Centurione Zaccaria | |
---|---|
Grand Constable of the Principality of Achaea | |
Reign | 1370-1382 |
Baron of Damala | |
Reign | 1334-1382 |
Predecessor | Martino Zaccaria and Jacqueline de la Roche |
Baron of Chalandritsa | |
Reign | 1345-1382 |
Predecessor | Martino Zaccaria and Jacqueline de la Roche |
Baron of Estamira | |
Reign | 1370-1382 |
Predecessor | Phillip II of Taranto |
Lord of Lisarea | |
Reign | ?-1382 |
Predecessor | Lady Asenina |
Died | 1382 |
Spouse | Lady Asenina |
Issue | Andronikos Filippo Martino Manuele Maria |
House | Zaccaria |
Father | Martino Zaccaria |
Mother | Jacqueline de la Roche |
Religion | Roman Catholic |
Centurione I Zaccaria [1] was one of the most powerful nobles of the Principality of Achaea in the 14th century. He was the firstborn son of Martino Zaccaria and Jackqueline de la Roche, last representant of the prestigious Burgundian house of the Duchy of Athens. In 1334 Centurione succeeded his brother, Bartolomeo Zaccaria as baron of Damala. [2] After the death of Martino he rose as lord of one half of the Barony of Chalandritsa, and in 1359 he acquired the other half. In about 1370 he was named Grand Constable of Achaea and received also the Barony of Estamira. He also thrice held the post of bailli (viceroy) for the principality's Angevin rulers.
On 1329 Martino Zaccaria, father of Centurione was imprisoned by Andronikos III Palaiologos and he was expelled from the administration of the island of Chios, however during his imprisonment and later it was Centurione that governed the Zaccaria estates in Morea. He was so successful in the Principality that the Zaccarias considered themselves to be practically independent from the Napolitan suzerainty. [3]
Nicholas of Boyano, a bailee for Prince-Emperor Robert of Taranto and his consort Marie of Bourbon, authored a report on 1360-1361 for Princess-Empress Marie where Centurione is excessively mentioned. According to his words, Zaccaria didn't offer feudal services and payments to his Neapolitan overlords. Boyano noted that he would need more than two days to record all the complaints he heard about Centurione's excesses in Morea. Nicholas sent him a command to make amends for damage done to the properties of Marie. Still, Centurione responded, "with bland words acting as if he were Prince William of Villehardouin himself come back to life". Nicholas could not bend down the insolent baron and named him "a tyrant". He warned the Empress that Zaccaria should be subdued if she and her son wished to have real authority in Romaniae. [4]
After the death of Emperor Robert on 1364, the leading prelates, barons and knights of the Principality gathered at Glarentza and proclaimed Centurione Bailee of the Principality. Then Centurione travelled to Naples were the new Prince Philip II bestowed him the appropriate rank. [5] During his reign (1364–1373) Philip appointed seven different bailees and one special emissary to lead the Principality on his absence, some of whom were not native barons, thus bringing considerable instability to the Principality. [6] At 1370 Philip granted to Centurione the castle of Estamira and all the barony that until then was a princely domain. [7] After Philips death, the Principality of Achaea and all his Greek lands were claimed by his sister Margarita and her husband Francis of Baux for themselves and their son James. Meanwhile, Queen Joanna of Naples decided to exercise direct rule over Achaea of which she had long being a surzerain. The barons of Morea sent an important delegation to Naples so to examine the rights of the two sides respecting the Principality. Its members were the greatest lords of the Principality: Erard III Le Maure of the Messenian Barony of Arcadia, Centurione Zaccaria, the Baron of Chalandritsa, Damala, Estamira, John II Misito, Baron of Molines and Leonardo I Tocco, the Count of Cephalonia, made count by Prince Robert and subject to the Prince of Achaea. The embassy decided in favor of the Queen and did homage to her after she had sworn to respect the usages and customs of the Principality, [8] as other previous princes before her.
Centurione desired to build family ties with the imperial families that governed the Eastern Roman Empire. He married a daughter of Andronikos Asen, who had served as Epitropos (stewart) of Morea for his uncle Andronikos II Palaiologos. Andronikos Asen was a grandson of Michael VIII Palaiologos as he was the son of his firstborn daughter Irene Palaiologina, also empress of the Bulgars. The name of Centurione's wife does not survive. However, we know that this Asenina brought the fiefs of Lisarea and Maniatochorion as her dowry to her Zaccaria husband. [9]
During the Smyrniote Crusade, Centurione was appointed by Pope Clement VI as one of the two commanders of the Papacy forces that would join the Crusade. [10] He also held the Byzantine title of Protokomes and was known as the Protokomes of Chios or Protokomes Damalas. Protokomes was a naval officer and it was a title introduced during the Palaiologian period. It derived by the kometes of the fleet, a naval title popular in the middle Byzantine period. According to Pseudo-Kodinos it ranked 75th in court hierarchy. [11]
Centurione maintained good ties with the Empress Anne of Savoy that for a time acted as regent of the Eastern Roman Empire. He was given lands and fiefs on Chios and Phocaea and governed the island along with other nobles entrusted by the imperial government. [12] On 1352 he signed as a witness "the first among all the latins" to a treaty of Genoa with Emperor John VI Kantakouzenos. [13] Centurione belonged to the Guelph party, loyal to the Holy See. They were the Genoese Guelphs that helped John IV Palaiologos take the throne by John VI Kantakouzenos on 1354. [12]
As evidenced by his son Andronikos inheriting his titles, he died before 1382, [1] during his third bailliage.
