Giovanni Tiepolo Explained

Giovanni Tiepolo
Patriarch of Venice
Church:Catholic Church
Appointed:20 November 1619
Ended:7 May 1631
Predecessor:Francesco Vendramin
Successor:Federico Baldissera Cornaro
Consecration:8 December 1619 (Bishop)
Consecrated By:Sigismondo Donati
Birth Date:1570 4, df=yes
Birth Place:Venice, Republic of Venice
Death Place:Venice, Republic of Venice
Buried:San Pietro di Castello, Venice

Giovanni Tiepolo (Latin: Ioannes Thiepolus; 12 April 1570 – 7 May 1631) was Patriarch of Venice from 1619 to his death.

Life

He was born in Venice on 12 April 1570 to the patrician Agostino di Nicolò e da Laura Bragadin di Giovanni.

As soon as he was of age, he attempted to pursue a political career as was usual in noble Venetian families, but without success. Instead, he followed his religious calling joining the clergy. Probably with the support of Doge Leonardo Donà, on 27 December 1603 he was appointed primicerius of St Mark's Basilica (i.e. the main chaplain of the Doge's Palace). During the Venetian Interdict of 1606 and 1607, a hard crisis between the Papacy and the Republic of Venice, Tiepolo strongly supported the Republic.

On 10 October 1619, after the patriarch of Venice Francesco Vendramin died, the Venetian Senate elected Tiepolo as his successor. The choice was validated by Pope Paul V on 20 November. Giovanni Tiepolo was consecrated bishop in Venice on 8 November by the Nuncio in Venice, Sigismondo Donati. One of the first act of Tiepolo as Patriarch was the condemnation of the forced monastic vows of young girls. He also compiled as critic catalogue of Venetian saints and blessed and made their images to be painted in the church of the Madonna dell'Orto. In April 1622 he visited Rome.

During the 1629–1631 Italian plague he organized devotional events, such as penitential processions and Eucharistic adoration. However for Holy Week of 1631, he forbade public events and he forced the regular clergy to assist the plague-ridden. On 1 April 1631, he blessed the first stone of the new church named Santa Maria della Salute which was to be built to ask God to end the plague, notwithstanding that this church was to be built on the ground where the patriarchal seminary was located.

He died of plague in Venice on 7 May 1631 after 13 days of illness, and he was buried in the cathedral of San Pietro di Castello in Venice.

Works

Giovanni Tiepolo was an author of many religious books, such as:

Giovanni Tiepolo is also known as amanuensis of ancient manuscripts, and among them a Chronicle of Venice covering the years from 421 to 1538.