House of Loredan

The House of Loredan (loreˈdan, loɾeˈdaŋ) is a Venetian noble family of supposed ancient Roman origin, which has played a significant role in shaping the history of the entire Mediterranean. A political dynasty, the family has throughout the centuries produced a number of famous personalities: doges, statesmen, magnates, financiers, diplomats, procurators, military commanders, naval captains, church dignitaries, writers, and lawyers. In the centuries following the fall of the Western Roman Empire, the Loredans were lords in Emilia-Romagna, from where they came to Venice in the early 11th century. Settling there, the family grew in power in the High Middle Ages, amassing great wealth on the lucrative silk and spice trade, and in the following centuries it would become powerful and influential in regions across the Mediterranean, playing a significant role in shaping its history throughout the Late Middle Ages, the Renaissance and the early modern period. The family was present in virtually every home and overseas territory of the Republic of Venice, and at various points in history, its members have held titles in what are now modern countries of Italy, Austria, Slovenia, Croatia, Montenegro, Albania, France, Greece and Cyprus, and conducted trade operations as far as Egypt, Persia, India and China. Alongside other families of Venice's urban nobility, they have played a major role in fostering mercantilism and early capitalism. Although the Loredans were proponents of Venice's traditional, maritime orientation, and viewed with distrust its expansion on the Italian mainland, they have played a key role in the territorial development, and ultimately, the history of the Republic of Venice, helping to expand its Mainland Dominions and the State of the Sea. The family was significant in the War of the League of Cambrai, with Doge Leonardo Loredan leading Venice to a victory against the Papal States, which resulted in the pope having to pay the Loredan family a financial settlement of approximately 500,000 ducats, an enormous amount of money, making them one of the richest families in the world at the time.