The House of Cornaro or Corner were a
Venetian patrician family in the
Republic of Venice and included many
Doges and other high officials. The name Corner, originally from the
Venetian dialect, was adopted in the eighteenth century. The older standard Italian Cornaro is no longer common in Italian sources referring to earlier members of the family, but remains so in English.
History
The family and name Cornaro are said to descend from the
gens Cornelia, a patrician family of
Ancient Rome. The Cornari were among the twelve
tribunal families of the
Republic of Venice and provided founding members of the
Great Council in 1172. In the 14th century, the family separated into two distinct branches, Cornaro of the Great House and Cornaro Piscopia.[1] The latter name derived from the 1363 grant of the
fief of
Piscopia in the
Kingdom of Cyprus to
Federico Cornaro.[2]
The Cornaro Piscopias ran a large
sugar plantation in their fief near
Episcopi in
Venetian Cyprus, in which they exploited
slaves of Syrian or Arab origin or local
serfs. Sugar was transformed in-house with a large copper boiler made in Venice that the family paid hefty sums to maintain and operate. They exported
sugarloaves and
powdered sugar to Europe. The Cornaros were often in conflict with their neighbors over the use and handling of water.[4]
^Verlinden, Charles (1970). "The Transfer of Colonial Techniques from the Mediterranean to the Atlantic". The beginning of Modern Colonization. Ithaca: Cornell University Press. p. 19-21.