- Ludovico Manin
Ludovico Manin (
May 14 ,1725 —October 24 ,1802 ) was the lastDoge of Venice . He governed Venice fromMarch 9 ,1789 to 1797 when he was forced to abdicate by general Napoleon Bonaparte.Early life
Manin was born on
May 14 ,1725 , the eldest of five sons of Lodovico Alvise and Maria Basadonna, the great-granddaughter of a cardinal.He attended the
University of Bologna . In 1787 he metPope Pius VI . He had married Elisabetta Grimani, receiving adowry of 45,001ducat s.Doge
He was elected
Doge of Venice onMarch 9 ,1789 , approximately one month before the start of theFrench Revolution , on the first ballot (the electoral assembly was composed of 41 members). His traditional coronation ceremony required him to throw coins to the Venetians, which cost more than 458,197Lira , less than a quarter of which was paid from the funds of the Republic of Venice, the rest coming out of his own pocket. By the year 1792, he had allowed the once great Venetian merchant fleet to decline to a mere 309merchantmen .When Napoleon invaded Italy, Venice, along with
Genoa , did not initially join the coalition of Italian states formed in 1795, instead maintaining neutrality. OnApril 15 ,1797 ,Jean-Andoche Junot gave the Doge anultimatum which was not accepted. A secret addition to theTreaty of Leoben , signed onApril 17 ,1797 , gave Venice—as well asIstria andDalmatia — toAustria . OnApril 25 ,1797 , the French fleet arrived at theLido . Venetian cannons sank one of the ships, but did not succeed in repelling the invasion since the Venetian war fleet numbered only 4galleys and 7galliots . The Doge surrendered onMay 12 ,1797 and left theDoge's Palace two days later.On
May 16 , French troops enteredPiazza San Marco and the surrender contract was officially signed, submitting Venice to French rule, and incorporating it into the Kingdom of Italy.Death
Manin withdrew to the Palazzo Pesaro and stayed with his two nephews until his death on
October 24 ,1802 . He is buried at the church of Santa Maria di Nazareth.References
"This article incorporates text translated from the corresponding Italian Wikipedia article as of December 17, 2006."
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