Antonio I. Acciaiuoli
Antonio I. Acciaiuoli (* around 1370 , † 1435 ) came from the important Florentine family of Acciaiuoli . As the illegitimate son of Nerio I Acciaiuoli and his lover Maria Rendi, he was the second Duke of Athens .
Life
His father Nerio conquered Athens on May 2, 1388 and received the hereditary title of Duke of Athens from King Ladislaus of Naples . After his death, Antonio and his half-sister Francesca Acciaiuoli were briefly acting regent until one of Nerio's nephews should arrive in Athens to take over the rule. But in 1396 the Turks besieged the city and the commander of the Acropolis summoned Venice as a protective power, whereupon the Maritime Republic took power in Athens.
Antonio exploited the unstable conditions in Greece in 1402 and occupied the lower city of Athens with a mercenary army. The Venetian governor of Euboea advanced with a 6,000-strong relief army, but Antonio was able to defeat and take prisoner. After seventeen more months of siege, the Acropolis surrendered to him. In addition to the Pope and King Ladislaus of Naples , he was able to win over Sultan Suleyman as an ally against Venice. The conflict ended in 1405 when Venice accepted him as a legal liege and citizen of the Maritime Republic. After an Ottoman army devastated Attica in 1416 , Antonio submitted to Turkish rule.
Antonio was the longest reigning Duke of Athens. Under the hard hand of the Sultan, his rule was largely peaceful, which enabled a certain boom in trade, especially with Florence , and culture in Athens. Only in 1423 did he have to take part in a campaign by the Ottomans against Morea . The historian Laonikos Chalkokondyles praised Antonio as a wise and generous ruler.
Antonio died in the summer of 1435 after a stroke. He was married to two Greek women one after the other. The second wife was Maria Melissena, a descendant of the conqueror of Constantinople from the year 1261. After the death of her husband, with the help of the Chalkokondyles family, she tried to shape the succession according to her needs, excluding the rest of the Acciaiuoli family. After this failed, Chalkokondyles were banished from Athens.
literature
- Ferdinand Gregorovius : History of the City of Athens in the Middle Ages. From the time of Justinian to the Turkish conquest. 2 volumes. Cotta, Stuttgart 1889, ( digitized volume 1 , digitized volume 2 ; numerous editions).
- Armando Petrucci: Acciaiuoli, Antonio. In: Alberto M. Ghisalberti (Ed.): Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani (DBI). Volume 1: Aaron – Albertucci. Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana, Rome 1960, pp. 77-78.
| predecessor | Office | successor |
|---|---|---|
| Nerio I. Acciaiuoli |
Duke of Athens 1395–1435 |
Nerio II. Acciaiuoli |
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Antonio I. Acciaiuoli |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Duke of Athens |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 14th Century |
| DATE OF DEATH | 1435 |