Thomas Paleologist

Thomas Paleologist , the last wire of the Byzantine emperor Manual II and of Helene Dragasès, was Despote of Morée and continuator of the Dynastie Paleologist with died of his brother Constantin XI, last Byzantine emperor died without descendants in 1453 at the time of the catch of Constantinople.

It is with the line of Thomas Paléologue that the end of the Paléologue house was organized.

Biography

In 1448, with the death of his/her older brother Jean VIII, Thomas Paléologue supports his Constantin brother openly, designated as successor by the late emperor, against the ambitions of their brother Démétrios Paléologue , then Co-despot of Morée.

After the fall of Constantinople, Morée became the only portion of Greek territory remained with the hands of the Byzantines but was not in a position to hold the role which Nicée had held after 1204.

The Turkish invasion of 1452 had produced a shock in has population, decided to get rid of the two Co-despots Paléologues, Thomas and Démétrios: an insurrection placed at the report heading a new despot, Manuel Cantacuzène , which was probably downward first despot of Morée.

In October 1454, Umur Pasha was sent in Greece to restore the order there and obliged Manuel Cantacuzène to be exiled. Thomas and Démétrios assumed the despotat of Morée together but did not cease quarreling: Thomas indeed wished to call upon the pope to take again Constantinople with the Turks.

This quarrel resulted in to generate anarchy in the part of the despotat remained under their authority: the great landowners became free to act with their own way, which plunged the country in chaos.

In 1458, the Turks conquered Patras and Corinthe, which fell under their administration, thus reducing the despotat of Morée to the major southern part of the Peloponnese. Thomas and Démétrios remained Co-despots but were about it reduced to a strict vassalage with respect to the sultan, to which they owed a tribe annual.

In 1460, Mehmet II does not invade Morée, decided to make of it any more but one province of the Ottoman Empire. May 29th, 1460, Mistra fell to the hands from the Turks and Thomas flees towards Corfou.

In November 1460, Thomas Paléologue took refuge in Rome, near the Pope Pie II, to which it brought in gift the head of the André apostle, that it had brought of Patras.

He died in Rome in May 1465.

End of the Paleologists

The death of the last despot

After 1460, Démétrios Paléologue had never the hope to recover its despotat of Morée.

When the Turkish conquest was completed, it returned to Andrinople with the sultan, who granted to him the usufruct of the islands of Imbros and Lemnos, as well as part of Samothrace and Thasos, with the help of the payment of a tribe of 3.000 gold coins. In 1467, it fell in disgrace and was exiled in Didymotika, where it died in 1470 after having adorned the monastic dress.

His wife, Théodora, died a few weeks after him. It had had of it an only daughter, Helene, died before 1473.

Last Paleologists

It is with the descendants of Thomas Paléologue that the House Paleologist had to remain after 1453: married to Catérina Zaccaria, it had four children:

Helene, which married Lazare Brankovic of Serbia;

Manual, born in 1455, which made allegiance with Turkish and had two wire: Jean (very young death) and Andre (who converts with Islam);

Zoe Paléologue, which married in 1472 Ivan III, large-prince de Moscou, widower since the death of his first wife Marie de Tver in 1467. Its marriage was blessed by the pope Sixte IV which hopes to bring Russia to Catholicism. As of her arrival in Russia, Zoe converts with orthodoxy and adopts a new first name: Sophie Paleologist.

Andre Paléologue , born in 1453. Regarded as the legitimate heir to the despotat of Morée, it accepted from the pope the despotic title of of the Romans but married a prostitute, named Catherine. It had a son, named of them Constantin , which became in 1508 ordering pontifical guards.

It remained during some time near his Zoe sister, in Russia then returned to Rome to persuade the pope to organize a new forwarding to take again Morée with the Turks.

In 1494, it placed under the protection of the king Charles VIII, to which it yielded his rights on Trébizonde, by reserving Morée.

In 1502, it transmitted all its rights to Ferdinand d' Aragon and Isabelle de Castille and died the same year, in misery.

After 1502? During the war of independence, to the 19th century, the Greeks sent a mission in Cornouailles of inquiring into the supposed presence, in this area, of descendants of the Paléologue family. In 1817, indeed, a document had been published, mentioning death, on January 21st 1636, from certain Theodore Paléologue, had been born with Pesaro in Italy of which it made go up filiation with Jean Paléologue , wire of Thomas Paléologue.

This Theodore would have married Mary Balls, originating in the Suffolk, of which it would have had three wire and two girls. Among its sons would have appeared some Ferdinand Paléologue , died on October 3rd 1678 with Barbados from which he was member of the parochial council.

The modern historians consider however that this posterity is doubtful because no reliable document confirms that the despot Thomas Paléologue had a fore-mentioned son Jean.

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