Orio Mastropiero

Orio Mastropiero ( Malipiero, Malipiero, Mastro Pietro, † 1192 in Venice) was the 40th Doge of Venice. He reigned from April 17, 1178 until his resignation on June 1, 1192nd

Life

Mastropiero, who was one of the richest Venetians of his time, had the city during financial crises repeatedly supported by loans. He was a successful diplomat, was a judge, ambassador at Constantinople Opel and authorized representative in the negotiations between Pope Alexander III. and the German Emperor Frederick Barbarossa.

Mastropiero was proposed after the death of Vitale Michiel II as Doge, but had rejected the election because of his youthful age and the much older Sebastiano Ziani proposed.

The Dogenamt

As the first Doge, he was under the amended under his predecessor election procedures of 40 electors, the so-called minor consiglio selected.

Constitution

The Consiglio was equipped with executive rights. There was also the Consiglio dei savi, the Council of Elders, with powers of legislation. Towards the end of the 12th century he set one hand the process of continued disempowerment of the Doge, who was a mere figurehead in the state with the decline of the Republic. On the other hand, the special structure of the Venetian political system began to emerge, with its multitude of bodies, agencies, departments and regulators, by the nobility, but also large parts of the citizenry were involved in the Responsibility and monitored simultaneously.

Foreign Policy

In foreign policy, the Republic came during his reign on many fronts in distress. 1180 the Byzantine Emperor Manuel had died, who had signed with a Venice perceived by the Byzantines as humiliating Treaty of damages by which the Venetian losses in the riots of 1171 should be compensated, but they were never paid. 1183, after the death of sixteen- year-old heir to the throne, Andronikos had seized power. The following brutal massacre of the Italian merchants, of which only a few survived, was tolerated by him, if not encouraged. All branches ( fondachi ) were destroyed and confiscated the goods.

Venice was his compatriots not come to the rescue, because the Hungarian king Bela the same time a campaign to Istria made ​​the city Zara had recaptured, was about to destroy the Venetian fleet, and had finally brought the whole of Dalmatia in his possession.

Relief got the Republic by the campaign against the Byzantine Greece by the Norman King William II, in which he was supported by Venice. 1185 Andronikos died, and his successor, Isaac II was two years later negotiations with the Venetians on. Venice was finally rewarded with a large sum, and again received commercial privileges. The negotiated compromise of Enrico Dandolo, with which one was unhappy in Venice, was finally accepted since. By the marriage of the German Emperor Henry VI with the heiress of the Norman kingdom of Sicily Constance signs of a new political situation. The new configuration of power in the Mediterranean, it seemed the Venetians advised to come with Byzantium to a peace agreement.

However, new problems arose in the Levant with the conquest of Jerusalem by Saladin in the wake of the Battle of Hattin. Subsequently, the Third Crusade was proclaimed in Europe, attended by Frederick Barbarossa, Philip II of France and Richard the Lionheart of England. Venice held back, mainly because it had fears that the competitor in the Mediterranean trade, Pisa, could seize the opportunity and settle in Byzantium. For this, the political power shifts came through the accession of Henry VI. as king of Sicily, which were rejected by the long-established Norman and now sought allies in the maritime republics of Pisa and Genoa. Venice saw its empire threatened over the Adriatic Sea, which suddenly had to defend not only against the pirates but also against the old rivals.

Tomb

Mastropiero saw apparently these complications no longer cope. He abdicated and retired to the monastery of Santa Croce, where he died towards the end of the same year. His grave is not obtained.