Lucrezio Gravisi (1558 – 30 December 1613) was a Venetian freelance soldier from Capodistra in

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 ...

, now

Koper Koper (; it, Capodistria, hr, Kopar) is the fifth largest city in Slovenia. Located in the Istrian region in the southwestern part of the country, approximately five kilometres () south of the border with Italy and 20 kilometres () from Triest ...

Slovenia Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, an ...

. He was knighted by the

King of Poland Poland was ruled at various times either by dukes and princes (10th to 14th centuries) or by kings (11th to 18th centuries). During the latter period, a tradition of free election of monarchs made it a uniquely electable position in Europe (16t ...

. For some time he commanded the castle of

Brescia Brescia (, locally ; lmo, link=no, label= Lombard, Brèsa ; lat, Brixia; vec, Bressa) is a city and ''comune'' in the region of Lombardy, Northern Italy. It is situated at the foot of the Alps, a few kilometers from the lakes Garda and Iseo. ...

. He was assassinated in

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 ...

while traveling to the east. Lucrezio Gravisi was a member of the family of the Marquis of Pietrapelosa, based in Capodistria but named after their estate of

Pietrapelosa Pietrapelosa ( hr, Kostel, Kaštel, Kosmati grad, Kosmati Kostel, Kosmati Kaštel) is a castle in the Croatian part of Istria, now ruined. In the medieval period a family took their name from the castle. "Pietrapelosa" comes from the Italian words ...

in the interior of Istria.

Biography

He was born in Capodistra in 1558. By the age of 16, he had sailed on the galley of his relative

Pietro Gravisi Pietro Gravisi (1520–1588), Marquis of Pietrapelosa, was the commander of a Venetian galley in the Battle of Lepanto in 1571, and fought in the War of Siena and against the Ottomans. His relative Lucrezio Gravisi (1558–1613), later to by knigh ...

in the war against the Turks. He traveled in Spain and Portugal, and then to the court of the Polish King

Sigismund III Vasa Sigismund III Vasa ( pl, Zygmunt III Waza, lt, Žygimantas Vaza; 20 June 1566 – 30 April 1632 N.S.) was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1587 to 1632 and, as Sigismund, King of Sweden and Grand Duke of Finland from 1592 to ...

. In 1588 Sigismund made him a knight for his services in Prussia and Muscovy. In 1606 he was Sigismund's representative in a mission to the papal court in Rome. Lucrezio Gravisi became a soldier of fortune, helping fight the Turks at

Buda Buda (; german: Ofen, sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Budim, Будим, Czech and sk, Budín, tr, Budin) was the historic capital of the Kingdom of Hungary and since 1873 has been the western part of the Hungarian capital Budapest, on the ...

. For a year he guarded the castle of

for the Venetian Republic. Returning to Venice, he was dispatched to Candia (Crete) with two companies of soldiers to stop the raids of pirates. However, while in harbor in Mandre, a port on the island of Pag in Dalmatia, pirates in six boats attacked his galley at night while the crew was sleeping. All the occupants were killed, including Gravisi, and their bodies were thrown into the sea. His wife Paola Strassoldo, his brother and his cousin were also killed in this incident.

References

;Citations ;Sources * * * * * ;Further reading * {{DEFAULTSORT:Gravisi, Lucrezio 1558 births 1614 deaths 16th-century condottieri 17th-century condottieri People from Koper