Pietro I Orseolo

Pietro I Orseolo, O.S.B. Cam. (Peter Urseolus) (928–987) was the Doge of Venice from 976 until 978. He abdicated his office and left in the middle of the night to become a monk. He later entered the Camaldolese Order. He is venerated as a saint in the Roman Catholic Church following his canonization in 1731.

Early life

Orseolo was born in 928 near Udine to one of the more powerful families in Venice: the Orseolo who were the descendants of Teodato Ipato and Orso Ipato. At the age of 20 he was named commander of the Venetian fleet, performing distinguished service as a soldier; he waged successful campaigns against the Dalmatian pirates. He was also devoted to the Roman Catholic Church.

Reign

Coat of arms.

In 976, the sitting doge, Pietro IV Candiano, was killed in a revolution that protested his attempts to create a monarchy. According to a statement by the Camaldolese monk and cardinal, Peter Damian, Orseolo himself had led a conspiracy against Candiano. This statement, however, cannot be verified. Nonetheless, Orseolo was elected as his successor. His wife and consort was Felicia Malipiero.^[1]

As doge, Orseolo demonstrated a good deal of talent in restoring order to an unsettled Venice and showed remarkable generosity in the treatment of his predecessor's widow. He built hospitals and cared for widows, orphans and pilgrims. Out of his own resources he began the reconstruction of the ducal chapel, now St. Mark's Basilica, and the doge's palace, which had been destroyed during the revolution, along with a great part of the city. Two years later, on September 1, 978, seemingly without notifying anyone, not even his wife and children, he left Venice with Abbot Guarin and three other Venetians (one of whom was St. Romuald) to join the Benedictine (now Cistercian) abbey at Saint-Michel-de-Cuxa (Catalan: Sant Miquel de Cuixà) in Prades (Catalan: Prada), southern France.

Here Orseolo led a life of great asceticism, performing the most menial tasks. There is some evidence that he had been considering such an action for some time. His only contact with Venice was to instruct his son Otto (who had become doge in 1008) in the life of Christian virtue. After some years as a monk at the abbey, probably with the encouragement of Saint Romuald (who later went on to found the Camaldolese branch of the Benedictines), Orseolo left the monastery to become a hermit in the surrounding forest, a calling he followed for seven years until he died. His body is buried in the village church in Prades (Catalan: Prada), France.

Veneration

Forty years after his death, in 1027, Orseolo was officially recognized as a blessed by the local bishop.

Orseolo is venerated as a saint by the Roman Catholic Church, his cultus having been confirmed by his equivalent canonization in 1731 by Pope Clement XII, who set his feast day for January 14. The reform of the liturgical calendar in 1969 transferred the feast to January 10, the day of his death. The Camaldolese, however, celebrate his memory on January 19.^[2]

References

1. ↑ Felicia Malipiero
2. ↑ "San Pietro Orseolo (Urseolo)". Santi e Beati. (Italian)

External links

• Peter Urseolus at the Catholic Encyclopedia
• Attwater, Donald and Catherine Rachel John. The Penguin Dictionary of Saints. 3rd edition. New York: Penguin Books, 1993. ISBN 0-14-051312-4.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Pietro I Orseolo.

Doges of Venice
Byzantine period (697–737) Paolo Lucio Anafesto Marcello Tegalliano Orso Ipato
Regime of the magistri militum (738–742) Domenico Leoni Felice Cornicola Teodato Ipato Jovian Ceparius John Fabriacus
Ducal period (742–1148) 8th century Teodato Ipato* Galla Lupanio* Domenico Monegario* Maurizio Galbaio Giovanni Galbaio* 9th century Obelerio degli Antenori*† Agnello Participazio Giustiniano Participazio Giovanni I Participazio* Pietro Tradonico† Orso I Participazio Giovanni II Participazio♦ Pietro I Candiano‡ Pietro Tribuno 10th century Orso II Participazio Pietro II Candiano Pietro Participazio Pietro III Candiano Pietro IV Candiano† Pietro I Orseolo♦ Vitale Candiano♦ Tribuno Memmo Pietro II Orseolo 11th century Otto Orseolo* Pietro Centranico* Domenico Flabanico Domenico I Contarini Domenico Selvo* Vitale Faliero Vital I Michele 12th century Ordelafo Faliero Domenico Michele Pietro Polani * deposed     † executed or assassinated     ‡ killed in battle     ♦ abdicated
Republican period (1148–1797) 12th century Domenico Morosini Vitale II Michele Sebastiano Ziani Orio Mastropiero Enrico Dandolo 13th century Pietro Ziani Jacopo Tiepolo Marino Morosini Reniero Zeno Lorenzo Tiepolo Jacopo Contarini Giovanni Dandolo Pietro Gradenigo 14th century Marino Zorzi Giovanni Soranzo Francesco Dandolo Bartolomeo Gradenigo Andrea Dandolo Marino Faliero† Giovanni Gradenigo Giovanni Dolfin Lorenzo Celsi Marco Cornaro Andrea Contarini Michele Morosini Antonio Venier 15th century Michele Steno Tommaso Mocenigo Francesco Foscari* Pasquale Malipiero Cristoforo Moro Nicolò Tron Nicolò Marcello Pietro Mocenigo Andrea Vendramin Giovanni Mocenigo Marco Barbarigo Agostino Barbarigo 16th century Leonardo Loredan Antonio Grimani Andrea Gritti Pietro Lando Francesco Donato Marcantonio Trivisan Francesco Venier Lorenzo Priuli Girolamo Priuli Pietro Loredan Alvise I Mocenigo Sebastiano Venier Nicolò da Ponte Pasquale Cicogna Marino Grimani 17th century Leonardo Donato Marcantonio Memmo Giovanni Bembo Nicolò Donato Antonio Priuli Francesco Contarini Giovanni I Cornaro Nicolò Contarini Francesco Erizzo Francesco Molin Carlo Contarini Francesco Cornaro Bertuccio Valiero Giovanni Pesaro Domenico II Contarini Nicolò Sagredo Alvise Contarini Marcantonio Giustinian Francesco Morosini Silvestro Valiero Alvise II Mocenigo 18th century Giovanni II Cornaro Alvise III Mocenigo Carlo Ruzzini Alvise Pisani Pietro Grimani Francesco Loredan Marco Foscarini Alvise IV Mocenigo Paolo Renier Ludovico Manin* † Marino Faliero (1354–55) was convicted of treason, executed and condemned to damnatio memoriae * Francesco Foscari (1423–57) was forced to abdicate by the Council of Ten * Ludovico Manin (1789–97) was forced to abdicate by Napoleon