Francesco Foscari

Francesco Foscari (1373–1457) was the 65th doge of Venice, elected in 1423 over Pietro Loredan after serving as ambassador and Procurator of St Mark's. His thirty-four-year reign was the longest in the republic's history. He led Venice through the Wars in Lombardy against Milan's Visconti, driving mainland expansion until Francesco Sforza forced a peace.

A patron of Renaissance art, he built the Ca' Foscari on the Grand Canal. His son Jacopo was tried and exiled, dying in Crete, and in 1457 the Council of Ten made Foscari abdicate; he died days later and received a state funeral.