Tocco family
Encyclopedia
The family of Tocco was a noble house from Benevento
of Longobard
origins, which in the late 14th and 15th centuries came to prominence in western Greece
as rulers of the Ionian Islands
and the Despotate of Epirus
.
in 1195.
The first Tocco to settle in Greece was Guglielmo Tocco
, appointed governor of Corfu
in the 1330s under the Angevin
ruler Philip I of Taranto
. His son Leonardo I Tocco
was named Count palatine
of the islands of Cephalonia and Zakynthos
by Robert of Taranto
in 1357, and succeeded in expanding his rule over Ithaca
and Lefkada
, as well as the port of Vonitsa
on the Greek mainland, until his death in ca. 1376.
His two sons were Carlo I Tocco
and Leonardo II Tocco, the central characters of the early 15th-century Chronicle of the Tocco family of Kefalonia
, written in Greek, which extols their exploits. Leonardo received Zakynthos as an appanage
. His daughter, Maddalena Tocco
, was the first wife of Constantine XI Palaiologos, the last Byzantine emperor. Carlo, through his marriage with the daughter of Nerio I Acciaioli
, Duke of Athens, was able to seize Corinthia
in 1395, and conquered Elis
sometime after 1402, although the former quickly fell to the Despot of the Morea, Theodore Palaiologos
, and the latter was lost
to the Moreote Byzantines in 1427. Carlo also took advantage of a civil war among the Albanian
chieftains of Aetoloacarnania to seize Acarnania
by 1408, and in 1411 he succeeded his uncle Esau de' Buondelmonti
as ruler of Ioannina
. By 1415 he gained control over Arta
as well, unifying the core lands of the Despotate of Epirus
for the last time.
After Carlo II's death in 1429, his realm was disputed amongst his five illegitimate sons and his adopted heir, his nephew Carlo II Tocco
(the son of Leonardo II). At the behest of the former, the Ottomans
intervened in the conflict, seizing Ioannina in 1430, and most of the rest of Epirus in the next year. Carlo II continued to rule from Arta as an Ottoman vassal until his death in 1448. In the next year, Arta fell to the Ottomans. Carlo's son Leonardo III Tocco
moved to Angelokastron; when it too fell in 1460, he fled to his family's possessions in the Ionian Islands, which he ruled there until 1479, when they too were captured by the Ottomans. Leonardo and his family then fled to the Kingdom of Naples
. Starting from his son, Carlo III Tocco, his descendants continued to style themselves titular
Despots of Arta until the 17th century.
Benevento
Benevento is a town and comune of Campania, Italy, capital of the province of Benevento, 50 km northeast of Naples. It is situated on a hill 130 m above sea-level at the confluence of the Calore Irpino and Sabato...
of Longobard
Lombards
The Lombards , also referred to as Longobards, were a Germanic tribe of Scandinavian origin, who from 568 to 774 ruled a Kingdom in Italy...
origins, which in the late 14th and 15th centuries came to prominence in western Greece
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
as rulers of the Ionian Islands
Ionian Islands
The Ionian Islands are a group of islands in Greece. They are traditionally called the Heptanese, i.e...
and the Despotate of Epirus
Despotate of Epirus
The Despotate or Principality of Epirus was one of the Byzantine Greek successor states of the Byzantine Empire that emerged in the aftermath of the Fourth Crusade in 1204. It claimed to be the legitimate successor of the Byzantine Empire, along with the Empire of Nicaea, and the Empire of Trebizond...
.
History
The first prominent member of the family is Ugolino Tocco, Grand Seneschal of Henry VI, Holy Roman EmperorHenry VI, Holy Roman Emperor
Henry VI was King of Germany from 1190 to 1197, Holy Roman Emperor from 1191 to 1197 and King of Sicily from 1194 to 1197.-Early years:Born in Nijmegen,...
in 1195.
The first Tocco to settle in Greece was Guglielmo Tocco
Guglielmo Tocco
Guglielmo Tocco was the governor of the Greek island of Corfu in the 1330s and the founder of the Tocco dynasty....
, appointed governor of Corfu
Corfu
Corfu is a Greek island in the Ionian Sea. It is the second largest of the Ionian Islands, and, including its small satellite islands, forms the edge of the northwestern frontier of Greece. The island is part of the Corfu regional unit, and is administered as a single municipality. The...
in the 1330s under the Angevin
Capetian House of Anjou
The Capetian House of Anjou, also known as the House of Anjou-Sicily and House of Anjou-Naples, was a royal house and cadet branch of the direct House of Capet. Founded by Charles I of Sicily, a son of Louis VIII of France, the Capetian king first ruled the Kingdom of Sicily during the 13th century...
ruler 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....
