Centurione II Zaccaria
Centurione II Asanes Zaccaria | |
---|---|
Maria II Zaccaria | |
Successor | John Asen Zaccaria |
Baron of Arcadia | |
Reign | 1401-1432 |
Predecessor | Erard IV Zaccaria |
Baron of Chalandritsa | |
Reign | 1401-1429 |
Predecessor | Andronikos Asen Zaccaria |
Bailee of Achaea (for Maria II) | |
Reign | 1402-1404 |
Died | 1432 Barony of Arcadia, Kyparissia |
Spouse | Asenina Palaiologina |
Issue | John Catherine |
House | Zaccaria family |
Father | Andronikos Asen Zaccaria |
Mother | Catherine Le Maure |
Religion | Roman Catholicism |
Centurione II Asanes[1][2] Zaccaria (died 1432), scion of a powerful Genoese merchant family established in the Morea since the marriage of the lord of Chios Martino Zaccaria to the baroness Jacqueline de la Roche. Centurione was installed as Prince of Achaea by Ladislaus of Naples in 1404 and was the last ruler of the once Latin Empire not under Byzantine suzerainty.
Early years
Centurione was the son of
After the death of Prince Pedro San Superan, his widow Maria, sister of Andronikos and aunt of Centurione, took command of the Principality, ruling Achaea in her own right until her children coming to age. Maria appointed her nephew Centurione that trusted greatly as her Bailee.[5] In the past, Pedro had pledged to the King of Naples Ladislaus 3.000 ducats in exchange for the title of the ruler of Morea, an amount of coins he never yielded. Ladislaus revived his demands by asking Maria to bestow him the ducats immediately, which also Maria didn't favor. Centurione acted secretly and dispatched a trusted person in Naples to inform Ladislaus that Maria and her children couldn't grant him the money. Still, he was eager to pay them as long as he was recognized as the only ruler of the Principality. Ladislaus accepted the unexpected offer of Centurione and declared the fall of Maria and her offspring from the throne of Achaea[6] and in 1404 Centurione was recognized as Prince of Achaea.[7] Actually, the family of Zaccarias followed the rules of Salic Law[8] with men leading the family generation after generation.
Centurione then made his brother
War with the Toccos for Glarentza
At the early years of Centuriones reign the main foe of the Zaccaria of Achaea were the family of Toccos.
The gradual conquest of the Principality by the Palaiologoi
Thereafter, for three years, Centurione could obtain no help from Genoa, pressed by the
In front of the danger of the Palaiologoi, at 1422, the family of Zaccarias, tried to arouse the interest of the Hospitallers of Rhodes for Morea overall and inform them about the intention of Stephen to offer Patras to their order. The Hospitallers in a letter that they addressed to Centurione, Stephen and also the despot Theodore II refused the offer as they didn't want to be again involved in the domestic business of Morea. They excused their denial by pointing out that they were occupied against the Turkish pirates of Asia Minor that recently had attacked Ephesus.[17]
All that was left of the principality that once dominated Greece were the baronies of Chalandritsa and Arcadia, such as the ancestral castle of Chalandritsa and the castle of Kyparrisia that still hold out for the Zaccarias. During those hard times, Centurione and the Toccos approached one another against the Palaiologoi. Hopf suggested that Centurione married the niece of Carlo Tocco, a daughter of his brother Leonardo II, whom he names Creusa.[18] However, more contemporary research has concluded that Creusa was married to Constantine XI Palaiologos[19][20] and later renamed Theodora Tocco. Also Nada Zečević in his comprehensive history of the family of Toccos mentions nothing about a second marriage of Centurione to a Tocco lady and only notes the marriage of John Asen Zaccaria to a daughter of Leonardo Tocco.[21] This last wedding is also plainly attested in the chronicle of George Sphrantzes.[22] Neither the unknown author of the Chronicle of Toccos cites a Tocco princess marrying Centurione, even if this writer was greatly familiar with the relatives of Carlo I.[11]
Its evident that the illegitimate son of Carlo, Ercule Tocco, assisted by a small group of Zaccaria soldiers unleashed raids against lands of the despotate of Morea.[23] But in the same year, the despot of Mystras Theodore II and Centurione clashed over some disputed areas. Theodore II attacked Centurione and defeated him in battle. The prince was imprisoned for a short time and then was set free.
