Thomas Asen Palaiologos ( la, Thomas Assanus Paleologus, gr, Θωμάς Ασάνης Παλαιολόγος; 15th century–1523?) was a prominent

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...

exile in the

Kingdom of Naples The Kingdom of Naples ( la, Regnum Neapolitanum; it, Regno di Napoli; nap, Regno 'e Napule), also known as the Kingdom of Sicily, was a state that ruled the part of the Italian Peninsula south of the Papal States between 1282 and 1816. It was ...

in the early 16th century. A descendant of two imperial dynasties, the

Palaiologoi The House of Palaiologos ( Palaiologoi; grc-gre, Παλαιολόγος, pl. , female version Palaiologina; grc-gre, Παλαιολογίνα), also found in English-language literature as Palaeologus or Palaeologue, was a Byzantine Greek f ...

of Byzantium and the Asens of

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedon ...

, Thomas Asen Palaiologos was active in the anti-Ottoman struggles of Greece. Before 1506, he resettled in Italy and was the donor for the construction of an Eastern Orthodox church in Naples.

Biography

A papal bull of

Pope Paul III Pope Paul III ( la, Paulus III; it, Paolo III; 29 February 1468 – 10 November 1549), born Alessandro Farnese, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 13 October 1534 to his death in November 1549. He came to ...

from 1544 refers to him as "the former king of

Corinth Corinth ( ; el, Κόρινθος, Kórinthos, ) is the successor to an ancient city, and is a former municipality in Corinthia, Peloponnese, which is located in south-central Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform, it has been part o ...

in the Morea" and as "the lord of Corinth". Thus, Bulgarian historian Ivan Bozhilov considers it most likely that he was a grandson of

Matthew Palaiologos Asen Matthew Palaiologos Asen ( el, Ματθαῖος Παλαιολόγος Ἀσάνης; died 29 March 1467) was a late Byzantine aristocrat and official, related to the Asen dynasty, Asen and Palaiologos dynasties. Life He was the son of Paul A ...

, brother-in-law to the

despot of 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 ...

Demetrios Palaiologos Demetrios Palaiologos or Demetrius Palaeologus ( el, Δημήτριος Παλαιολόγος, Dēmētrios Palaiologos; 1407–1470) was Despot of the Morea together with his brother Thomas from 1449 until the fall of the despotate in 1460. Deme ...

(r. 1436–1460). Matthew Asen was a lord of Corinth and ruler of Acrocorinth from 1454 to 1458, when the fortress was conquered by the

Ottomans 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, ...

Thomas Asen Palaiologos organized an anti-Ottoman rebellion in Greece at an unknown time and place. The failure of the rebellion was likely the concrete reason to resettle to Italy, and he was resident in

Calabria , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 ...

by 1506. There, he was economically active and had received privileges from the King of Naples, Ferdinand III.Божилов, p. 423. In

Naples Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...

, Thomas Asen Palaiologos was the main donor (''

ktetor ''Ktetor'' ( el, κτήτωρ) or ''ktitor'' (; ka, ქტიტორი ''kt’it’ori''; ro, ctitor), meaning "founder", is a title given in the Middle Ages to the provider of funds for construction or reconstruction of an Eastern Orthodox ch ...

'') for the construction of the city's first

Eastern Orthodox Eastern Orthodoxy, also known as Eastern Orthodox Christianity, is one of the three main branches of Chalcedonian Christianity, alongside Catholicism and Protestantism. Like the Pentarchy of the first millennium, the mainstream (or "canonical") ...

church, the Church of Saints Peter and Paul of the Greeks (''Chiesa dei Santi Pietro e Paolo dei Greci''). The church, which was commonly referred to as the "Palaiologian chapel", was an important hub of the community of Byzantine exiles in Naples. The church lies on a high point in the neighbourhood of

San Giuseppe San Giuseppe is the Italian name of Saint Joseph. It may refer to: Places of Italy Municipalities *San Giuseppe Jato, in the Province of Palermo, Sicily *San Giuseppe Vesuviano, in the Province of Naples, Campania *Rima San Giuseppe, in the Provinc ...

and is the sole survivor of the neighbourhood's former "Alley of the Greeks". Built in 1518 and reconstructed multiple times, it is one of the oldest churches of the Byzantine diaspora in the West after the

Fall of Constantinople The Fall of Constantinople, also known as the Conquest of Constantinople, was the capture of the capital of the Byzantine Empire by the Ottoman Empire. The city fell on 29 May 1453 as part of the culmination of a 53-day siege which had begun o ...

in 1453. The date of Thomas Asen Palaiologos' death is unclear, though 1523 is given in one source. There are indications that he had no children, as the rights to the church were inherited by his niece Maria Asanina Palaiologina ( bg, Мария Асенина Палеологина), daughter of his brother George Asen ( bg, Георги Асен), wife of Rali (Raul), mother of Pietro Rali (?-1558, Napoli) and grandmother of neapolitan noblewoman Victoria Rali Asen ( bg, Виктория Ралина Асенина).Божилов, p. 424.

References

{{Reflist, 30em 15th-century births 1523 deaths 16th-century Greek people Asen dynasty Palaiologos dynasty Year of birth unknown 16th-century Neapolitan people People from Corinth Rebellions against the Ottoman Empire