Andrea Dandolo

Andrea Dandolo (1306 – September 7, 1354), was elected the 54th doge of Venice in 1343, replacing Bartolomeo Gradenigo who died in late 1342.

Biography

Trained in historiography and law, Andrea Dandolo studied at the University of Padua where he became a law professor until he was elected as doge. He was descended from an old Venetian noble family that played an important role in Venetian politics from the twelfth to fifteenth centuries, and produced 4 Venetian doges, numerous admirals and several other prominent citizens.

Dandolo was known as a benefactor of the arts. He reformed the Venetian legal code, formally proclaiming a legal framework in 1346 that compiled all of the applicable laws in the Republic. He was a friend of Petrarch’s, who wrote of Dandolo that he was “a just man, incorruptible, full of ardor and love for his country, erudite, eloquent, wise, affable and human”.

Dandalo's rise to prominence in Venetian public life was precocious. In 1331, at the age of only 25, he was named procurator of St. Mark's Basilica. He became doge in 1343 at the age of 37.

During his reign, Venice endured a disastrous war with the Hungarians following Zadar’s seventh revolt against the Serenissima Republic. Allied with the Hungarians, Genoa deployed a powerful naval fleet to the Adriatic under the command of Paganino Doria that devastated the Venetian territories and threatened Venice herself. Venice was saved by the great naval victory of Lojera in 1353.

Venice was struck by a violent earthquake on January 25, 1348 that caused hundreds of casualties, destroyed numerous buildings and provoked a terrible outbreak of the plague which did not end until 1350. Between 1348 and 1350 a third of the population died.

Andrea Dandolo wrote two chronicles in Latin on the history of Venice which can be found in volume XII of Muratori’s collection "Rerum Italicarum Scriptores".

Dandolo was the last doge to be interred in St Mark’s Basilica.

The branch of the Dandolo family that currently lives in France descends directly from Andrea Dandolo. Settled in Picardy, the Dandolo family is part of the Italian aristocracy and carries the title of count.