073. The Doge of Plenty

Doge Marino Morosini (1249-53) hasn’t made much of a dent on the history books. Contemporary chronicler Martin da Canal gives him a good write-up: “Throughout his time as Doge, Venice was abundantly supplied with provisions – twice as much as the city needed. The Venetians had all the goods that they needed, and they were full of joy and happiness”

Other historians have less to say about him. This week, we investigate what little we can find out about the life and times of the 44th Doge of the Republic. 

Background Reading for this episode:

“Il Doge di Venezia” by Giorgio Ravegnani

“Le Promissioni del Doge di Venezia dalle Origini alla Fine del Duecento” (Fonti per la storia di Venezia, sezione 1, Archivi Pubblici). This is the text, in Latin, of every surviving Promissione Ducale up to the end of the 13th century. 

“A History of Venice” by John Julius Norwich

“Storia di Venezia attraverso le sue fake news” by a collection of contemporary historians of Venice, under the collective name of “I Babai”

“Les Chroniques des Veneciens” by Martin da Canal, which you can read in its original old French, with a fairly old-fashioned Italian translation, here: https://archive.org/details/lacronacaveneta00zongoog/page/268/mode/2up

Details of Doge Marino Morosini’s tomb can be found here: https://www.venetianheritage.eu/portfolio/monument-of-the-doge-marino-morosini-st-marks-basilica-venice/

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Intro and outro music is Primavera from Vivaldi’s Le Quattro Stagioni, used under Creative Commons licence from musopen.org