“Surviving Exile: Byzantine Families and the Serenissima 1453 – 1600”

6 Surviving exile: Byzantine families and the Serenissima 1453–1600 * Ersie Burke • A t the start of the sixteenth century Venice had one of the largest Greek communities in Italy. he newcomers founded their own confraternity, the Scuola di San Niccolò dei Greci in 1498 and at the start of the new century they petitioned and eventually received permission to buy land and build their own Greek rite church, San Giorgio dei Greci. hey were mainly artisans, mariners (hence the dedication of the scuola to St. Nicholas), merchants, and ighters. Needless to say, this was not a community of great wealth since the Greeks were mainly from the working and middle classes. hey came from the Ionian Islands and the cities and islands the Venetians had acquired as a result of the Fourth Crusade: Candia (Crete), Negroponte (Euboea), Modon and Coron (Methoni and Korone), Napoli di Romania (Nauplia) and Monemvasia or Malvassia.1 Byzantines, people from the former imperial capital and its territories, constituted a very small part of this community. Byzantine elites, the men and women from the empire’s powerful families were even fewer in number, a minority within a minority. But like other fallen families of privilege and power – the Romanovs and pre-revolutionary French aristocrats spring to mind – myths and misconceptions grew up around them. Earlier histories inlated their numbers and their impact on the Veneto-Greek community. In the most extreme instances, they acquired heroic qualities and were credited with ideals that would surely have been foreign to them. While they were worlds apart in terms of origin, class and outlook, commoner Greeks and Byzantine notables shared the experience of immigrating, settling and integrating into the host community, a process vividly described by Brunhilde Imhaus in her study of the immigrant communities of Greeks, Albanians, and Dalmatians in early modern * A version of this essay was presented at the Wanted Byzantium Conference organised by the Nordic Byzantine Network in Stockholm, Sweden, 26–28 October 2011. I want to thank Prof. Ingela Nilsson and the Nordic Byzantine Network for inviting me to speak at the conference and the Royal Swedish Academy of Letters, History and Antiquities and the Bank of Sweden Tercentary Foundation for inancial assistance. I would also like to thank Diana Wright and John Burke for their insights and suggestions on late Byzantium. 1 All place and personal names are given in Italian, or more precisely in Venetian dialect since that is how they appear in the sources. he Venetian year began on 1 March. When quoting from the sources I have used the Venetian date with more veneto [mv] in square brackets. 109 © 2014 Ersie Burke Ingela Nilsson & Paul Stephenson (ed.), Wanted: Byzantium. The Desire for a Lost Empire. Acta Universitatis Upsaliensis: Studia Byzantina Upsaliensia 15. Uppsala: Uppsala Universitet 2014, 109–132 Corrected version. See p. 132. 110 Ersie Burke Venice.2 Of course there were diferences as well. he majority of Greek immigrants were Venetian subjects who came to Venice for work, to join family already there, or to escape the Ottoman takeover of their homelands. Byzantium was a foreign concept to them; like their parents and grandparents, they had known one ruler, Venice. Byzantine notables were a privileged class. hey possessed landed estates and knew how to wield political and military power. hey were few in number; in Venice the group was made up of around ten to iteen families. he focus here is on the notables: to tell their stories, describe what happened to them ater 1453, explain why they moved to Venice, examine their transition from privilege to subject status, analyse their impact, if any, on the local community of Greeks, and ultimately to examine if the way they identiied themselves and were identiied by others changed over time. Venetian oicials in the Morea had regular contact with Byzantines and wrote long, detailed reports about them; in turn notables let their own personal accounts. As a result, the Venetian state archives hold a wealth of documentation about the families, especially their professional and personal lives. he sources include accounts of the events precipitating the move to Venice, the retention of old and creation of new relationships, the manner by which people established new family and kin