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The real lore of Enrico Dandolo, the original DOGE of Venice, is legendary: • Became Doge in 1192, already blind and approximately 85 years old. • The Fourth Crusade hired Venice to build a massive fleet for 85,000 silver marks. The Crusaders couldn't pay. • Dandolo effectively restructured their debt by getting them to attack Zara, a Christian city Venice wanted back. • The Pope threatened excommunication. They attacked anyway. • The Crusade was supposed to reach the Holy Land. Instead, Dandolo helped redirect it toward Constantinople, the capital of the Byzantine Empire. • In 1203, nearly 100 years old and completely blind, Dandolo reportedly stood fully armored on the prow of his galley and ordered his men to beach it beneath Constantinople's walls. • In 1204, the Crusaders captured and brutally sacked Constantinople, one of the richest cities on Earth. • Venice emerged claiming 3/8 of the Byzantine Empire, enormous trading privileges, and a mountain of treasure. • Among the loot were four ancient bronze horses from Constantinople, brought back to Venice and displayed at St. Mark's Basilica. • Dandolo died in Constantinople in 1205 and was buried in Hagia Sophia, the very cathedral his expedition had helped sack. An elderly, blind Venetian banker-politician turned an unpaid shipping invoice into an empire. The original DOGE was an absolute menace; we simply do what we must to honor him.