Pietro I Orseolo (c.928–987) acted as ambassador to the Holy Roman Emperor
Otto I before he was elected doge in August 976. Just previous to this event part of Venice had been burned down and Pietro began the rebuilding of
St. Mark's Basilica and the
Doge's Palace. He is chiefly celebrated, however, for his piety and his generosity, and after holding office for two years he left Venice secretly and retired to a
monastery in the
Pyrénées-Orientales, France, where he passed his remaining days. He was
canonized in 1731.[1]
Pietro II Orseolo (died 1009), a son of
Pietro I Orseolo, was himself elected to this office in 991. He was a great builder, but his chief work was to crush the
pirates of the
Adriatic Sea and to bring a long stretch of the
Dalmatian coast under the rule of Venice, thus relieving the commerce of the republic from a great and pressing danger. The fleet which achieved this result was led by the doge in person; it sailed on
Ascension Day, 9 May 1000, and its progress was attended with uninterrupted success. In honor of this victory the Venetians instituted the ceremony which afterwards grew into the sposalizio del mar, or
Marriage of the Sea, and which was celebrated each year on Ascension Day, while the doge added to his title that of duke of Dalmatia. In many other ways Pietro's services to the state were considerable, and he may be said to be one of the chief founders of the commercial greatness of Venice. The doge was on very friendly terms with the emperor
Otto III and also with the emperors at
Constantinople, and in 1003 he sailed against the Saracens and compelled them to raise the siege of
Bari. In 1003 his son Giovanni was associated with him in the dogeship, and on Giovanni's death in 1007 another son, Ottone, succeeded to this position.[1] His grandson,
Peter Krešimir IV, also became King of Croatia and Dalmatia.
Otto Orseolo (died 1032), whose
godfather was the emperor Otto III, became sole doge on his father's death in 1009. He married a sister of King
Stephen I of Hungary, and under his rule Venice was powerful and prosperous. One of his brothers, Orso, was
patriarch of Grado; another, Vitalis, was
bishop of
Torcello, but the growing wealth and influence of the Orseolo family soon filled the Venetians with alarm. About 1024 Ottone and Orso were driven from Venice, but when Orso's rival,
Poppo, Patriarch of Aquileia, seized Grado, the exiled doge and his brother was recalled and Grado was recovered. In 1026 Ottone was banished; he found a refuge in Constantinople, where he remained until his death, although in 1030 an embassy invited him to return to Venice, where his brother Orso acted as agent for fourteen months. Orso remained patriarch of Grado until his death in 1045, and another member of the Orseolo family, Domenico, was doge for a single day in 1031. After the fall of the Orseoli the Venetians decreed that no doge should name his successor, or associate any one with him in the dogeship. Ottone's son, Pietro the Venetian, was King of
Hungary for some time after the death of his uncle, St. Stephen, in 1038.[1]
See Kohlschütter, Venedig unter dem Herzog Peter II. Orseolo (Göttingen, 1868); H. F. Brown, Venice (1895); F. C. Hodgson, The Early History of Venice (1901); and W. C. Hazlitt, The Venetian Republic (1900).[1]
Pietro I Orseolo (c.928–987) acted as ambassador to the Holy Roman Emperor
Otto I before he was elected doge in August 976. Just previous to this event part of Venice had been burned down and Pietro began the rebuilding of
St. Mark's Basilica and the
Doge's Palace. He is chiefly celebrated, however, for his piety and his generosity, and after holding office for two years he left Venice secretly and retired to a
monastery in the
Pyrénées-Orientales, France, where he passed his remaining days. He was
canonized in 1731.[1]
Pietro II Orseolo (died 1009), a son of
Pietro I Orseolo, was himself elected to this office in 991. He was a great builder, but his chief work was to crush the
pirates of the
Adriatic Sea and to bring a long stretch of the
Dalmatian coast under the rule of Venice, thus relieving the commerce of the republic from a great and pressing danger. The fleet which achieved this result was led by the doge in person; it sailed on
Ascension Day, 9 May 1000, and its progress was attended with uninterrupted success. In honor of this victory the Venetians instituted the ceremony which afterwards grew into the sposalizio del mar, or
Marriage of the Sea, and which was celebrated each year on Ascension Day, while the doge added to his title that of duke of Dalmatia. In many other ways Pietro's services to the state were considerable, and he may be said to be one of the chief founders of the commercial greatness of Venice. The doge was on very friendly terms with the emperor
Otto III and also with the emperors at
Constantinople, and in 1003 he sailed against the Saracens and compelled them to raise the siege of
Bari. In 1003 his son Giovanni was associated with him in the dogeship, and on Giovanni's death in 1007 another son, Ottone, succeeded to this position.[1] His grandson,
Peter Krešimir IV, also became King of Croatia and Dalmatia.
Otto Orseolo (died 1032), whose
godfather was the emperor Otto III, became sole doge on his father's death in 1009. He married a sister of King
Stephen I of Hungary, and under his rule Venice was powerful and prosperous. One of his brothers, Orso, was
patriarch of Grado; another, Vitalis, was
bishop of
Torcello, but the growing wealth and influence of the Orseolo family soon filled the Venetians with alarm. About 1024 Ottone and Orso were driven from Venice, but when Orso's rival,
Poppo, Patriarch of Aquileia, seized Grado, the exiled doge and his brother was recalled and Grado was recovered. In 1026 Ottone was banished; he found a refuge in Constantinople, where he remained until his death, although in 1030 an embassy invited him to return to Venice, where his brother Orso acted as agent for fourteen months. Orso remained patriarch of Grado until his death in 1045, and another member of the Orseolo family, Domenico, was doge for a single day in 1031. After the fall of the Orseoli the Venetians decreed that no doge should name his successor, or associate any one with him in the dogeship. Ottone's son, Pietro the Venetian, was King of
Hungary for some time after the death of his uncle, St. Stephen, in 1038.[1]
See Kohlschütter, Venedig unter dem Herzog Peter II. Orseolo (Göttingen, 1868); H. F. Brown, Venice (1895); F. C. Hodgson, The Early History of Venice (1901); and W. C. Hazlitt, The Venetian Republic (1900).[1]