Vitale Michiel I.

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Vitale Michiel I († 1102) ruled from 1096 to 1102 as Doge of Venice. According to the historiographical tradition, as the state-controlled historiography of the Republic of Venice is called, he was its 33rd doge.

From 1099 to 1100, a Venetian fleet operated for the first time in the Holy Land. As a reward for the support of the crusaders, Venice also received extensive trade privileges there, similar to those since 1082 in the Byzantine and since 1095 in the Roman-German Empire. Similarly strong as economic interests, the robbery of relics, especially those of St. Nicholas of Myra, drove the Venetians, like many other crusaders. In the battle for Ferrara, Venice gained further privileges, but this also resulted in long-lasting conflicts with the Papal States and the ruling house of the Este of Ferrara.

Family
The Michiel family belonged to the so-called twelve apostolic case vecchie, the “old houses”. Vitale Michiel was the first doge of the family, who provided two more doges as well as twelve procurators and one dogaressa – Taddea Michiel, the wife of Dogen Giovanni Mocenigo. Vitale was married to a woman from Corner.

The Doge Office

1095, a year after Vitale Michiel’s enthronement, Pope Urban II called. Christianity is launching a crusade against the “infidels” to deliver Jerusalem from the hand of the Turks. Venice did not respond to the pope’s flaming appeal.

However, when competitors Genoa and Pisa were rewarded with privileges in the Levant for their participation and feared disadvantages for Mediterranean trade, the Venetians equipped a fleet of 207 ships. She set sail in July 1099 under the leadership of the doge son Giovanni Michiel and the bishop of Olivolo, Enrico Contarini, also the son of a doge. In the first combat operation of the fleet, however, the real interests of Venice soon became apparent: the Pisans lying off Rhodes were attacked and lost half of their ships in the naval battle, hundreds of Pisans were captured and the freedmen had to promise not to trade with Byzantium; Venice enjoyed extensive trade privileges since 1082. The conflicts between Venice and Pisa, soon also Genoa, affected in the Kingdom of Jerusalem mainly the commercial hub of Acre.

After wintering in Rhodes, they sailed towards Jerusalem, which had been conquered in 1099 under the leadership of Gottfried von Bouillon. However, due to the failure of the Pisan fleet, there were problems with the food supply, the troop supply and the control of the conquered coastal strip. Therefore, Gottfried was forced to negotiate with the Venetians. These achieved extremely valuable benefits for their help, such as a separate, tax-free neighbourhood and important trade privileges.

According to legend, the v