January 6, 1694

Francesco Morosini became the Doge of Venice, in March of 1688.  According to John Julius Norwich in his A History of Venice, (1982) Morosini was "the last of her great warrior doges." He sought to get territory back from the Ottoman Turks, with a navy of 68 fighting ships. Already though, when he took power the empire of Venice was seriously reduced. After he was ill for a month with gallstones, Morosini died on January 6, 1694. The body of Francesco Morosini was buried at S. Stefano. There are Morosini rooms at the Correr Museum, where the embalmed body of his cat is kept, a cat "of whom he is said to have been  inordinately fond."