Enrico Dandolo
Enrico Dandolo (c. 1107 – 1205) was doge (head of state) of the Republic of Venice from 1192 to 1205. Elected doge when past eighty and almost blind, he used the Fourth Crusade's debt for its shipping to lead the capture of Zara (Zadar) in 1202 and Constantinople in 1204, making Venice a sea power of the Mediterranean. He died in Constantinople in 1205 and was buried in Hagia Sophia.
| Lived | c. 1107 – 1205 |
|---|---|
| Active in | Venice · Zara · Constantinople |
| Known for | The doge who led the Fourth Crusade and the fall of Constantinople in 1204 |
| Game start | 1202 · age 95 · Doge of the Republic of Venice (ruler) — The Galleys of Venice |
Life at a glance
- c. 1107 Born into the great Venetian family of the Dandolo, son of Vitale Dandolo.
- c. 1172 After the Byzantine emperor Manuel I arrests the Venetian merchants in the empire, he joins a Venetian embassy to Constantinople.
- 1192 Elected doge at about eighty-five.
- 1201 Concludes a treaty with the crusade leaders to carry some 33,000 men for 85,000 marks of silver.
- 1202 Proposes that the crusaders, unable to pay the full fare, attack Zara instead, and Zara falls in November. Pope Innocent III excommunicates the expedition.
- 1203 In July, Villehardouin says, he stood in the bow holding the banner of St Mark and led the attack on the sea walls of Constantinople.
- 1204 Constantinople falls in April and the Latin Empire is founded. He declines the imperial throne, and Venice receives a share of “a quarter and half a quarter of the Roman Empire”.
- 1205 In April he leads the retreat of the Latin army after its defeat by Kaloyan of Bulgaria at Adrianople; later that year he dies in Constantinople and is buried in Hagia Sophia.
Family
The family members who appear with this character when you start the game. Years follow the historical record; where none survives, a ? is shown.
| Relation | Name | Dates | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Father | Vitale Dandolo | Dates unknown | Elder statesman of the Republic |
| Son | Ranieri Dandolo | ? – c. 1209 | Governed Venice as vice-doge while his father was away; killed around 1209 fighting Genoese-backed pirates on Crete |
In the game
You begin in summer 1202 in Venice as a doge of ninety-five. On the Lido the crusaders who cannot pay their fare are stranded, and the Arsenale has already built every ship to carry them. You cannot read the design on a gold coin, but you never forget a figure in a ledger once you have heard it. Your son Ranieri, thirty-seven, is with you.
The turning point is “The walls of Constantinople”. The walls of Zara, the envoys of Prince Alexios and the old man in the bow in 1203 move the odds for 1204. If the city falls, real history runs to the end through three days of sack, the imperial election, the night at Adrianople and Hagia Sophia; if the sea walls hold, another branch follows through the Great Council's ledger and the last winter of a doge who came home.
This scenario is the story of two generations. The scene in Hagia Sophia in 1205 is the old doge's brush with death, and when you die the story passes to your son Ranieri, who must deal with the pirate count of Crete and the archons of Candia.
- Scenario guide The Galleys of Venice
- Era guide Middle Ages
- Related turning points What if Constantinople had held against the Fourth Crusade?
Frequently asked questions
Was Enrico Dandolo really blind?
Yes. Contemporary records, including Villehardouin who was on the crusade, say he could not see. The story that he was blinded in Constantinople in 1172 on the Byzantine emperor's orders is widely regarded as a later legend, and some explain his blindness by a head injury or illness.
Why did the Fourth Crusade attack Constantinople?
The crusaders, who had meant to go to Egypt, were in debt to Venice for their unpaid fare, and Alexios, son of a deposed emperor, promised them large sums and troops if they restored his father. When the promises were not kept after the restoration, they took and sacked the city in April 1204.
Where is Dandolo's tomb?
He is said to have been buried in Hagia Sophia. The marker bearing his name now in the upper gallery was put there in the 19th century, and where his remains actually lie has not been established.
Sources
Geoffrey of Villehardouin, The Conquest of Constantinople; Niketas Choniates, History; general histories of Byzantium and Venice.