WI: Venice becomes a monarchy?

Just a fun little idea I came up with, despite my personal dislike of the Republic of Venice.

What if, with a POD of past 1204 AD, Venice had, like Rome before it, transitioned, by itself, without (or with little) intervention from outside powers, from a republic to a monarchy? To my mind, this could be either a principality, duchy (I think the word doge has the same roots as duke) or a kingdom as granted by either the Pope or the Holy Roman Emperor, or, in the most extreme case, get a Venetian elected as Holy Roman Emperor. Or even, depending on how much Italian land they hold at the time, during the/an age of nationalism, leading to the Venetians leading a different Italian unification and declaring themselves a kingdom or empire.

Any thoughts? Which seems more likely?
 
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None of them.
There was a period between the 8th and the 10th century when three families (Orseolo, Participazio and Candiani) unsuccessfully tried to create a hereditary succession to the dogal throne, but they were in the end always frustrated by the Arengo, the assembly of free citizens that in those years acclaimed the successful candidate (and unsurprisingly a good number of doges in this period were forcibly removed from the throne).
In 1148, the "dogal period" ended with the creation of the Promissio Domini Ducis (i.e. a formal commitment through which the candidate to the position of doge renounced to most of his executive powers and specifically renounced the right to nominate his successor): from this date on, the republican form could no more risk being transformed into a monarchical one, and the major decisions were always taken by the Signoria in which the doge was only one of the members.
Domenico Morosini, elected in 1148, was the first to swear to govern in accordance with the Promissio, and after him all the doges had to sign and swear one. Interestingly the most detailed (and long) Promissio was the one which was signed by Enrico Dandolo (whose fame as the mastermind of the 4th crusade was certainly exaggerated by later historians) who was elected as a compromise candidate at quite a late age and to whom it was made very clear that he would have to be just a nominal ruler.

Incidentally, the Most Serene Republic never owed fealty to either the HR emperor or to the Pope: Venice was a nominal vassal of the ERE, which was quite useful for trade purposes, but did not mean anything at all: Constantinople could not interfere in any way in the government of Venice, and no taxes were ever paid to it.
 
I meant by itself, without (or with minimal) intervention from outside powers.

It was arguably an elective monarchy - the position of Doge was held for life, abdication or deposition (one way or another).

The aristocrats were the main driving force in weakening the Doge's powers. Without the numerous councils, the Doge could be stronger. An ambitious doge and weak aristocracy could make the position inherited.
 
Venice was a monarchy in all but name.
Venice WAS a monarchy in name - a duchy. It was in all but that Venice was not a monarchy.
What Marin Falier plotted for in 1355 was hereditary succession and freedom from sundry constitutional restrictions. So WI he succeeded? Who´d be the 56th Duke? Marin was 81. He was going to die natural causes soon anyway.
 
Venice WAS a monarchy in name - a duchy. It was in all but that Venice was not a monarchy.
What Marin Falier plotted for in 1355 was hereditary succession and freedom from sundry constitutional restrictions. So WI he succeeded? Who´d be the 56th Duke? Marin was 81. He was going to die natural causes soon anyway.

According to his Italian wikipedia entry, he had two daughters by his first wife, Lucia and Pinola, but I can't find further record of them. Maybe he intended for it to pass to a son-in-law?
 
I toyed with a brief Mongol timeline which delays Batu's death. Long story short the Mongols set up shop in Hungary and ravage Friuli, Bohemia, Poland and Austria, while Venice becomes a Muscovy scenario ie getting tax privileges over Lombardy by stint of defecting first. Eventually when the Danube Khanate and (Anglo-France Union Capetian controlled) HRE recede their control of the region Venice unites Lombardy/northern Italy (and conquers big parts of Croatia/Illyria and Greece) but succumbs to despotism as a victim of its own success a la the Roman Republic.
 
Just a fun little idea I came up with, despite my personal dislike of the Republic of Venice.

What if, with a POD of past 1204 AD, Venice had, like Rome before it, transitioned, by itself, without (or with little) intervention from outside powers, from a republic to a monarchy? To my mind, this could be either a principality, duchy (I think the word doge has the same roots as duke) or a kingdom as granted by either the Pope or the Holy Roman Emperor, or, in the most extreme case, get a Venetian elected as Holy Roman Emperor. Or even, depending on how much Italian land they hold at the time, during the/an age of nationalism, leading to the Venetians leading a different Italian unification and declaring themselves a kingdom or empire.

Any thoughts? Which seems more likely?
Maybe a Doge and his family want to act like Ceasar and Augustus.
 
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