Appendix C

Principal Events in Gasparo ’s Life16

1483 Contarini is born in Venice 1501–9 Lives and studies in ; between 1502 and 1505, he pre- pares for the practice of law 1508–9 Interrupts his cultural activities in Padua, returns to Venice and enters the Grand Council 1512 Competes unsuccessfully for several public offices 1517 Writes booklet on the office of bishop,De officio episcopi 1518–20 Wins first public appointment, in the loans office of the re- public, and then surveys and measures reclaimed land in the Po valley 1520–5 Ambassador to Charles V, emperor of the Holy ; sojourns in several cities of the empire and visits 1522 Begins draft of his De magistratibus et republica Venetorum 1526–7 Assumes the office of savio di terraferma, one of the five offi- cials overseeing the affairs of the mainland areas, especially with regard to war and defence 1527 Elected as one of the advisors to the Senate, to the advisory board Zonta dei pregadi; dispatched as an envoy to the of Ferrara 1528–9 Served briefly as Venetian ambassador to Pope Clement VII and the Holy See 1530–5 During this period, he reaches highest levels in the gov- ernance of the Republic, beginning on 1 April 1530 with

16 This chronology relies in part on the chronology of Contarini’s life prepared by Claudio Negrato (2012). Introduction: Appendix C xlvii

assumption of the prestigious office ofsavio grande or del con- siglio. During this period, he also serves as member and head of the Council of Ten. Takes part in the meetings surround- ing the Peace of in 1530, from which he emerged as a chief architect of a new image of Venice as a city and as a people of peace governing a relatively small Italian state 1536–9 Named cardinal by Pope III in 1535, he celebrated his first mass in 1537 1540–1 As representative of the , takes part in meet- ings with Protestant counterparts in Germany aimed, with- out success, at resolving differences 1542 Named papal legate for Bologna, the most important legate- ship of the Holy See, where he died in August 1542 1543 First posthumous edition of De magistratibus appears