Jacopo or Giacomo I da Carrara, called the Great (''Grande''), was the founder of the

Carraresi The House of Carrara or Carraresi (da Carrara) was an important family of northern Italy in the 12th to 15th centuries. The family held the title of Lords of Padua from 1318 to 1405. Under their rule, Padua conquered Verona, Vicenza, Treviso, F ...

dynasty that ruled

Padua Padua ( ; it, Padova ; vec, Pàdova) is a city and ''comune'' in Veneto, northern Italy. Padua is on the river Bacchiglione, west of Venice. It is the capital of the province of Padua. It is also the economic and communications hub of the ...

from 1318 to 1405. He governed with the advice of the leading citizens during a rule characterized by unity within the city. John Kenneth Hyde (1973), ''Society and Politics in Medieval Italy: The Evolution of the Civil Life, 1000–1350'' (St. Martin's Press), 193. He is usually considered the first

lord of Padua The Lords of Padua ruled the city from 1308 until 1405. The commune of Padua became a hereditary one-man lordship () with the election of Jacopo I da Carrara as ''capitano del popolo'' in 1308. His descendants, the Carraresi, ruled the city and i ...

(''signore''), his election marking the transition from

commune A commune is an alternative term for an intentional community. Commune or comună or comune or other derivations may also refer to: Administrative-territorial entities * Commune (administrative division), a municipality or township ** Communes of ...

''ad singularem dominum'' (to a single lord), a characteristic regime known as a ''

signoria A signoria () was the governing authority in many of the Italian city states during the Medieval and Renaissance periods. The word signoria comes from ''signore'' , or "lord"; an abstract noun meaning (roughly) "government; governing authority; ...

'' to contemporaries.Gregorio Piaia (2004), "The Shadow of Antenor: On the Relationship between the ''Defensor Pacis'' and the Institutions of the City of Padua," ''Politische Reflexion in der Welt des späten Mittelalters: Political thought in the age of scholasticism: Essays in honour of Jürgen Miethke'', Jürgen Miethke and Martin Kaufhold, edd. (BRILL), 200. Jacopo, a

Guelph Guelph ( ; 2021 Canadian Census population 143,740) is a city in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. Known as "The Royal City", Guelph is roughly east of Kitchener and west of Downtown Toronto, at the intersection of Highway 6, Highway 7 and Wel ...

, led the Paduans to war against

Verona Verona ( , ; vec, Verona or ) is a city on the Adige River in Veneto, Italy, with 258,031 inhabitants. It is one of the seven provincial capitals of the region. It is the largest city municipality in the region and the second largest in nor ...

in 1311 over the disputed possession of

Vicenza Vicenza ( , ; ) is a city in northeastern Italy. It is in the Veneto region at the northern base of the ''Monte Berico'', where it straddles the Bacchiglione River. Vicenza is approximately west of Venice and east of Milan. Vicenza is a thr ...

. In response to the threat of the

Ghibellines The Guelphs and Ghibellines (, , ; it, guelfi e ghibellini ) were factions supporting the Pope and the Holy Roman Emperor, respectively, in the Italian city-states of Central Italy and Northern Italy. During the 12th and 13th centuries, ri ...

and continuous internal feuding, shortly after 25 July 1318 the Paduan aristocracy elected Jacopo as ''defensor'', ''protector'', and ''gubernator'' in perpetuity. John Kenneth Hyde (1966), ''Padua in the age of Dante'' (Manchester: Manchester University Press), 3. Jacopo's election owed something to an alliance between Padua's own Ghibelline and Guelph factions, and after his election many Ghibelline exiles returned. Jacopo sent the poet

Albertino Mussato Albertino Mussato (1261–1329) was a statesman, poet, historian and playwright from Padua. He is credited with providing an impetus to the revival of literary Latin, and is characterized as an early humanist. He was influenced by his teacher, the ...

, who objected to the ''signoria'' and pined for the old commune, into exile that year. In 1319 the Ghibelline Cangrande I della Scala besieged Padua and demanded the abdication of Jacopo in return for peace. Jacopo stepped down temporarily to save the city; the ''signoria'' was transferred to

Frederick the Fair Frederick the Fair (german: Friedrich der Schöne) or the Handsome (c. 1289 – 13 January 1330), from the House of Habsburg, was the duke of Austria and Styria from 1308 as well as the anti-king of Germany from 1314 until 1325 and then co-king ...

, a contender for the

Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire was a political entity in Western, Central, and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its dissolution in 1806 during the Napoleonic Wars. From the accession of Otto I in 962 ...

. In the end Jacopo succeeded in preventing Padua from falling to either the

Scaligeri The Della Scala family, whose members were known as Scaligeri () or Scaligers (; from the Latinized ''de Scalis''), was the ruling family of Verona and mainland Veneto (except for Venice) from 1262 to 1387, for a total of 125 years. History W ...

or the Scrovegni. Jacopo was married to Anna, daughter of

Pietro Gradenigo Pietro Gradenigo (1251 – 13 August 1311) was the 49th Doge of Venice, reigning from 1289 to his death. When he was elected Doge, he was serving as the podestà of Capodistria in Istria. Venice suffered a serious blow with the fall of Acre, ...

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 ...

and Tomasina Morosini, the niece of Tomasina Morosini. Anna gave him one daughter, Taddea, and died in 1321. He himself died in 1324 and was buried in the Church of Saint Stephen in

Due Carrare Due Carrare is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Padua in the Italian region Veneto, located about southwest of Venice and about south of Padua. This municipality is the result of the merging of two different municipalities (''Carr ...

. Taddea moved to Venice on her father's death and there married Cangrande's nephew Mastino II della Scala in the

Church of San Giorgio Maggiore San Giorgio Maggiore (San Zorzi Mazor in Venetian) is a 16th-century Benedictine church on the island of the same name in Venice, northern Italy, designed by Andrea Palladio, and built between 1566 and 1610. The church is a basilica in the class ...

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jacopo 01 Da Carrara 13th-century births 1324 deaths Lords of Padua 13th-century Italian nobility 14th-century Italian nobility Burials at the Church of the Eremitani Da Carrara family