Pasquale Cicogna was the Doge

Doge

Doge is a dialectal Italian word that descends from the Latin dux , meaning "leader", especially in a military context. The wife of a Doge is styled a Dogaressa....

 of Venice

Venice

Venice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...

 from 1585 to 1595. He supported the claim of Henry of Navarre

Henry IV of France's succession

Henry IV of France's succession to the throne in 1589 was followed by a four-year war to establish his legitimacy. Henry IV inherited the throne after the assassination of Henry III, the last Valois king, who died without children...

 to the French throne, and convinced Pope Sixtus V

Pope Sixtus V

Pope Sixtus V , born Felice Peretti di Montalto, was Pope from 1585 to 1590.-Early life:The chronicler Andrija Zmajević states that Felice's family originated from modern-day Montenegro...

 to support Henry in exchange for his conversion to Catholicism

Catholicism

Catholicism is a broad term for the body of the Catholic faith, its theologies and doctrines, its liturgical, ethical, spiritual, and behavioral characteristics, as well as a religious people as a whole....

.

He broke with tradition by scattering silver coins, rather than gold ducats, to the crowd during his coronation

Coronation

A coronation is a ceremony marking the formal investiture of a monarch and/or their consort with regal power, usually involving the placement of a crown upon their head and the presentation of other items of regalia...

 procession. These coins were known from then on as cicognini. As his reign of Doge continued his popularity increased because he was very diplomatic and able to tackle major problems with great success.

Arguably, one of his greatest successes was converting the Rialto Bridge

Rialto Bridge

The Rialto Bridge is one of the four bridges spanning the Grand Canal in Venice, Italy. It is the oldest bridge across the canal, and was the dividing line for the districts of San Marco and San Polo.- History :...

, one of Venice's major landmarks and the only bridge over the Grand Canal of Venice

Grand Canal of Venice

The Grand Canal is a canal in Venice, Italy. It forms one of the major water-traffic corridors in the city...

, from wood to stone between 1588 and 1591. Although greater names such as Michelangelo

Michelangelo

Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni , commonly known as Michelangelo, was an Italian Renaissance painter, sculptor, architect, poet, and engineer who exerted an unparalleled influence on the development of Western art...

 had submitted designs, Pasquale chose the more humble architect Antonio da Ponte

Antonio da Ponte

Antonio da Ponte was an Venetian architect and engineer, most famous for his rebuilding the Rialto Bridge in that city.Da Ponte was head architect of the rebuilding of the Ducal Palace that was badly damaged by fire in 1574. After the original wooden structure of the Rialto Bridge had collapsed...

 and his nephew Antonio Contin to design and rebuild the Rialto Bridge. After Pasquale Cicogna died of a fever in 1595 a memorial was in scribed on the bridge to the Doge.