In 1429,
John Asen Zaccaria, the first born son of Centurione, at 1453 revived the title of the Prince of Achaea during the great Morean revolt and unlike Thomas was recognised by the great Western powers of the time as the only legitimate Prince. These were the Kingdom of Naples with Alfonso V of Aragon styling John as "Prince Centurione III", Venice[27] and the Papacy in Rome.[28]
From the reign of Centurione survives a document, where we see the prince assigning lands, vineyards, trees and servants to Egidio de Leonessa and his descendants.[29]
Family
From his marriage to the Asenina-Palaiologina lady, Centurione had four children:[9]
- John Asen Zaccaria: he revived the Principality of Achaea for a short period in 1453 but was later forced to exile by Thomas Palaiologos and his Turkish allies. He was married to Magdalene Tocco and had at least three children.
- Catherine Zaccaria: she was married to Thomas Palaiologos in 1430 at Mystras and became Despoina of Morea. After the death of Constantine XI Palaiologos, her husband Thomas started to be regarded as basileus (emperor of the Romans) and we find Catherine addressed as basilissa (empress).
- Martino: he was regarded for a time as Prince of Achaea but nothing else is recorded of him.
- Unknown daughter: she was married to Oliver Franco after he conquered Glarentza in 1418. Franco in 1421 sold the city to Carlo Tocco, but her subsequent fate remains unknown.
See also
References
- ISBN 960-7420-94-2.
- ISBN 9789606741999.
- ^ Guérin, Marie (2014). Les dames de la Morée franque (XIIIe-XVe siècle) : Représentation, rôle et pouvoir des femmes de l’élite latine en Grèce médiévale. Université Paris-Sorbonne. p. 67.
- ^ Archivio storico per le province napoletane: Vol. 27. 1902. p. 562.
- ISBN 960-7960-09-2.
- ISBN 960-7960-09-2.
- ISBN 978-960-485-325-0.
- ^ Schiro, Giuseppe (1975). Cronaca Dei Tocco Di Cephalonia. Roma: Academia Nazionale Dei Lincei. pp. 19–20.
- ^ a b Sturdza, Mihail Dimitri (1999). Grandes familles de Grèce: d'Albanie et de Constantinople. p. 373.
- ^ Setton, Kenneth. A History of the Crusades, The Fourteenth And Fifteenth Centuries. The University of Wisconsin Press. p. 165.
- ^ ISBN 9789606741999.
- ^ Setton, Kenneth (1975). A History of the Crusades, The Fourteenth And Fifteenth Centuries. The University of Wisconsin Press. p. 161.
- ^ Sansaridou - Hendrickx, Thecla. The Chronicle of the Tocco. Greeks, Italians, Albanians and Turks in the Despotate of Epirus (14th-15th centuries). Thessaloniki: Stamoulis. p. 52.
- ISBN 960-204-031-9.
- ISBN 9789606741999.
- ^ Setton, Kenneth (1975). A History of the Crusades, The Fourteenth And Fifteenth Centuries. The University of Wisconsin Press. p. 163.
- ^ Gerland, E. (1903). Neue Quellen zur ges chichte des Lateinischen Erzbistums Patras. Leipzig. p. 171.
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - ISBN 960-7960-08-4.
- ^ Genealogists' Magazine , December 2011.
- ^ Stathakopoulos, Dionysios (2018). Sister, Widow, Consort, Bride. Four Latin ladies in Greece (1330–1430). Routledge. pp. 245–247.
- ISBN 978-86-87115-11-8.
- ISBN 960-7420-94-2.
- ISBN 9789606741999.
- ISBN 960-7960-09-2.
- ^ Donald M. Nicol, The immortal emperor: the life and legend of Constantine Palaiologos, last emperor of the Romans, (Cambridge [England]: University Press, 1992), p. 12
- ^ Archivio storico per le province napoletane: Vol. 27. 1902. p. 833.
- ^ Kenneth, Setton (1975). A History of the Crusades, The Fourteenth And Fifteenth Centuries. The University of Wisconsin Press. p. 165.
- ^ Miller, William (1922). Essays on the Latin Orient. Cambridge, University Press. p. 502.
- ISBN 960-288-153-4.
Sources
- Bon, Antoine (1969). La Morée franque. Recherches historiques, topographiques et archéologiques sur la principauté d'Achaïe [The Frankish Morea. Historical, Topographic and Archaeological Studies on the Principality of Achaea] (in French). Paris: De Boccard. OCLC 869621129.
- Topping, Peter (1975). "The Morea, 1364–1460". In ISBN 0-299-06670-3.