Bartolomeo Contarini was a
Venetian businessman who married the widowed
duchess of Athens Chiara Zorzi in
1453 and governed the duchy in the name of her infant son,
Francis I.
Bartolomeo was the son of Priam, the
castellan of
Nauplia. After going to Athens on business, he fell in love with Chiara and sent to have his wife in Venice murdered in order to marry the duchess. The Athenian citizenry, however, mistrusted the two lovers' influence over the young duke and probably feared for his life. They called upon
Mehmet II, the
Ottoman sultan, to intervene on behalf of the young duke Francis. Bartolomeo and Chiara were summoned to his court at
Adrianople and the young duke was taken into the sultan's care while his cousin Francis II was sent to Athens as a Turkish client duke.
The new duke had Chiara murdered at
Megara and Bartolomeo appealed to the sultan for justice. Athens was taken into Turkish hands and Francis II deposed.
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.
Country Italy
Region Veneto
Province Venice (VE)
Mayor Massimo Cacciari (since April 18 2005)
Area km
Population
- Total (as of January 1 2004)
- Density /km
Time zone
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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.
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Chiara Zorzi or Giorgio, also Clara or Claire (died 1454 at Megara), was the second wife and widow of Nerio II Acciaioli, Duke of Athens, and regent for their young son Francesco I after Nerio's death in 1451.
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14th century - 15th century - 16th century
1420s 1430s 1440s - 1450s - 1460s 1470s 1480s
1450 1451 1452 - 1453 - 1454 1455 1456
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Subjects: Archaeology - Architecture -
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Francis or Francesco I Acciaioli was the son of Nerio II Acciaioli by his second wife Chiara Zorzi. He succeeded on his father's death in 1451 to the Duchy of Athens under his mother's regency.
His mother married the Venetian Bartolomeo Contarini (1453).
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castellan was the governor or caretaker of a castle or keep. The word stems from the Latin Castellanus, derived from castellum 'castle'.
Usually, a castellan combined the duties of both a majordomo (responsible for a castle's domestic staff) and a military
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Coordinates
Coordinates: Time zone: EET/EEST (UTC+2/3)
Elevation (min-max): 0 - 10 m (0 - 0 ft)
GovernmentCountry: ..... Click the link for more information. Mehmed II (Ottoman Turkish: محمد ثانى Meḥmed-i sānī, Turkish: II.
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The Ottoman Dynasty (or the Imperial House of Osman) ruled the Ottoman Empire from 1281 to 1923, beginning with Osman I (not counting his father, Ertuğrul), though the dynasty was not proclaimed until 1383 when Murad I declared himself sultan.
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Edirne (see also its ) is a city in Thrace, the westernmost part of Turkey, close to the borders with Greece and Bulgaria.
Name
The city was known in English until after the First World War as Adrianople (see below).
..... Click the link for more information. Coordinates
Coordinates: Time zone: EET/EEST (UTC+2/3)
Elevation (center): 4 m (0 ft)
GovernmentCountry: Greece..... Click the link for more information.