Doge of Genoa
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Genoa (Italy) was technically a communal republic in the early Middle Ages, but in actuality it was an oligarchy ruled by a small group of merchant families, from whom were selected the Doges of Genoa.
The first doge ("duke") of Genoa, Simone Boccanegra, whose name is kept alive by Verdi's opera, was appointed by public acclaim in 1339. Initially the Doge of Genoa was elected without restriction and by popular suffrage, holding office for life in the so-called "perpetual dogate"; but after the reform effected by Andrea Doria in 1528 the term of his office was reduced to two years. At the same time plebeians were declared ineligible, and the appointment of the doge was entrusted to the members of the great council, the Gran Consiglio, who employed for this purpose a political system almost as complex as that of the later Venetians.
The Palazzo Pubblico, where the doges had formerly presided, was expanded in 1388 to accommodate the new ruler and style of government, the first of a series of radical reconstructions. It was renamed Palazzo Ducale and magnificently rebuilt in the 16th century. Until recently the palazzo housed courts, but it now functions as Genoa's cultural center.
Of all the "perpetual" doges of Genoa who ruled for their lifetime, only one ruled for more than eight years. Many resigned or were driven out before taking office: some failed to complete a single day in power. Between 1339 and 1528, only four doges were legally elected. "Genoese doges were essentially faction leaders, in charge of the defense of Genoa and her territory", Christine Shaw has said. "Some of them liked to see themselves as effectively lords of the city, but they were not." Genoa did not trust its doges; they tied them to executive committees, kept them on a small budget, and kept them apart from the communal revenues held at the "Casa di san Giorgio". Not surprisingly, the Doges of Genoa have been less renowned than the Doges of Venice.
Still, the position of Doge stood at the head of state patronage, and the city's inner group of leading merchant families vied with each other to place their man in the position. Rival elections were known to take place within the building. In 1389 a frustrated candidate made a surprise return from enforced exile accompanied by 7,000 supporters, and after dining amicably with the incumbent, politely but firmly ejected him, thanking him for serving so ably as his deputy during his own unavoidable absence from Genoa.
For generations two powerful families in Genoa all but monopolized the dogate: the Adorno, supporters of Imperial power in the Middle Ages, and the Campofregoso or Fregoso, supporters of Papal power. Tomaso Campofregoso became Doge three times: in 1415, 1421 and 1437. In 1461, Paolo Fregoso, archbishop of Genoa, enticed the current doge to his own palace, held him hostage and offered him the choice of retiring from the post or being hanged. When Fregoso was in due course himself toppled, he fled to the harbor, commandeered four galleys and launched himself on a whole new career as a pirate. While the Doge's Palace in Venice accumulated great furnishings and works of art over the years, in Genoa, each doge was expected to arrive with his own furnishings and, when he left, to strip the palace to its walls.
Genoa's power peaked early, and it was eclipsed by Venice. In the 16th century the republic enjoyed a dramatic revival under the leadership of the admiral, statesman and patron of the arts Andrea Doria who ruled the state as a virtual dictator but never actually became doge. It was through the Spanish empire in the New World that Genoa became rich again. Doria served the Spanish Habsburgs as admiral-in-chief, and the bankers of Genoa handled Spain's financial business, which vastly enriched Genoa's banking oligarchy.
The Napoleonic Wars put an end to the office of doge at Genoa. In 1797, when Napoleon Bonaparte incorporated Genoa into the newly organized Ligurian Republic, French soldiers and the city's mob ransacked the Doge's Palace.
