22 Facts About Enrico Dandolo

Enrico Dandolo was the doge of Venice from 1192 until his death in 1205.

Enrico Dandolo is remembered for his avowed piety, longevity, and shrewdness, and his role in the Fourth Crusade and the Sack of Constantinople.

Enrico Dandolo was the son of the powerful jurist and member of the ducal court, Vitale Dandolo, and had two brothers: Andrea and Giovanni.

Enrico Dandolo's uncle, named Enrico Dandolo, was patriarch of Grado.

Enrico Dandolo sent out multiple expeditions to Constantinople and King William II's court in Sicily, several of which Dandolo was a part, although he never met with William.

In 1184, Enrico Dandolo, serving again as a ducal legate along with Pietro Ziani and Domenico Sanudo, returned to Constantinople to negotiate the restoration of the Venetian quarter with Andronicus.

Enrico Dandolo was the second doge to be chosen by a council of forty electors.

The commonly given birth year of c is based on the account of Marino Sanuto the Younger three centuries later, who stated that Dandolo was eighty-five when he assumed the throne.

In 1193, Enrico Dandolo commanded an attack on the nearby city of Zara, which for years had troubled Venice and threatened its control over the Dalmatian Coast.

Enrico Dandolo seemed to have always supported Venice's reinstating power over the city, since he had contributed money to doge Orio Mastropiero's 1187 military attempt to regain control there.

Enrico Dandolo managed to regain control over the islands of Pago, Ossero, and Arbe, which had been lost in an 1190 attempt led by Mastropiero, though not Zara.

In 1194, Enrico Dandolo enacted important reforms to the Venetian currency system.

Enrico Dandolo arranged meetings for them with the ducal court, in which the council calculated the expenses necessary for this voyage, which would be the largest project in Venetian history.

Enrico Dandolo himself swore on holy relics to uphold every part of the agreement.

Enrico Dandolo gave the Zarans an ultimatum: either they leave the city right away or they would be killed.

All of the Venetian members of the Crusade were thus excommunicated, but Enrico Dandolo kept this a secret from them since he knew they would abandon the Crusade if they found out.

Enrico Dandolo agreed to the Crusade leaders' plan to place Alexius Angelus on the throne of the Byzantine Empire in return for his support and funds to help the Crusade.

When Constantinople fell, Enrico Dandolo understood that he needed to quickly restore stability to the empire to avoid disorder that could threaten Venice.

Enrico Dandolo was offered the position, but he refused, and Baldwin of Flanders instead took the throne.

Enrico Dandolo was awarded the title "lord of three-eighths of the Roman Empire", although these acquisitions only lasted until the collapse of the Latin empire in 1261.

Documents show Enrico Dandolo's signature being fully legible in 1174 but sprawling across the paper in 1176, suggesting that his sight deteriorated over time.

Geoffrey de Villehardouin, whom Enrico Dandolo accompanied on the Fourth Crusade, wrote that "although his eyes appeared normal, he could not see a hand in front of his face, having lost his sight after a head wound".