Leo Kalothetos ( Greek: Λέων Καλόθετος, fl. 1315–1363) was a provincial governor of the Byzantine Empire.
Kalothetos was a native of Chios, where he is mentioned for the first time in 1315. [1] At the time, the island was a possession of the Genoese Zaccaria family, who held it de jure as a fief from the Byzantine Emperor, but practically as an independent domain. [2] In 1328, Kalothetos fled the island and joined the Emperor Andronikos III Palaiologos at Didymoteichon. Together they planned the recovery of Chios by the Byzantines. Aided by a revolt of the local population and the treachery of Benedetto II Zaccaria, brother of the island's ruler Martino Zaccaria, a Byzantine fleet regained the island in 1329. Martino Zaccaria was captured, and Kalothetos was installed as the new governor of the island. [1] [3]
Kalothetos was an old friend of John Kantakouzenos, Andronikos III's closest friend and chief aide. Consequently, when the civil war between Kantakouzenos and the regency for John V Palaiologos broke out, he was dismissed by order of Alexios Apokaukos and replaced with Caloiane Civo. [1] He fled to join Kantakouzenos, and is attested in 1345 with the rank of protosebastos, as an envoy to the megas stratopedarches John Vatatzes. [1] He reappears in 1349, when he witnessed a treaty with the Republic of Venice in Constantinople. [1] From 1348 until 1363, he was appointed governor of Old Phocaea. In 1358, he was involved in the affair of the Ottoman prince ( şehzade) Halil, who was captured by Greek pirates and held in Phocaea in captivity. Kalothetos refused the demands of Emperor John V to release Halil, until he received in exchange 100,000 hyperpyra. [1] [4] At this time, Kalothetos held the rank of panhypersebastos. [1]
References
Sources
- Nicol, Donald M. (1993). The Last Centuries of Byzantium, 1261–1453 (Second ed.). London: Rupert Hart-Davis Ltd. ISBN 0-246-10559-3.
- Trapp, Erich; Walther, Rainer; Beyer, Hans-Veit; Sturm-Schnabl, Katja (1981). "10617. Καλόθετος Λέων". Prosopographisches Lexikon der Palaiologenzeit (in German). Vol. 5. Vienna: Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften. ISBN 3-7001-3003-1.
Leo Kalothetos ( Greek: Λέων Καλόθετος, fl. 1315–1363) was a provincial governor of the Byzantine Empire.
Kalothetos was a native of Chios, where he is mentioned for the first time in 1315. [1] At the time, the island was a possession of the Genoese Zaccaria family, who held it de jure as a fief from the Byzantine Emperor, but practically as an independent domain. [2] In 1328, Kalothetos fled the island and joined the Emperor Andronikos III Palaiologos at Didymoteichon. Together they planned the recovery of Chios by the Byzantines. Aided by a revolt of the local population and the treachery of Benedetto II Zaccaria, brother of the island's ruler Martino Zaccaria, a Byzantine fleet regained the island in 1329. Martino Zaccaria was captured, and Kalothetos was installed as the new governor of the island. [1] [3]
Kalothetos was an old friend of John Kantakouzenos, Andronikos III's closest friend and chief aide. Consequently, when the civil war between Kantakouzenos and the regency for John V Palaiologos broke out, he was dismissed by order of Alexios Apokaukos and replaced with Caloiane Civo. [1] He fled to join Kantakouzenos, and is attested in 1345 with the rank of protosebastos, as an envoy to the megas stratopedarches John Vatatzes. [1] He reappears in 1349, when he witnessed a treaty with the Republic of Venice in Constantinople. [1] From 1348 until 1363, he was appointed governor of Old Phocaea. In 1358, he was involved in the affair of the Ottoman prince ( şehzade) Halil, who was captured by Greek pirates and held in Phocaea in captivity. Kalothetos refused the demands of Emperor John V to release Halil, until he received in exchange 100,000 hyperpyra. [1] [4] At this time, Kalothetos held the rank of panhypersebastos. [1]
References
Sources
- Nicol, Donald M. (1993). The Last Centuries of Byzantium, 1261–1453 (Second ed.). London: Rupert Hart-Davis Ltd. ISBN 0-246-10559-3.
- Trapp, Erich; Walther, Rainer; Beyer, Hans-Veit; Sturm-Schnabl, Katja (1981). "10617. Καλόθετος Λέων". Prosopographisches Lexikon der Palaiologenzeit (in German). Vol. 5. Vienna: Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften. ISBN 3-7001-3003-1.