The House of Cornaro or Corner were a Venetian patrician family in the

Republic of Venice The Republic of Venice, officially the Most Serene Republic of Venice and traditionally known as La Serenissima, was a sovereign state and Maritime republics, maritime republic with its capital in Venice. Founded, according to tradition, in 697 ...

and included many Doges and other high officials. The name ''Corner'', originally from the Venetian dialect, was adopted in the eighteenth century. The older standard Italian ''Cornaro'' is no longer common in Italian sources referring to earlier members of the family, but remains so in English.

History

The family and name Cornaro are said to descend from the gens Cornelia, a patrician family of

Ancient Rome In modern historiography, ancient Rome is the Roman people, Roman civilisation from the founding of Rome, founding of the Italian city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the Fall of the Western Roman Empire, collapse of the Western Roman Em ...

. The Cornari were among the twelve

tribunal A tribunal, generally, is any person or institution with authority to judge, adjudicate on, or determine claims or disputes—whether or not it is called a tribunal in its title. For example, an advocate who appears before a court with a singl ...

families of the

and provided founding members of the Great Council in 1172. In the 14th century, the family separated into two distinct branches, Cornaro of the Great House and Cornaro Piscopia. The latter name derived from the 1363 grant of the

fief A fief (; ) was a central element in medieval contracts based on feudal law. It consisted of a form of property holding or other rights granted by an overlord to a vassal, who held it in fealty or "in fee" in return for a form of feudal alle ...

of Piscopia in the

Kingdom of Cyprus The Kingdom of Cyprus (; ) was a medieval kingdom of the Crusader states that existed between 1192 and 1489. Initially ruled as an independent Christian kingdom, it was established by the French House of Lusignan after the Third Crusade. I ...

to Federico Cornaro. When Caterina Cornaro married king

James II of Cyprus James II (; /1439 or 1440 – 10 July 1473) was the penultimate King of Cyprus (usurper), reigning from 1460/1464 until his death. Archbishop of Nicosia James was born in Nicosia as the illegitimate son of John II of Cyprus and Marietta d ...

in 1468, the Lusignan royal arms were added to the family arms party per pale. They had eight palaces on the Grand Canal, Venice at different times, including Ca' Corner and what is now the Palazzo Loredan dell'Ambasciatore. They commissioned many famous monuments and works of art, including

Bernini Gian Lorenzo (or Gianlorenzo) Bernini (, ; ; Italian Giovanni Lorenzo; 7 December 1598 – 28 November 1680) was an Italian sculptor and architect. While a major figure in the world of architecture, he was more prominently the leading sculptor ...

's '' Ecstasy of St Theresa'' in the Cornaro Chapel of Santa Maria della Vittoria, Rome (1652). In Greece the islands of Scarpanto and

Kasos Kasos (; , ), also Casos, is a Greek island municipality in the Dodecanese. It is the southernmost island in the Aegean Sea, and is part of the regional unit Karpathos-Kasos. The capital of the island is Fri. , its population was 1,223. ...

were their fiefs from the early 14th century until the Ottoman conquest.

Sugar trade

The Cornaro Piscopias ran a large sugar plantation in their fief near Episcopi in Venetian Cyprus, in which they exploited

slaves Slavery is the ownership of a person as property, especially in regards to their labour. Slavery typically involves compulsory work, with the slave's location of work and residence dictated by the party that holds them in bondage. Enslavemen ...

of Syrian or Arab origin or local

serfs Serfdom was the status of many peasants under feudalism, specifically relating to manorialism and similar systems. It was a condition of debt bondage and indentured servitude with similarities to and differences from slavery. It developed dur ...

. Sugar was transformed in-house with a large copper boiler made in Venice that the family paid hefty sums to maintain and operate. They exported sugarloaves and

powdered sugar Powdered sugar, also called confectioners' sugar and icing sugar, is a finely ground sugar produced by milling granulated sugar into a powdered state. It usually contains between 2% and 5% of an anti-caking agent—such as corn starch, potato ...

to Europe. The Cornaros were often in conflict with their neighbors over the use and handling of water.

