Zeno, Carlo, 1334-1418

Venetian naval officer and mercenary, who was regarded as a hero for his role in the War of Chioggia (1378-1381) between Venice and the republic of Genoa. He was a mercenary and merchant in the Mediterranean, residing for a time in Patra (Greece) and in Constantinople. While employed as bailiff and captain of the Venetian possession of Negropont (Chalkida, Greece), he was put in command of ships to counter Genoese aggression, engaging in raiding expeditions in the Mediterranean. He returned to Venice in January 1380 and was credited for defeating the Genoese navy at the battle of Chioggia in June of that year. He was later appointed Capitano Generale da Mar, leading Venice in another defeat of the Genoese at the Battle of Modon in 1403 and in the overthrow of the Carraresi family of Padua in 1405. Soon after, he was charged with treason and stripped of his offices when it was discovered that he received payment from the Carraresi family. In his seventies and early-eighties, he sought employment as a mercenary in the Mediterranean, returning to Venice and dying in 1418 at the age of eighty-five. Highly regarded by the Venetian people, he was given a public funeral, for which an oration was composed by his friend, Venetian politician and humanist Leonardo Giustiniani (ca. 1388-1446).