Nicolò Contarini (26 September 15531 April 1631), was the 97th

Doge of Venice The Doge of Venice ( ) – in Italian, was the doge or highest role of authority within the Republic of Venice (697–1797). The word derives from the Latin , meaning 'leader', and Venetian Italian dialect for 'duke', highest official of the ...

from 2 January 1630 until his death in 1631. During his tenure the

Italian plague of 1629–1631 Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

reached Venice, killing one third of the population.

Biography

Nicolò Contarini was born in

Venice Venice ( ; ; , formerly ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 islands that are separated by expanses of open water and by canals; portions of the city are li ...

, the son of Giovanna Morosini and Giangabriele

Contarini The Contarini is one of the founding families of Venicehttps://archive.org/details/teatroaraldicose02tett, Leone Tettoni. ''Teatro araldico ovvero raccolta generale delle armi ed insegne gentilizie delle piu illustri e nobili casate che esis ...

, a man who was not rich, but who nevertheless was familiar with

high culture In a society, high culture encompasses culture, cultural objects of Objet d'art, aesthetic value that a society collectively esteems as exemplary works of art, as well as the literature, music, history, and philosophy a society considers represen ...

. Nicolò Contarini became familiar with

philosophy Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

and soon gained a reputation for fairness in his conduct of the

public administration Public administration, or public policy and administration refers to "the management of public programs", or the "translation of politics into the reality that citizens see every day",Kettl, Donald and James Fessler. 2009. ''The Politics of the ...

of 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 ...

. Politically, he was a supporter of

Leonardo Donato Leonardo Donà, or Donato (Venice, 12 February 1536Venice, 16 July 1612) was the 90th Doge of Venice from his election on 10 January 1606 to his death in 1612. His reign is chiefly remembered for Venice's dispute with the papacy, which resulted ...

. During the factional divisions of Venice between supporters of Giovanni I Cornaro and Renier Zen in late 1629, Contarini was critical of Cornaro, but was never extreme in his opposition, which won him the respect of Cornaro's supporters. Upon the death of Cornaro, a heated debate led to many rounds of balloting as supporters of Cornaro and supporters of Zen were unable to agree on a candidate. Contarini ultimately emerged as the compromise candidate and was elected Doge on 18 January 1630. Contarini's reign began poorly, with Venetian troops, who were participating in the

War of the Mantuan Succession The War of the Mantuan Succession, from 1628 to 1631, was caused by the death in December 1627 of Vincenzo II, last male heir from the House of Gonzaga, long-time rulers of Mantua and Montferrat. Their strategic importance led to a proxy war b ...

, losing a decisive battle at Valeggio in May 1630, a predecessor to the unsatisfying Peace of

Regensburg Regensburg (historically known in English as Ratisbon) is a city in eastern Bavaria, at the confluence of the rivers Danube, Naab and Regen (river), Regen, Danube's northernmost point. It is the capital of the Upper Palatinate subregion of the ...

in October 1630. Venice suffered its first outbreak of

bubonic plague Bubonic plague is one of three types of Plague (disease), plague caused by the Bacteria, bacterium ''Yersinia pestis''. One to seven days after exposure to the bacteria, flu-like symptoms develop. These symptoms include fever, headaches, and ...

in June 1630. The government acted promptly, imposing

quarantine A quarantine is a restriction on the movement of people, animals, and goods which is intended to prevent the spread of disease or pests. It is often used in connection to disease and illness, preventing the movement of those who may have bee ...

on plague victims and burning the

corpses A cadaver, often known as a corpse, is a dead human body. Cadavers are used by medical students, physicians and other scientists to study anatomy, identify disease sites, determine causes of death, and provide tissue to repair a defect in a liv ...

, but it was unable to prevent the death of thousands. In October 1630, at the request of the

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", "governi ...

, Contarini vowed to construct a

church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a place/building for Christian religious activities and praying * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian comm ...

in honour of the

Blessed Virgin Mary Mary was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Saint Joseph, Joseph and the mother of Jesus. She is an important figure of Christianity, venerated under titles of Mary, mother of Jesus, various titles such as Perpetual virginity ...

once the plague was over. Contarini died in Venice on 2 April 1631, before the

cornerstone A cornerstone (or foundation stone or setting stone) is the first stone set in the construction of a masonry Foundation (engineering), foundation. All other stones will be set in reference to this stone, thus determining the position of the entir ...

of this church,

Santa Maria della Salute Santa Maria della Salute (; ), commonly known simply as La Salute (), is a Roman Catholic church and minor basilica located at the Punta della Dogana in the Dorsoduro sestiere of the city of Venice, Italy. It stands on the narrow finger of Pun ...

, was laid.

References

This article was based on this article on

Italian Wikipedia The Italian Wikipedia () is the Italian language, Italian-language edition of Wikipedia. This edition was created on 10 May 2001, and first edited on 11 June 2001. As of , it has articles and more than registered accounts. It is the -largest W ...

. {{DEFAULTSORT:Contarini, Nicolo 1553 births 1631 deaths Nicolo 16th-century Italian nobility 17th-century Italian nobility 17th-century Doges of Venice People of the War of the Mantuan Succession