Nicholas I Zorzi (died 1345) was the Margrave 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...

, first member of the Zorzi

Zorzi

The Zorzi or Giorgi was a family of Venetian origin. They throve in the Late Middle Ages, especially in the remnants of the Latin Empire in Greece, where they controlled the Margraviate of Bodonitsa and through marriage the Duchy of Athens until the Ottoman conquest.Under Nicholas I they took...

 family of Venice

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...

 to hold the post, from 1335 to his death. In 1335, he married Guglielma Pallavicini

Guglielma Pallavicini

Guglielma Pallavicini , the Lady of Thermopylae, was the last Pallavicino heir to rule in Bodonitsa. She was but an infant when she succeeded her father Albert in 1311...

, heiress of Bodonitsa and widow of Bartolommeo Zaccaria.

Though Nicholas was on good terms with Catalan Company

Catalan Company

The Catalan Company of the East , officially the Magnas Societas Catalanorum, sometimes called the Grand Company and widely known as the Catalan Company, was a free company of mercenaries founded by Roger de Flor in the early 14th-century...

 then ruling 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....

 (his feudal suzerain), he objected to the annual tribute of four destrier

Destrier

The destrier is the best-known war horse of the medieval era. It carried knights in battles, tournaments, and jousts. It was described by contemporary sources as the Great Horse, due to its size and reputation....

s. Though he held the margraviate until his death and his descendants continued to rule it until the Ottoman conquest (making Bodonitsa the longest-survived Frankish state in northern Greece), his wife "tired of him" according to Setton

Kenneth Setton

Kenneth Meyer Setton was an American historian and an expert on the history of medieval Europe.- Early life, education and awards :...

.

He left three sons, Francis

Francis Zorzi

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

, James, and Nicholas

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...

, each of whom ruled the margraviate at some point or other.

Sources

• 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.
• Latin Lordships of Greece: Boudonitza.