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Despot Of Epirus
The despot of Epirus was the ruler of the Despotate of Epirus, one of the successor states of the Byzantine Empire in the aftermath of the Fourth Crusade. The name "Despotate of Epirus" and the title "despot of Epirus" are modern historiographical names, and were not in use by the despots themselves. In the Byzantine Empire, the title of despot ( el, δεσπότης, despótēs) was a prestigious court title and did not designate rule over some specific territory. Though several of the early Greek rulers of the Epirote realm did use the title of despot, it was never in reference to the lands they governed, but instead in reference to their position in the imperial hierarchy. It was only with Epirus falling into the hands of foreign dynasties that the title of despot became applied not to the imperial hierarchy, but to the territory, sometimes to the dismay of the local population. "Despot of Epirus" is not recorded in contemporary documents for the rulers of foreign origin, but ...
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Leonardo III Tocco
Leonardo III Tocco (after 1436 – before August 1503) was the last ruler of the Despotate of Epirus, ruling from the death of his father Carlo II Tocco in 1448 to the despotate's fall to the Ottoman Empire in 1479. Leonardo was one of the last independent Latin rulers in Greece, and the last to hold territories on the Greek mainland. After the fall of his realm, he fled to Italy, where he became a landowner and diplomat. Leonardo continued to claim his titles in exile until his death. Although Leonardo inherited numerous possessions on the western Greek mainland, most of his mainland territories, including the capital of Arta, were conquered by the Ottomans in 1449, in the first year of Leonardo's reign. Leonardo had inherited the throne while still underage, and his government was thus headed by a four-person regency council for several years. Upon becoming old enough to rule for himself, Leonardo had all of his former regents murdered. Though Leonardo engaged in several anti ...
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Manuel Komnenos Doukas
Manuel Komnenos Doukas, Latinization of names, Latinized as Ducas ( el, Μανουήλ Κομνηνός Δούκας, ''Manouēl Komnēnos Doukas''; c. 1187 – c. 1241), commonly simply Manuel Doukas (Μανουήλ Δούκας) and rarely also called Manuel Angelos (Μανουήλ Ἄγγελος), was ruler of Thessalonica from 1230 to 1237 and, after his expulsion from Thessalonica, of Medieval Thessaly, Thessaly from 1239 until his death in c. 1241. Life Manuel was a legitimate son of the ''sebastokrator, sebastokratōr'' John Doukas (sebastokrator), John Doukas. He was thus a first cousin of the emperors Isaac II Angelos and Alexios III Angelos, and a brother of Michael I Komnenos Doukas and Theodore Komnenos Doukas of Despotate of Epirus, Epirus. He married the sister of Serbian Grand Prince Stefan the First-Crowned, Stefan Nemanjić (r. 1196–1228). Career Probably after 1225 or 1227 he was given the court dignity of ''despotes'' by his brother, Theodore. In 1225, he m ...
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Carlo II Tocco
Carlo II Tocco (died 1448) was the ruler of Epirus from 1429 until his death. Life Carlo II was the son of Leonardo II Tocco, the younger brother and co-ruler of Carlo I Tocco, count of Cephalonia and Zante, duke of Leukas, and ruler of Epirus. In 1424 Carlo II and his sisters were adopted by their uncle Carlo I. Carlo II's sister Maddalena Tocco married the future Byzantine Emperor Constantine XI Palaiologos in 1428, but died in 1429. In July 1429 Carlo II succeeded his uncle Carlo I in all his jurisdictions. His succession was opposed, however, by Carlo I's illegitimate sons, led by Memnone. Memnone and his brothers appealed to the Ottoman Sultan Murad II for help in securing the inheritance of their father, and the sultan duly sent forth a force under Sinan. The Ottoman general entered into negotiations with the anti-Latin faction in Ioannina and, after guaranteeing the privileges of the nobility, obtained the surrender of the city on October 9, 1430. Carlo II continue ...