networks and the work they did. here were many notable, multi-branch families in Venice by the end of the iteenth century: the Eudemonogianni, Lascari, Notara, Sguromalli, Talasinò, Ralli (Rhaoul), Paleologo, and Mechra to name a few. It is impossible to talk about all of them here.3 he focus is on three, the Ralli, Paleologo and the Spandounes-Cantacuzene-Notara. Taken together they illustrate how and why some families survived while others drited away or disappeared completely. he discussion on the individual families is preceded by a short introduction on the fate of Byzantine elites following the fall of Constantinople. Historical background and context Byzantine elites came to Venice in two waves. he irst included notables who let Constantinople immediately before or ater the fall of the City. he archons (notables, leading citizens) of the Morea came in the second, larger wave. hese men and women identiied themselves by their titles, family names and their landed possessions. he Venetians went somewhat further by attributing ethnic origins to distinguish one group from another, at least in the early years. In this way they identiied the Ralli as Franks and the Bochali as Albanians, even though both clans had blended into the ruling group a long time before. Most archons lived in 2 Imhaus 1997. 3 his article does not include a discussion of Byzantine humanists, artists, teachers and religious. he focus of this article is on the men and women of the ruling class only. Surviving exile: Byzantine families and the Serenissima 1453–1600 111 Constantinople too, and those who found themselves in the City in the spring of 1453 fought bravely against the inal Ottoman onslaught. Many men lost their lives, others, including those with families, were taken prisoner and were executed. hose who could escape did, especially to the Morea where they had estates. By the summer of 1453, the archons faced a dilemma. he Eastern Roman Empire was no more. he two despots, Demetrio and his brother homas still ruled the Morea, but they were more interested in their own rivalries than in organizing resistance to the Ottomans. he only other major power in the region was Venice which since 1204 had acquired strategic cities on the peninsula. In 1454, in an attempt to hold of the Ottoman takeover of their lands, the archons paid homage to Mehmet the Conqueror who accepted their oath of loyalty and in return promised to respect their titles, their possessions and their families. he sultan issued his decree on 26 December 1454. His aim was to bring peace to the Morea ater the breakdown of law and order following the fall of the old empire. he archons for their part hoped to secure their rights and privileges: he Great Lord and Great Emir, Sultan Mehmet To all our people everywhere, the archons of My Excellency: First, to the archon Kyr Sphrantzes with all his people, and Kyr Manuel Rallis with all his people, and Kyr Sophianos with all his people, and Kyr Demetrios Laskaris with all his people, and the Diplovatatsoi, the Kavakioi, the Pagomenoi, the Frangopouloi, the Sgouromalaioi, and the Mavropapas, the Philanthropenoi, and Petro Bua, and the others who want to come. My Excellency greets you. Let it be known that the honored Aga, Hassan Bey, has come here and has informed My Excellency that you want to come be my people. To this end he asks for My Excellency’s decision. To this end I send you my very own decision. I swear to you by the great prophet Mohammed whom we Moslems believe, and by our seven musaia and by our hundred and twenty-four thousand prophets, and by the sword I wear, and by the soul of my father, the Hudavendigâr, that of your possessions, and your children, and your heads, and anything of your possessions that remain to you, I will touch nothing, but I will leave you in peace so that it will be better than before, and for this my most worthy command has been given and signed as is seen above. 26 December, in Constantinople.4 he peace that followed was short-lived because the archons failed to honour their part of the agreement. hey quickly reverted to their old ways, ighting each other, taking sides in the civil war between the despots, defying the sultan, and making the lives of the local people miserable. heir reputations preceded them. For example, on 28 December 1456 Venetian oicials visiting the despot homas Paleologo reported on the “damage and depredations” around Modon committed by the ar4 ASV, Documenti Turchi, b. 1/11, translated by Diana G. Wright. he document, written in Greek, displayed Mehmed II’s turga. I want to thank Diana Wright for providing me with a translated copy of the document. 