Background
He was the son of Marcantonio Cornaro and Cecilia Giustinian.
He was the son of Marcantonio Cornaro and Cecilia Giustinian.
He served as capitano of Verona, before winning a spot on the Council of Ten in 1597. In 1600, he was made podestà of Padua, and in 1603, podestà of Brescia. In May 1609, he was named procurator of San Marco.
Doge Francesco Contarini died on 6 December 1624.
Following a long conclave held on 4 January 1625, the Dogal voters converged on Giovanni Cornaro as their preferred candidate. Cornaro"s children were strongly opposed to Cornaro"s selection as Doge because of Venice"s prohibition on the children of Doges being appointed to high office in government or in the Church.
Cornaro now attempted to turn the Dogal position to his family"s advantage. In 1626, Pope Urban VIII appointed Cornaro"s son Federico Baldissera Bartolomeo Cornaro as a cardinal.
This move was ultimately ratified by the Senate of Venice, but a latter attempt to make Federico Cornaro Bishop of Vicenza, and later, Bishop of Padua, were successfully blocked.
Rioting broke out between the two factions on 23 July 1628, and for the rest of Cornaro"s life, Venice was locked in a civil war. The Venetian government had basically broken down by late 1628. Cornaro died on 23 December 1629, with a new war in Montferrat looming.