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By The Grace Of God
By the Grace of God ( la, Dei Gratia, abbreviated D.G.) is a formulaic phrase used especially in Christian monarchies as an introductory part of the full styles of a monarch. For example in England and later the United Kingdom, the phrase was formally added to the royal style in 1521 and continues to be used to this day. For example, on UK coinage, the abbreviation DG still appears. History and rationale Originally, it had a literal meaning: the divine right of kings was invoked—notably by Christian monarchs—as legitimation (the only one above every sublunary power) for the absolutist authority the monarch wielded, that is, the endorsement of God for the monarch's reign. By custom, the phrase "by the Grace of God" is restricted to sovereign rulers; in the feudal logic, a vassal held fief not by the grace of God, but by grant of a superior noble. Yet this did not stop kings using it, even when they did homage to the pope (as viceregent of God) or another ruler, such as th ...
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Prince Of Achaea
The Prince of Achaea was the ruler of the Principality of Achaea, one of the crusader states founded in Greece in the aftermath of the Fourth Crusade (1202–1204). Though more or less autonomous, the principality was never a fully independent state, initially being a vassal state subservient of the Latin Empire of Constantinople, which had supplanted the Byzantine Empire, and later of the Angevin Kingdom of Naples. During the Angevin period, the princes were often absent, being represented in the Principality by their '' baillis'', who governed in their name. The principality was one of the longest-lasting of the Latin states in Greece, outliving the Latin Empire itself by 171 years. It did not come to an end until 1432, when the Byzantine prince Thomas Palaiologos inherited the last remnants of the Principality through marriage to the daughter of the last prince, Centurione Zaccaria. With the Principality gone, the title of Prince of Achaea became vacant. The title was reviv ...
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Centurione II Zaccaria
Centurione II Zaccaria (died 1432), scion of a powerful Genoese merchant family established in the Morea, was installed as Prince of Achaea by Ladislaus of Naples in 1404 and was the last ruler of the Latin Empire not under Byzantine suzerainty. Centurione was the son of Andronikos Asen Zaccaria and grandson of Centurione I Zaccaria. He succeeded his father in the barony of Arkadia (modern Kyparissia) in 1402. Though young, he was ambitious and he overthrew his aunt, Maria II Zaccaria, in Achaea in 1404; a move which was approved by his overlord, the king of Naples. Immediately, he reinforced his power on a local basis by marrying Creusa, the daughter of Leonardo II Tocco, lord of Zante and niece of Carlo I Tocco whose dominions covered Cephalonia and Lefkada and extended to Epirus and the western Peloponnese. Centurione then made his brother Stephen the Latin Archbishop of Patras. However, Centurione was quickly at war with his alienated relatives. His wife's cousin Carl ...
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Manuel II Palaiologos
Manuel II Palaiologos or Palaeologus ( gr, Μανουὴλ Παλαιολόγος, Manouēl Palaiológos; 27 June 1350 – 21 July 1425) was Byzantine emperor from 1391 to 1425. Shortly before his death he was tonsured a monk and received the name ''Matthew''. His wife Helena Dragaš saw to it that their sons, John VIII Palaiologos and Constantine XI Palaiologos, became emperors. He is commemorated by the Greek Orthodox Church on July 21. Life Manuel II Palaiologos was the second son of Emperor John V Palaiologos and his wife Helena Kantakouzene. Granted the title of '' despotēs'' by his father, the future Manuel II traveled west to seek support for the Byzantine Empire in 1365 and in 1370, serving as governor in Thessalonica from 1369. The failed attempt at usurpation by his older brother Andronikos IV Palaiologos in 1373 led to Manuel's being proclaimed heir and co-emperor of his father. In 1376–1379 and again in 1390, they were supplanted by Andronikos IV and then his so ...
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Leonardo II Tocco
Leonardo II Tocco (1375/76 – 1418/19) was a scion of the Tocco family and lord of Zakynthos, who played an important role as a military leader for his brother, Carlo I Tocco, in early 15th-century western Greece. Biography Leonardo was the second son and youngest child of Leonardo I Tocco, the Count palatine of the islands of Cephalonia and Zakynthos and lord of Ithaca and Leucas, and his wife, Maddalena dei Buondelmonti. His older siblings were Carlo I Tocco and Petronila, wife of Nicola Venier, the Venetian bailli of Negroponte.PLP 29008Talbot (1991), pp. 2090–2091 Leonardo's father died while he was still an infant, and for the next few years, his mother acted as regent for both her sons. His brother Carlo I gave the island of Zakynthos to him as an appanage in 1399, and Leonardo also received lands in the Principality of Achaea by Prince Pedro de San Superano. Little is known of him otherwise until ca. 1404–1406, when he took part in Carlo's attacks on the Epirote main ...
