Doge of Venice
The Doge [ do ː ʒə ] (from the Latin dux leader, leader, prince) was the head of state of the Republic of Venice. Derived is the name of a concept of Roman administration: From the 4th century the Romans dux the name for the top military commander of a frontier province.
Originally, the Doge was a local deputy to the Exarch of Ravenna, in turn, was the governor of the Byzantine Empire in northern Italy. With the emancipation of Venice, the Doge of Byzantium became the ruler of a city-state.
The Doge united both military and judicial functions, so that the office in the early Middle Ages had an almost unlimited power. This was 1132/1148 modified, as the Doge of the Great Council and later the Council of Ten were set aside. The latter was something like the supreme supervisory body. From then on, the office of doge was more representative of the supreme military command remained for him but. The last doge, Ludovico Manin, resigned on 12 May 1797 after the Great Council had previously resolved itself.
Election procedures
The method of Dogenwahl was more complicated over time. Sufficed in 1172 in the election of the 39th Doge Sebastiano Ziani, twelve electors, we already needed a forty -member electoral college in the election of his successor. The concern of the families, it could be one of them tear the domination and enforce a family dynasty on the pattern of other Italian cities, resulting in a complicated process by which you wanted to exclude election rigging.
The electoral system itself was a mixture of random decision by lot and a public, free, and carefully conducted discussion and resolution.
Selectable were members of the Great Council, of which each one Loskugel deposited in an urn. In St. Mark's Square is a ten year-old boy ( Ballottino ) was chosen, which drew 30 Loskugeln from the urn.
- 30 balls were reduced by lot to nine. These 9 selected 40
- 40 were reduced by lot to 12. These 12 selected 25
- 25 were reduced by lot to nine. These 9 selected 45
- 45 were reduced by lot to 11. These 11 selected 41
- The 41 nominated the Doge for approval by the Assembly ( by Frederic C. Lane ).
The quorum for the election of the Doge was 25 votes. The Ballottino belonged to the retinue after the election of the Doge.
The doge was deposed by the Signoria, it was to withdraw but prohibited him. The term of office was indefinitely until the death of the Doge.
Clothing
Since the 14th century the Doge with the Corno Ducale, a special type of crown was crowned. The Corno is a stiff cap with a horn-like tip and a crown-like metal ring. He is attributed on the one hand on the headgear of the fishermen, on the other hand on the " ducal " '. Under the Corno he wore the Cuffia, a cap of fine linen. The crowning cap Zogia was decorated with brocade and precious stones, while the usual Corno was produced from less costly material. At the coronation of the Doge was wearing over a long tunic, the dogalina, which was girt with a narrow belt with gold buckle, a long cloak with a pelerinenartigen collar of ermine, the bavaro. For garment of the Doge with stand included the striking buttons, campanoni d' oro.
The private clothes corresponded to the everyday clothing of a Venetian Nobile. The dogaressa wore a small cap.
Burial sites
Almost all the tombs of the Doges are in Venetian churches, San Zanipolo alone 27 The grave of Enrico Dandolo is located in the Hagia Sophia in Constantinople Opel ( Istambul ).