1482, died Venice, 3 May 1570) was the 84th Doge of Venice

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...

. He reigned from 1567 to 1570.

Family

Pietro Loredan came from an important family of Venice, from a branch with Leonardo Loredan, the 75th Doge. His mother, Isabella Barozzi came from one of the oldest Venetian families.

Life

He was married to Lucrezia Cappello, with whom he had a son, Alvise Loredan.

He dealt in particular with its trading activities. Although he was Podestà

Podestà

Podestà is the name given to certain high officials in many Italian cities, since the later Middle Ages, mainly as Chief magistrate of a city state , but also as a local administrator, the representative of the Emperor.The term derives from the Latin word potestas, meaning power...

 by Verona

Verona

Verona ; German Bern, Dietrichsbern or Welschbern) is a city in the Veneto, northern Italy, with approx. 265,000 inhabitants and one of the seven chef-lieus of the region. It is the second largest city municipality in the region and the third of North-Eastern Italy. The metropolitan area of Verona...

, but otherwise hardly acted in important offices of the Republic. His election as Doge was a surprise for him.

Career as Doge

Loredan was at the age of 85 years when elected to the office after having been in a long conclave of two weeks and 76 ballots. His choice was obvious in this bind a stopgap solution, since Loredan had a strong following in the Senate nor had he brought special qualities for the office.

In 1569, a fire broke out in the Arsenal

Venetian Arsenal

The Venetian Arsenal was a complex of state-owned shipyards and armories clustered together in Venice in northern Italy. It was responsible for the bulk of Venice's naval power during the middle part of the second millennium AD...

. The fire encroached on the adjacent buildings and cost the lives of 2000 people. In the same year five private banks bankrupted. Because of the shortage cereals and bread had to be rationed


The Republic came under massive pressure from the Ottoman

Ottoman Empire

The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...

 Sultan

Sultan

Sultan is a title with several historical meanings. Originally, it was an Arabic language abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", "rulership", and "dictatorship", derived from the masdar سلطة , meaning "authority" or "power". Later, it came to be used as the title of certain rulers who...

s, who demanded the release of Cyprus

Cyprus

Cyprus , officially the Republic of Cyprus , is a Eurasian island country, member of the European Union, in the Eastern Mediterranean, east of Greece, south of Turkey, west of Syria and north of Egypt. It is the third largest island in the Mediterranean Sea.The earliest known human activity on the...

. By frantic diplomatic activity Venice was able to bring together a coalition against the Turks. Finally, it was through the alliance of the Holy League and their victory over the Turks in the Battle of Lepanto

Battle of Lepanto

The Battle of Lepanto normally refers to the 1571 Holy League victory over the Ottoman fleet. There were also three earlier battles fought in the vicinity of Lepanto:*Battle of Naupactus in 429 BC, an Athenian victory during the Peleoponnesian War...

 that the loss of Cyprus

Cyprus

Cyprus , officially the Republic of Cyprus , is a Eurasian island country, member of the European Union, in the Eastern Mediterranean, east of Greece, south of Turkey, west of Syria and north of Egypt. It is the third largest island in the Mediterranean Sea.The earliest known human activity on the...

 again was averted.

Tomb

His tomb in the cloister

Cloister

A cloister is a rectangular open space surrounded by covered walks or open galleries, with open arcades on the inner side, running along the walls of buildings and forming a quadrangle or garth...

 of San Giobbe

San Giobbe

The Church of St Job is a Roman Catholic church in Venice, northern Italy, dedicated to Saint Job. It is located in the Cannaregio, overlooking the campo of the same name, known as Sant'Agiopo in Venetian, on the left bank of the Cannaregio canal at Ponte dei Tre Archi...

was a simple ground tomb, covered with a stone slab. It is no longer maintained.

Literature

• Andrea da Mosto.I Dogi di Venezia, Florence 1983
• Helmut Dumler:Venedig und die Dogen Düsseldorf 2001