John III Crispo ( it, Giovanni III Crispo) was the eighteenth Duke of the Archipelago, ruling from 1480 when he succeeded his brother,

Giacomo III Crispo Giacomo III Crispo (died 1480), was the seventeenth Duke of the Archipelago, ruling from 1463 when he succeeded Francesco II Crispo Francesco II Crispo (died 1463) was the sixteenth Duke of the Archipelago, ruling for less than one year in 1463 wh ...

(r. 1463–1480). Shortly after this, he reincorporated Santorini, which had been ruled by Domenico Pisani, husband of his niece Fiorenza Crispo, into the Duchy. His raising of taxes made him very unpopular among the Greek population of

Naxos Naxos (; el, Νάξος, ) is a Greek island and the largest of the Cyclades. It was the centre of archaic Cycladic culture. The island is famous as a source of emery, a rock rich in corundum, which until modern times was one of the best ab ...

, however. They rebelled under their own magnates (''archontes''), and the Crispi and the other Catholic families loyal to them were shut in the island's citadel (Kastro) and were besieged by the rebels. Only the timely arrival of galleys from the

Knights Hospitaller The Order of Knights of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem ( la, Ordo Fratrum Hospitalis Sancti Ioannis Hierosolymitani), commonly known as the Knights Hospitaller (), was a medieval and early modern Catholic military order. It was headq ...

Rhodes Rhodes (; el, Ρόδος , translit=Ródos ) is the largest and the historical capital of the Dodecanese islands of Greece. Administratively, the island forms a separate municipality within the Rhodes regional unit, which is part of the S ...

rescued Crispo and put an end to the revolt. The discontent did not subside, however, and in 1494 John was killed, apparently by poison, by the locals, who sent an embassy to

Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 bridges. The isla ...

requesting for the Republic to assume control of the island, as John's sole heir, his son

Francesco III Crispo Francesco III Crispo (died 1511) was the Duke of the Archipelago, ruling from 1500, when he succeeded John III Crispo (r. 1480–94) after an interregnum. He was succeeded in 1517 by John IV Crispo, after an interregnum that began in 1511. France ...

, was underage. In the end, Francesco assumed his father's position in 1500.

Family

He was married to a Morosini and had issue: #

Giovanni (John) also had a Mistress, his cousin, Maria Crispo, daughter of Anthony Crispo Lord of Syros (Sira). They had issue: # A daughter, name currently unknown. # A son, Nicholas Antonio Crispo de Syra (Sira). married to Taddea Sommaripa fled to Rhodes Island circa 1520. 1.6 Giorgio Crispo de Syra (de Sira), de Jure Signore di Syra, (1540 -), Official of the Order of St John in Malta 1550, married (1) (c. 1550) to Norella de Fantino, married Malta (2) (c. 1585) to Leonora N, with issue.

References

Sources

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Crispo, John 03 15th-century Venetian people John 03 John 03 Year of birth unknown 1494 deaths Deaths by poisoning