The Doge's Palace is one of the most iconic buildings in Venice today. But what is a Doge, and how did the position come into being? Today we look at the stories of the first three Doges in the early 8th century, as the Venetians begin their slow journey of emerging from the shadow of their Byzantine masters to become a political and commercial force to be reckoned with in their own right.

All music is reproduced under Creative Commons licence from musopen.org