 What little is known of Selvo 's past is based mostly on accounts of his reputation when he entered his <unk> . Details of his family origins and even the year of his birth are unknown , but it can be assumed that he was a Venetian noble because , with the rare exception of Domenico Flabanico , only members of this class were elected to the position of Doge at this point in the Republic 's history . Selvo supposedly belonged to a family in the patrician class from the <unk> of <unk> who were allegedly of ancient Roman origin , possibly from one of the tribunes . He had also apparently been an ambassador to Holy Roman Emperor Henry III and he was certainly ducal counselor to Domenico Contarini prior to his election as Doge . Being connected to the relatively popular Doge might have been one of the causes for his own apparent initial popularity . 
