Francesco Foscari, doge of Venice, born about 1373, died Oct. 31, 1457. Elected doge in 1423, the whole period in which he governed the republic was one of war and tumult. The sultan Amurath II. laying siege to Salonica, Foscari despatched troops thither, who repelled the Mussulmans. He then engaged in hostilities with the duke of Milan, Filippo Maria Visconti, and subjected to the republic the territories of Brescia, Bergamo, and Cremona, making the Adda the boundary of the Venetian dominion. The war was soon renewed with various success, nearly all the Italian dries taking part in it; but the doge, supported by Cosmo de' Medici and by Francesco Sforza, marquis of Ancona, still further extended his power by a treaty concluded in 1441. New wars, involving extensive leagues though little bloodshed, followed soon after; but in his old age Foscari had made peace with all the enemies of Venice, including Mohammed II., the successor of Amurath, when Jacopo, the last survivor of his four sons, was brought a second time before the council of ten, falsely charged with the assassination of its chief.

The tribunal, jealous of the power and popularity of the doge, condemned his son first to torture and then to exile in Candia. The young Foscari, whose mind was disordered by suffering, wishing after long banishment to see his country again at whatever peril, effected his return thither, but being condemned again, had scarcely reached the place of exile when he died. This event is the subject of Byron's tragedy, "The Two Foscari." For the old doge one other humiliation remained. He had twice asked leave to resign his office, but the council had obliged him to retain it. He was now deposed, through the machinations of his enemies, and died a few days after in a spasm as he heard the bells of St. Mark announce to Venice the election of a new ruler.