Summary

Sebastiano Venier (Italian: Sebastiano Venier, 1496 - 3 March 1578) was the 86th Duke of Venice (11 June 1577 - 3 March 1578) and is best known for his important role as leader of the Venetian naval forces at the Battle of Nafpaktos (1571). He was descended from the prominent Venetian family of Venières who served for centuries as Lords of Kythera and later Paros. Sebastiano Venier was the son of Moise Venier and Elena Donna, grandson of Juan Francesco Venier, Lord Co-Governor of Kythera, great-grandson of Moise Venier (1412 - 1476) and nephew of Nicolo Venier, Lord of Paros and Cecília Venier, Lady of Paros. Sebastiano Venier worked in his youth as a lawyer, his great qualities led him to high administrative positions in the Republic of Venice, he was appointed Praetor of the Basilica of St. Mark (1570) and in December of the same year Admiral of the Venetian fleet in the new great war that broke out with the Ottoman Empire.

In the Battle of Nafpaktos a great union of Christian states clashed with the Ottoman fleet, Sebastiano Venier himself was in command of all the Venetian ships, the reason being the occupation and destruction of Cyprus by the Ottomans the previous year, which was a Venetian possession (1570). The Battle of Nafpaktos was fought in the Corinthian Gulf but was called the Battle of Nafpaktos because the Venetians called the Patraikos and Corinthian Gulf united "Bay of Nafpaktos" or "Bay of Lepanto". The result was a crushing defeat for the Ottomans, the allies lost only 15 ships while the Ottomans lost 233 out of 273, the remaining 40 that survived were destroyed immediately after a storm. But the gains for his predecessor Alvise I Mocenigo despite the great triumph were non-existent, in the peace treaty that followed with the Turks (7 March 1573) the island remained in their hands. The only effect on the Turks of the crushing defeat was some local population uprisings to no avail because they lacked the necessary support from the west. But it would start to set the mood for the great revolutions of the nations that would take place 2 centuries later.

Sebastiano Venier returned to Venice after the naval battle with great honours and great respect from the inhabitants, and was elected Doge of Venice at the age of 81 (11 June 1577). He married Cecilia Contarini with whom he had a daughter Elena Venier and two sons, one of his sons Francesco Venier went to France. Sebastiano Venier died the following year of a heart attack (3 March 1578) when a fire broke out in the Doge's Palace, he was buried in the Church of Saints John and Paul, a traditional burial place for Doges since the 15th century.

Nurbanu Sultana, first wife of Sultan Selim II and mother of Sultan Murad III, was his first cousin, the Islamist daughter of his uncle Nicolo Venier, Lord of Paros and granddaughter of Juan Francesco Venier, Lord of Kythera. At the outbreak of the Third Venetian-Turkish War (1537-1540) she was kidnapped by the Ottomans and sent to Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent to become an attendant to his wife, Hirem Sultana, a French-born sultana. Nurbanu took as his wife the heir to the Ottoman Empire Selim son of Suleiman the Magnificent and Hirem, by marriage he became the general ruler of all subsequent Sultans.

Sources

1. Sebastiano Venier
2. Σεμπαστιάνο Βενιέρ
3. 1,0 1,1 Εθνική Βιβλιοθήκη της Γερμανίας: (Γερμανικά) Gemeinsame Normdatei. 101343238X. Ανακτήθηκε στις 15  Οκτωβρίου 2015.
4. 2,0 2,1 Leo van de Pas: (Αγγλικά) Genealogics. 2003. I00598904. Ανακτήθηκε στις 9  Οκτωβρίου 2017.
5. ^ Riccardo Calimani, Venezia, passione e potere, p. 306
6. ^ a b Da Mosto 2003, p. 287.
7. ^ Da Mosto 2003, pp. 287-288.
8. Allegoria della battaglia di Lepanto. Paolo Caliari detto Paolo Veronese, Gallerie dell'Accademia.
9. ^ Mihail-Dimitri Sturdza, Dictionnaire Historique et Généalogique des Grandes Familles de Grèce, d'Albanie et de Constantinople, Paris: Sturdza, 1983, p. 446