Origin and family Girolamo Corner was born in
Venice on 25 June 1632, as the third of four surviving sons of Andrea Corner and Morosina Morosini. He belonged to the della Regina branch of the
House of Corner, one of the most distinguished families of the
Venetian patriciate. As a younger son, he had to seek his own wife, without financial support from his family. He married Cornelia Corner, who brought with her a dowry of 42,000
ducats, and had five sons with her. The affair created a rift with his brothers, which was exacerbated further after the death of their father at the
Siege of Rethymno in 1646, and the enormous debts left by him. In 1648, Girolamo and his older brother Giorgio demanded the division of the family inheritance among the brothers, leading to a long series of lawsuits and the complete estrangement of Girolamo and Giorgio from the other two brothers, Caterino and Federico.
Political career Girolamo followed a conventional political career, being elected twice as a member of the (in 1657 and 1659), a post typically earmarked for young nobles to gain experience in public affairs. He then served in fiscal magistracies, as member of the in 1659–1660, of the in 1663–1664, and of the in 1665–1666, as well as director in the
Banco del Giro and health commissioner () in 1667–1668. In 1666, Girolamo was elected for the first time to the
Venetian Senate, and went on to hold some of the highest offices in the Republic, as member of the
Council of Ten in 1668–1669 and again in 1670–1671 and of the in 1669. He also held minor posts as , , , and as . In 1669, following the death of his brother Caterino in the
Siege of Candia, he was named a Knight of the
Order of Saint Mark. and
Michele Foscarini in 1674 In 1672, along with the future
doge Marcantonio Giustinian and
Michele Foscarini, he was named to the powerful and sensitive post of , an extraordinary commission tasked with reviewing the affairs of the Venetian administration in the
Domini di Terraferma, Venice's Italian domains. The administration of the Terraferma had been neglected while the
Cretan War commanded the attention of the Republic, and abuses and malpractices had increased dramatically. The three were empowered to review all administrative acts, judicial cases and the conduct of officials for the last ten years. The began their systematic and efficient work in the territories beyond the
Mincio River, before moving to
Verona in January 1674. The commission continued its work until 1677, but in February 1674 Girolamo was elected as governor-general of the fortress city of
Palmanova, and replaced by Antonio Barbarigo. Girolamo remained at Palmanova for two years, repairing its fortifications and sending memoranda to Venice with proposals on reviving the city and its economy. After his return to Venice, he was elected
ducal councillor in 1677, to a second term at the Council of Ten in 1678, while also serving as
state inquisitor and . In 1679, he was sent to a two-year stint as governor-general of
Venetian Dalmatia (), during which he busied himself with trying to address the declining population and the endemic economic and social problems of the province. In this post he also had his first direct contact with the
Ottoman Empire, taking care not to provide any pretexts for conflict by prohibiting cross-border raids and rigorously applying the peace terms and implementing justice in affairs concerning Ottoman subjects.
War against the Turks After the end of his tenure in Dalmatia, in June 1682 Girolamo moved to the pinnacle of the Venetian overseas administration, as . During his tenure he reformed the fiscal administration of
Corfu and the tax system in
Cephalonia, and tried to address the problems caused by the overproduction of
Zante currants on the one hand, and Ottoman competition on the other; when the
Morean War broke out during his tenure, he did not hesitate to launch raids on the Ottoman-ruled mainland with no other aim than destroying the rival currant production. As , Girolamo was the chief Venetian commander present in the theatre before the arrival of the new
Captain General of the Sea,
Francesco Morosini. Morosini was a political rival of Girolamo, as both men aspired to rise to the dogate. Girolamo tried to preempt Morosini and seize the
fortress of Santa Maura (
Lefkada), which he believed to be lightly defended, before the arrival of the fleet from Venice. With a small force he sailed from Corfu to the island, but finding the fortress strongly garrisoned, he turned back. As a result of this misadventure, Cornaro was sidelined for the first year of the war. On the end of his tenure in November 1684, he returned to Venice, and was elected as one of the for the first half of 1685, and then as . The latter assignment was interrupted in December 1685, when he was sent back to Dalmatia to take over once more as of Dalmatia, replacing Pietro Valier, who had been dismissed after failing to capture Segna (
Senj). with its fortress around 1688 The situation in Dalmatia was disastrous for Venice, with its military forces in the area depleted, and the Turks raiding almost as far as the capital, Zara (
Zadar). Girolamo imposed iron discipline and displayed an "audacity bordering on recklessness", according to Renzo Derosas. First he pushed back the attacks of the Ottoman pashas, before going over to the offensive and
capturing Castelnuovo (
Herceg Novi) in 1687 and
Knin in 1688. In the
latter siege, he also captured the pasha of
Bosnia,
Mehmed Pasha Atlagić. Within three years, Girolamo not only secured Venetian Dalmatia, but added to it a profitable territory 70 miles wide and 300 long; for his success, he was named
Procurator of Saint Mark. In March 1689, Girolamo was elected again as , and joined the
Siege of Monemvasia, the last Ottoman stronghold in the
Morea. The siege was led by Morosini, who had been elected doge in 1688. Morosini and Corner could not stand each other, and Morosini shortly after left the siege, using an illness as pretext, and returned to Venice. This left Girolamo as the
de facto commander-in-chief of the Venetian forces. He continued the siege, culminating in the capture of Monemvasia on 12 August 1690. The Venetian army then moved to the Albanian coast, where the Greeks of
Himara had rebelled against the Turks. On 11 September the Venetians landed, and captured the fortress of
Kanina on 17 September and the port town of
Valona on the next day, after its Ottoman garrison evacuated it. This success allowed the Venetians to expand the area under their control along the coasts and interior of Epirus to
Argyrokastron,
Himara,
Souli, and even the vicinity of
Arta, but an attempt to capture the port of
Durazzo further north had to be aborted due to adverse weather. Returning to Valona, he fell ill due to an epidemic disease and died on 1 October 1690. == Works as ==