Contents |
[edit] List of Doges of Genoa
[edit] "Lifetime" office-holders
- 1339: Simone Boccanegra (first doge)
- 1344: Giovanni di Murta
- 1363: Gabriele Adorno
- 1415: Tomaso Campofregoso
- 1421: Tomaso Campofregoso (2nd time)
- 1437: Tomaso Campofregoso (3rd time)
- 1522-1527: Antoniotto II Adorno (last "lifetime" doge)
[edit] Doges elected for two years
[edit] From 1528 to 1599
| From | To | Doge | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 12 October 1528 | 4 January 1530 | Oberto Cattaneo Lazzari | |
| 4 January 1531 | 4 January 1533 | Battista Spinola | |
| 4 January 1533 | 4 January 1535 | Battista Lomellini | |
| 4 January 1535 | 4 January 1537 | Cristoforo Rosso Grimaldi | |
| 4 January 1537 | 4 January 1539 | Giovanni Battista Doria | |
| 4 January 1539 | 4 January 1541 | Giannandrea Lungo Giustiniani | |
| 4 January 1541 | 4 January 1543 | Leonardo Cattaneo della Volta | |
| 4 January 1543 | 4 January 1545 | Andrea Centurione Pietrasanta | |
| 4 January 1545 | 4 January 1547 | Giovanni Battista De Fornari | |
| 4 January 1547 | 4 January 1549 | Benedetto Gentile Pevere | |
| 4 January 1549 | 4 January 1551 | Gaspare Grimaldi Bracelli | |
| 4 January 1551 | 4 January 1553 | Luca Spinola | |
| 4 January 1553 | 4 January 1555 | Giacomo Promontorio | |
| 4 January 1555 | 4 January 1557 | Agostino Pinello Ardimenti | |
| 4 January 1557 | 3 December 1558 | Pietro Giovanni Chiavica Cibo | (died in office) |
| 4 January 1559 | 4 January 1561 | Girolamo Vivaldi | |
| 4 January 1561 | 27 September 1561 | Paolo Battista Giudice Calvi | (died in office) |
| 4 October 1561 | 4 October 1563 | Battista Cicala Zoaglio | |
| 7 October 1563 | 7 October 1565 | Giovanni Battista Lercari | |
| 11 October 1565 | 11 October 1567 | Odorico Ottavio Gentile | |
| 15 October 1567 | 3 October 1569 | Simone Spinola | |
| 6 October 1569 | 6 October 1571 | Paolo Giustiniani Moneglia | |
| 10 October 1571 | 10 October 1573 | Gianotto Lomellini | |
| 16 October 1573 | 17 October 1575 | Giacomo Durazzo Grimaldi | |
| 17 October 1575 | 17 October 1577 | Prospero Centurione Fattinanti | |
| 19 October 1577 | 19 October 1579 | Giovanni Battista Gentile Pignolo | |
| 20 October 1579 | 20 October 1581 | Nicolò Doria | |
| 21 October 1581 | 21 October 1583 | Gerolamo De Franchi Toso | |
| 4 November 1583 | 4 November 1585 | Gerolamo Chiavari | |
| 8 November 1585 | 13 November 1587 | Ambrogio Di Negro | |
| 14 November 1587 | 14 November 1589 | Davide Vacca or Vaccari | |
| 20 November 1589 | 15 November 1591 | Battista Negrone | |
| 27 November 1591 | 26 November 1593 | Gio. Agostino Campi Giustiniani | |
| 27 November 1593 | 26 November 1595 | Antonio Cebà Grimaldi | |
| 5 December 1595 | 4 December 1597 | Matteo Senarega | |
| 7 December 1597 | 15 February 1599 | Lazzaro Cebà Grimaldi |
[edit] From 1599 to 1650
| From | To | Doge | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 22 February 1599 | 21 February 1601 | Lorenzo Sauli | |
| 24 February 1601 | 25 February 1603 | Agostino Doria | |
| 26 February 1603 | 27 February 1605 | Pietro (Sacco) De Franchi | |
| 1 March 1605 | 2 March 1607 | Luca (De Castro) Grimaldi | |