Centurione married to the Asenina, a daughter of Andronikos Asen with the wedding ceremony following the Greek orthodox rite. [14] The couple had the following children:
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: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)The Principality of Achaea or Principality of Morea was one of the vassal states of the Latin Empire, which replaced the Byzantine Empire after the capture of Constantinople during the Fourth Crusade. It became a vassal of the Kingdom of Thessalonica, along with the Duchy of Athens, until Thessalonica was captured by Theodore, the despot of Epirus, in 1224. After this, Achaea became the dominant power in Greece, lasting continuously for 227 years and cumulatively for 229.
Centurione II AsanesZaccaria, 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.
Martino Zaccaria was the Lord of Chios from 1314 to 1329, ruler of several other Aegean islands, and baron of Veligosti–Damala and Chalandritsa in the Principality of Achaea. He distinguished himself in the fight against Turkish corsairs in the Aegean Sea, and received the title of "King and Despot of Asia Minor" from the titular Latin Emperor, Philip II. He was deposed from his rule of Chios by a Byzantine expedition in 1329, and imprisoned in Constantinople until 1337. Martino then returned to Italy, where he was named the Genoese ambassador to the Holy See. In 1343 he was named commander of the Papal squadron in the Smyrniote crusade against Umur Bey, ruler of the Emirate of Aydin, and participated in the storming of Smyrna in October 1344. He was killed, along with several other of the crusade's leaders, in a Turkish attack on 17 January 1345.
Andronikos Asen was the epitropos of the Byzantine province of the Morea between 1316 and 1322.
The Zaccaria family was an ancient and noble Genoese dynasty that had great importance in the development and consolidation of the Republic of Genoa in the thirteenth century and in the following period. The Zaccarias were characterized by, according to scholarly handwritten documents of the time, having broad intelligence and their effective way of maintaining political power through manipulation.
Maria II Zaccaria Asanina was a Princess of Achaea.
The Barony of Vostitsa was a medieval Frankish fiefdom of the Principality of Achaea, located in the northern coast of the Peloponnese peninsula in Greece, centred on the town of Vostitsa.
The Barony of Arcadia was a medieval Frankish fiefdom of the Principality of Achaea, located on the western coast of the Peloponnese peninsula in Greece, and centred on the town of Arcadia, ancient and modern Kyparissia.
The Barony of Chalandritsa was a medieval Frankish fiefdom of the Principality of Achaea, located in the northern Peloponnese peninsula in Greece, and centred on the town of Chalandritsa south of Patras.
Guy (II) of Dramelay was the third Baron of Chalandritsa in the Principality of Achaea in Frankish Greece, and also bailli of the Principality in 1282–85.
The Barony of Estamira or Stamira was a medieval Frankish fiefdom of the Principality of Achaea, located in the fertile plains of the Elis region of the Peloponnese peninsula in Greece, and centred on the now vanished fortress of Estamira.
The Barony of Veligosti or Veligosti–Damala was a medieval Frankish fiefdom of the Principality of Achaea, originally centred on Veligosti in southern Arcadia, but also came to include the area of Damala in the Argolid when it came under a cadet branch of the de la Roche family in the 1250s. After Veligosti was lost to the Byzantines towards 1300, the name was retained even though the barony was reduced to Damala.
Andronikos Asen Zaccaria or Asanes Zaccaria was a Genoese lord of the Principality of Achaea in southern Greece.
John Asen Zaccaria or Asanes Zaccaria was a son of Centurione II Zaccaria and one unknown lady of the great Byzantine family of Asen - Palaiologos.
Stephen Zaccaria was the youngest brother of the last Prince of Achaea, Centurione II Zaccaria, and Latin Archbishop of Patras from 1404 until his death in 1424.
Aimon de Rans was the lord of half of the Barony of Chalandritsa in Frankish Greece from 1311 to ca. 1316. After his victory over Ferdinand of Majorca at the Battle of Manolada, Louis of Burgundy, the new Prince of Achaea, gave the entire vacant barony to two of his Burgundian followers, Aimon of Rans and his brother, Otho. Otho died soon after, and Aimon sold the domain to Martino Zaccaria, Lord of Chios, and returned to his homeland.
The House of Zaccaria-Damalà, or commonly Damalas, is a Genoese-Byzantine noble House established in the 14th century; originating from the island of Chios during the first Genoese occupation. It was created as the result of the marriage between a sister of Emperor Michael VIII Palaiologos with Benedetto I Zaccaria, causing this branch of the Zaccaria to grow roots in Byzantium and subsequently the Principality of Achaea through the Barony of Damalà.
Asenina-Palaiologina was the wife of Centurione II Zaccaria, one of the last Princes of Achaea (1404-1429) and after her marriage, she became consort of the Latin Principality.
Catherine Le Maure was a French noblewoman of the Principality of Achaea. She was the de facto Baroness of Arcadia and Lady of Saint-Sauveur. She was the eldest daughter of the Erard III Le Maure, Baron of Arcadia. She had two sisters, Lucie and Marie and a brother that died young. At the end of the 14th century Catherine married to Andronikos Asen Zaccaria, the leader of the great Genoese Zaccaria house of Morea. Andronikos was one of the strongest men inside the Principality as Grand Constable of Achaea and Baron of Chalandritsa, Estamira and Lysarea.
Prince Constantine Zaccaria-Damalà is the senior dynast of the Zaccaria de Damalà, a Genoese-Byzantine noble house. It was the last princely family of the Principality of Achaea and royal family of Asia Minor—and heir to its patrimonial claims according to Salic Law; the observed dynastic succession method of the House during their various reigns.