Doge is from the Venetian dialect, along with the related English word duke and the Italian duce. Descends from the Latin dux, meaning “leader”, especially in a military context. A doge was an elected lord and chief of state in many of the Italian city states during the medieval and renaissance periods.
In the 1,100 years between 697 and 1797 there were 120 doges. The first doge was Paolo Lucio Anafesto, elected in 697 and the last one Ludovico Manin deposed by Napoleon in 1797. A doge was elevated from among the aristocracy, was almost always of an advanced age with average age of 72 for an incoming doge. They served for life, and no one wanted any one doge to have power for too long. While doges had great temporal power at first, after 1268, the doge was constantly under strict surveillance.