1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Morosini

MOROSINI, a noble Venetian family, probably of Hungarian extraction, which gave many doges, statesmen, generals and admirals to the Venetian Republic, and cardinals to the Church. It first became prominent at the time of the emperor Otho II. owing to its rivalry with the Caloprini family, whom it succeeded in subjugating by the end of the 10th century. Domenico Morosini (d. 1156), elected doge in 1148, waged war with success against the Dalmatian corsairs, recapturing Pola and other Istrian towns from them. Marino Morosini (d. 1252) was elected doge in 1249; Michele was doge from June 1382, until his death in October of the same year.

Andrea Morosini (1558–1618) was a famous historian and was entrusted by the Venetian senate with the task of continuing Paolo Paruta’s Annali Veneti, in Latin. His history of Venice was published by his brother in 1623 (Venice), and translated into Italian by Senator Girolamo Molin (Venice, 1782). Among his other works are: Le Imprese ed espeditioni di terra santa, &c. (Venice, 1627); De iis quae veneta respublica ad Istriae oras gessit, &c. (in the Corner-Duodo collection of MSS.; De forma reipublicae venetae in MS. in the Bibliothèque Nationale in Paris. His life has been written by Luigi Lollin (1623), by Niccolo Crasso (1621), and by Antonio Palazzoli (1620).

Francesco Morosini (1618–1694) was one of the greatest captains of his time. As a young man he fought against the Turks and the pirates, and after signally distinguishing himself at the battle of Naxos in 1650 he was appointed commander-in-chief of the Venetian navy. He then conducted a series of successful campaigns against the Turks, but was recalled in consequence of the intrigues of his rival the Provveditore Antonio Barbaro (1661). But when Candia was attacked by a large force, under the terrible vizir Keuprili, Morosini was sent to relieve the fortress in 1667; the siege lasted eighteen months, but Morosini, in spite of his prodigies of valour, was forced to surrender to save the surviving inhabitants. He was tried, but acquitted of all blame, and on the renewal of the war with the Turkish Empire in 1684 he was again appointed commander-in-chief, and after several brilliant victories he reconquered the Peloponnesus and Athens; on his return to Venice he was loaded with honours and given the title of “Peloponnesiaco.” In 1688 he was elected doge, and in 1693 he took command of the Venetian forces against the Turks for the fourth time; the enemy which had been cruising in the archipelago withdrew at his approach, so great was the terror inspired by his name. While wintering at Napoli di Romania (Nauplia) he died on the 6th of January 1694.

Bibliography.—Barbaro, Genealogia delle famiglie patrizie venete, MS., clas. vii., cod. 927, in the Marcian Library, Venice; Cappellari, Campidoglio veneto, MS., clas. vii., cod. 17, ibid.; Romanin, Storia documentata di Venezia, also other general Venetian histories; G. Dalla Santa, Due Lettere di umanisti veneziani a Paolo Morosini (in Nuovo archivio veneto, xix. 92); G. Graziani’s life of F. Morosini in Latin (Padua, 1698); A. Arrighi, Vita di F. M. (Padua, 1449). (See also Venice.)