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Constantine Cominato Arianiti also known as Constantine Komnenos Arianites, was a 15th and 16th-century Albanian nobleman, military leader, diplomat and pretender who lived most of his life in exile in Italy due to the conquest of his homeland by the Ottoman Empire. Constantine sought to establish himself as a leader among the Christian Balkan refugees in Italy and claimed lordship over various former Christian lands in Greece, using the titles Prince of Macedonia, Duke of Achaea and Despot of the Morea.
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The Angelo Flavio Comneno or Angeli family were an Italian noble family of Albanian descent who claimed descent from the Angelos dynasty of the Byzantine Empire. In the 16th century, the family founded the Sacred Military Constantinian Order of Saint George, a knightly order with invented Byzantine connections. From the 16th century onwards, the heads of the family styled themselves as "Prince of Macedonia, Duke and Count of Drivasto and Durazzo", though other titles were also sometimes used.
Gian Antonio Lazier, also known under his claimed official name Ioannes IX Antonius I Angelus Flavius Comnenus Lascaris Palaeologus, and various variations thereof, was an 18th-century Italian impostor and pretender. Born of lowly origins in the Aosta Valley in Italy, Lazier claimed his last name to be a corruption of the surname Laskaris, an imperial dynasty of the Byzantine Empire. Also claiming connections to the Angelos, Komnenos and Palaiologos dynasties as their supposed last legitimate descendant, Lazier claimed the style 'prince of the line of the empire of the east'. Through various noble titles, Lazier claimed to be the rightful ruler of a vast number of former territories of the Byzantine Empire, as well as of a selection of other eastern lands. He also claimed to represent the legitimate Grand Master of the Sacred Military Constantinian Order of Saint George, a chivalric order with invented Byzantine connections.
Don Fernando Palaiologos or Paleologo was a 15th and 16th-century nobleman of Greek descent who lived in Italy. After the death of Andreas Palaiologos in 1502, Fernando claimed the title of Despot of the Morea. Though Andreas Palaiologos is generally believed to have been childless, Fernando might have been his son, though possibly illegitimate, and through Andreas possibly a grandnephew of Constantine XI Palaiologos, the final Byzantine emperor.
Andrea Angeli was the Grand Master of the Constantinian Order of Saint George from c. 1545 to 1580. Andrea and his brother Paolo were the founders of the Sacred Military Constantinian Order of Saint George and were papally recognized claimants to descent from the Angelos dynasty of Byzantine emperors. Andrea claimed the title "Duke and Count of Drivasto and Durazzo", and from the death of Arianitto Arianiti in 1551, also claimed the title "Prince of Macedonia".
Giovanni Demetrio Angeli was an early member of the Albanian-Italian Angelo Flavio Comneno family, which claimed descent from the Angelos dynasty of Byzantine emperors. His later relatives attributed him various titles, such as "Prince of Achaea and Macedonia" and "Prince of Cilicia".
Giovanni Andrea II Angelo Flavio Comneno was the Grand Master of the Constantinian Order of Saint George from 1687 to 1698. Giovanni Andrea's family, the Angelo Flavio Comneno, claimed descent from the Angelos dynasty of Byzantine emperors, and Giovanni Andrea also claimed the titles "Prince of Macedonia" and "Duke and Count of Drivasto and Durazzo". The last male member of his family, Giovanni Andrea was the last grand master descended from the order's founder, Andrea Angeli. In 1687, Giovanni Andrea sold the position of grand master to Francesco Farnese, the Duke of Parma, and thereafter lived as a castellan in Piacenza.
John George Heracleus Basilicos was a mercenary and pretender, mainly active in Italy in the late 16th century and early 17th century. Heracleus claimed to be a descendant of the Roman emperor Heraclius and through a varying assortment of titles claimed to be the legitimate ruler of the Peloponnese, Macedonia, Moldavia, Wallachia and Albania. Until 1593, he also claimed to be the Grand Master of the Constantinian Order of Saint George, in opposition to the legitimate grand masters Andrea, Pietro and Giovanni Andrea I Angeli.
References
- 1 2 3 Babinger 1962.
- 1 2 Harris 2013, p. 653.
- ↑ Harris 2013, p. 654.
- ↑ Harris 2013, p. 643.
- ↑ Malcolm 2015.
- ↑ Sainty 2018, p. 57.
- ↑ Sainty 2018, p. 59.
Bibliography
- Babinger, Franz (1962). "ARIANITI, Costantino". Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani, Volume 4: Arconati–Bacaredda (in Italian). Rome: Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana. ISBN 978-8-81200032-6.
- Harris, Jonathan (2013). "Despots, Emperors, and Balkan Identity in Exile". The Sixteenth Century Journal. 44 (3): 643–661. JSTOR 24244808.
- Malcolm, Noel (2015). Agents of Empire: Knights, Corsairs, Jesuits and Spies in the Sixteenth-Century Mediterranean World. Penguin UK. ISBN 978-0190056728.
- Sainty, Guy Stair (2018). The Constantinian Order of Saint George: and the Angeli, Farnese and Bourbon families which governed it. Boletín Oficial del Estado. ISBN 978-8434025066.