The doge of Genoa ( ) was the head of state of the Republic of Genoa, a city-state and soon afterwards a maritime republic, from 1339 until the state's extinction in 1797. Originally elected for life, after 1528 the doges were elected for terms of two years. The Republic (or Dogate) was ruled by a small group of merchant families, from whom the doges were selected.
Form of address
The Genoese doge's form of address initially was ('exalted'), then ('most illustrious'), ('most excellent'), and finally, ('most serene prince'), ('lord'), or ('most serene highness').
History
The first doge of Genoa, Simone Boccanegra (), whose name is kept alive by Verdi's opera, was appointed by public acclaim in 1339. Initially, the doge of Genoa was elected without restriction and by popular suffrage, holding office for life in the so-called "perpetual dogate"; after the reform effected by Andrea Doria in 1528, the term of his office was reduced to two years. At the same time plebeians were declared ineligible, and the appointment of the doge was entrusted to the members of the great council, the , who employed for this purpose a complex political system.
The Palazzo Pubblico, where the doges had formerly presided, was expanded in 1388 to accommodate the new ruler and style of government, the first of a series of radical reconstructions. It was renamed and magnificently rebuilt in the 16th century. Until recently the palazzo housed courts, but it now functions as Genoa's cultural centre.
Of all the "perpetual" doges of Genoa who ruled for their lifetime, only one ruled for more than eight years. Many resigned or were driven out before taking office. Some failed to complete a single day in power. Between 1339 and 1528, only four doges were legally elected. Genoa did not trust its doges; the ruling caste of Genoa tied them to executive committees, kept them on a small budget, and kept them apart from the communal revenues held at the .
Still, the position of Doge stood at the head of state patronage, and the city's inner group of leading merchant families vied with each other to place their man in the position. Rival elections were known to take place within the building. In 1389, a frustrated candidate made a surprise return from enforced exile accompanied by 7,000 supporters, and after dining amicably with the incumbent, politely but firmly ejected him, thanking him for serving so ably as his deputy during his own "unavoidable absence" from Genoa.
For generations two powerful families in Genoa all but monopolized the dogate: the Adorno and the Fregoso or di Campofregoso. Tomaso di Campofregoso became Doge three times: in 1415, 1421 and 1437. In 1461, Paolo Fregoso, archbishop of Genoa, enticed the current doge to his own palace, held him hostage and offered him the choice of retiring from the post or being hanged. When Fregoso was in due course himself toppled, he fled to the harbour, commandeered four galleys and launched himself on a whole new career as a pirate. Among other influential families in the republic were the Spinola, the Grimaldi, the Doria and the Durazzo; all these dynasties gave numerous doges to Genoa. While the doge's palace in Venice accumulated great furnishings and works of art over the years, in Genoa, each Doge was expected to arrive with his own furnishings and, when he left, to strip the palace to its bare walls.
In the 16th century, the republic enjoyed a dramatic revival under the leadership of the admiral, statesman and patron of the arts Andrea Doria who ruled the state as a virtual dictator but never actually became doge. It was through the Spanish empire in the New World that Genoa became rich again. And the bankers of Genoa handled Spain's financial business, which vastly enriched Genoa's banking oligarchy.
The Napoleonic Wars put an end to the office of Doge of Genoa. In 1797, when Napoleon Bonaparte incorporated Genoa into the newly organized Ligurian Republic, French soldiers and the city's mob ransacked the doge's palace.
Election The doge's election took place through the vote of the members of the Great Council and Minor Council of Genoa that met in a room with the same name at the Doge's Palace. The voting took place by drawing fifty golden balls which were contained in an urn placed in front of the throne. Thanks to a series of successive votes, the number of candidates was reduced to six and, among the latter, the one who obtained the highest number of votes was elected Doge.
List of doges of Genoa
Lifetime office-holders
Simone Boccanegra, 1339–1344 (first reign) Giovanni I di Murta, 1344–1350 Giovanni II Valente, 1350–1353 1353–1356 – Dogeship vacant, Genoa ruled by the Visconti of Milan. Simone Boccanegra, 1356–1363, (second reign) Gabriele Adorno, 1363–1370 Domenico di Campofregoso, 1370–1378 Antoniotto I Adorno, 17 June 1378 (first reign) Nicolò Guarco (or Guasco), 1378–1383 Antoniotto I Adorno (second reign) Federico di Pagana, 7 April 1383 Leonardo Montaldo, 1383–14 June 1384Steven Epstein. Genoa and the Genoese. p. 243 Antoniotto I Adorno, 15 June 1384 – 1390 (third reign) Giacomo Fregoso, 1390–1391 Antoniotto I Adorno, 1391–1392 (fourth reign) Antoniotto Montaldo, 16 June 1392 – 1393 (first reign) Pietro Fregoso, 13 July 1393 Clemente Promontorio, 13 July 1393 Francesco Giustiniano di Garibaldo, 14 July 1393 – October 1393 Antoniotto Montaldo, 1 November 1393 – May 1394 (second reign) Niccolo Zoagli, 24 May 1394 – September 1394 Antonio Guarco, 17 September 1394 – 1 October 1394 Antoniotto I Adorno, 1394–1396, 5th term 1396–1413 – Dogeship vacant. Genoa held by the French. Giorgio Adorno, 1413–1415 Barnaba Guano, 29 March 1415 – 3 July 1415 Tomaso di Campofregoso, 1415–1421 (first reign) 1421–1436 – Dogeship vacant. Genoa controlled by Milan. Isnardo Guarco, serves as doge for one week in 1436 Tomaso di Campofregoso, 1436–1437 (second reign) Battista Fregoso served as doge for a few hours Tomaso di Campofregoso, 1437–1442 (third reign) Raffaele Adorno, 28 Jan 1443 – 4 Jan 1447 Barnaba Adorno, 4 Jan 1447 – 30 Jan 1447 Giano I di Campofregoso, 30 Jan 1447 – Dec 1448 Lodovico di Campofregoso, 1448–1450 (first reign) Pietro di Campofregoso, 1450–1458 1458–1461 – Dogeship vacant. Genoa occupied by France. Prospero Adorno, 12 March 1461 – 8 July 1461expelled from office by Paolo Fregoso, Archbishop of Genoa. Spinetta Fregoso, 8 July 1461 – 11 July 1461 Lodovico di Campofregoso, July 1461 – March 1462 (second reign) Paolo Fregoso, March 1462, served simultaneously as Archbishop of Genoa. Lodovico di Campofregoso, 8 June 1462 (third reign) Paolo Fregoso, 9 June 1462 – late 1463 (second reign) Genoa accepts the rule of Francesco Sforza, no doge, 1463–1477 Prospero Adorno, 17 Aug 1477 – 25 Nov 1477 (second reign) Battista Fregoso, 26 November 1478 – 25 November 1483 Paolo Fregoso, 1483–1488 (third reign) 1488–1499 – Dogeship vacant. Genoa ruled by Sforza. 1499–1507 – Dogeship vacant. Genoa occupied by France. Paolo da Novi, 10 April 1507 – late 1507 1507–1511 – Dogeship vacant. Genoa occupied by France. Giano II di Campofregoso, 1512–1513 Ottaviano Fregoso, 1513–1515 1515–1522 – Dogeship vacant. Genoa occupied by France. Antoniotto II Adorno, 1522–1527 1527–1528 – Dogeship vacant. Genoa ruled by France.
Doges elected for two years
From 1528 to 1599
From To Doge Notes 12 October 1528 4 January 1531 Oberto Cattaneo Lazzari 4 January 1531 4 January 1533 Battista Spinola 4 January 1533 4 January 1535 Battista Lomellini 4 January 1535 4 January 1537 Cristoforo Grimaldi Rosso 4 January 1537 4 January 1539 Giovanni Battista Doria 4 January 1539 4 January 1541 Giannandrea Giustiniani Longo 4 January 1541 4 January 1543 Leonardo Cattaneo della Volta 4 January 1543 4 January 1545 Andrea Centurione Pietrasanta 4 January 1545 4 January 1547 Giovanni Battista De Fornari 4 January 1547 4 January 1549 Benedetto Gentile Pevere 4 January 1549 4 January 1551 Gaspare Grimaldi Bracelli 4 January 1551 4 January 1553 Luca Spinola 4 January 1553 4 January 1555 Giacomo Promontorio 4 January 1555 4 January 1557 Agostino Pinelli Ardimenti 4 January 1557 3 December 1558 Pietro Giovanni Chiavica Cibo Died in office. 4 January 1559 4 January 1561 Girolamo Vivaldi 4 January 1561 27 September 1561 Paolo Battista Giudice Calvi Died in office. 4 October 1561 4 October 1563 Giovanni Battista Cicala Zoagli 7 October 1563 7 October 1565 Giovanni Battista Lercari 11 October 1565 11 October 1567 Ottavio Gentile Oderico 15 October 1567 3 October 1569 Simone Spinola 6 October 1569 6 October 1571 Paolo Giustiniani Moneglia 10 October 1571 10 October 1573 Giannotto Lomellini 16 October 1573 17 October 1575 Giacomo Grimaldi Durazzo 17 October 1575 17 October 1577 Prospero Centurione Fattinanti 19 October 1577 19 October 1579 Giovanni Battista Gentile Pignolo 20 October 1579 20 October 1581 Nicolò Doria 21 October 1581 21 October 1583 Gerolamo De Franchi Toso 4 November 1583 4 November 1585 Gerolamo Chiavari 8 November 1585 13 November 1587 Ambrogio Di Negro 14 November 1587 14 November 1589 Davide Vacca 20 November 1589 15 November 1591 Battista Negrone 27 November 1591 26 November 1593 Giovanni Agostino Giustiniani Campi 27 November 1593 26 November 1595 Antonio Grimaldi Cebà 5 December 1595 4 December 1597 Matteo Senarega 7 December 1597 15 February 1599 Lazzaro Grimaldi Cebà
From 1599 to 1650
From To Doge Notes 22 February 1599 21 February 1601 Lorenzo Sauli 24 February 1601 25 February 1603 Agostino Doria 26 February 1603 27 February 1605 Pietro De Franchi Sacco 1 March 1605 2 March 1607 Luca Grimaldi De Castro 3 March 1607 17 March 1607 Silvestro Invrea 22 March 1607 23 March 1609 Gerolamo Assereto 1 April 1609 2 April 1611 Agostino Pinelli Luciani 6 April 1611 6 April 1613 Alessandro Giustiniani Longo 21 April 1613 21 April 1615 Tomaso Spinola 25 April 1615 25 April 1617 Bernardo Clavarezza 25 April 1617 29 April 1619 Giovanni Giacomo Imperiale Tartaro 2 May 1619 2 May 1621 Pietro Durazzo 4 May 1621 12 June 1621 Ambrogio Doria Died in office. 22 June 1621 22 June 1623 Giorgio Centurione 25 June 1623 16 June 1625 Federico De Franchi Toso 16 June 1625 25 June 1627 Giacomo Lomellini 28 June 1627 28 June 1629 Giovanni Luca Chiavari 26 June 1629 26 June 1631 Andrea Spinola 30 June 1631 30 June 1633 Leonardo Della Torre 5 July 1633 5 July 1635 Giovanni Stefano Doria 11 July 1635 11 July 1637 Giovanni Francesco I Brignole Sale 13 July 1637 13 July 1639 Agostino Pallavicini 28 July 1639 28 July 1641 Giovanni Battista Durazzo 14 August 1641 19 June 1642 Giovanni Agostino De Marini Died in office. 4 July 1642 4 July 1644 Giovanni Battista Lercari 21 July 1644 21 July 1646 Luca Giustiniani 24 July 1646 24 July 1648 Giovanni Battista Lomellini 1 August 1648 1 August 1650 Giacomo De Franchi Toso
From 1650 to 1699