112 Ersie Burke chon Manoli Ralli and the Albanian soldiers under his command. he troops “let nothing undisturbed”. hey stole animals, abducted locals, and Manoli was reported to have sworn at the town’s rector and damned him too.5 he archons were not only brutal, they were ickle in their loyalties. hey tended to support whichever power, Ottoman, Byzantine or Venetian, they believed could beneit them most. In short, they saw no reason to treat the new political authority in Constantinople any diferently from the way they had always treated their Byzantine masters. hey quickly learned that the sultan and his forces were no match for them. In 1460 Mehmet invaded the Morea and waged war against the treacherous archons and feuding despots. At the same time he declared war on the Venetian territories. he irst Veneto-Ottoman war lasted till 1479, and ended in a treaty in which most archon families lost their lands and rights. Mehmet then gave these to his people. his let the Morea divided between the Republic of Venice and the Ottomans. he Venetians, impressed with the prowess of the local Greek and Albanian ighters (stratioti) began recruiting them to protect their territories against the Ottomans in the Morea and in northern Italy. Many archons, deprived of their lands, now ofered their services to the Venetians, the Ottomans, and to several European powers. Between 1474 and 1479 the Venetians sent large numbers of these ighters to places as diverse as southern and northern Italy and Dalmatia, wherever their imperial interests were threatened. he transfer and maintenance of ighters and commanders was a costly venture, but it was cheaper than hiring mercenaries or Italians. As for the archons, they had lost all their bargaining power and were at the mercy of their new masters. Many of them settled down and became important military oicers, loyal to Venice to the point where sons and nephews followed fathers, uncles and grandfathers into the profession. heir new overlords provided the stratioti wages, land to farm during the non-ighting season, commissions for sons and pensions for widows and young children. Archons received incredible beneits: good wages, properties, well-paid postings, honours, awards and income-generating oices. In return they agreed to go where Venice dictated. Between 1500 and 1540 the last of the Venetian Moreote possessions came under Ottoman control. Archon families uprooted themselves once again and many went to Venice rather than face the possibility of more upheavals. hese families, with long and distinguished histories of service in the politics and administration of the old empire, featured prominently in the history of the Morea ater 1453. hey were related by blood and marriage. he most prominent among them to go over to the Venetians ater 1460 were the Ralli (Rhaoul), Paleologo, Lascari, Gudelli, Paraspondylos-Megaduca and Eudemonogianni; and by the end of the iteenth century most of them had moved their families to Venice. heir shared history would have made the move somewhat easier. hey were not 5 Sathas, Documents Inédits, I, 234. Surviving exile: Byzantine families and the Serenissima 1453–1600 113 alone in a new place, since the relationships they had built up over a long period of time served them well in securing work and re-establishing social and family ties. he Venetian diarist Marin Sanuto devoted many pages in his diaries to the activities of the men: their rivalries (which caused massive headaches for their Venetian masters), the burden of their wage demands on state cofers, their oten outrageous requests, their exploits, bravery, and their loyalty to the Republic. He also recorded marriages and deaths, the birth and christening of children, and other stories from their personal and professional lives. he city to which they came was known for its naval power, mercantile hegemony, its tolerance for the “other” be it ethnicity or faith, and its drive to ensure its survival. Venice was truly a refuge from the constant wars that beset land-based cities. It treated new arrivals decently by the standards of the day, it enjoyed political stability (the authorities had a reputation for extreme