"BULL IN THE NAME OF DOGE MARCO ANTONIO MEMMO ON PARCHMENT - Dated October 26, 1614" Signed by Johannes Baptista Patavinus  

Lead Seal Obverse: "MARCVS ANT *MEMO* DEI GRA DVX VENETIAR ETC"

Lead Seal Reverse: Marco on left and doge kneeling on the right

Size: 17.5" x 12" (45 cm x 31 cm), Multiple Signatures

Marcantonio Memmo (Venice, November 11, 1536 – Venice, October 31, 1615) was the 91st Doge of Venice, reigning from July 24, 1612 until his death.

He was a member of one of the old patrician families of Venice. The son of Giovanni Memmo and Bianca Sanudo, he was born in a family of average wealth. He went into business as a merchant and made a fortune through his careful management.

A successful merchant and skillful politician, he completed the Venetian political cursus honorum, becoming capitano in Vicenza in 1568, then in Brescia in 1575; podestà in Verona in 1584 and Padova in 1586, provveditore in Palma in 1597 and again podestà in Brescia in 1601; and Procurator of St Mark's in 1602. It was sometime after his appointment as Procurator that he was also made Consigliere of the sestiere of Santa Croce in Venice.

He was set to become doge in 1606, but was not helped by the fact that the Memmo were one of the "vecchie" ("old"), Venetian noble families and every doge from 1382 on had been a member of one of the "nuove" ("new") Venetian noble families. He was thus unable to win support for his election in 1606, and lost out to Leonardo Donato.

Memmo used the years of Donato's reign to maneuver behind the scenes, swinging into high gear following Donato's death on 16 July 1612. When the election was held on July 24, 1612, Memmo was elected on the first ballot, with 38 of the 41 votes, a shock to the nuove faction that had dominated the position of Doge for centuries.

Great festivals were organized to celebrate Memmo's victory, and, like previous Doges, he would use the celebrations that attended great holidays as a way to curry favor with the population of Venice.

Little of note happened in Memmo's reign as Doge, except for an incursion of Uskoci pirates in 1613. He died on October 31, 1615.