Pietro IV Candiano
Encyclopedia
Pietro IV Candiano was the twenty-second (traditional) or twentieth (historical) Doge of Venice
from 959 to his death. He was the eldest son of Pietro III Candiano
, with whom he co-reigned and whom he was elected to succeed.
, where the Margrave Guy
took him to his father, the king of Italy
, Berengar II.
Pietro III then participated with Guy in an expedition against Theobald II, Duke of Spoleto, and gained the support of Berengar for an assault on Venice. At the head of a band of partisans, Pietro IV defeated his father, but did not kill him. He was then elected sole doge.
, accused of simony
. In June 960, he reconvened the popular assembly and had them approve of a law prohibiting the slave trade.
For political reasons, Pietro repudiated his first wife, Joan, forcing her into the convent of Santa Zaccaria. He had had two children through her: his son Vitale
was later elected doge and his daughter was married to Tribuno Memmo
, a future doge. In 966, Pietro remarried to the Lombard
Waldrada, daughter of Hubert
, Duke of Spoleto, and a relative of the Emperor Otto I. As a relative also of the king of Italy, Waldrada brought him a large dowry including the possession of Treviso
, Friuli
, and Ferrara
.
On 2 December 967, Pietro obtained from the emperor the renewal of a series of commercial privileges, for the Venetians in general, but also for himself and his family in particular. While this tightened the ties with the empire of the West, it greatly angered the emperor of the East, John I. John threatened war if the Venetians would not stop contrabanding with the Saracens against whom John was then battling fiercely on multiple fronts. In 971, Pietro had to consent to end the trade with the Moslems.
, left her her inheritance in order not to irk the emperor and direct his attention to recent events and their perpetrators in Venice. Vitale, surviving son of Pietro IV, fled to Saxony
, where he conspired against the new 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...
from 959 to his death. He was the eldest son of Pietro III Candiano
Pietro III Candiano
Pietro III Candiano was the Doge of Venice from 942 until 959. In 948 he led a fleet of 33 Galleys to punish the Dalmatian pirates - Narentines - for repeatedly raiding across the Adriatic Sea...
, with whom he co-reigned and whom he was elected to succeed.
Rise
By associating his son with him in the dogeship, Pietro III was trying to establish a hereditary monarchy in Venice. This incurred the wrath of the people, who, in a popular assembly, tried to kill the doge. Pietro IV intervened to save his father's life and exiled him with a small group of followers to IvreaIvrea
Ivrea is a town and comune of the province of Turin in the Piedmont region of northwestern Italy. Situated on the road leading to the Aosta Valley , it straddles the Dora Baltea and is regarded as the centre of the Canavese area. Ivrea lies in a basin that, in prehistoric times, formed a great lake...
, where the Margrave Guy
Guy of Ivrea
Guy was the margrave of Ivrea from 950 to his death. In 950, his father, King Berengar II of Italy, appointed him to rule in the familial margraviate. His mother was Willa of Tuscany, his elder brother was Adalbert II, co-king with their father, and their younger brother was Conrad.In 959, Guy...
took him to his father, the king of Italy
King of Italy
King of Italy is a title adopted by many rulers of the Italian peninsula after the fall of the Roman Empire...
, Berengar II.
Pietro III then participated with Guy in an expedition against Theobald II, Duke of Spoleto, and gained the support of Berengar for an assault on Venice. At the head of a band of partisans, Pietro IV defeated his father, but did not kill him. He was then elected sole doge.
Dogado
One of his first acts as doge was the blinding and expulsion of the bishop of CastelloCastello, Venice
Castello is the largest of the six sestieri of Venice, Italy. The district grew up from the thirteenth century around a naval dockyard on what was originally the Isole Gemini, although there had been small settlements of the islands of San Pietro di Castello , also called Isola d'Olivolo, since at...
, accused of simony
Simony
Simony is the act of paying for sacraments and consequently for holy offices or for positions in the hierarchy of a church, named after Simon Magus , who appears in the Acts of the Apostles 8:9-24...
. In June 960, he reconvened the popular assembly and had them approve of a law prohibiting the slave trade.
