Bartolomeo Contarini was a
Venetian businessman who married the widowed
duchess of Athens Chiara Zorzi Chiara Zorzi or Giorgio, also Clara or Claire (died 1454), was duchess consort of Athens by marriage to Nerio II Acciaioli, Duke of Athens, and regent of Athens during the minority of her son Francesco I from 1451 until 1454.
Life
She was the daug ...
in 1453 and governed the duchy in the name of her infant son,
Francesco I.
Bartolomeo was the son of Priam, the
castellan
A castellan, or constable, was the governor of a castle in medieval Europe. Its surrounding territory was referred to as the castellany. The word stems from . A castellan was almost always male, but could occasionally be female, as when, in 1 ...
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
Mehmed II (; , ; 30 March 14323 May 1481), commonly known as Mehmed the Conqueror (; ), was twice the sultan of the Ottoman Empire from August 1444 to September 1446 and then later from February 1451 to May 1481.
In Mehmed II's first reign, ...
, the
Ottoman sultan
The sultans of the Ottoman Empire (), who were all members of the Ottoman dynasty (House of Osman), ruled over the Boundaries between the continents, transcontinental empire from its perceived inception in 1299 to Dissolution of the Ottoman Em ...
, to intervene on behalf of the young duke Francis. Bartolomeo and Chiara were summoned to his court at
Adrianople
Edirne (; ), historically known as Orestias, Adrianople, is a city in Turkey, in the northwestern part of the Edirne Province, province of Edirne in Eastern Thrace. Situated from the Greek and from the Bulgarian borders, Edirne was the second c ...
and the young duke was taken into the sultan's care while his cousin
Francesco II was sent to Athens as a Turkish client duke.
The new duke had Chiara murdered at
Megara
Megara (; , ) is a historic town and a municipality in West Attica, Greece. It lies in the northern section of the Isthmus of Corinth opposite the island of Salamis Island, Salamis, which belonged to Megara in archaic times, before being taken ...
and Bartolomeo appealed to the sultan for justice. Athens was taken into Turkish hands and Francis II deposed.
See also
*
The House of Contarini, an important dynasty of
Doge
Doge, DoGE or DOGE may refer to:
Internet culture
* Doge (meme), an Internet meme primarily associated with the Shiba Inu dog breed
** Dogecoin, a cryptocurrency named after the meme
** Kabosu (dog), the dog portrayed in the original Doge image ...
s in the
Republic of Venice
The Republic of Venice, officially the Most Serene Republic of Venice and traditionally known as La Serenissima, was a sovereign state and Maritime republics, maritime republic with its capital in Venice. Founded, according to tradition, in 697 ...
Further reading
*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.
15th-century Venetian businesspeople
15th-century regents
Dukes of Athens
Bartolomeo Bartolomeo or Bartolommeo is a masculine Italian given name, the Italian equivalent of Bartholomew. Its diminutive form is Baccio. Notable people with the name include:
* Abramo Bartolommeo Massalongo (1824–1860), Italian paleobotanist and ...
Place of birth unknown
Place of death unknown
Year of birth unknown
Year of death unknown
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