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Stephen Zaccaria was the youngest brother of the last
Prince of Achaea The Prince of Achaea was the ruler of the Principality of Achaea, one of the crusader states Frankokratia, founded in Greece in the aftermath of the Fourth Crusade (1202–1204). The principality witnessed various overlords during its more than tw ...
,
Centurione II Zaccaria Centurione II Asanes Zaccaria (died 1432), scion of a powerful Genoese merchant family established in the Morea since the marriage of the lord of Chios Martino Zaccaria to the baroness Jacqueline de la Roche. Centurione purchased the rights o ...
, and
Latin Archbishop of Patras The Latin Archbishopric of Patras was the see of Patras in the period in which its incumbents belonged to the Latin Church. This period began in 1205 with the installation in the see of a Catholic archbishop following the Fourth Crusade. The Lat ...
from 1404 until his death in 1424.


Life

Stephen was the youngest of the four sons of
Andronikos Asen Zaccaria Andronikos Asen Zaccaria or Asanes Zaccaria (died 1401) was a Republic of Genoa, Genoese lord of the Principality of Achaea in southern Greece. Life Andronikos Asen Zaccaria was the son of Centurione I Zaccaria, member of the Republic of Genoa, ...
, Grand Constable of Achaea and Baron of
Chalandritsa Chalandritsa () is a town and a community in Achaea, West Greece, Greece. Since 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Erymanthos, of which it is the seat of administration. Chalandritsa is situated in hills north of the riv ...
and Arcadia. In 1404, he was elected as
Latin Archbishop of Patras The Latin Archbishopric of Patras was the see of Patras in the period in which its incumbents belonged to the Latin Church. This period began in 1205 with the installation in the see of a Catholic archbishop following the Fourth Crusade. The Lat ...
. In April 1404, Stephen's elder brother
Centurione II Zaccaria Centurione II Asanes Zaccaria (died 1432), scion of a powerful Genoese merchant family established in the Morea since the marriage of the lord of Chios Martino Zaccaria to the baroness Jacqueline de la Roche. Centurione purchased the rights o ...
succeeded in replacing his aunt, Maria II Zaccaria, as ruler of the Principality of Achaea. Despite their kinship, Centurione and Stephen were not always aligned: in 1406–07, Stephen allied himself with
Carlo I Tocco Carlo I Tocco was the hereditary Count Palatine of Cephalonia and Zakynthos from 1376, and ruled as the Despot of Epirus from 1411 until his death on July 4, 1429. Life Carlo I was the son of Count Leonardo I Tocco of Cephalonia and Leukas by M ...
and the
Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived the events that caused the fall of the Western Roman E ...
Despot of the Morea The Despotate of the Morea () or Despotate of Mystras () was a province of the Byzantine Empire which existed between the mid-14th and mid-15th centuries. Its territory varied in size during its existence but eventually grew to include almost a ...
,
Theodore I Palaiologos Theodore I Palaiologos (or Palaeologus) () (c. 1355 – 24 June 1407) was despot (''despotēs'') in the Morea from 1383 until his death on 24 June 1407. A son of Emperor John V Palaiologos, Theodore was the first member of the Palaiologos dynast ...
, in the latter's unsuccessful attempts to overthrow Centurione and capture his domains. In 1408 Stephen, threatened by mounting Ottoman raids in the Peloponnese and faced with financial difficulties, decided to lease the administration of Patras to 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 ...
for five years, in exchange for an annual fee of 1,000
ducat The ducat ( ) coin was used as a trade coin in Europe from the later Middle Ages to the 19th century. Its most familiar version, the gold ducat or sequin containing around of 98.6% fine gold, originated in Venice in 1284 and gained wide inter ...
s. This move suited the strategic interests of the Republic, as together with Lepanto, Patras gave it control of the entrance to the
Corinthian Gulf The Gulf of Corinth or the Corinthian Gulf (, ) is a deep inlet of the Ionian Sea, separating the Peloponnese from western mainland Greece. It is bounded in the east by the Isthmus of Corinth which includes the shipping-designed Corinth Canal and ...
. In 1418, threatened by the advances of the Byzantines in
Messenia Messenia or Messinia ( ; ) is a regional unit (''perifereiaki enotita'') in the southwestern part of the Peloponnese region, in Greece. Until the implementation of the Kallikratis plan on 1 January 2011, Messenia was a prefecture (''nomos' ...
, Stephen once again turned to Venice for protection, calling on Venice to send troops from Negroponte to garrison Patras. The Republic accepted, but the Venetian troops had to withdraw in 1419 due to the opposition of the Pope, who was concerned lest Patras, a possession of the Church, fall permanently under Venetian control. Faced with renewed offensives by the Byzantines, in early 1422, both Centurione and Stephen contacted the
Knights Hospitaller The Order of Knights of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem, commonly known as the Knights Hospitaller (), is a Catholic military order. It was founded in the crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem in the 12th century and had headquarters there ...
, offering to surrender their domains to them, but the Hospitallers refused to become involved, citing their commitments against the Ottomans in the southeastern Aegean. Venice then tried to intervene and buy the entire Peloponnese from the various local rulers, or at least organize an effective league against the Ottoman threat, but the negotiations in 1422–23 failed to achieve any result. On 8 January 1424, on his deathbed, Stephen placed Patras under the protection of Venice, but the Pope, who continued to oppose the growing Venetian influence in the area, named Pandolfo Malatesta as Stephen's successor instead of a Venetian cleric. Five years later, Patras would fall to the Despot of the Morea,
Constantine Palaiologos Constantine XI Dragases Palaiologos or Dragaš Palaeologus (; 8 February 140429 May 1453) was the last reigning List of Byzantine emperors, Byzantine emperor from 23 January 1449 until his death in battle at the fall of Constantinople on 29 M ...
.


References


Sources

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Zaccaria, Stephen 14th-century births 1424 deaths 15th-century Roman Catholic archbishops in Greece Latin archbishops of Patras
Stephen Stephen or Steven is an English given name, first name. It is particularly significant to Christianity, Christians, as it belonged to Saint Stephen ( ), an early disciple and deacon who, according to the Book of Acts, was stoned to death; he is w ...
Year of birth unknown
Stephen Stephen or Steven is an English given name, first name. It is particularly significant to Christianity, Christians, as it belonged to Saint Stephen ( ), an early disciple and deacon who, according to the Book of Acts, was stoned to death; he is w ...
15th-century people from the Principality of Achaea