County Palatine of Cephalonia and Zakynthos
This article is about the specific polity County Palatine of Cephalonia and Zakynthos and therefore only includes events related to its territory and not to its possessions or colonies. If you are interested in the possession, this is the link to the article about the nation which includes all possessions as well as all the different incarnations of the nation.
If you are looking for the page with the statistics about this polity you can find it here:All Statistics
A polity in the ionian islands that emerged from the conquest of the islands by the Kingdom of Sicily. It was a vassal of Naples or the Despotate of Epirus for certain periods, but for most of its time it was a de facto independent domain under the rule of Italian families like the Orsinis and the Toccos. It ceased to exist when it was divided between the Ottoman Empire and the Republic of Venice.
Establishment
January 1186: The county of Kephalonia was the oldest Latin rule formation in the Byzantine east. It was created in 1185 when Wilhelm II of Sicily enfeoffed his admiral Margaritos of Brindisi with the Ionian islands of Kefalonia, Ithaca and Zakynthos, which he had previously wrested from the Byzantines.
Chronology
Interactive Chronologies with maps are available in the section Changes Navigation
Expansion during the rule of Charles I Tocco in the County Palatine of Cephalonia and Zakynthos.
January 1396: The duke Carlo Tocco married Francesca, daughter of the Duke of Athens Nerio I Acciaioli, which gave him a claim on Corinth and Megara. After Nerio's death, he seized these territories in 1395.
January 1401: Territorial evolution of the County Palatine of Cephalonia and Zakynthos.
January 1408: In 1407-1408, Leonardo III Tocco, the ruler of the County Palatine of Cephalonia and Zakynthos, seized and plundered the fortress of Glarentza in the northwestern Morea.
January 1408: Carlo I Tocco, the hereditary Count palatine of Cephalonia and Zakynthos, attacked Paul Shpata, lord of Angelokastro in Aetolia.
January 1409: In 1407-1408, Leonardo III Tocco, the ruler of the County Palatine of Cephalonia and Zakynthos, seized and plundered the fortress of Glarentza in the northwestern Morea. Glarentza was a strategic stronghold in the region, and its capture was a significant event in the power struggles of the time.
January 1412: When Esau, the ruler of Epirus, died in February 1411, the rulers of the country refused to recognize his young son Giorgio as heir. Both went into exile. Carlo I Tocco, Count Palatine of Kephalonia, was elected prince.
January 1417: Despotate of Arta conquered by County Palatine of Cephalonia and Zakynthos.
Expansion during the rule of Murad II in the Ottoman Sultanate.
January 1422: The Ottomans conquered parts of Albania.
Wars during the rule of Mehmed II in the Ottoman Sultanate.
January 1461: The Ottoman empire occupied the region of Angelokastron.
January 1480: Cephalonia and Ithaca, originally part of the Palatine county and the Orsini-ruled Despotate of Epirus, came under Ottoman rule in 1479.
January 1480: Duke Leonardo III Tocco was expelled by the Ottomans in 1479 along with his brothers Antonio and Giovanni Tocco.
January 1319: Nicola, who had inherited the county of Cephalonia from his father in 1317, saw his chance to seize power in Epirus in 1318. His uncle Thomas, weakened by the Byzantine invasion, was isolated without allies, and the pro-Byzantine faction of the Epirot nobility resented the capture of his own wife, Anna Palaiologina. Nicola took Arta by surprise, had Thomas murdered, freed his widow from prison, married her and proclaimed himself lord of Epirus.
January 1358: In 1357, Robert of Taranto ceded Cephalonia, Zakynthos and Ithaca to the governor of Corfu, Leonardo I Tocco, as reward for the services he had provided when he was a captive of the King of Hungary.
January 1363: In 1362, Lefkada Island (Santa Maura) became a Venetian colony, remaining under Venetian control until 1479. The Republic of Venice, a powerful maritime empire, ruled over the island during this period. The Venetians regained control of Lefkada from 1502-1503 and again from 1684-1797.
January 1397: Territorial evolution of the County Palatine of Cephalonia and Zakynthos.
January 1402: Preveza (Prevesa) was a Venetian colony from 1401 to 1463, 1684 to 1699, and 1717 to 1797. The Republic of Venice, a powerful maritime empire, controlled the territory during these periods, using it as a strategic outpost in the Mediterranean.
January 1409: The Despotate of Morea conquers Glarentza (1408).
January 1428: In 1427 the Byzantine emperor, John VIII Palaiologos led a campaign against Glarentza, and in the Battle of the Echinades, the Byzantine fleet defeated Tocco's own. This ended Tocco's ability to intervene in the Morea, and his possessions were liquidated in a negotiated settlement, in which John VIII's brother Constantine Palaiologos (later last Byzantine emperor as Constantine XI) married Maddalena Tocco, Carlo's niece, and received Glarentza and the other Tocco territories as her dowry.
January 1480: Originally part of the Palatine county and the Orsini-ruled Despotate of Epirus, Zakynthos fell to Venice in 1479.
January 1482: Palatine count Antonio Tocco was able to reconquer the Ionian Islands in 1481 with the help of Catalan mercenaries.
Disestablishment
January 1484: The Coun Palatine of Cephalonia and Zakynthos was killed in 1483 fighting the Ottomans.
Selected Sources
Osswald, B. (2011): L'Epire du treizième au quinzième siècle: autonomie et hétérogénéité d'une région balkanique, Toulouse (France), p. 263
Osswald, B. (2011): L'Epire du treizième au quinzième siècle: autonomie et hétérogénéité d'une région balkanique, Toulouse (France), p. 288
Osswald, B. (2011): L'Epire du treizième au quinzième siècle: autonomie et hétérogénéité d'une région balkanique, Toulouse (France), pp. 223-234
Zachariadou, E. (1988): Marginalia on the History of Epirus and Albania (1380-1418), Wiener Zeitschrift für die Kunde des Morgenlandes, Vol. 78, pp. 195-210