Members

* Felicia Cornaro (died 1111), dogaressa of Venice * Giovanni Cornaro (), diplomat * Andrea Cornaro (died 1323), Margrave of Bodonitsa * Marco Cornaro (c.1286–1368), doge 1365–68 * Federico Cornaro (died 1382), merchant and politician, founder of the Piscopia plantation * Pietro Cornaro (died in 1387 or 1388), Lord of Argos and Nauplia from 1377 * Marco Cornaro (1406–1479), trader, patrician, diplomat * Luigi Cornaro (c.1464–1566), who wrote treatises on dieting * Giorgio Cornaro (1452–1527), brother of Caterina Cornaro * Caterina Cornaro (1454–1510), Queen of Cyprus from 1474 to 1489 * Francesco Cornaro (1476–1543),

Cardinal Cardinal or The Cardinal most commonly refers to * Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds **''Cardinalis'', genus of three species in the family Cardinalidae ***Northern cardinal, ''Cardinalis cardinalis'', the common cardinal of ...

from 1527 * Marco Cornaro (1482–1524), cardinal from 1522 * Andrea Cornaro (cardinal) (1511–1551), Italian Roman Catholic bishop of Brescia, and later cardinal * Giorgio Cornaro (1524–1578), Italian Roman Catholic Bishop of Treviso *

Federico Cornaro (1531–1590) Federico Cornaro (9 June 1531 – 4 October 1590) was a Roman Catholic prelate who served as Cardinal-Priest of Santo Stefano al Monte Celio (1586–1590), Bishop of Padua (1577–1590), Bishop of Bergamo (1561–1577), and Bishop of Trogir ( ...

, Italian Roman Catholic Cardinal-Priest of Santo Stefano al Monte Celio * Luigi Cornaro (cardinal), Italian Roman Catholic cardinal and Archbishop of Zadar *

Andrea Cornaro (historian) Andrea Cornaro (1547 – c. 1616) or Andreas Kornaros () was a Republic of Venice, Venetian aristocrat, historian and author. Personal life Cornaro was a Venetian aristocrat born in Trapezonta Sitia on the island of Crete. He was the son of Gi ...

(1547–c.1616), Venetian aristocrat, historian and author * Vitsentzos Kornaros (1553–1614),

Cretan Crete ( ; , Modern Greek, Modern: , Ancient Greek, Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the List of islands by area, 88th largest island in the world and the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, fifth la ...

poet * Marco Cornaro (1557–1625), Italian Roman Catholic prelate who served as Bishop of Padua * Cardinal

Federico Baldissera Bartolomeo Cornaro Federico Baldissera Bartolomeo Cornaro (16 November 1579 – 5 June 1653) was a Venetian Catholic Cardinal and Patriarch of Venice. Early life Cornaro was born in Venice on 16 November 1579, the son of Doge Giovanni Cornaro and Chiara Delfino ...

(1579–1653),

Patriarch of Venice The Patriarch of Venice (; ) is the ordinary of the Patriarchate of Venice. The bishop is one of only four patriarchs in the Latin Rite of the Catholic Church. The other three are the Patriarch of Lisbon, the Patriarch of the East Indies an ...

1631–44 * Giovanni I Cornaro (1551–1629), doge from 1624 * Marco Antonio Cornaro (1583–1639), Italian Roman Catholic Bishop of Padua * Francesco Corner (1585–1656), doge in 1656 * Elena Cornaro Piscopia (1646–1684), first woman to get a

Doctor of Philosophy A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of Postgraduate education, graduate study and original resear ...

degree (from the

University of Padua The University of Padua (, UNIPD) is an Italian public research university in Padua, Italy. It was founded in 1222 by a group of students and teachers from the University of Bologna, who previously settled in Vicenza; thus, it is the second-oldest ...

in 1678) * Giovanni II Cornaro (1647–1722), doge from 1709 * Giorgio Cornaro (cardinal) (1658–1722), cardinal from 1697 *

Laura Cornaro Laura Cornaro (died 1739) was the Dogaressa of Venice by marriage to the Doge Giovanni II Cornaro (r. 1709-1722). Laura Cornaro was born to Nicolo Cornaro and married her cousin Giovanni II Cornaro in 1667. In 1709, her husband was elected doge, ...

(d.1739), dogaressa of Venice, by marriage to the Doge Giovanni II Cornaro * Giovanni Cornaro (1720–1789), cardinal from 1778

References

{{Reflist

External links

Cornaro family
Republic of Venice families Italian noble families