vigilance), and civic strife seldom spilled into the streets as it did in cities like Florence. he new arrivals soon found they had little, if anything, in common with the Greeks already there. hey settled into the same Castello neighbourhoods as their commoner compatriots, and proceeded to ignore them.6 he men then went to war, ighting the Republic’s enemies while the women stayed home and kept the family together. In one sense, little had changed. Immigrating and Setling Among the irst wave of settlers were members of the Spandounes, Cantacuzene and Notara families. he three, related by blood and marriage, formed the nucleus of early Byzantine elite society. he sources show that there were three Spandounes men living in the city in the late iteenth century: Demetri, Sebastian and Matthew. he latter is the best known of the three. Matthew Spandounes had been a capo dei stratioti for Venice but became a merchant (mainly in grains) towards the end of the century. Sanuto met him on 23 March 1499 at a meeting of mercantile oicials who had gathered to sort out certain inancial matters. He noted in his diary that Matthew was dressed in the Byzantine style, what was locally known as “the Greek manner”.7 here is no conclusive evidence Demetri, Matthew, and Sebastian were related.8 Both Matthew and Demetri had daughters named Regina who were 6 Venice was divided into six wards, three on each side of the Grand Canal. he northern wards were collectively known as the San Marco side and the southern as Dorsoduro. he Greeks mainly settled in Castello, the largest ward on the San Marco side. he state shipbuilding yards and munitions factories were there, as well as its busiest ports. 7 Sanuto, Diarii II, 545: “In collegio fono alditi li consoli di merchadanti per li qualli erano st̀ mandati atento che uno Spandolin [Matthew] va vestito a la grecha …” Sanuto paid particular attention to how people dressed. Concerning the Spandounes family, see Matschke 1995, 71 n. 75. 8 Sathas, Documents Inédits, IX, iv–v. Sathas believed there was a blood relationship but provided no evidence. He also believed there was a family connection between the Spandounes, Diplovatici, Lascari and 114 Ersie Burke close in age and married within a few years of each other, although this in itself does not conirm kinship. Matthew was probably one of the irst Spandounes to settle in the city since by 1460 he was already married and living there. His wife was Eudoxia Cantacuzene, a granddaughter of Giorgio Paleologo Cantacuzene. here were four Spandounes children, heodore, Alexander, Regina and another girl, name unknown. heodore is best known for his history of the Ottomans.9 He spent his early years at the Macedonian court of two great-aunts, Catherine, widow of Ulrich II of Cilly and Maria-Mara Sultana, favourite wife of Murad II and step-mother of Mehmet the Conqueror, where he learned Turkish and came into contact with high Ottoman oicials. Neither heodore nor Alexander followed their father into military service; instead they both turned to commerce, and heodore also worked in the French and papal courts, campaigned for a crusade to re-take Constantinople, and wrote history. Ηis pro-French leanings, and in particular his friendship with the humanist Janus Lascari, the French ambassador in Venice caused him considerable grief. Lascari was expelled from Venetian territories as a result of the declaration of war in 1508 by the League of Cambrai. he members, France, Spain, the Papacy and the Holy Roman Empire, were bent on destroying Venetian power in northeastern Italy. heodore’s friendship with a person associated with enemies of the state did not sit well with Venetian authorities. He was exiled and immediately let for France with Lascari. Eventually, and against great odds, Venice defeated the League and soon ater restored diplomatic relations with her former enemies. On 13 February 1516 [mv] Lascari returned to Venice as French ambassador and presented a letter from his king to the doge and his councillors. heodore was with him and Lascari introduced him as the brother-in-law of the Venetian patrician Michiel Trevisan. Sanuto, ever the careful observer, noted why heodore had been exiled (his friendship to Lascari), and commented on his clothing. Asked why he came before the doge, heodore responded that he wished to reclaim the fortress at Belgrado in Friuli which had been Matthew’s and which the Venetian authorities had appropriated during the war.10 Perhaps this was Lascari’s way of helping a friend who had stood by their friendship and sufered the pain of exile. Whether or not Spandounes showed any remorse for his past actions is not known, but it was clear he wanted to return to Venice where he had family and property. he ban of exile was soon lited. Paleologo families. Given the rate of intermarriage among Byzantine elites, this was quite possible. 