Marino Morosini was the 44th doge

Doge of Venice

The Doge of Venice , often mistranslated Duke was the chief magistrate and leader of the Most Serene Republic of Venice for over a thousand years. Doges of Venice were elected for life by the city-state's aristocracy. Commonly the person selected as Doge was the shrewdest elder in the city...

 of Venice

Republic of Venice

The Republic of Venice or Venetian Republic was a state originating from the city of Venice in Northeastern Italy. It existed for over a millennium, from the late 7th century until 1797. It was formally known as the Most Serene Republic of Venice and is often referred to as La Serenissima, in...

. He governed from 1249 to 1253.

Family

Marino was one of four members of the Morosini family to be elected doge. The other three were Domenico Morosini

Domenico Morosini

Domenico Morosini was the thirty-seventh doge of the Republic of Venice, reigning from 1148 until his death in 1156.Descendant of a noble family , Morosini succeeded in reconciling the two factions that had divided Venetian patrician families for years, thus ending a political conflict that had...

 (1147-1156), Michele Morosini

Michele Morosini

Michele Morosini was the Doge of Venice for a few months, from 10 June 1382 to his death in October the same year.Born in one of the most important Venetian families, Morosini was extremely wealthy...

 (1382) and Francesco Morosini

Francesco Morosini

Francesco Morosini was the Doge of Venice from 1688 to 1694, at the height of the Great Turkish War...

 (1688-1694). Four women in the family were married to doges and had the title of dogaressa: Tommasina Morosini was the wife of Pietro Gradenigo

Pietro Gradenigo

Pietro Gradenigo was the 49th Doge of Venice, reigning from 1289 to his death.When he was elected Doge, he was serving as the podestà of Koper / Capodistria in Slovenia. Venice suffered a serious blow with the fall of Acre, the last Crusader stronghold in the Holy Land, to the Mamluks of Egypt in...

, Francesca Morosini was married to Andrea Dandolo

Andrea Dandolo

Andrea Dandolo was elected the 54th doge of Venice in 1343, replacing Bartolomeo Gradenigo who died in late 1342....

, Dea Morosini to Niccolò Tron and Morosina Morosini to Marino Grimani

Marino Grimani

Marino Grimani was an Italian Cardinal and papal legate. He was from an aristocratic Venetian family.He was elected bishop of Ceneda in 1508, when he was under age. He was patriarch of Aquileia in 1517....

.

Life

Morosini was elected doge late in life, at the age of 68. At the time of his election, Morosini was the Procurator of Saint Mark's Basilica

St Mark's Basilica

The Patriarchal Cathedral Basilica of Saint Mark is the cathedral church of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Venice, northern Italy. It is the most famous of the city's churches and one of the best known examples of Byzantine architecture...

. During his political career, Morosini also held the position of Duke of Candia (presently Heraklion, Crete

Crete

Crete is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, and one of the thirteen administrative regions of Greece. It forms a significant part of the economy and cultural heritage of Greece while retaining its own local cultural traits...

).

He was married but did not have any children.

His four-year tenure as doge was a time of peace for Venice, although during this period, Louis IX of France

Louis IX of France

Louis IX , commonly Saint Louis, was King of France from 1226 until his death. He was also styled Louis II, Count of Artois from 1226 to 1237. Born at Poissy, near Paris, he was an eighth-generation descendant of Hugh Capet, and thus a member of the House of Capet, and the son of Louis VIII and...

 led a crusade

Seventh Crusade

The Seventh Crusade was a crusade led by Louis IX of France from 1248 to 1254. Approximately 800,000 bezants were paid in ransom for King Louis who, along with thousands of his troops, was captured and defeated by the Egyptian army led by the Ayyubid Sultan Turanshah supported by the Bahariyya...

 against Egypt. Not wanting to jeopardize its trade agreement with the sultan, Venice chose not to participate in the crusade.

Morosini sought to improve relations with the Vatican by making the concession to accept the establishment of a court of inquisition

Inquisition

The Inquisition, Inquisitio Haereticae Pravitatis , was the "fight against heretics" by several institutions within the justice-system of the Roman Catholic Church. It started in the 12th century, with the introduction of torture in the persecution of heresy...

in Venice, but retained the right to appoint the judges. Nevertheless, tensions remained high between Rome and Venice.

Upon his death on January 1, 1253, Marino Morosini was interred in the atrium of Saint Mark's Basilica.

Literature

• Claudio Rendina: I dogi. Storia e segreti. Rome 1984. ISBN 88-8289-656-0