Morosini, Francesco

Related Category: Italian History: Biographies

(fränchĕs´kō mōrōzē´nē), 1618–94, Italian soldier, doge of Venice (1688–94), of a family distinguished in Venice for five centuries. Made (1657) captain general of the fleet in a war with the Ottomans (1651–61), he conducted a brilliant campaign. He again fought against the Ottomans (1664–69) and was tried and acquitted for being defeated by them in Crete. In a subsequent war with the Ottomans (1684–88) he conquered the Peloponnesus (1687); under his leadership the Venetian empire had a brief revival.