9 For a more detailed biography of the Spandounes family, see Spandounes, On the Origin of the Ottoman Emperors vii–xxx; Sathas, Documents Inédits IX, iv–xl. 10 Sanuto, Diarii XXI, 514: “La matina vene in Colegio l’ orator di Franza [Giovanni Lascari] … Poi fe’ introdur dentro uno hodero Spandolin [Spandounes], vesitito di veludo nero, qual è cugnado di sier Michiel Trivisan, alia stava in questa terra et portava manege a comedo, hor, poi la liga de Cambrai, per esser amico di Laschari l’ orator dil re di Franza fo mandato via di qui … Vol il castello di Belgrado in Friul; dice aspetarli a lui.” Belgrado originally belong to heodore’s great-aunt, Catherine Cantacuzene, countess of Cilly. She had let the castle to Matthew and Eudoxia who then passed it on to heodore. Nicol 1968, 231–32. Surviving exile: Byzantine families and the Serenissima 1453–1600 115 Marriage records show that daughters of Demetri and Matthew wed Venetian patricians. In this way both families further cemented their permanent place in Venetian society. Demetri had three girls, Chiara, Elena and Regina and they married men from the Trevisan, Marin and da Ponte families. Matthew and Eudoxia had two daughters; their Regina married the patrician Michiel Trevisan and the other (unnamed) daughter an Italian, Zuanne Bosco, an oicial of unknown provenance. Sanuto referred to Bosco’s diplomatic activities in October 1498 when he was sent to France with a considerable amount of money to hand over to the treasurer of the Duke of Orleans. He identiied Bosco through his in-laws: “… and of one Zuam Bosco, [who] has for a wife the daughter of Matthew Spandolin …”.11 he Spandounes women reproduced at a great rate and their sons were duly registered in the Venetian Book of Gold, the oicial registry of patrician names. here is little information about these women other than the number of children they had. Regina di Demetri had six sons but only three lived to maturity. One can only feel for her sister, Chiara who married Niccolò di Pietro Trevisan in 1511. Between 1512 and 1525 Chiara and Niccolò had four sons: Pietro and Giovanni Franco lived eleven and four days respectively while Giovanni Battista and Baldasaro lived seven months each. heodore’s sister Regina had two sons, born between 1496 – 1499, and both survived into adulthood. hey were enrolled in the Book of Gold on 9 December 1516 (Matteo) and 6 June 1517 (Andrea). All the women had daughters as well, but female births were not recorded in the Book of Gold.12 hus the Spandounes lived on through the marriages of their daughters and their children. Neither Alexander nor heodore seems to have married or had children. Alexander was a merchant in Constantinople and died sometime at the start of the new century; Eudoxia Cantacuzene died earlier, in the 1490s and Matthew around 1511. heodore spent most of his time ater his return from France in Venice, Constantinople and Rome, but Venice was his base and his home. To give him his due, he was the only one from this irst group of Byzantine elites who joined the Greek confraternity. On 8 July 1537 he enrolled in the Scuola di San Niccolò and paid his entry fees. Later, in March 1542 he paid dues going back ive years. he notation in the scuola’s account book read, “the above said miser Todaro paid his luminarie (fees) for ive years to 11 Sanuto, Diarii II, 68: “ … et di uno Zuam Bosco, ha per moglie la ia di Matio Spandolin, che andava in Franza con ducati 4000 per il thesorier di Orliensi …” 12 Venetian patricians were the ruling class, hence the importance of registering legitimate sons in the Book of Gold. It was via this registry that sons gained voting rights and political oice. he average age of enrolment was between 18 and 25 years. he state was vigilant in its enforcement of the marriage laws and the legitimacy of children of both sexes, but more so of sons. he aim was the maintenance of the “purity” of the patrician class. Non-patrician women (Venetian or foreign) were acceptable if they met the criteria set down in the marriage laws. By the sixteenth century the Avogaria di Comun, the magistracy responsible for the enforcement of the marriage laws, began to include women’s names in marriage registrations. On marriage laws, see Chojnacki 2000, 53–75. On elite Greco-Venetian marriages, see Burke 2012. 