Giovanni Dandolo

Giovanni Dandolo was the 48th Doge of Venice, elected on 31 March 1280, died on 2 November 1289. During his reign the first Venetian gold ducat was introduced into circulation.

Dandolo came from a prominent Venetian family that provided three other doges to Venice: Giovanni's great-grandfather Enrico Dandolo, Francesco Dandolo and Andrea Dandolo. Two women from the Dandolo family married doges: Giovanna Dandolo with Pasquale Malipiero and Zilia Dandolo with Lorenzo Priuli. Dandolo is a distant relative of many famous figures in Italian history, such as Fra Angelico, Eugenio Canfari, Benito Mussolini. Giovanni Dandolo was married to some one named Caterina.

Before his election as doge, Dandolo occupied various public positions including Podestà of Bologna and Padua, and commander of the Venetian naval units. The news of his election to doge reached him while he was fighting in a military action against Istria and Trieste, which expanded into an open war in the following year, also involving Venice's perennial enemy, the Patriarchate of Aquileia and the Papal States. More armed clashes followed, and continued for the duration of Dandolo's reign as doge.

After Dandolo signed the peace Treaty of Ravenna with Ancona, a new military theater opened through the revolt in Crete led by the Greek Alexios Kalergis and backed by the Byzantine emperor Michael VIII, Venice's rival for the domination of the eastern Mediterranean. These conflicts forced the Republic of Venice to negotiate peace agreements with Charles of Anjou and Philip III of France, concluding an alliance with the former in the Treaty of Orvieto.

...
Wikipedia