Person:Leonardo III Tocco (1)

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Leonardo III Tocco (after 1436 – before August 1503) was the last ruler of the Despotate of Epirus, ruling from the death of his father Carlo II Tocco in 1448 to the despotate's fall to the Ottoman Empire in 1479. Leonardo was one of the last independent Latin rulers in Greece, and the last to hold territories on the Greek mainland. After the fall of his realm, he fled to Italy, where he became a landowner and diplomat. Leonardo continued to claim his titles in exile until his death.

Although Leonardo inherited numerous possessions on the western Greek mainland, most of his mainland territories, including the capital of Arta, were conquered by the Ottomans in 1449, in the first year of Leonardo's reign. Leonardo had inherited the throne while still underage, and his government was thus headed by a four-person regency council for several years. Upon becoming old enough to rule for himself, Leonardo had all of his former regents murdered. Though Leonardo engaged in several anti-Ottoman activities, such as working on the side of the Republic of Venice in the First Ottoman–Venetian War (1463–1479), his realm was left in peace throughout most the period, allowing Leonardo's islands to become one of the most prosperous regions in Greece.

Though energetic and wise, Leonardo was not very successful. He desperately tried to gain the support of the many Greeks who lived under his rule, through restoring Greek Orthodox religious sees, allowing the Greeks a certain degree of autonomous self-governance and issuing charters in Greek. These efforts do not appear to have had an effect on most of the populace. In 1477, Leonardo's marriage to a Neapolitan noblewoman, an attempt at gaining the support of the Kingdom of Naples, backfired catastrophically in that it alienated Venice, who opposed increased Neapolitan influence in Greece. In spite, Venice ceased to act as Leonardo's protection, which paved the way for the 1479 Ottoman invasion that ended Leonardo's rule.

Viewing opposition to the Ottomans as futile, Leonardo escaped into exile. Though Leonardo spent the rest of his life pondering how he would be able to regain his lands, he never returned to Greece. In Italy, Leonardo attempted to increase his status through acquiring various fiefs, though this proved to be an unsuccessful venture, with the despot ending up in considerable debt and eventually losing all the lands he had acquired. Leonardo died in Rome at some point in the pontificate of Pope Alexander VI (1492–1503), crushed as his house collapsed on top of him. His claims were inherited by his eldest son, Carlo III Tocco.

1. ↑ Leonardo III Tocco, in Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia.