Francesco Foscari (1373 – 1 de noviembre de 1457) fue dogo de Venecia de 1423 a 1457, en los inicios del Renacimiento.
Biografía
Foscari provenía de una antigua familia noble y ocupó en la República de Venecia numerosos cargos oficiales : como embajador, Presidente de los cuarenta, miembro del Consejo de los diez, Inquisidor y Procuratore di San Marco.
Fue nombrado Dux así derrotando al otro candidato, Pietro Loredan. Su tarea como Dux fue dirigir a Venecia en una larga y prolongada serie de guerras contra Milán, gobernado por los Visconti, que intentaban dominar todo el norte de Italia, a pesar de la justificación veneciana del "Domini di Terraferma", que fue ofrecida en la oración fúnebre de Foscari, por el senador humanista e historiador Bernardo Giustiniani. y algunas victorias notables alentadoras, la guerra fue extremadamente costosa a Venecia, cuya verdadera fuente de riqueza y poder era en el mar.
Los críticos también afirmaron que durante el liderazgo de Foscari Venecia abandonó a su aliado Florencia; ellos eventualmente fueron superados por las fuerzas de Milán bajo la dirección de Francesco Sforza. Sforza pronto hizo las paces con Florencia, sin embargo no así con Venecia.
Foscari se casó dos veces, primero con Maria Priuli y luego con Marina Nani. Su único hijo sobreviviente, Jacopo, fue juzgado por el Consejo de los diez por cargos de soborno y corrupción y exiliado de la ciudad.
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Francesco Foscari (1373 – 1 November 1457) was doge of Venice from 1423 to 1457, at the inception of the Italian Renaissance.
Biography
Francesco Foscari, of an ancient noble family, served the Republic of Venice in numerous official capacities—as ambassador, president of the Forty, member of the Council of Ten, inquisitor, Procuratore di San Marco, avvogadore di comun— before he was elected in 1423 defeating the other candidate, Pietro Loredan. His task as doge was to lead Venice in a long and protracted series of wars against Milan, governed by the Visconti, who were attempting to dominate all of northern Italy.
Despite the justification of Venetian embroilment in the terraferma that was offered in Foscari's funeral oration, delivered by the humanist senator and historian Bernardo Giustiniani, and some victories, the war was extremely costly to Venice, whose real source of wealth and power was at sea. Venice, which during Foscari's leadership abandoned her ally Florence, was eventually overcome by the forces of Milan under the leadership of Francesco Sforza. Sforza soon made peace with Florence, however, leaving Venice alone.
Foscari was married twice: first to Maria Priuli, and then in 1415 to Marina Nani. In 1445, his only surviving son, Jacopo, was tried by the Council of Ten on charges of bribery and corruption and exiled from the city. Two further trials, in 1450 and 1456, led to Jacopo's imprisonment on Crete and his eventual death there.
News of Jacopo's death caused Foscari to withdraw from his government duties, and in October 1457 the Council of Ten forced him to abdicate. However, his death a week later provoked such public outcry that he was given a state funeral.
Beside his profile portrait by Lazzaro Bastiani, Foscari commissioned a bas-relief bronze plaquette from Donatello, which survives in several examples. His figure kneeling in prayer to St Mark figured over the portal to the Doge's Palace until it was dismantled by order of the revolutionary government, 1797; the head was preserved and is conserved in the Museo dell'Opera di Palazzo Ducale. His monument by the sculptor Antonio Bregno in collaboration with his architect brother Paolo was erected in the church of Santa Maria dei Frari in Venice.
In literature and opera
Foscari's life was the subject of a play The Two Foscari by Lord Byron (1821) and an episode in Samuel Rogers' long poem Italy. The Byron play served as the basis for the libretto written by Francesco Maria Piave for Giuseppe Verdi's opera I due Foscari, which premiered on 3 November 1844 in Rome.
Mary Mitford, author of the popular literary sketches of the English countryside entitled Our Village, also wrote a successful play concerned with events in Foscari's life. Mitford's play debuted at Covent Garden in 1826 with famed actor Charles Kemble in the lead.
Francesco Foscari nació el 4 de marzo de 1373 y murió el 1 de noviembre de 1457.
