Leonardo Loredan was a Venetian nobleman and statesman who reigned as the 75th Doge of Venice from 1501 until his death in 1521. As a wartime ruler, he was one of the most important doges in the history of Venice. In the dramatic events of the early 16th century, Loredan's Machiavellian plots and cunning political manoeuvres against the League of Cambrai, the Ottomans, the Mamluks, the Pope, the Republic of Genoa, the Holy Roman Empire, the French, the Egyptians and the Portuguese saved Venice from downfall.
Portrait of Doge Leonardo Loredan (1501) by Giovanni Bellini, National Gallery, London
Statue of Leonardo Loredan in the Basilica of Santi Giovanni e Paolo.
Doge Leonardo Loredan with Four Sons, by Giovanni Bellini, 1507, Gemäldegalerie, Berlin.
Portrait of Doge Leonardo Loredan
War of the League of Cambrai
The War of the League of Cambrai, sometimes known as the War of the Holy League and several other names, was fought from February 1508 to December 1516 as part of the Italian Wars of 1494–1559. The main participants of the war, who fought for its entire duration, were France, the Papal States, and the Republic of Venice; they were joined at various times by nearly every significant power in Western Europe, including Spain, the Holy Roman Empire, England, the Duchy of Milan, the Republic of Florence, the Duchy of Ferrara, and the Swiss.
Pope Julius II, painted by Raphael (oil on wood, c. 1511). Julius attempted to secure Papal authority in Italy by creating the League of Cambrai, an alliance aimed at curbing Venetian power.
Alfonso I d'Este, Duke of Ferrara; excommunicated by Julius, he inflicted a number of defeats on the Papal forces
Pope Julius II on the walls of the conquered city of Mirandola (oil on canvas by Raffaello Tancredi, 1890, City Hall of Mirandola)
The death of Gaston de Foix during the Battle of Ravenna heralded a long period of defeats for France.