Niccolò Gattilusio (died 1409) was the first member of the

Gattilusio The House of Gattilusio was a powerful Genoese family who controlled a number of possessions in the northern Aegean from 1355 until the mid 15th century. Anthony Luttrell has pointed out that this family had developed close connections to the Byz ...

family to rule the city of Aenus (modern

Enez Enez is a town and a district of Edirne Province, in Thrace, Turkey. The ancient name of the town was Ainos ( el, Αίνος), Latinised as Aenus. The mayor is Özkan Günenç ( CHP). The population is 10,886 as of 2018. Enez consists of an old t ...

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

). The Gattilusio family came from the

Republic of Genoa The Republic of Genoa ( lij, Repúbrica de Zêna ; it, Repubblica di Genova; la, Res Publica Ianuensis) was a medieval and early modern maritime republic from the 11th century to 1797 in Liguria on the northwestern Italian coast. During the Lat ...

. The parents of Niccolò and his brother

Francesco I Gattilusio Francesco I Gattilusio (died 6 August 1384) was the first member of the Gattilusio family to rule the Aegean island of Lesbos as a vassal of the Byzantine emperor. Freebooter The Gattilusio family came from the Republic of Genoa. The parents of F ...

are not known, although based on the heraldic evidence of their inscriptions, Anthony Luttrell argues that their mother was a member of the

Doria Doria or Dória may refer to: People Surname * Doria (family), a prominent Genoese family ** Andrea Doria (1466–1560), Genoese admiral ** Ansaldo Doria, 12th century Genoese statesman and commander ** Brancaleone Doria (died c. 1409?), husband ...

family.Luttrell
"John V's Daughters: A Palaiologan Puzzle"
''Dumbarton Oaks Papers'', 40 (1986), p. 110 He accompanied his brother in his adventures. As the former was rewarded by the

Byzantine emperor This is a list of the Byzantine emperors from the foundation of Constantinople in 330 AD, which marks the conventional start of the Eastern Roman Empire, to its fall to the Ottoman Empire in 1453 AD. Only the emperors who were recognized as le ...

John V Palaiologos John V Palaiologos or Palaeologus ( el, Ἰωάννης Παλαιολόγος, ''Iōánnēs Palaiológos''; 18 June 1332 – 16 February 1391) was Byzantine emperor from 1341 to 1391, with interruptions. Biography John V was the son of E ...

with the island of

Lesbos Lesbos or Lesvos ( el, Λέσβος, Lésvos ) is a Greek island located in the northeastern Aegean Sea. It has an area of with approximately of coastline, making it the third largest island in Greece. It is separated from Anatolia, Asia Minor ...

, so Niccolò received the coastal city of Ainos, which he took title to at some point between 1376 and 1379. From 1384 to 1387 he served as regent for his nephew

Francesco II Gattilusio Francesco II Gattilusio (born Giacomo Gattilusio or ''Jacopo'' c. 1365 – 26 October 1403/1404) was the second Gattilusio lord of Lesbos, from 1384 to his death. He was the third son of Francesco I Gattilusio and Maria Palaiologina, the sister of ...

until the two fell out in an argument between them. When his nephew died in an unusual accident, Niccolò served once more as regent, this time for Francesco's son

Jacopo Jacopo (also Iacopo) is a masculine Italian given name, derivant from Latin ''Iacōbus''. It is an Italian variant of Giacomo. * Jacopo Aconcio (), Italian religious reformer * Jacopo Bassano (1592), Italian painter * Iacopo Barsotti (1921–1987 ...

. He is known to have a daughter Marietta, although the name of her mother is not recorded; she died before him. Niccolò was succeeded by his grand-nephew Palamede as ruler of Ainos.Miller, "The Gattilusj", p. 418

References

External links

* 1409 deaths Italian untitled nobility House of Gattilusio Year of birth unknown Lords of Ainos 14th-century Genoese people 15th-century Genoese people {{Italy-noble-stub