Francesco Foscari

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Francesco Foscari (1373-1457) was doge of Venice from 1423 to 1457, at the height of the Italian Renaissance.

Foscari was elected to lead Venice in a long and protracted series of wars against Milan, governed by the Visconti, who were attempting to dominate all of Italy. Despite notable victories, the war was extremely costly to Venice and to her ally Florence, and they were eventually overcome by the forces of Milan under the leadership of Francesco Sforza. Sforza soon made peace with Florence, however, leaving Venice adrift.

In 1445, Foscari's son Jacopo was tried by the Council of Ten on charges of bribery and corruption and exiled from the city. Two further trials, in 1450 and 1456, led to Jacopo's imprisonment on Crete and his eventual death there.

News of Jacopo's death caused Foscari to withdraw from his government duties, and in October 1457 the Council of Ten forced him to resign. However, his death a week later provoked enough public outcry that he was given a state funeral.

Foscari's life was the subject of a play The Two Foscari by Lord Byron, which itself served as the basis of an opera I Due Foscari by Giuseppe Verdi which premiered on November 3, 1844.