116 Ersie Burke miser Niccolò da Napoli [di Romania] presently our gestaldo [warden]”.13 At that point he would have been quite old. Matthew and Eudoxia and their children were not alone in Venice because Eudoxia’s aunt, Anna Paleologina Notara, a daughter of the last mega dux of the empire, Luca Notara, was there as well. According to a petition she submitted to the Council of Ten on 26 May 1487, Notara said she had been in Venice for close to thirty years.14 Until recently it was generally accepted that Luca Notara had sent Anna and her sisters heodora and Ephrosyne to Italy before 1453, to be in the care of Cardinal Bessarion.15 Anna was not sent away though; she may have been staying with her older sister Helena, the wife of Giorgio Gattilusio, son of the ruler of Ainos.16 he Notara acquired Venetian citizenship in 1397 and again in 1416 and in the early iteenth century Luca Notara’s father became a citizen of Genoa. Both cities extended these privileges to Luca who, in the dying years of the empire continued his father’s policy of transferring the family’s wealth to the West, particularly into Genoese banks.17 Anna and her surviving brother Jacopo were the chief beneiciaries of that wealth. he myths surrounding the Notara family are well known; Anna never acknowledged them, but then again she never refuted them.18 She had a way of leaving so much unsaid that myth and fact became indistinguishable, and whether she did this by accident or design is anyone’s guess. One of her surnames was Paleologina; her mother was a Paleologo, which allowed Anna to use that name as well. Most Italians were probably unaware of the intricacies and customs of elite Byzantine surnames. To many the name Paleologo meant the imperial family. Consequently one of the most persistent rumours was that Anna had been either the iancée or the widow of the late emperor, Constantine XI. he Commune of Siena believed she was his widow and in its response to a petition she submitted, it referred to her as “the lady Anna Pale[olo]gina, formerly married to the ex- [late] emperor of the Greeks.”19 Her insistence on setting herself and members of her family and household apart from the rest of Venice’s Greeks was not unusual. he idea of someone of 13 Mavroidi 1976, 90 and 243, entry 421. 14 Sathas, Documents Inédits, IX, xxxix-xl: “Umiliter et reverenter expono io Anna Paleologina iola fu del qu. Megaduca Constantinopoli, idelissimo servidor de questo vostro glorioso stado. Cum sit che za anni trenta vel circa sia stata et habitata in questa alma citt̀ …” 15 Nicol 1996, 98. 16 Helena was the Ephronsyne mentioned earlier, the latter being the name she adopted ater taking religious vows. here was a fourth sister, Maria who was married to heodoro Cantacuzene. he fate of the Notara and other notables immediately before and ater May 1453 has been thoroughly researched by Ganchou 2002, esp. 151–158. 17 Matschke 1995, 65–67. 18 he stories mainly concern Luca Notara whose execution, along with two of his three sons, rendered him a hero and martyr. he truth is not so romantic. he myths have been repeated by many historians: Nicol 1996, 97; Ronchey 2004. As early as the 1450s Notara detractors were refuting them. George Sphrantzes, friend and conidante of the last emperor held a very low opinion of the Notara; Sphrantzes, he Fall of the Byzantine Empire. 19 Sathas, Documents Inédits, IX, xxxiv–xxxvii: “Approvazione di una supplica della signora Anna Pale [olo] gina, gì sposa dell’ ex imperadore dei Greci. Siena 22 Luglio 1472.” It is possible that Notara ad- Surviving exile: Byzantine families and the Serenissima 1453–1600 117 her stature associating with hoi polloi was unthinkable. he notion was not Anna’s alone. he Senate decision granting Anna, Eudoxia and her family, and both women’s households the right to hear the mass in the privacy of Anna’s home stated that neither the women nor their families should have to mix with commoner Greeks in San Biagio’s church, designated in March 1470 as the only church where Greek priests could oiciate according to the