| Sanudo | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Place of origin | Venetian |
| Founded | 1043 (first recorded Sanudo) 421 (per-legend) |
| Founder | Marco Sanudo (first recorded Sanudo) Tommaso Candiano Sanudo (per-legend) |
| Current head | Extinct |
| Titles | Duke of the Archipelago Lord of Gridia Lord of Milos |
| Connected members | Candiano |
| Dissolution | 19th Century |
| Cadet branches |
|
The Sanudo (sometimes spelled Sanuto) were a Venetian noble family. The earliest known member was Marco Sanudo (1043–1096), but the family is sometimes said to descend from the older Candiano. The family went extinct in the 19th century.[1] A branch ruled the Duchy of the Archipelago from 1204 until 1566.[2] Other branches include:
- Sanudo di San Matteo di Rialto[1]
- Sanudo di San Silvestro[1]
- Sanudo di San Giacomo dell'Orio, whose most famous members were Francesco Sanudo and Marino Sanudo the Younger[1]
- Sanudo di San Polo, whose most famous member was Benedetto Sanudo[1]
- Sanudo di San Severo, whose most famous members were Marino Sanudo Torsello and Livio Sanuto[1]
Family legend had it that the Sanudo were among the families who elected the first doge, Paolo Lucio Anafesto, in 697. Their founder was supposedly a certain Tommaso Candiano Sanudo, a Roman senator from Padua who, fleeing the raids of Attila the Hun, found refuge in the lagoon in 421. The family then settled in Eraclea, later moving to Malamocco and governing the populations present there as tribunes.[1][2]