Agnello Participazio was the tenth (traditional) or eighth (historical) Doge of Venice

Doge of Venice

The Doge of Venice , often mistranslated Duke was the chief magistrate and leader of the Most Serene Republic of Venice for over a thousand years. Doges of Venice were elected for life by the city-state's aristocracy. Commonly the person selected as Doge was the shrewdest elder in the city...

 from 811 to 827. He was born to a rich merchant family in Heraclea

Eraclea

thumb|250px|right|Location of Eraclea in the province of Venice.Eraclea is a town and comune in the province of Venice, Veneto, Italy. SP42 goes through it.Eraclea Mare is the Lido of Eraclea....

 and was one of the earliest settlers of the island of Rialto

Rialto

The Rialto is and has been for many centuries the financial and commercial centre of Venice. It is an area of the San Polo sestiere of Venice, Italy, also known for its markets and for the Rialto Bridge across the Grand Canal....

, which civitas Rivoalti became, under him, the civitas Venetiarum.

In 810, the reigning doges, Obelerio

Obelerio degli Antenori

Obelerio degli Antenori was the ninth traditional Doge of Venice from 804 to 811. He was the son of Encagilio....

, Beato, and Valentino, called in the king of Italy

King of Italy

King of Italy is a title adopted by many rulers of the Italian peninsula after the fall of the Roman Empire...

, Pepin, to support their tottering power. It was Agnello who took up the defence of the city during the subsequent siege of Pepin. After Pepin fled and the doges were exiled, Agnello was elected to the dogeship. His Rialtine house on the Campiello della Cason became the first doge's palace in Venetian history and he soon began expanding it in stone. His reign began on a happy note. By the Pax Nicephori

Pax Nicephori

Pax Nicephori is a term used to refer to both a 803 peace treaty allegedly concluded between the Frankish ruler Charlemagne and Nikephoros I, emperor of Byzantium, and the outcome of negotiations that took place between the same parties, but were concluded by different emperors, between 811 and 814...

, Venetia was retained by the Byzantine Empire

Byzantine Empire

The Byzantine Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire during the periods of Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, centred on the capital of Constantinople. Known simply as the Roman Empire or Romania to its inhabitants and neighbours, the Empire was the direct continuation of the Ancient Roman State...

 and renounced by Charlemagne

Charlemagne

Charlemagne was King of the Franks from 768 and Emperor of the Romans from 800 to his death in 814. He expanded the Frankish kingdom into an empire that incorporated much of Western and Central Europe. During his reign, he conquered Italy and was crowned by Pope Leo III on 25 December 800...

, but its practical independence was affirmed. Agnello began the minting of the first Venetian coinage.

Agnello's reign is otherwise known for the birth of modern Venice: a city of canals and bridges, centred on the Rialto. Agnello turned his attention to land reclamation and refortification. He appointed a building commission of three men to oversee the work. Nicolò Ardisonio was in charge of fortifying the lidi against the sea. Lorenzo Alimpato dug canals and reinforced the islands, preparing new sites for construction. Finally, the construction of newer and better edifices was given to Pietro Tradonico

Pietro Tradonico

Pietro Tradonico , an Istrian by birth, was the Doge of Venice from 836 to 864. He was, according to tradition, the thirteenth doge, though historically he is only the eleventh. His election broke the power of the Participazio. He was illiterate, and forced to sign all state documents with the...

, a close relative of Agnello. Torcello

Torcello

Torcello is a quiet and sparsely populated island at the northern end of the Venetian Lagoon. It is considered the oldest continuously populated region of Venice, and once held the largest population of the Republic of Venice.-History:...

, Burano

Burano

Burano is an island in the Venetian Lagoon, northern Italy; like Venice itself, it could more correctly be called an archipelago of four islands linked by bridges...

, Heraclea, and Rialto were all rebuilt. Bridges were built, even across the Brenta and the Grand Canal was born. Still, at this time, the few stone buildings were fortresses or churches.

Agnello's latter years were plagued by family quarrels. His elder son, Giustiniano

Giustiniano Participazio

Giustiniano Participazio was the eleventh or ninth Doge of Venice briefly from 825 to his death. His four years on the ducal throne were very eventful...

, was away in Constantinople

Constantinople

Constantinople was the capital of the Roman, Eastern Roman, Byzantine, Latin, and Ottoman Empires. Throughout most of the Middle Ages, Constantinople was Europe's largest and wealthiest city.-Names:...

 and so a younger son, Giovanni was appointed as co-doge. When Giustiniano returned, he flew into a fury. Agnello appointed his third son, Agnello, co-doge and began to oppose Giustiniano, even besieging him in San Severo. Eventually, the pro-Frankish Giovanni was forced into exile at Zadar

Zadar

Zadar is a city in Croatia on the Adriatic Sea. It is the centre of Zadar county and the wider northern Dalmatian region. Population of the city is 75,082 citizens...

. Agnello was succeeded by his eldest son Giustiniano.

Sources

• Norwich, John Julius
  John Julius Norwich
  John Julius Cooper, 2nd Viscount Norwich CVO — known as John Julius Norwich — is an English historian, travel writer and television personality.-Early life:...
  
  . A History of Venice. Alfred A. Knopf
  Alfred A. Knopf
  Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. is a New York publishing house, founded by Alfred A. Knopf, Sr. in 1915. It was acquired by Random House in 1960 and is now part of the Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group at Random House. The publishing house is known for its borzoi trademark , which was designed by co-founder...
  
  : New York, 1982.