Doge
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Doge (Italian pronunciation: [ˈdɔːdʒe]; plural dogi or doges) is a dialectal Italian word that descends from the Latin dux (as does the English duke and the standard Italian duce and duca), meaning "leader", especially in a military context. The wife of a Doge is styled a Dogaressa.
The title of Doge was used for the elected chief of state in a number of Italian "crowned republics". The two best known such republics were Venice (where he was called a Doxe) and Genoa, which rivalled each other, and the other regional great powers, by building their historical city-states into maritime, commercial, and territorial mini-empires.
Other Italian republics to have Doges were Amalfi and the small town of Senarica.
In several writings of Theodor Herzl, founder of Zionism, he proposed that the future Jewish State take the title of "Doge" for its Head of State - but this was not taken up by the actual Israel.
[edit] See also
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