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Carlo I Tocco
Carlo I Tocco was the hereditary Count palatine of Cephalonia and Zakynthos from 1376, and ruled as the Despot of Epirus from 1411 until his death on July 4, 1429. Life Carlo I was the son of Count Leonardo I Tocco of Cephalonia and Leukas by Maddalena de' Buondelmonti, sister of Esau de' Buondelmonti, ruler of Ioannina. Leonardo I Tocco, who was count of Cephalonia from 1357 until his death in 1376, as well as duke of Leukas from 1362, was himself the son of Guglielmo Tocco, governor of Corfu for the Angevins, and Margherita Orsini, sister of Nicholas Orsini and John II Orsini, rulers of Epirus and counts of Cephalonia. In this way, Carlo Tocco inherited a claim to Epirus from both the Orsini and the Buondelmonti. Carlo I succeeded his father as count of Cephalonia and duke of Leukas on the latter's death in 1376. He shared power with his brother Leonardo II, who was invested with the island of Zante as appanage in 1399. Expansion in the Morea His marriage to Francesca, daugh ...
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Simeon Uroš
Simeon Uroš ( sr-cyr, Симеон Урош, gr, Συμεών Ούρεσης; 1326–1370), nicknamed Siniša (Синиша), was a self-proclaimed Emperor of Serbs and Greeks, from 1356 to 1370. He was son of Serbian King Stephen Uroš III and Byzantine Princess Maria Palaiologina. Initially, he was awarded the title of despot in 1346, and appointed governor of southern Epirus and Acarnania in 1347 by his half-brother, Serbian Emperor Stephen Dušan. After Dušan's death in 1355, the Serbian throne passed to Dušan's son Stephen Uroš V, but despot Simeon decided to seize the opportunity in order to impose himself as co-ruler and lord of all southern provinces of the Serbian Empire. That led him to conflict with his nephew in 1356, when Simeon started to expand his control in southern regions of the Empire, trying to take Thessaly and Macedonia. He proclaimed himself ''Emperor of the Serbs and Greeks'', creating a separate state, centered in regions of Thessaly and Epirus, ...
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Thomas Preljubović
Thomas Preljubović ( sr, Тома Прељубовић / Toma Preljubović; el, Θωμάς Κομνηνός Παλαιολόγος, Thōmas Komnēnos Palaiologos) was ruler of the Despotate of Epirus in Ioannina from 1366 to his death on December 23, 1384. He also held the title of Albanian-slayer (Greek: Αλβανοκτόνος/Αλβανιτόκτονος) after torturing Albanian prisoners in order to terrify his enemies. Toma is remembered for presenting several outstanding icons to the monastery of the Transfiguration at Meteora and in Cuena, in Spain. He also made gifts to the Athonite monasteries of Great Lavra, Vatopedi and Hilandar. Toma Preljubović was particularly attached to his namesake the apostle Thomas. In one of the icons at Meteora, a composition of Doubting Thomas includes Toma's wife, Maria-Angelina, among the apostles. It is not unlikely that he was responsible for having the frescoes painted in the Hilandar parekklesion of the Holy Archangels, where in th ...
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Komnenos Doukas
The House of Angelos (; gr, Ἄγγελος), feminine form Angelina (), plural Angeloi (), was a Byzantine Greek noble lineage which rose to prominence through the marriage of its founder, Constantine Angelos, with Theodora Komnene, the youngest daughter of Emperor Alexios I Komnenos. As imperial relatives, the Angeloi held various high titles and military commands under Emperor Manuel I Komnenos. In 1185, following a revolt against Andronikos I Komnenos, Isaac II Angelos rose to the throne, the first of three Angeloi emperors who ruled until 1204. The period was marked by the decline and fragmentation of the Byzantine Empire, culminating in its dissolution by the Fourth Crusade in 1204. After the Fourth Crusade, another branch of the family managed to establish an independent state in Epirus. The members of this branch largely eschewed the use of the 'Angelos' surname in favour of the more prestigious 'Doukas' and 'Komnenos', and are collectively known as the Komnenodoukai ...
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