Niccolo II. Gattilusio

Niccolo II. Gattilusio (also Niccolo Gattilusio ) (* probably after 1415; † 1462 ) was the last archon ( regent or lord) of Lesbos from 1458 to 1462 .

He came from the respected Genoese patrician family Gattilusio and was the younger son of Archon Dorino I Gattilusio of Lesbos, and his wife Orietta Doria .

After his father's death on June 30, 1455, his older brother Domenico succeeded him as Archon of Lesbos. Niccolo was appointed governor of Lesbos and later of Lemnos by his brother . His autocratic and tyrannical rule led the inhabitants of Lemnos to complain to the Ottoman Sultan Mehmed II , whose sphere of influence included the possessions of the Gattilusio after the end of the Byzantine Empire in 1453, and demanded that the Sultan appoint an Ottoman governor. The islanders finally revolted against Niccolo II and, as a result, Lemnos was occupied by Ottoman troops. Niccolo II fled to his brother Domenico in Lesbos.

Under the pretext of wanting to prevent his brother from surrendering Lesbos to the Ottomans, the power-hungry Niccolo II deposed his brother Domenico at the end of 1458 and declared himself Archon of Lesbos. He had Domenico thrown into dungeon and finally strangled.

Although his brother Domenico had entered into a commitment to the Sultan for the rule of Lesbos in 1455 to fight the pirate mischief on the coast of Asia Minor opposite the Gattilusio islands, Niccolo II supported the pirates after he took over the rule. He granted them refuge in his harbors in exchange for shares from the booty and participated in the trade with the slaves captured by the pirates , who were initially taken to Lesbos.

The murder of Domenico and the support of the pirates by Niccolo II finally took Sultan Mehmed II as an opportunity to take military action against Niccolo II on Lesbos. In 1462 Ottoman troops under Mahmud Pasha landed on Lesbos and devastated the island without being able to persuade Niccolo II to surrender . He trusted in the strength of his fortifications and finally he was trapped in his capital, Mytilene , with several thousand soldiers and civilians . After a 27-day siege by the Ottomans, who also had strategic advantages through betrayal, Niccolo II finally surrendered on the condition that he would receive new rule from the Sultan to replace his lost possessions. Sultan Mehmed II, apparently, accepted the demand and Niccolo II Gattilusio handed over the rule of Lesbos to the Ottoman sultan. This ended after 107 years the rule of the Gattilusio over Lesbos.

Niccolo II, his family and several hundred islanders had to leave the island. In 1462 he arrived in Stambul (now Istanbul, formerly Constantinople ). Several hundred young people were forced to serve at the Ottoman court, Niccolo's sister Maria came to the harem on the orders of the Sultan , her son became a page in the seraglio . Niccolo's hopes for a new rule by the grace of the Sultan were not fulfilled. He converted to Islam and even had himself circumcised . First, his cousin Luchino Gattilusio , who was accompanying him , was arrested and executed on charges of having been involved in Niccolo's crimes. In accordance with the Ottoman rule of rendering inferior princes as harmless as possible, Niccolo II. Gattilusio was strangled at court with a bow string at the end of 1462 on the orders of the Sultan, following Ottoman tradition.

predecessor	Office	successor
Domenico Gattilusio	Archon of Lesbos 1458 - 1462	---