Leonardo Montaldo

Leonardo Montaldo (1319–1384) was the son of Paolo Montaldo, a close ally of the first doge, Simone Boccanegra. He later served as captain general of Genoese Romania, where Emperor John V Palaiologos gave him a linen bearing the face of Christ, later kept in San Bartolomeo degli Armeni.

Two failed coups against Doge Gabriele Adorno, in 1365 and 1366, sent him into exile until 1371. He helped negotiate the 1381 peace of Turin with Venice. In April 1383 a commission of forty chose him as doge over Antoniotto Adorno, on his promise to rule only six months.

He freed King James I of Cyprus on terms that tightened Genoa's grip on the island, and died of plague on 14 June 1384. His son Antonio became doge in 1392.