Quick Facts
Biography
Leonardo III Tocco was the last ruler of Epirus, from 1448 to 1479.
Life
Leonardo III Tocco was the son of Carlo II Tocco (count of Cephalonia and Zante, duke of Leukas, and ruler of Epirus) and Ramondina of Ventimiglia.On his father's death in October 1448, Leonardo succeeded as a minor to all his titles and possessions.He reigned as ruler of Epirus from Arta until 24 March 1449, when the city was taken by the Ottoman Turks.
His mainland possessions reduced to three fortresses, Leonardo established himself in Angelokastron. In 1460, this city was also lost to the Turks, leaving only Vonitsa in the possession of Leonardo, who moved to his islands.On 1 May 1463 Leonardo married his first wife Milica of Serbia. She was a daughter of Lazar Branković and Helena Palaiologina. Milica died in childbirth in 1464.
In 1477, Leonardo married his second wife Francesca Marzano, a niece of Ferdinand I of Naples. According to William Miller, Leonardo believed the Republic of Venice would not extend their protection to his realm, and his second marriage was an effort to form family ties with the ruling house of the Kingdom of Naples and secure their support. However, Venice had no desire to see Neapolitan influence return to the Ionian Islands, and this marriage only alienated that power further.
When the new Ottoman governor arrived at Ioannina expecting his share of Leonardo's tribute, Leonardo handed him a basket of fruit instead. The Ottomans were now given an excuse to invade his realm, Leonardo offered no resistance and instead fled with his valuables, his wife, and his three sons for Taranto, and then to Naples.
A new Turkish advance in 1479 captured Vonitsa and then Cephalonia, Leukas, and Zante later the same year. Deprived of both Epirus and the Ionian Islands, Leonardo fled to the Kingdom of Naples, where he was invested with several fiefs by Ferdinand I of Naples. He died in c. 1499.
Marriages and children
By Milica of Serbia, Leonardo had:
- Carlo III Tocco (1464–1518), who succeeded him as titular ruler of Epirus (Arta) and Zakynthos.
By Francesca Marzano, he had:
- Hippolyta Tocco
- Leonora Tocco (a nun)
- Maria Tocco (who married Pietro Talamanca)
- Pietro Tocco (considered to have died young)
- Ramondina Tocco (who married on 1 march 1492 Antonio Maria Pico della Mirandola, count of Mirandola)
- Ferrante Tocco (d. 1535). According to Miller, Ferrante served as Spanish ambassador to the court of Henry VII of England in 1506. Benet Tocco, a son of Ferrante, became Bishop of Girona from 1572 to 1583. Benet also served as Bishop of Lleida from 1583 to his death in 1585.
Sources
- Babinger, Franz (1978).Hickman, William C. (ed.). Mehmed the Conqueror and His Time. Translated by Manheim, Ralph. Princeton University Press.
- Fine, John Van Antwerp (1994) [1987]. The Late Medieval Balkans: A Critical Survey from the Late Twelfth Century to the Ottoman Conquest. Ann Arbor, Michigan: University of Michigan Press. ISBN 0-472-08260-4.
- Kazhdan, Alexander, ed. (1991). The Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-504652-8.
- Miller, William (1908). The Latins in the Levant: A History of Frankish Greece (1204–1566). London: John Murray. OCLC 563022439.
- Nicol, Donald M. (1993). The Last Centuries of Byzantium, 1261–1453 (Second ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-43991-6.
- Meli, Patrizia (2011). "Il Mondo musulmano e gli ebrei nelle corrispondenze fiorentine da Napoli".In Senatore, Di Francesco; Storti, Francesco (eds.). Poteri, relazioni, guerra nel regno di Ferrante d’Aragona (in Italian). ClioPress. p. 291-350.
- Soulis, George Christos (1984), The Serbs and Byzantium during the reign of Tsar Stephen Dušan (1331–1355) and his successors, Dumbarton Oaks, ISBN 0-88402-137-8
- Zečević, Nada (2014). The Tocco of the Greek Realm: Nobility, Power and Migration in Latin Greece (14th-15th centuries). Belgrade: Makart.
| Preceded by Carlo II | Ruler of Epirus 1448–1479 | Ottoman conquest |