In several of his writings,

Theodor Herzl Theodor Herzl; hu, Herzl Tivadar; Hebrew name given at his brit milah: Binyamin Ze'ev (2 May 1860 – 3 July 1904) was an Austro-Hungarian Jewish lawyer, journalist, playwright, political activist, and writer who was the father of modern po ...

, the founder of modern political

Zionism Zionism ( he, צִיּוֹנוּת ''Tsiyyonut'' after '' Zion'') is a nationalist movement that espouses the establishment of, and support for a homeland for the Jewish people centered in the area roughly corresponding to what is known in Je ...

, proposed that the future Jewish State take the title of "Dog" for its head of state – but this was not taken up by the actual state of

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

Selection

After 1172 the election of the

Venetian doge 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 ...

was entrusted to a committee of forty, who were chosen by four men selected from the

Great Council of Venice The Great Council or Major Council ( it, Maggior Consiglio; vec, Mazor Consegio) was a political organ of the Republic of Venice between 1172 and 1797. It was the chief political assembly, responsible for electing many of the other political off ...

, which was itself nominated annually by 12 persons. After a deadlocked tie at the election of 1229, the number of electors was increased from forty to forty-one. New regulations for the

elections An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold Public administration, public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative ...

of the doge introduced in 1268 remained in force until the end of the republic in 1797. Their object was to minimize as far as possible the influence of individual great families, and this was effected by complex elective machinery. Thirty members of the Great Council, chosen by lot, were reduced by lot to nine; the nine chose forty and the forty were reduced by lot to twelve, who chose twenty-five. The twenty-five were reduced by lot to nine and the nine elected forty-five. Then the forty-five were once more reduced by lot to eleven, and the eleven finally chose the forty-one who elected the doge. None could be elected but by at least twenty-five votes out of forty-one, nine votes out of eleven or twelve, or seven votes out of nine electors. Initially, the

doge of Genoa The Doge of Genoa ( lij, Dûxe, ; la, Januensium dux et populi defensor, "Commander of the Genoese and Defender of the People") was the ruler of the Republic of Genoa, a city-state and soon afterwards a maritime republic, from 1339 until the s ...

was elected without restriction and by popular suffrage. Following reforms in 1528,

plebeians In ancient Rome, the plebeians (also called plebs) were the general body of free Roman citizens who were not patricians, as determined by the census, or in other words " commoners". Both classes were hereditary. Etymology The precise origins of ...

were declared ineligible, and the appointment of the doge was entrusted to the members of the Great Council, the '.

Term of office and restrictions of power

In Venice, doges normally ruled for life, although a few were forcibly removed from office. While doges had great temporal power at first, after 1268, the doge was constantly under strict surveillance: he had to wait for other officials to be present before opening dispatches from foreign powers; he was not allowed to possess any property in a foreign land. After a doge's death, a commission of ' passed judgment upon his acts, and his estate was liable to be fined for any discovered malfeasance. The official income of the doge was never large, and from early times holders of the office remained engaged in trading ventures. Originally, Genoese doges held office for life in the so-called "perpetual dogeship"; but after the reform effected by

Andrea Doria Andrea Doria, Prince of Melfi (; lij, Drîa Döia ; 30 November 146625 November 1560) was a Genoese statesman, ', and admiral, who played a key role in the Republic of Genoa during his lifetime. As the ruler of Genoa, Doria reformed the Re ...

in 1528 the

term Term may refer to: * Terminology, or term, a noun or compound word used in a specific context, in particular: **Technical term, part of the specialized vocabulary of a particular field, specifically: ***Scientific terminology, terms used by scient ...

of his office was reduced to two years. The ruling caste of Genoa tied them to executive committees, kept them on a small budget, and kept them apart from the communal revenues held at the '.

Gallery

File:FrancescoFoscariBastiani.jpg,

Francesco Foscari Francesco Foscari (19 June 1373 – 1 November 1457) was the 65th Doge of the Republic of Venice from 1423 to 1457. His reign, the longest of all Doges in Venetian history, lasted 34 years, 6 months and 8 days, and coincided with the inception o ...

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 ...

(1423–1457) by

Lazzaro Bastiani Lazzaro Bastiani (1429 – 5 April 1512) was an Italian painter of the Renaissance, active mainly in Venice. He was born in Padua. He is first recorded as a painter in Venice by 1460 in a payment for an altarpiece of San Samuele, for the Procura ...

File:Bellini, Gentile - Mocenigo, Giovanni, Doge - Museo Correr.jpg, Portrait of Giovanni Mocenigo, Doge of Venice (1478–1485) by

Gentile Bellini Gentile Bellini (c. 1429 – 23 February 1507) was an Italian painter of the school of Venice. He came from Venice's leading family of painters, and at least in the early part of his career was more highly regarded than his younger brother Giovan ...

File:Gentile Bellini 010.jpeg, Pasquale Malipiero, Doge of Venice (1457–1462) by Gentile Bellini File:Portrait of Doge Marino Grimani by Domenico Tintoretto, Cincinnati Art Museum.JPG, Marino Grimani, Doge of Venice (1532–1560) by

Domenico Tintoretto Domenico Robusti, also known as Domenico Tintoretto, (1560 – 17 May 1635) was an Italian painter from Venice. He grew up under the tutelage of his father, the renowned painter Jacopo Tintoretto. Life Apprenticeship Domenico was born in V ...

File:Accademia - Bernardo Strozzi Portrait de Francesco Erizzo.jpg, Francesco Erizzo, Doge of Venice (1631-1646) by

Bernardo Strozzi Bernardo Strozzi, named il Cappuccino and il Prete Genovese (c. 1581 – 2 August 1644) was an Italian Baroque painter and engraver. A canvas and fresco artist, his wide subject range included history, allegorical, genre and portrait paintin ...

File:Anthony van Dyck - Portrait of Agostino Pallavicini - Google Art Project.jpg,

Agostino Pallavicini Agostino Pallavicini (Genoa, 1577Genoa, 1649) was the 103rd Doge of the Republic of Genoa and king of Corsica. Biography For the Republic of Genoa he held various institutional positions, including the appointment of governor of Corsica in th ...

, Doge of Genoa (1637-1639) by Anthony van Dyck File:Doge Simone Spinola-dipinto di Andrea Semino.jpg, Simone Spinola, Doge of Genoa (1567–1569) by Andrea Semoni File:Jan Hovaert - Portrait of Luca Giustiniani, the doge of Genoa.jpg, Luca Giustiniani, Doge of Genoa (1644–1646) by Jan Hovaert File:Francesco Maria Imperiale-doge.jpg, Francesco Maria Imperiale, Doge of Genoa (1711-1713) by Giovanni Maria delle Piane File:Michelangelo Cambiaso, Doge of Genoa, by Anton von Maron.jpg, Michelangelo Cambiaso, Doge of Genoa (1791-1793) by Anton von Maron

References