Leonardo Donato
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Leonardo Donà, or Donato (
Background, 1536–1606
The son of Giovanni Battista Donato and Giovanna Corner, Donato was born into a merchant family. Through his shrewd business sense, he was able to turn his family's average amount of wealth into a fortune.
His wealth established, Donato began a public career in Venice, serving in turn as the Venetian ambassador to
Donato later served as the Venetian ambassador to the
Reign as Doge, 1606–1612
Donato became one of the candidates for Doge upon the death of Marino Grimani on 25 December 1605. Donato faced two opponents in this election (including Marcantonio Memmo, who would eventually succeed him as Doge), but ultimately received both of their support, resulting in his election as Doge on 10 January 1606.
Donato inherited a conflict with the papacy from Grimani: Between 1601 and 1604, Venice, under Grimani's leadership, had passed a number of laws limiting the power of the papacy within the Republic of Venice and withdrawing a number of clerical privileges. This came to a head in late 1605 when Venice charged two priests as common criminals, thus denying their clerical immunity from facing charges in secular courts. On 10 December 1605, two weeks before Grimani's death, Pope Paul V sent a formal protest to Venice.
Shortly after his election as Doge, Donato, at the urging of
The Kingdom of France acted as a mediator in the dispute between Venice and the papacy. On 21 April 1607 a deal was reached under which the two priests that Venice had charged as common criminals would be handed over to French custody, and, in exchange, the pope would remove the interdict against Venice.
The remainder of Donato's reign as Doge is largely without note. Donato was not at all popular with the Venetian crowd, so, after his first year as Doge, Donato significantly restricted his public appearances as Doge. Many rumours circulated about the reclusive Donato during these years, but none were ever substantiated. He died on 16 July 1612.
References
This article is based on this article from Italian Wikipedia.
- ISBN 9780241953044.
- ^ Cozzi, Gaetano (1991). "DONÀ, Leonardo". Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani (in Italian). Vol. 40. Treccani.