Domenico II Contarini

Domenico II Contarini (Venice, January 28, 1585 – Venice, January 26, 1675) was the 104th Doge of Venice, reigning from his election on October 16, 1659 until his death.

Domenico Contarini was the son of Giulio Contarini and Lucrezia Cornaro. He had one older brother, Angelo, who was born in 1581, and who probably would have become Doge himself, but for his premature death. Domenico Contarini came from the branch of the Contarini family known as the "Ronzinetti", after a nickname given to his ancestor Maffeo Contarini.

As a second son, Domenico Contarini did not initially have an active public life. His older brother Angelo was launched on a prestigious career through the cursus honorum of the Republic of Venice, but Domenico had to make do with a marriage to Pauline Tron. The couple had one son, Giulio Contarini (1611–1676) (who would eventually rise to the position of procurator of San Marco), and five daughters (Chiara, Maddalena, Laura, and two others who became nuns).

Contarini led a quiet and relaxed life, but he did play a role in the life of the city. He regularly attended the environs of government, always seeking advancement for his elder brother.

In 1627–1628, Venice was bitterly divided into factions, one of which was led by Doge Giovanni I Cornaro, who sought to create a power bloc for the Cornaro family in Venice, and the other of which was led by Renier Zeno, one of the Capi of the Council of Ten, who opposed this. Contarini did not take part in this dispute, and had unkind words for both sides: he criticized the Cornaro faction for attempting to seize power without having the means to do so, and he criticized Zen for his fiery rhetoric, which Contarini saw as disruptive to the state.

Although destined by birth to a secondary role, Contarini took naturally to the back rooms of power, and proved just as adept at attending the Senate of Venice as he might have been as a Senator. Nor was his public life totally non-existent: he was elected to the Council of Ten, even serving as savio of the Council, and in March 1655, he served as Vice-Doge for the period between the death of Doge Francesco Molin and the election of Carlo Contarini.

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