The only other stipulation made by the
Emperor was natural enough, which was that all the Spanish galley-slaves in
the fleet of Andrea should be released and their places taken by men of
other nationalities. This was of course conceded, and the transaction was
complete. Henceforward the most formidable force at sea on the Christian
side was at the disposal of the Spanish King.
This transference took place in the year 1528, and it was in the same year
that the citizens of Genoa, in recognition of the unexampled services of
the admiral to the State, elected him perpetual Doge.
This honour Doria declined, declaring that it was more glorious to have
deserved than to possess the honour, and that he considered he could be of
more use to his fellow citizens by gaining for them the protection of great
princes than by remaining as chief judge in his own country.
The Senate of Genoa, astonished by his noble modesty, hailed him as the
father and liberator of his country, ordered that a statue of him should be
erected in the public square, that in the same place a palace should be
built for him at the public expense, and that it should be called Plaza
Doria; further, that he and his posterity should be for ever exempted from
taxation, and that a device should be engraved on a plate of copper and
attached to the walls of the palace, where it could be seen of all men,
announcing to posterity the services that this great man had rendered to
his fellow citizens, to be for ever a memorial of their gratitude.
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