Theodora Tocco
Theodora Tocco (née Creusa[1] Tocco, Theodora Tocco) (died November 1429) was the first wife of Constantine Palaiologos while he was Despot of Morea.[2][3] Her husband would become the last Emperor of the Eastern Roman Empire.[4]
Family
Theodora (Creusa) Tocco was a daughter of Leonardo II Tocco, Lord of Zante.[5] Her father was a younger brother of Carlo I Tocco, Count of Cephalonia and Leukas. Carlo would serve Ruler of Epirus from 1411 to 1429.
Leonardo seems to have died early. In 1424, Carlo I adopted Creusa and her brother Carlo II Tocco.
Marriage
Carlo I was defeated at the Battle of the Echinades by John VIII Palaiologos in 1427. He had to withdraw from the parts of Elis under his control and relinquish his hereditary claims to Corinth and Megara. The agreement was sealed with the marriage of Creusa to Constantine Palaiologos, younger brother of John VIII.[6]
The marriage occurred in July 1428.[7] She was converted to the Eastern Orthodox Church and took the name "Theodora". During their life together, Constantine held various territories of the Peloponnese under his control though still subordinate to both John VIII and Theodore II Palaiologos, Lord of Morea.
Death
Theodora died in November 1429 at Stameron,[8] (either Estamira or Santameri Castle) while giving birth to a stillborn daughter.[a] She was buried in Mystras.[9]
Notes
References
- ^ Stathakopoulos 2018, p. 245, 247.
- ^ Nicol 2002, p. 15.
- ^ Nicol 1993, p. 462.
- ^ Murray 2006, p. 276.
- ^ Hazard 1975, p. 806.
- ^ Andrews 2006, p. 147.
- ^ Politismou 2002, p. 123.
- ^ Zečević 2014, p. 98.
- ^ a b Zečević 2014, p. 180.
Bibliography
- Andrews, Kevin (2006). Castles of the Morea. ASCSA. ISBN 978-0-87661-406-8.
- Garland, Lynda (2002). Byzantine Empresses: Women and Power in Byzantium AD 527-1204. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-134-75639-1.
- Hazard, Harry W. (1975). A History of the Crusades. Vol. Three: The Fourteenth and Fifteenth Centuries. University of Wisconsin Press. ISBN 978-0-299-06670-3.
- Murray, Alan V. (2006). The Crusades: An Encyclopedia [4 volumes]. Bloomsbury Publishing USA. ISBN 978-1-57607-863-1.
- Nicol, Donald M. (1993). The Last Centuries of Byzantium, 1261-1453 (Second ed.). Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-43991-4.
- Nicol, Donald M. (2002). The Immortal Emperor: The Life and Legend of Constantine Palaiologos, Last Emperor of the Romans. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-89409-8.
- Politismou, Greece Hypourgeio (2002). Byzantium: An Oecumenical Empire : [exhibition] Byzantine and Christian Museum, October 2001-January 2002. Hellenic Ministry of Culture. ISBN 978-960-214-523-4.
- Stathakopoulos, Dionysios (2018). Sister, Widow, Consort, Bride. Four Latin ladies in Greece (1330–1430). Routledge.
- Zečević, Nada (2014). The Tocco of the Greek Realm: Nobility, Power and Migration in Latin Greece (14th–15th centuries. Central European University Press.98