Martino Zaccaria was the lord of Phocea

Phocaea

Phocaea, or Phokaia, was an ancient Ionian Greek city on the western coast of Anatolia. Greek colonists from Phocaea founded the colony of Massalia in 600 BC, Emporion in 575 BC and Elea in 540 BC.-Geography:Phocaea was the northernmost...

 and Chios

Lordship of Chios

The Lordship of Chios was founded in 1304, when Benedetto I Zaccaria conquered the Greek island of Chios and received it as a fief from the Byzantine emperor Andronicus II Palaeologus. Chios remained well outside any practical Byzantine authority, however....

 from 1314 to 1330. He co-reigned with his brother Benedetto III

Benedetto III Zaccaria

Benedetto III Zaccaria was the Lord of Chios and Phocaea, as well as other Aegean islands from 1314.Benedetto III was the son of Benedetto II Zaccaria, and succeeded him in Chios and other lands in the Aegean Sea together with his brother Martino. In 1318 the latter forced him to retire, in...

 after the death of their father Paleologo

Benedetto II Zaccaria

Benedetto II Paleologo Zaccaria was the Lord of Chios and Phocaea, as well as other Aegean islands from 1307 until his death.Benedetto II was the son of Benedetto I Zaccaria. On the death of his father, he was appointed governor of Chios....

.

In 1319, he received investiture from Philip II

Philip I of Taranto

Philip I of Taranto : of the Angevin house, was titular Emperor of Constantinople , despot of Epirus, King of Albania, Prince of Achaea and Taranto, and Lord of Durazzo....

, titular Latin emperor of Constantinople. His fief at that time comprised the islands of Chios

Chios

Chios is the fifth largest of the Greek islands, situated in the Aegean Sea, seven kilometres off the Asia Minor coast. The island is separated from Turkey by the Chios Strait. The island is noted for its strong merchant shipping community, its unique mastic gum and its medieval villages...

, Tenedos

Tenedos

Tenedos or Bozcaada or Bozdja-Ada is a small island in the Aegean Sea, part of the Bozcaada district of Çanakkale province in Turkey. , Tenedos has a population of about 2,354. The main industries are tourism, wine production and fishing...

, Samos

Samos Island

Samos is a Greek island in the eastern Aegean Sea, south of Chios, north of Patmos and the Dodecanese, and off the coast of Asia Minor, from which it is separated by the -wide Mycale Strait. It is also a separate regional unit of the North Aegean region, and the only municipality of the regional...

, Marmora

Marmora

-Places:Canada*Marmora, Ontario, a community in Hastings County*Marmora and Lake, Ontario, a township in Hastings CountyGreece*Marmora, Greece, a village in Cyclades Prefecture, South AegeanItaly*Marmora, Piedmont, a comune in the Province of Cuneo...

, Lesbos, and Phocea. From Philip I of Taranto

Philip I of Taranto

Philip I of Taranto : of the Angevin house, was titular Emperor of Constantinople , despot of Epirus, King of Albania, Prince of Achaea and Taranto, and Lord of Durazzo....

 he received the royal title and the hereditary right in both the male and female line. On 26 June 1325, Philip confirmed him as "King

Monarch

A monarch is the person who heads a monarchy. This is a form of government in which a state or polity is ruled or controlled by an individual who typically inherits the throne by birth and occasionally rules for life or until abdication...

 and Despot of Asia Minor

Asia Minor

Asia Minor is a geographical location at the westernmost protrusion of Asia, also called Anatolia, and corresponds to the western two thirds of the Asian part of Turkey...

."

Martino's first marriage was to a daughter of Bartolomeo Ghisi, grand constable of 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:...

, chancellor

Chancellor

Chancellor is the title of various official positions in the governments of many nations. The original chancellors were the Cancellarii of Roman courts of justice—ushers who sat at the cancelli or lattice work screens of a basilica or law court, which separated the judge and counsel from the...

 of Thebes

Thebes, Greece

Thebes is a city in Greece, situated to the north of the Cithaeron range, which divides Boeotia from Attica, and on the southern edge of the Boeotian plain. It played an important role in Greek myth, as the site of the stories of Cadmus, Oedipus, Dionysus and others...

