The House of Gattilusio was a powerful Genoese family who controlled a number of possessions in the northern Aegean from 1355 until the mid 15th century. Anthony Luttrell has pointed out that this family had developed close connections to the Byzantine ruling house of the Palaiologos—"four successive generations of Gattilusio married into the Palaiologos family, two to emperors' daughters, one to an emperor, and one to a despot who later became an emperor"—which could explain their repeated involvement in Byzantine affairs. The Gattilusi were Lords of Lesbos from 1355 to 1462 and Lords of Aenus from 1376 to 1456.
Alexios IV Megas Komnenos or Alexius IV, Emperor of Trebizond from 5 March 1417 to 26 April 1429. He was the son of Emperor Manuel III and Gulkhan-Eudokia of Georgia.
John IV Megas Komnenos was Emperor of Trebizond from 1429 until his death. He was a son of Emperor Alexios IV of Trebizond and Theodora Kantakouzene.
Francesco I Gattilusio was the first member of the Gattilusio family to rule the Aegean island of Lesbos as a vassal of the Byzantine emperor.
Irene Gattilusio was a Byzantine empress consort by marriage to John VII Palaiologos, a Byzantine Emperor in 1390. She was a daughter of Francesco II of Lesbos and Valentina Doria.
Francesco II Gattilusio was the second Gattilusio lord of Lesbos, from 1384 to his death. He was the third son of Francesco I Gattilusio and Maria Palaiologina, the sister of the Byzantine emperor John V Palaiologos.
Dorino Gattilusio was the fourth Gattilusio Lord of Lesbos from 1428 until his death. He ruled Lesbos at a time of increasing Ottoman power, and his last years were preoccupied with maintaining some measure of independence.
Domenico Gattilusio was the fifth Gattilusio lord of Lesbos from 1455 to 1458. He was a son of Dorino I Gattilusio and Orietta Doria.
Theodora Kantakouzene Megale Komnene was the Empress consort of Alexios IV of Trebizond. Said to be very beautiful, according to the chronicle of Laonikos Chalkokondyles, she was accused by her son, John Megas Komnenos, of having an affair with the protovestiarios of the court of Trebizond; however, other accounts describe her as a faithful and loving wife, who kept the peace between Alexios and his sons. In either case, during her lifetime their son John fled to Georgia and did not return until after Theodora's death.
Bagrationi was the first Empress consort of John IV of Trebizond. Her name is unknown.
Giacomo II Crispo was the thirteenth Duke of the Archipelago, etc., from 1433 to 1447.
Gian Giacomo Crispo (1446–1453) was the fourteenth Duke of the Archipelago, etc., from 1447 to 1453, son of the thirteenth Duke Giacomo II Crispo and Ginevra Gattilusio.
Palamede Gattilusio was the Lord of Ainos from 1409 to his death, succeeding his great-uncle Niccolò. He was a younger son of Francesco II of Lesbos.
Niccolò Gattilusio was the first member of the Gattilusio family to rule the city of Aenus.
Nicholas Crispo, Patrizio Veneto, became Lord of Syros in 1420 and Regent of the Duchy of the Archipelago between 1447 and 1450. He was a son of Francesco I Crispo, tenth Duke of the Archipelago, and wife Fiorenza I Sanudo, Lady of Milos, and brother of Dukes Giacomo I, John II and William II.
Alexander Megas Komnenos, also recorded as Skantarios, was co-emperor of the Empire of Trebizond alongside his elder brother John IV Megas Komnenos c. 1451–1459. Alexander was the second son of the Trapezuntine emperor Alexios IV Megas Komnenos. John was exiled after a failed rebellion against their father in c. 1426, and Alexios made Alexander the designated heir. John returned to Trebizond in early 1429 and seized the throne, killing Alexios and forcing Alexander into exile.
The Ottoman conquest of Lesbos took place in September 1462. The Ottoman Empire, under Sultan Mehmed II, laid siege to the island's capital, Mytilene. After its surrender, the other forts of the island surrendered as well. The event put an end to the semi-independent Genoese lordship that the Gattilusio family had established in the northeastern Aegean since the mid-14th century, and heralded the beginning of the First Ottoman–Venetian War in the following year.
John IV Crispo or Giovanni IV (1500-1564), was the sovereign Duke of the Archipelago, ruling from 1517, when he succeeded Francesco III Crispo. He was succeeded in 1564 by the last Duke, Giacomo IV Crispo.
Alexios V Megas Komnenos was very briefly Trapezuntine emperor in April 1460, succeeding his uncle John IV, until his deposition by his other uncle, David. Alexios was the son and only known child of Alexander, a brother of John IV and David. Alexander served as co-emperor with John IV but died prior to 1460, which left the young Alexios as John IV's heir. Almost immediately after Alexios's accession, David, with support of the influential Kabazites family, deposed Alexios and took the throne for himself.
Marco Cornaro or Marco Corner (1406–1479) was a merchant, politician and diplomat of the Cornaro family of the Republic of Venice. He had already earned great wealth and made a prestigious marriage before entering politics in middle age. He was deeply involved commercially and politically in the Kingdom of Cyprus. In 1457, he was sentenced to exile from Venice for two years. He spent the next nine years in Cyprus. His daughter, Catherine, became queen of Cyprus in 1468. His grandson, James III, became king in 1473–1474, but died in infancy. In 1474–1476, Cornaro was in Cyprus to stabilize his daughter's rule. He was one of the electors of the doge in 1476 and 1478.
