Venetian noble family, one of the oldest and most famous of the leading families of Venice/Venezia.
No less than four members of the Dandolo family held the office of Doge of Venice. The most significant of these was Enrico Dandolo, who (as Doge from 1192-1205) worked steadfastly to increase the influence of the city in the Eastern Mediterranean region. He was chiefly responsible for the overthrow, in 1204, of the Byzantine emperor by the crusaders of the Fourth Crusade.
The learned Andrea Dandolo was Doge from 1343 to 1354, but he is probably more famous as the greatest historian of mediaeval Venice. Not only did he present his city's history from ancient times to 1280 in the form of annals, he also directed the collection and preservation for posterity of the texts of the city's treaties with other states.
The Dandolo family died out in the mid-19th century.