. His son Leonardo I Tocco
Leonardo I Tocco
Leonardo I Tocco was the Count palatine of the islands of Cephalonia and Zakynthos from 1357 until his death, and later lord of Ithaca, Lefkada, and the port of Vonitsa as well....
was named Count palatine
County palatine of Cephalonia and Zakynthos
The County palatine of Cephalonia and Zakynthos existed from 1185 until 1479, as part of the Kingdom of Sicily.The title and the right to rule the Ionian islands of Cephalonia and Zakynthos was originally given to Margaritus of Brindisi for his services to William II, king of Sicily, in...
of the islands of Cephalonia and Zakynthos
Zakynthos
Zakynthos , also Zante, the other form often used in English and in Italian , is a Greek island in the Ionian Sea. It is the third largest of the Ionian Islands. It is also a separate regional unit of the Ionian Islands region, and the only municipality of the regional unit. It covers an area of ...
by Robert of Taranto
Robert of Taranto
Robert II of Taranto , of the Angevin family, Prince of Taranto , King of Albania , Prince of Achaea , Titular Emperor of Constantinople ....
in 1357, and succeeded in expanding his rule over Ithaca
Ithaca
Ithaca or Ithaka is an island located in the Ionian Sea, in Greece, with an area of and a little more than three thousand inhabitants. It is also a separate regional unit of the Ionian Islands region, and the only municipality of the regional unit. It lies off the northeast coast of Kefalonia and...
and Lefkada
Lefkada
Lefkada, or Leucas or Leucadia , is a Greek island in the Ionian Sea on the west coast of Greece, connected to the mainland by a long causeway and floating bridge. The principal town of the island and seat of the municipality is Lefkada . It is situated on the northern part of the island,...
, as well as the port of Vonitsa
Vonitsa
Vonitsa is a town in the northwestern part of Aetolia-Acarnania in Greece, seat of the municipality of Aktio-Vonitsa. Population 4,081 . The town is situated in the bay overlooking the Ambracian Gulf and has a small forested peninsula, the peninsula and its narrow strait is in the northwest of...
on the Greek mainland, until his death in ca. 1376.
His two sons were Carlo I Tocco
Carlo I Tocco
Carlo I Tocco was the ruler of Epirus from 1411 until his death on July 4, 1429.-Life:Carlo I was the son of Count Leonardo I Tocco of Cephalonia and Leukas by Maddalena de' Buondelmonti, sister of Esau de' Buondelmonti of Epirus...
and Leonardo II Tocco, the central characters of the early 15th-century Chronicle of the Tocco family of Kefalonia
Chronicle of the Tocco family of Kefalonia
The Chronicle of the Tocco family of Kefalonia or simply Chronicle of the Toccos is a chronicle in fifteen syllable blank verse written in medieval Greek, which refers to the era of the Tocco family and especially to the years of Carlo I Tocco, Count palatine of Kefalonia and Zakynthos and...
, written in Greek, which extols their exploits. Leonardo received Zakynthos as an appanage
Appanage
An apanage or appanage or is the grant of an estate, titles, offices, or other things of value to the younger male children of a sovereign, who would otherwise have no inheritance under the system of primogeniture...
. His daughter, Maddalena Tocco
Theodora Tocco
Theodora Tocco was the first wife of Constantine Palaiologos while he was Despot of Morea. Her husband would become the last Emperor of the Byzantine Empire.-Family:...
, was the first wife of Constantine XI Palaiologos, the last Byzantine emperor. Carlo, through his marriage with the daughter of Nerio I Acciaioli
Nerio I Acciaioli
Nerio I Acciaioli was as Italian aristocrat from Florence who rose to power in Frankish Greece during the last decades of the fourteenth century, eventually becoming Duke of Athens....
, Duke of Athens, was able to seize Corinthia
Corinthia
Corinthia is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the region of Peloponnese. It is situated around the city of Corinth, in the north-eastern part of the Peloponnese peninsula.-Geography:...
in 1395, and conquered Elis
Elis
Elis, or Eleia is an ancient district that corresponds with the modern Elis peripheral unit...
sometime after 1402, although the former quickly fell to the Despot of the Morea, Theodore Palaiologos
Theodore I Palaiologos, Lord of Morea
Theodore I Palaiologos was despot in the Morea from 1383 until his death on June 24, 1407. He was the youngest surviving son of the Byzantine Emperor John V Palaiologos and his wife Helena Kantakouzene. His maternal grandfather was former Emperor John VI Kantakouzenos...
