Centurione II Zaccaria
Encyclopedia
Genoa
Genoa |Ligurian]] Zena ; Latin and, archaically, English Genua) is a city and an important seaport in northern Italy, the capital of the Province of Genoa and of the region of Liguria....
powerful merchant family established in the Morea
Morea
The Morea was the name of the Peloponnese peninsula in southern Greece during the Middle Ages and the early modern period. It also referred to a Byzantine province in the region, known as the Despotate of Morea.-Origins of the name:...
, was installed as Prince of Achaea by Ladislaus of Naples in 1404 and was the last ruler of the Latin Empire
Latin Empire
The Latin Empire or Latin Empire of Constantinople is the name given by historians to the feudal Crusader state founded by the leaders of the Fourth Crusade on lands captured from the Byzantine Empire. It was established after the capture of Constantinople in 1204 and lasted until 1261...
not under Byzantine suzerainty
Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire during the periods of Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, centred on the capital of Constantinople. Known simply as the Roman Empire or Romania to its inhabitants and neighbours, the Empire was the direct continuation of the Ancient Roman State...
.
Centurione was the son of Andronikos Asanes Zaccaria and grandson of Centurione I Zaccaria
Centurione I Zaccaria
Centurione I Zaccaria was a powerful noble in the Principality of Achaea in Frankish Greece. In 1345 he succeeded his father, Martino Zaccaria, as baron of Damala and lord of one half of the barony of Chalandritsa, and in 1359 he acquired the other half...
. He succeeded his father in the barony of Arkadia (modern Kyparissia
Kyparissia
Kyparissia is a town and a former municipality in Messenia, Peloponnese, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Trifylia, of which it is the seat and a municipal unit. The town proper has around 5,708 inhabitants. The town is located on Greek National Road 9,...
) in 1402. Though young, he was ambitious and he successfully overthrew his aunt, Maria II Zaccaria
Maria II Zaccaria
Maria II Zaccaria , was a sovereign Princess of Achaia, and titular Queen of Thessalonica.She was daughter of Centurione I Zaccaria, Lord of Veligosti, Damala and Chalandritsa. She succeeded her spouse Pedro Bordo de San Superano in 1402...
, in Achaea in 1404; a move which was approved by his overlord, the king of Naples. Immediately, he reinforced his power on a local basis by marrying Creusa, the daughter of Leonardo II Tocco, lord of Zante, whose dominions covered Leucadia
Lefkada
Lefkada, or Leucas or Leucadia , is a Greek island in the Ionian Sea on the west coast of Greece, connected to the mainland by a long causeway and floating bridge. The principal town of the island and seat of the municipality is Lefkada . It is situated on the northern part of the island,...
and Cephalonia and extended to Epirus
Despotate of Epirus
The Despotate or Principality of Epirus was one of the Byzantine Greek successor states of the Byzantine Empire that emerged in the aftermath of the Fourth Crusade in 1204. It claimed to be the legitimate successor of the Byzantine Empire, along with the Empire of Nicaea, and the Empire of Trebizond...
and the western Peloponessus. Centurione then made his brother Stephen archbishop of Patras
Patras
Patras , ) is Greece's third largest urban area and the regional capital of West Greece, located in northern Peloponnese, 215 kilometers west of Athens...
.
However, Centurione was quickly at war with his alienated relatives. His wife's cousin Carlo I Tocco
Carlo I Tocco
Carlo I Tocco was the ruler of Epirus from 1411 until his death on July 4, 1429.-Life:Carlo I was the son of Count Leonardo I Tocco of Cephalonia and Leukas by Maddalena de' Buondelmonti, sister of Esau de' Buondelmonti of Epirus...
, duke of Leucas, had Ladislaus absolve him from his feudal obligations to Achaea (1406) and then, allied with Theodore I Palaeologus
Theodore I Palaiologos, Lord of Morea
Theodore I Palaiologos was despot in the Morea from 1383 until his death on June 24, 1407. He was the youngest surviving son of the Byzantine Emperor John V Palaiologos and his wife Helena Kantakouzene. His maternal grandfather was former Emperor John VI Kantakouzenos...
