The Zorzi or Giorgi was a family of Venetian

Republic of Venice

The Republic of Venice or Venetian Republic was a state originating from the city of Venice in Northeastern Italy. It existed for over a millennium, from the late 7th century until 1797. It was formally known as the Most Serene Republic of Venice and is often referred to as La Serenissima, in...

 origin. They throve in the Late Middle Ages

Late Middle Ages

The Late Middle Ages was the period of European history generally comprising the 14th to the 16th century . The Late Middle Ages followed the High Middle Ages and preceded the onset of the early modern era ....

, especially in the remnants 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...

 in Greece, where they controlled the Margraviate of Bodonitsa

Margrave of Bodonitsa

The margraviate or marquisate of Bodonitsa , today Mendenitsa, Phthiotis , was a Frankish state in Greece following the conquests of the Fourth Crusade. It was originally granted as a margravial holding of Guy Pallavicini by Boniface, first king of Thessalonica, in 1204...

 and through marriage the Duchy of Athens

Duchy of Athens

The Duchy of Athens was one of the Crusader States set up in Greece after the conquest of the Byzantine Empire during the Fourth Crusade, encompassing the regions of Attica and Boeotia, and surviving until its conquest by the Ottoman Empire in the 15th century....

 until the Ottoman conquest.

Under Nicholas I

Nicholas I Zorzi

Nicholas I Zorzi was the Margrave of Bodonitsa, first member of the Zorzi family of Venice to hold the post, from 1335 to his death...

 they took control of Bodonitsa in 1335. Nicholas was succeeded by Francis

Francis Zorzi

Francis Zorzi , called Marchesotto, was the Margrave of Bodonitsa, a member of the Venetian Zorzi family, from 1345 to his death....

, who governed the margraviate for almost forty years. In 1414, Nicholas II

Nicholas II Zorzi

Nicholas II Zorzi or Giorgi was the Margrave of Bodonitsa, a member of the Zorzi family of the Republic of Venice, from 1410 to 1414. He was the last Venetian margrave to actually rule before the Ottoman Turkish conquest....

 was defeated and the Turks took control of Bodonitsa, nonetheless Nicholas III

Nicholas III Zorzi

Nicholas III Zorzi or Giorgi was the Margrave of Bodonitsa, a member of the Zorzi family of the Republic of Venice, from 1416 to 1436, though the title was purely nominal by then. Before becoming margrave in an exchange with his nephew Nicholas II, he was the baron of Carystus...

 continued to employ the title and garner the prestige that came with it. He married his daughter Chiara

Chiara Zorzi

Chiara Zorzi or Giorgio, also Clara or Claire , was the second wife and widow of Nerio II Acciaioli, Duke of Athens, and regent for their young son Francesco I after Nerio's death in 1451....

 to the duke of Athens, Nerio II

Nerio II Acciaioli

Nerio II Acciaioli was the Duke of Athens on two separate occasions from 1435 to 1439 and again from 1441 to 1451. He was a member of the Acciaioli family of Florence, the son of Francesco Acciaioli, Lord of Sykaminon. His rule was contemporaneous with a renewed Italian philhellenism and...

. She was to govern the duchy on behalf of her young son Francesco I

Francesco I Acciaioli

Francis or Francesco I Acciaioli was the son of Nerio II Acciaioli by his second wife Chiara Zorzi. He succeeded on his father's death in 1451 to the Duchy of Athens under his mother's regency.His mother married the Venetian Bartolomeo Contarini...

.