Niccolò Gattilusio (died 1409) was the first member of the Gattilusio family to rule the city of Aenus (modern

Enez Enez is a town in Edirne Province, in East Thrace, Turkey. The ancient name of the town was Ainos (), Latinised as Aenus. It is the seat of Enez District.

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

). The Gattilusio family came from the

Republic of Genoa The Republic of Genoa ( ; ; ) was a medieval and early modern Maritime republics, maritime republic from the years 1099 to 1797 in Liguria on the northwestern Italy, Italian coast. During the Late Middle Ages, it was a major commercial power in ...

. 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 Anthony Luttrell (born 1932) is a distinguished British scholar of medieval history, renowned for his expertise in Mediterranean history. His primary focus lies in the history of the Order of St John, for which he is widely recognised as a forem ...

argues that their mother was a member of the Doria 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 The foundation of Constantinople in 330 AD marks the conventional start of the Eastern Roman Empire, which Fall of Constantinople, fell to the Ottoman Empire in 1453 AD. Only the emperors who were recognized as legitimate rulers and exercised s ...

John V Palaiologos John V Palaiologos or Palaeologus (; 18 June 1332 – 16 February 1391) was Byzantine emperor from 1341 to 1391, with interruptions. His long reign was marked by constant civil war, the spread of the Black Death and several military defea ...

with the island of

Lesbos Lesbos or Lesvos ( ) 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 and the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, eighth largest ...

, 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 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 (James in English). * Jacopo Aconcio (), Italian religious reformer * Jacopo Bassano (1592), Italian painter * Iacopo Bar ...

. 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

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