Historical person
Andrea Doria
1466–1560
Andrea Doria was a Genoese admiral, condottiero and statesman whose career reshaped Mediterranean politics in the first half of the sixteenth century. Born in 1466 into a branch of the Doria family, he served several Italian and foreign rulers before becoming Genoa’s dominant naval commander. In 1528 he abandoned French service for Emperor Charles V, expelled French influence from Genoa and helped establish a new aristocratic constitution for the republic.
Doria never became doge, but his authority over Genoese politics and his command of an imperial fleet made him one of Charles V’s most important Mediterranean allies. He fought Ottoman and French forces, participated in campaigns against North African corsairs and helped sustain Habsburg sea power. His long dominance also generated opposition, including the Fieschi conspiracy of 1547. Doria remained politically influential into old age and died at Genoa in 1560.
Roger Crowley’s Empires of the Sea begins with the expansion of Ottoman sea power under Suleiman the Magnificent and Hayreddin Barbarossa, set against the Habsburg interests of Charles V and the fleets associated with Andrea Doria.
Non Fiction
Non Fiction featuring Andrea Doria (1 book)
Biographies, histories and other non-fiction are listed separately from the historical novels above.