, and the latter was lost
Battle of the Echinades (1427)
The Battle of the Echinades was fought in 1427 among the Echinades islands off western Greece between the fleets of Carlo I Tocco and the Byzantine Empire...
to the Moreote Byzantines in 1427. Carlo also took advantage of a civil war among the Albanian
Albanians
Albanians are a nation and ethnic group native to Albania and neighbouring countries. They speak the Albanian language. More than half of all Albanians live in Albania and Kosovo...
chieftains of Aetoloacarnania to seize Acarnania
Acarnania
Acarnania is a region of west-central Greece that lies along the Ionian Sea, west of Aetolia, with the Achelous River for a boundary, and north of the gulf of Calydon, which is the entrance to the Gulf of Corinth. Today it forms the western part of the prefecture of Aetolia-Acarnania. The capital...
by 1408, and in 1411 he succeeded his uncle Esau de' Buondelmonti
Esau de' Buondelmonti
Esau de' Buondelmonti, ruler of Epirus in Ioannina from 1385 to his death in 1411.Esau was the son of the Florentine nobleman Manente Buondelmonti and Lapa Acciaiuoli, sister of Niccolò Acciaiuoli of Corinth and the grandson of the great Χρηστόφορxοςστασία XXIV...
as ruler of Ioannina
Ioannina
Ioannina , often called Jannena within Greece, is the largest city of Epirus, north-western Greece, with a population of 70,203 . It lies at an elevation of approximately 500 meters above sea level, on the western shore of lake Pamvotis . It is located within the Ioannina municipality, and is the...
. By 1415 he gained control over Arta
Despotate of Arta
The Despotate of Arta was a despotate established by Albanian rulers during the 14th century, when Albanian tribes moved into Epirus and founded two short-lived principalities there...
as well, unifying the core lands of the Despotate of Epirus
Despotate of Epirus
The Despotate or Principality of Epirus was one of the Byzantine Greek successor states of the Byzantine Empire that emerged in the aftermath of the Fourth Crusade in 1204. It claimed to be the legitimate successor of the Byzantine Empire, along with the Empire of Nicaea, and the Empire of Trebizond...
for the last time.
After Carlo II's death in 1429, his realm was disputed amongst his five illegitimate sons and his adopted heir, his nephew Carlo II Tocco
Carlo II Tocco
Carlo II Tocco was the ruler of Epirus from 1429 until his death.-Life:Carlo II was the son of Count Leonardo II Tocco, the younger brother and co-ruler of Carlo I Tocco, count of Cephalonia and Zante, duke of Leukas, and ruler of Epirus. In 1424 Carlo II and his sisters were adopted by their...
(the son of Leonardo II). At the behest of the former, the Ottomans
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
intervened in the conflict, seizing Ioannina in 1430, and most of the rest of Epirus in the next year. Carlo II continued to rule from Arta as an Ottoman vassal until his death in 1448. In the next year, Arta fell to the Ottomans. Carlo's son Leonardo III Tocco
Leonardo III Tocco
-Life:Leonardo III Tocco was the son of Carlo II Tocco and Ramondina of Ventimiglia. On his father's death in October 1448, Leonardo succeeded as a minor to all his titles and possessions...
moved to Angelokastron; when it too fell in 1460, he fled to his family's possessions in the Ionian Islands, which he ruled there until 1479, when they too were captured by the Ottomans. Leonardo and his family then fled to the Kingdom of Naples
Kingdom of Naples
The Kingdom of Naples, comprising the southern part of the Italian peninsula, was the remainder of the old Kingdom of Sicily after secession of the island of Sicily as a result of the Sicilian Vespers rebellion of 1282. Known to contemporaries as the Kingdom of Sicily, it is dubbed Kingdom of...
. Starting from his son, Carlo III Tocco, his descendants continued to style themselves titular
Titular
Titular means existing in title only. It may refer to:*Titular ruler, a person in an official position of leadership who possesses few, if any, actual powers*Titular , bishop or titular cardinal, whose see is in name only**titulus**titular see...
Despots of Arta until the 17th century.