Venier

The House of Venier was a patrician family of the Republic of Venice, first recorded in the eleventh century and probably seated at Chioggia before moving to the Rialto. After the Fourth Crusade a branch ruled the Greek islands of Cerigo and Paros, while a Cretan branch joined the island's revolts against Venetian rule.

The Venier entered the Venetian patriciate in the fourteenth century and gave the republic three doges: Antonio, Francesco and Sebastiano, an admiral of the Venetian fleet at the Battle of Lepanto in 1571 and doge from 1577 until his death in 1578.

Cecilia Venier-Baffo, daughter of the lord of Paros, was carried to the Ottoman court and became Nurbanu Sultan, wife of Selim II and mother of Murad III. The family built the Palazzo Venier dei Leoni on the Grand Canal.