Giovanni I Cornaro

Following a long conclave held on 4 January 1625, the Dogal voters converged on Giovanni Cornaro as their preferred candidate.

In 1627, Renier Zen, a Capi of the Council of Ten, emerged as a vocal critic of Cornaro, accusing him of running Venice for his own family's benefit by, among other things, turning a blind eye to his son Giorgio's trafficking in contraband goods.

On 27 October, Zen caused an uproar at a meeting of the Great Council by accusing the Cornaro family of corruption; although the elections were annulled, he was unable to obtain any further sanctions.

On December 30, Renier Zen was attacked by masked assassins, who were later found to include Giorgio Cornaro, the son of the Doge.

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.