{{Short description|First Venetian to hold power in Dalmatia}} {{more citations needed|date=April 2022}} '''Giovanni Orseolo''' (981-1006/7) was the first Venetian to hold power in [[Dalmatia]], holding the title of ''Dux Dalmatiae''.
==History== Giovanni's father [[Pietro II Orseolo]] was the [[Doge of Venice]], and his mother was Maria Candiano.
In 1000 he was sent to [[Constantinople]] to work out the details of a plan his father and the [[Byzantine Emperor]] [[Basil II]] had been working on. Under this agreement the Venetians would conquer Dalmatia and then hold it as a protectorate under Byzantine suzerainty.<ref>(Norwich, John Julius. "Byzantium: The Apogee" (Alfred A. Knopf: New York, 1992) p. 257).</ref>
While in Constantinople he was given a standard to use in his upcoming invasion of Dalmatia by the Bishop of [[Olivolo]]. He was successful in establishing Venetian power on the Dalmatian coast.
In 1004 Giovanni married [[Maria Argyre]], who was probably niece of Basil II and relative to the latter's second cousin and future emperor [[Romanos III Argyros]]. By this time Giovanni had been advanced to the rank of co-doge of [[Republic of Venice|Venice]].
In 1006 or 1007 Giovanni, along with his wife and son Basilio, died of plague.
==References== {{Reflist}}
==Sources== *{{cite book|last=Nicol|first=Donald MacGillivray|title=Byzantium and Venice: A Study in Diplomatic and Cultural Relations|year=1992|orig-year=1988|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=0521428947|pages=42|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rymIUITIYdwC&q=Giovanni+Orseolo&pg=PA46}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Orseolo, Giovanni}} [[Category:981 births]] [[Category:1000s deaths]] [[Category:10th-century people from the Republic of Venice]] [[Category:11th-century people from the Republic of Venice]] [[Category:11th-century deaths from plague (disease)]] [[Category:House of Orseolo|Giovanni]]
{{Italy-noble-stub}}