| 3 March 1607 | 17 March 1607 | Silvestro Invrea | |
| 22 March 1607 | 23 March 1609 | Gerolamo Assereto | |
| 1 April 1609 | 2 April 1611 | Agostino Luciani Pinello | |
| 6 April 1611 | 6 April 1613 | Alessandro Longo Giustiniani | |
| 21 April 1613 | 21 April 1615 | Tomaso Spinola | |
| 25 April 1615 | 25 April 1617 | Bernardo Clavarezza | |
| 25 April 1617 | 29 April 1619 | Giovanni Giacomo (Tartaro) Imperiale | |
| 2 May 1619 | 2 May 1621 | Pietro Durazzo | |
| 4 May 1621 | 12 June 1621 | Ambrogio Doria | (died in office) |
| 22 June 1621 | 22 June 1623 | Giorgio Centurione | |
| 25 June 1623 | 16 June 1625 | Federico De Franchi | |
| 16 June 1625 | 25 June 1627 | Giacomo Lomellini | |
| 28 June 1627 | 28 June 1629 | Giovanni Luca Chiavari | |
| 26 June 1629 | 26 June 1631 | Andrea Spinola | |
| 30 June 1631 | 30 June 1633 | Leonardo Della Torre | |
| 5 July 1633 | 5 July 1635 | Giovanni Stefano Doria | |
| 11 July 1635 | 11 July 1637 | Gio. Francesco Brignole Sale | |
| 13 July 1637 | 13 July 1639 | Agostino Pallavicini | |
| 28 July 1639 | 28 July 1641 | Giovanni Battista Durazzo | |
| 14 August 1641 | 19 June 1642 | Giovanni Agostino De Marini | (died in office) |
| 4 July 1642 | 4 July 1644 | Giovanni Battista Lercari | |
| 21 July 1644 | 21 July 1646 | Luca Giustiniani | |
| 24 July 1646 | 24 July 1648 | Giovanni Battista Lomellini | |
| 1 August 1648 | 1 August 1650 | Giacomo (Toso) De Franchi |
[edit] From 1650 to 1699
[edit] From 1699 to 1750
[edit] From 1750 to 1797
| From | To | Doge | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10 March 1750 | 10 March 1752 | Agostino Viale | |
| 28 March 1752 | 7 June 1752 | Stefano Lomellini | Abdicated |
| 7 June 1752 | 7 June 1754 | Giovanni Battista Grimaldi | |
| 23 June 1754 | 23 June 1756 | Gian Giacomo Veneroso | |
| 22 June 1756 | 22 June 1758 | Giovanni Giacomo Grimaldi | |
| 22 August 1758 | 22 August 1760 | Matteo Franzoni | |
| 22 September 1760 | 10 September 1762 | Agostino Lomellini | |
| 25 November 1762 | 25 November 1764 | Rodolfo Giulio Brignole Sale | |
| 29 January 1765 | 29 January 1767 | Francesco Maria Della Rovere | |
| 3 February 1767 | 3 February 1769 | Marcello Durazzo | |
| 16 February 1769 | 16 February 1771 | Giovanni Battista Negrone | |
| 16 April 1771 | 16 April 1773 | Giovanni Battista Cambiaso | |
| 7 January 1773 | 9 January 1773 | Ferdinando Spinola | |
| 26 January 1773 | 26 January 1775 | Pier Franco Grimaldi | |
| 31 January 1775 | 31 January 1777 | Brizio Giustiniani | |
| 4 February 1777 | 4 February 1779 | Giuseppe Lomellini | |
| 4 March 1779 | 4 March 1781 | Giacomo Maria Brignole | |
| 8 March 1781 | 8 March 1783 | Marco Antonio Gentile | |
| 6 May 1783 | 6 May 1785 | Giovanni Battista Ayroli | |
| 6 June 1785 | 6 June 1787 | Gian Varlo Pallavicino | |
| 4 July 1787 | 4 July 1789 | Raffaele De Ferrari | |
| 30 July 1789 | 30 July 1791 | Alerame Maria Pallavicini | |
| 3 September 1791 | 3 September 1793 | Michelangelo Cambiaso | |
| 16 September 1793 | 16 September 1795 | Giuseppe Maria Doria | |
| 17 November 1795 | 17 November 1797 | Giacomo Maria Brignole |
- A complete list is at Italian Wikipedia: Elenco dei Dogi della Repubblica di Genova.
