Background
Giustiniano was away in Constantinople when his father, the then-reigning Doge Agnello, appointed his younger brother Giovanni as co-doge.
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Giustiniano Participazio
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His four years on the ducal throne were very eventful. He was made hypatus by the Byzantine emperor Leo V the Armenian. When Giustiniano returned, he flew into a fury.
The Byzantine Emperor, Michael II, offered military support to Venice in return for a contingent of Venetians in his expedition to Aghlabid Sicily.
The success of the expedition increased the prestige of the city. While the contest (fomented by Charlemagne and by Lothair I) between the patriarchs of Grado and Aquileia over the Istrian bishoprics continued, Giustiniano worked to increase the prestige of the Venetian church itself.
Traditionally, Venice was first evangelised by Saint Mark himself and many Venetians made the pilgrimage to Mark"s grave in Alexandria, Egypt. According to tradition, Giustiniano ordered merchants, Buono di Malamocco and Rustico di Torcello, to corrupt the Alexandrine monks which guarded the body of the evangelist and steal it away secretly to Venice.
Hiding the body amongst some pork, the Venetian ship slipped through customs and sailed into Venice on 31 January 828 with the body of Saint Mark.
Giustiniano decided to build a ducal chapel dedicated to Saint Mark to house his remains: the first Basilica di San Marco in Venice. Giovanni succeeded the aged Giustiniano on the latter"s death the next year.
