Vettore Cappello

Vettore Cappello
Funeral monument of Cappello kneeling before Saint Helena, Sant'Elena, Venice
Born	c. 1400 Venice
Died	13 March 1467 Negroponte
Nationality	Republic of Venice
Occupation	Merchant, statesman, military commander
Years active	1420–1467
Known for	Role in the First Ottoman–Venetian War
Spouse(s)	Lucia Querini
Children	Andrea, Lorenzo, Paolo, Alvise, Elena, Paolina
Parents	Giorgio Cappello (father) Coronea Lando (mother)

Vettore Cappello (c. 1400–1467) was a merchant, statesman and military commander of the Republic of Venice. After an early career as a merchant that gained him substantial wealth, he began his political career in 1439. His ascent to higher offices was rapid. He is chiefly remembered for his advocacy of a decisive policy against the Ottoman Empire, and his command of Venetian forces as Captain general of the Sea during the lead-up to and the first stages of the First Ottoman–Venetian War.

Vettore Cappello was born to Giorgio Cappello and Coronea Lando. The date of his birth is unknown; his epitaph records that he died at the age of 63, but when he was inscribed at the Balla d'Oro in 1420, he is recorded as being twenty years of age, and serving as a sailor in the trade convoy to Alexandria. His family was engaged in commerce, and Vettore appears to have been active in his family's commercial interests: along with his brothers, he maintained agents at Bruges and London for a decade from 1431 on, and he was patrono (responsible for the equipping and manning of a trade galley) in the muda (annual trade convoy) to Flanders in the years 1428, 1438, and 1441. In 1436 he married Lucia Querini, daughter of Marco, with whom he had six children: Andrea, Lorenzo, Paolo, Alvise, Elena and Paolina.

Cappello began his political career in October 1439, when he was elected to the savii agli Ordini (commissioners on naval matters). Cappello held the same office again in October 1440 – March 1441, then was member of the Ragion Nuove office in 1442, and captain of the trade convoy to Romania (Constantinople and the Black Sea) in 1443. In 1442–1443 he was also elected to various other offices that he did not carry out: captain of the convoys to Modon and the Barbary Coast, and sopracomito (galley captain) in the guard fleet of the Gulf (the Adriatic Sea). In spring 1444 he commanded the two galleys that brought to Venice Mary of Aragon, the bride-to-be of Leonello d'Este, Marquis of Ferrara. His ascent was rapid: in August 1444 and again in the next year, he was elected to the Venetian Senate, and in 1447 to the Council of Ten. In September 1448 he was elected to the zonta (extraordinary commission) of the Ten, and served in the Senate until March 1449, when he was elected Captain of the Gulf.