For political reasons, Pietro repudiated his first wife, Joan, forcing her into the convent of Santa Zaccaria. He had had two children through her: his son Vitale
Vitale Candiano
Vitale Candiano was the 24th doge of the Republic of Venice.He probably was the fourth son of the 22nd doge, Pietro IV Candiano. He was elected by the popular assembly in September of 978 CE. This after having to flee to Saxony because of the revolt against his father. His predecessor Pietro I...
was later elected doge and his daughter was married to Tribuno Memmo
Tribuno Memmo
Tribuno Memmo was the 25th Doge of Venice who served from 979 to 991. He was illiterate and according to preserved documents, he signed via signum manus....
, a future doge. In 966, Pietro remarried to the Lombard
Lombards
The Lombards , also referred to as Longobards, were a Germanic tribe of Scandinavian origin, who from 568 to 774 ruled a Kingdom in Italy...
Waldrada, daughter of Hubert
Hubert of Spoleto
Hubert or Humbert was the illegitimate son of Hugh of Italy and his concubine Wandelmoda. He was made Margrave of Tuscany by his father between 935 and 937, after the deposition of his uncle Boso...
, Duke of Spoleto, and a relative of the Emperor Otto I. As a relative also of the king of Italy, Waldrada brought him a large dowry including the possession of Treviso
Treviso
Treviso is a city and comune in Veneto, northern Italy. It is the capital of the province of Treviso and the municipality has 82,854 inhabitants : some 3,000 live within the Venetian walls or in the historical and monumental center, some 80,000 live in the urban center proper, while the city...
, Friuli
Friuli
Friuli is an area of northeastern Italy with its own particular cultural and historical identity. It comprises the major part of the autonomous region Friuli-Venezia Giulia, i.e. the province of Udine, Pordenone, Gorizia, excluding Trieste...
, and Ferrara
Ferrara
Ferrara is a city and comune in Emilia-Romagna, northern Italy, capital city of the Province of Ferrara. It is situated 50 km north-northeast of Bologna, on the Po di Volano, a branch channel of the main stream of the Po River, located 5 km north...
.
On 2 December 967, Pietro obtained from the emperor the renewal of a series of commercial privileges, for the Venetians in general, but also for himself and his family in particular. While this tightened the ties with the empire of the West, it greatly angered the emperor of the East, John I. John threatened war if the Venetians would not stop contrabanding with the Saracens against whom John was then battling fiercely on multiple fronts. In 971, Pietro had to consent to end the trade with the Moslems.
Death
In 973, Otto I, protector of Pietro IV, died. His successor, Otto II, was busy with revolts in Germany and so the Venetians opposed to Pietro found their opportunity to depose him then. They locked him in his ducal palace and set it on fire. However, the fire spread to the Limitrofe and to Saint Mark's. Shortly, a greater part of the city was burnt. The doge and his young son by Waldrada, Pietro, were killed and their bodies thrown in the slaughterhouse, but were after recovered and respectfully buried in the church of Sant'Ilario. Waldrada survived and the succeeding doge, Pietro I OrseoloPietro I Orseolo
Pietro I Orseolo was the Doge of Venice from 976 to 978. He is venerated as a saint by the Roman Catholic Church. He was born near Udine to one of the more powerful families in Venice...
, left her her inheritance in order not to irk the emperor and direct his attention to recent events and their perpetrators in Venice. Vitale, surviving son of Pietro IV, fled to Saxony
Saxony
The Free State of Saxony is a landlocked state of Germany, contingent with Brandenburg, Saxony Anhalt, Thuringia, Bavaria, the Czech Republic and Poland. It is the tenth-largest German state in area, with of Germany's sixteen states....
, where he conspired against the new doge.
Sources
- Norwich, John JuliusJohn Julius NorwichJohn Julius Cooper, 2nd Viscount Norwich CVO — known as John Julius Norwich — is an English historian, travel writer and television personality.-Early life:...
. A History of Venice. Alfred A. KnopfAlfred A. KnopfAlfred A. Knopf, Inc. is a New York publishing house, founded by Alfred A. Knopf, Sr. in 1915. It was acquired by Random House in 1960 and is now part of the Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group at Random House. The publishing house is known for its borzoi trademark , which was designed by co-founder...
: New York, 1982.