Andronikos Asen Zaccaria de Damala or Asanes (died 1401) was a Genoese lord of the

Principality of Achaea The Principality of Achaea () or Principality of Morea was one of the three vassal states of the Latin Empire, which replaced the Byzantine Empire after the capture of Constantinople during the Fourth Crusade. It became a vassal of the Kingdom o ...

in southern Greece.

Life

Andronikos Asen Zaccaria was the son of

Centurione I Zaccaria Centurione I Zaccaria (1336–1376) was a powerful noble in the Principality of Achaea in Frankish Greece. In 1345 he succeeded his father, Martino Zaccaria, as baron of Damala and lord of one half of the Barony of Chalandritsa, and in 1359 he acqui ...

, member of the Genoese

Zaccaria The Zaccaria family was an ancient and noble Genoese dynasty that had great importance in the development and consolidation of the Republic of Genoa in the thirteenth century and in the following period. The Zaccarias were characterized by, accor ...

dynasty, and a woman of the Bulgarian–Byzantine Asen/Asanes family. Centurione was one of the most powerful lords of the

, being

Grand Constable A constable is a person holding a particular office, most commonly in criminal law enforcement. The office of constable can vary significantly in different jurisdictions. A constable is commonly the rank of an officer within the police. Other peop ...

as well as lord of Estamira,

Chalandritsa Chalandritsa ( el, Χαλανδρίτσα) is a town and a community in Achaea, West Greece, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Erymanthos, of which it is the seat of administration. Chalandritsa is si ...

and Lisarea. Sometime around 1386, Centurione died and Andronikos Asen Zaccaria inherited the Barony of Chalandritsa and the title of Grand Constable of Achaea. He married a daughter of Erard III Le Maure,

Baron of Arcadia The Barony of Arcadia was a medieval Frankish fiefdom of the Principality of Achaea, located on the western coast of the Peloponnese peninsula in Greece, and centred on the town of Arcadia ( el, Ὰρκαδία; french: l'Arcadie; it, Arc dia), ...

, and when the latter died in 1388 without a male heir (his sole son having died young), Asen Zaccaria added Arcadia to his possessions. Being furthermore the brother-in-law of the

vicar-general A vicar general (previously, archdeacon) is the principal deputy of the bishop of a diocese for the exercise of administrative authority and possesses the title of local ordinary. As vicar of the bishop, the vicar general exercises the bishop's ...

of the

Navarrese Company The Navarrese Company ( es, Compañía navarra; eu, Nafarroako konpainia) was a company of mercenaries, mostly from Navarre and Gascony, which fought in Greece during the late 14th century and early 15th century, in the twilight of Frankish power ...

and later Prince of Achaea (1396–1402),

Peter of Saint Superan Pedro de San Superano (also spelled San Superán, in French ''Pierre de Saint-Superan''; died 1402) was one of the captains of the Navarrese Company in the Morea from 1379 until he was made Prince of Achaea in 1396, a post he held to his death. Na ...

, he occupied a pre-eminent position within the Principality, on par only with the

Latin Archbishop of Patras The Latin Archbishopric of Patras is the see of Patras in the period in which its incumbents belonged to the Latin or Western Church. This period began in 1205 with the installation in the see of a Catholic archbishop following the Fourth Crusade. ...

. On 4 June 1395, together with Saint Superan, he was defeated and captured by the

Byzantine Greeks The Byzantine Greeks were the Greek-speaking Eastern Romans of Orthodox Christianity throughout Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages. They were the main inhabitants of the lands of the Byzantine Empire (Eastern Roman Empire), of Constantinople ...

of the

Despotate of the Morea The Despotate of the Morea ( el, Δεσποτᾶτον τοῦ Μορέως) or Despotate of Mystras ( el, Δεσποτᾶτον τοῦ Μυστρᾶ) was a province of the Byzantine Empire which existed between the mid-14th and mid-15th centu ...

, but was released in December, after the Venetians paid a ransom of 50,000 ''

hyperpyra The ''hyperpyron'' ( ''nómisma hypérpyron'') was a Byzantine coin in use during the late Middle Ages, replacing the ''solidus'' as the Byzantine Empire's gold coinage. History The traditional gold currency of the Byzantine Empire had been the '' ...

'' for him and Saint Superan. In 1396, he received a letter from

Pope Boniface IX Pope Boniface IX ( la, Bonifatius IX; it, Bonifacio IX; c. 1350 – 1 October 1404, born Pietro Tomacelli) was head of the Catholic Church from 2 November 1389 to his death in October 1404. He was the second Roman pope of the Western Schism.Richa ...

, which extended papal protection over him and urged him to fight against the growing menace of the

Ottoman Turks The Ottoman Turks ( tr, Osmanlı Türkleri), were the Turkic founding and sociopolitically the most dominant ethnic group of the Ottoman Empire ( 1299/1302–1922). Reliable information about the early history of Ottoman Turks remains scarce, ...

. Andronikos Asen Zaccaria died in 1401, and was succeeded by the eldest of his four sons,

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 ...

, who in 1404 became the last Prince of Achaea, reigning until deposed by the Despotate of the Morea in 1430.

Family

From his marriage to an unknown lady of the Le Maure family, Andronikos Asen had four sons: *

(died 1432), Prince of Achaea 1404–1430 *

Erard IV Zaccaria Erard may refer to: * St. Erard or Erhard of Regensburg, bishop of Regensburg in the 7th century * Erard I, Count of Brienne (1060 - 1114) * Sébastien Érard (1752 - 1831), French instrument maker of German origin who specialised in the productio ...

* Benedict Zaccaria (fl. 1412–18) *

Stephen Zaccaria Stephen Zaccaria was the youngest brother of the last Prince of Achaea, Centurione II Zaccaria, and Latin Archbishop of Patras from 1404 until his death in 1424. Life Stephen was the youngest of the four sons of Andronikos Asen Zaccaria, Grand Co ...

(died 1424), Latin Archbishop of Patras 1404–1424

References

Sources

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Asen Zaccaria, Andronikos 1401 deaths Barons of Arcadia Andronikos Prisoners of war held by the Byzantine Empire Year of birth unknown Andronikos 13th-century people of the Principality of Achaea