Thomas Palaiologos
1409 – 1465 · Generation XL · Despot · Palaiologos
Thomas (AD 1409 – 1465). Despot. Married Catherine around AD 1430. Despot of the Morea; son of Manuel II; fled to Italy after the Ottoman conquest. The youngest of Manuel’s sons, he was made despot in 1428 at nineteen, sharing the Morea with his brothers Theodore and Constantine, and his marriage to Catherine Zaccaria, heiress of Centurione II, ended the Latin Principality of Achaea at her father’s death in 1432. With Constantine he rebuilt the Hexamilion wall, finished in 1444, and barely escaped when the Turks stormed it in 1446; in 1449 he supported Constantine’s accession as emperor. After 1453 he and his brother Demetrios ruled as Ottoman tributaries but never cooperated — Thomas pinned his hopes on the Pope and a crusade, Demetrios on the sultan — and their civil war led Mehmed II to annex the despotate in 1460. In Rome, Pius II gave him the Golden Rose and a pension, and he presented the pope with the reputed head of St Andrew. He died there in May 1465 and was buried in St Peter’s.
Place in the family
- Thomas Palaiologos was the youngest of 3 children of Manuel II Palaiologos and Helena recorded in this archive.
One of 19 people of Palaiologos (1190–1503) in this archive. The last and longest-lived house — it retook the city in 1261 and lost it in 1453.
Line of descent: Manuel Komnenos → John Komnenos → Alexios I Komnenos → Theodora Komnene → Andronikos Angelos Doukas → Alexios III Angelos → Irene Angelina → Theodora Palaiologina → Michael VIII Palaiologos → Andronikos II Palaiologos → Michael IX Palaiologos → Andronikos III Palaiologos → John V Palaiologos → Manuel II Palaiologos → Thomas Palaiologos.
Parents
- Manuel II Palaiologos (1350 – 1425)
- Helena (1372 – 1450)
Siblings
- John VIII Palaiologos (1392 – 1448)
- Constantine XI Palaiologos (1404 – 1453)
Partners
- Married Catherine Zaccaria (1410 – 1462) in 1430 — 3 children together
Children
- Andreas Palaiologos (1453 – 1502)
- Sophia Palaiologina (1449 – 1503)
- Helena Palaiologina (1431 – 1473)
Life
- 1409 — Born
- 1430 — Married Catherine
- 1465 — Died