, Despot of Morea, made war on the principality, conquering Glarentza
Glarentza
Glarentza is a medieval city located next to the location of today's Kyllini in the Ilia prefecture, Greece.Glarentza, a corruption of Clarentia or Clarence, was an important city, mint and port during Frankish rule in the Peloponnese...
(1408), long the principality's chief seaport. His brother Stephen, however, abandoned the diocese of Patras to the Venetians on loan for five years. Centurione himself was forced to ally with the Venetians and Justinian, Lord of Chios, and to hire Albania
Kingdom of Albania
The Kingdom of Albania, or Regnum Albaniae, was established by Charles of Anjou in the Albanian territory he conquered from the Despotate of Epirus in 1271. He took the title of "King of Albania" in February 1272. The kingdom extended from the region of Durrës south along the coast to Butrint...
n mercenaries, to retake the port on 12 July 1414. In return for military protection, he granted the ports of Glarentza and Navarino
Navarino
Navarino or Navarin may refer to:*Pylos , a Greek town, on the Ionian Sea**Battle of Navarino, 1827 naval battle off Navarino*Navarino, Wisconsin, a town, United States...
to the Giustiniani
Giustiniani
Giustiniani is the name of a prominent Italian family which originally belonged to Venice, but also established itself subsequently in Genoa, and at various times had representatives in Naples, Corsica and in the islands of the Archipelago, where they had been the last Genoese rulers of the Aegean...
family of Genoa.
Thereafter for three years, Centurione could obtain no help from Genoa, pressed by the Duke of Milan on land and by the Crown of Aragon
Crown of Aragon
The Crown of Aragon Corona d'Aragón Corona d'Aragó Corona Aragonum controlling a large portion of the present-day eastern Spain and southeastern France, as well as some of the major islands and mainland possessions stretching across the Mediterranean as far as Greece...
at sea. In 1417, the imperial army of Constantinople
Constantinople
Constantinople was the capital of the Roman, Eastern Roman, Byzantine, Latin, and Ottoman Empires. Throughout most of the Middle Ages, Constantinople was Europe's largest and wealthiest city.-Names:...
, led by the despot Theodore II Palaeologus and Emperor John VIII, invaded Achaea. They took Messenia
Messenia
Messenia is a regional unit in the southwestern part of the Peloponnese region, one of 13 regions into which Greece has been divided by the Kallikratis plan, implemented 1 January 2011...
and Elis
Elis
Elis, or Eleia is an ancient district that corresponds with the modern Elis peripheral unit...
and holed up Centurione in Glarentza, from which he fled by sea in Spring 1418. A little later, Patras too fell. Only by the mediation of the Venetians occupying Navarino was the prince able to secure a truce.
All that was left of the principality which once dominated Greece were a few fortresses, such as the ancestral castle and barony of Chalandritsa
Chalandritsa
Chalandritsa is a village in Achaea, West Greece, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Erymanthos, of which it is the seat of administration....
. In 1429, Thomas Palaeologus of the Morea besieged Centurione in Chalandritsa and extracted a treaty from him whereby his daughter, Catherine, would marry the despot and thus make him Centurione's heir in Achaea. Centurione was allowed to keep his inheritance of Arcadia. Centurione retired to Arcadia in 1430, after the marriage was finalised. He died there a short two years later. His domains passed to the despotate of Morea and into Byzantine hands.
Centurione left one illegitimate son, John Asanes, who was the centre of later revolts against Greek authority.
Sources
- Foundation for Medieval Genealogy: Latin Lordships in Greece.
- Storia dell’isola di Scio prima dei Giustiniani e principali vicende della famiglia Zaccaria.
- Setton, Kenneth M. (general editor) A History of the Crusades: Volume III — The Fourteenth and Fifteenth Centuries. Harry W. Hazard, editor. University of Wisconsin Press: Madison, 1975.