Francesco III Crispo (died 1511) was the

Duke of the Archipelago The Duchy of the Archipelago ( el, Δουκάτο του Αρχιπελάγους, it, Ducato dell'arcipelago), also known as Duchy of Naxos or Duchy of the Aegean, was a maritime state created by Venetian interests in the Cyclades archipelago ...

, ruling from 1500, when he succeeded

John III Crispo 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 (r. 1463–1480). Shortly after this, he reincorporated Santorini, which had been ruled b ...

(r. 1480–94) after an interregnum. He was succeeded in 1517 by

John IV Crispo John IV Crispo or ''Giovanni IV'' (1500-1564), was the sovereign Duke of the Archipelago, ruling from 1517, when he succeeded Francesco III Crispo (r. 1500–11). He was succeeded in 1564 by the last Duke, Giacomo IV Crispo. Life Early life John ...

, after an interregnum that began in 1511. Francesco III reportedly suffered from insanity, and was called "The Mad Duke". He was reportedly so cruel that his soldiers vowed that they would rather serve the Turks, and as the Turks were at this point a real threat to the island, Venice, who feared an Ottoman conquest, had Francisco removed and imprisoned at San Michele di Murano on the island in 1509. The following year, however, he famously attacked his wife Taddea Caterina Loredano, who fled to the house of Lucrezia Loredano of Nio, where he followed her the day after and attacked her again, now murdering her. The murder caused a riot which resulted in a coup by the Naxians, who deposed the duke in favor of his eleven-year-old son, John IV, and appealed to Venice for support against Francesco III. The Venetian authorities supported the coup and placed the new duke John IV under the regency of his maternal uncle Antonio Loredano during his minority, and took the deposed duke to Venetian Crete, where he died soon after.

Family

He was married to Taddea Caterina Loredano and had issue: #

# Catherine, married to Gianluigi Pisani, Lord of Chios

References

16th-century Italian nobility Francesco 03 Francesco 03 Year of birth unknown 1511 deaths {{Italy-noble-stub