Pietro Tradonico (Latin:
Petrus Tradonicus Pola), died
13 September 864, 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
signum manus, a warrior, not an administrator.
He nominated his son
Giovanni as co-doge, continuing the process begun a century earlier of establishing a hereditary dukedom and dynastic succession. All previous attempts had failed and this was no different: Giovanni predeceased his father.
He fought the
Saracens of
Bari and
Taranto, who had earlier defeated Venice in the
Battle of Sansego, on an island south of
Pola. He had to deal not only with Saracen pirates, but with
Slavs as well. He led a large fleet against the
Pagania in 839, to punish the
Narentines for raiding and slaughtering several Venetian traders returning from
Benevento in 834–835. He made peace with
Duke Mislav of the
Croats of
Dalmatia and a Narentine prince by the name of
Družak (
Drosaico, Marianorum judice). His military assault on the
Neretvians in 840 failed and he lost more than 100 men and had to return Venetia. The Neretvians continued to push against him and, in 846, breached Venice itself and raided the neighbouring lagoon city of
Kaorle.
In 840, the
Emperor Lothair I recognised the independence of Venice and its authority over the lagoon as far as
acquas salsas, already recognised by
Byzantium. From the latter he received the titles of
spatharius' and '
hypatus.Sources
A History of Venice''.
Alfred A. Knopf:
New York, 1982.
Category:864 deathsCategory:Italian nobilityCategory:Doges of Venicede:Pietro Tradonicofr:Pietro Tradonicohe:פייטרו טראדוניקוit:Pietro Tradonicohu:Pietro Tradonicopl:Pietro Tradonicoru:Традонико, Пьетроuk:Традоніко П'єтро