, triarch

Triarch

The Triarch are fictional extraterrestrial deities published by DC Comics. They first appear in Trinity #1 , and were created by Gerard Jones and Gene Ha.-History:...

 of Euboea

Euboea

Euboea is the second largest Greek island in area and population, after Crete. The narrow Euripus Strait separates it from Boeotia in mainland Greece. In general outline it is a long and narrow, seahorse-shaped island; it is about long, and varies in breadth from to...

, and possessor of the lordships of Tinos

Tinos

Tinos is a Greek island situated in the Aegean Sea. It is located in the Cyclades archipelago. In antiquity, Tinos was also known as Ophiussa and Hydroessa . The closest islands are Andros, Delos, and Mykonos...

, Mykonos

Mykonos

Mykonos is a Greek island, part of the Cyclades, lying between Tinos, Syros, Paros and Naxos. The island spans an area of and rises to an elevation of at its highest point. There are 9,320 inhabitants most of whom live in the largest town, Mykonos, which lies on the west coast. The town is also...

, and the southern Sporades

Sporades

The Sporades are an archipelago along the east coast of Greece, northeast of the island of Euboea, in the Aegean Sea. It consists of 24 islands, of which four are permanently inhabited: Alonnisos, Skiathos, Skopelos and Skyros.-Administration:...

. His second marriage was to Jacqueline de la Roche

Jacqueline de la Roche

Jacqueline de la Roche was the last heiress of the De la Roche family which had ruled the Duchy of Athens from 1204 to 1308. She was the daughter and heiress of Rainald de la Roche...

, heir of the De la Roche dukes of Athens and baroness of Veligosti

Veligosti

Veligosti is a Greek settlement located around 12 km south of Megalopoli, 3 km SSE from the nearest interchange with the GR-7/E65 , about 48 km northeast of Kalamata, about 4 km west of Leontari and about 40 km west-southwest of Tripoli. Veligosti is also in the...

 and Damala.

In 1317, Martino conquered Smyrna

Smyrna

Smyrna was an ancient city located at a central and strategic point on the Aegean coast of Anatolia. Thanks to its advantageous port conditions, its ease of defence and its good inland connections, Smyrna rose to prominence. The ancient city is located at two sites within modern İzmir, Turkey...

 and in 1318 defeated a Turkish fleet at sea, imposing a tax on Turkish commerce vessels.

He offered his brother Benedetto the right to retire with a pension. Benedetto, unable to resist the demands of his brother on his own, requested aid from Andronikos III Palaiologos

Andronikos III Palaiologos

Andronikos III Palaiologos, Latinized as Andronicus III Palaeologus was Byzantine emperor from 1328 to 1341, after being rival emperor since 1321. Andronikos III was the son of Michael IX Palaiologos and Rita of Armenia...

 in 1324. In 1329, the Andronikos declared Martino deposed. With a fleet of 105 ships, he invaded Chios. Martino was taken prisoner to 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:...

. After Benedetto's death, Andronikos compelled the governor of Phocea, Andreolo Cattaneo, to swear fealty to him.

Martino was liberated in 1341 and 1343 commanded the crusade

Smyrniote crusades

The Smyrniote crusades were two Crusades sent by Pope Clement VI against the Emirate of Aydin under Umur Beg which had as their principal target the coastal city of Smyrna in Asia Minor.The first Smyrniote crusade was the brainchild of Clement VI...

 against Umur Bey, Emir of Aydin. In 1344, he occupied Smyrna again. Martino wished to use this as a base to reconquer Chios, but he was captured by Turks during a mass in the local cathedral and beheaded in the courtyard on 15 January 1345. Simone Vignoso succeeded his command and took Chios in 1346 for Genoa

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....

. His head was sent to Umur as a trophy. Martino's elder son Bartolomeo

Bartolomeo Zaccaria

Bartolomeo Zaccaria was the first husband of Guglielma Pallavicini and thus Margrave of Bodonitsa in her right...

, who had assisted in raising his ransom, died young in 1334, but his younger son Centurione

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...

 inherited his remaining fiefs in Morea, namely 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....

.

Sources

• Miller, William. "The Zaccaria of Phocaea and Chios (1275-1329)." The Journal of Hellenic Studies, Vol. 31. (1911), pp. 42–55.
• 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.
• Setton, Kenneth M. Catalan Domination of Athens 1311–1380. Revised edition. Variorum: London, 1975.