The doges Deusdedit (742-755), Galla (755β756), Domenico Monegario (756β764), Maurizio Galbaio (764β787) and his son Giovanni (787β804), from the “Istoria Veneticorum” by John the Deacon.
The Lombard attack on Ravenna, and the Venetian intervention to restore the Exarchate, excerpt from the “Chronica per extensum descripta” (1340s) by Andrea Dandolo.
In the 730s or early 740s, Hildeprand, nephew of king Liutprand, and Peredeo, duke of Vicenza, managed to take Ravenna, the capital of the Exarchate of Ravenna.
Venice started as a Byzantine duchy, ruled by a “dux”, but at some point, they started choosing their own dux β or doge. When, or even who, is not clear.
The lagoon was settled in Antiquity, and in the 600s, there were numerous known towns, and several important cities. Venice, however, was not one of them.
Following the Lombard invasion and conquest of Venetia, a part of the Venetian population of the mainland cities fled or left for the settlements in the nearby lagoons.