Greek rite.20 Notara did not adapt easily to her new circumstances, which was understandable given the world into which she had been born, the annihilation of her family in 1453, and her own light to the West. Initially she did not seem to accept the fall of the empire as permanent and made little efort to adjust to her new circumstances. Instead she made plans to resurrect a sort of “mini Constantinople” in Italy. On 22 July 1472 she struck an agreement with the Republic of Siena to establish a Byzantine town in the Sienese territory of the Maremma, with herself and her one surviving brother, Jacopo, as rulers. he contract deined the territory’s boundaries, the rights and privileges of its inhabitants, their obligations to Sienese law and custom, the duties and taxes they had to pay the state and the Latin church and even the kind of animals they could keep within the castle walls.21 he castle and its lands would remain the personal property of Anna and her descendants in perpetuity assuming, that is, she ever married and had children. In the end, nothing came of the venture; perhaps she visited the Maremma and saw for herself the swampland it was. Instead she remained in Venice until the end of her life. Her social circle was small: it included the Spandounes, her household, a few Venetian patrician families with whom she became friends and her factotum Niccolò Vlasto, and his business partner, the publisher Zacharia Caliergi. She remained loyal to family and friends and scathing toward those she felt had taken advantage of her. In return she demanded loyalty from those around her, and claimed this was freely given. She wrote in her 1493 will that Vlasto sufered on her behalf. In fact he was wrongly accused of participating in a rebellion on Crete led by one of his relations. She accused her sister-in-law of decimating her own and her brother’s inheritance, which is rather hard to believe given the life of luxury Anna enjoyed. She never deigned to become a member of the Scuola di San Niccolò nor did she have anything to do with its establishment. All the same she did not divorce herself completely from the Greek dressed herself as Constantine’s widow in her petition and the Sienese were merely repeating that information in their decision. 20 Sathas, Documents Inédits, IX, xxxviii–xxxix: “Quod domine Anne Paleologine Hermineutine ilie quondam magniici viri Megaduche Constantinopolis, et domine Eudochie Cantacusini, uxoris egregii viri Mathei Spandonini, pro qua intercedit ill. d. Macomagne, quas dedecet ut cum cetera plebe et collunione Grecorum vadant ad S. Blasium [San Biagio] condedetur per quantum ad hoc Consilium pertinet, ut in propriis domibus celebrari faccie possint missas per papates Grecos et greco more, ad quas tamen alii Greci, quam ex familiis propriis suis, convenire non debeant, sub penis statutis, cum eis deputata sit ecclesia S. Blasii non obstante propter huius consilii diei XXVIII Martii 1470.” his right was renewed in 1475, 1480 and 1488. 21 Sathas, Documents Inédits, IX, xxxiv – xxxvii. 118 Ersie Burke community. She let 500 ducats for the eventual construction of “a Romaic church” in Venice and she bequeathed one of the precious icons that she had carried from Constantinople to this church.22 She paid for the printing of the Etymologicum Magnum, one of the irst major works published by the printing irm of Caliergi and Vlasto. She lived to a good age: Sanuto recorded her death (8 July 1507) in his diary and said she was 100 years old, though this was an exaggeration. She was probably closer to seventy-ive.23 he Spandounes and Notara were among the most prominent families to immigrate to Venice following the fall of the City. hey were few in number, and by all accounts kept their own company. he next wave was more numerous, more open to change, and more adaptable. Perhaps the forty-year diference between the irst wave and those that followed accounts for this diference. Times changed, and expectations did too. he wars in the Morea, the defeat of the despots and the expulsion of the Venetians contributed to this changed attitude. he best known among this new group were the Ralli and Paleologo. The Ralli and the Paleologo “here were numerous acts of this kind done on behalf of our Signory by the praiseworthy Ralli and Paleologo families …”24 he Ralli and Paleologo were among the most loyal and brave men who dedicated themselves to the defence of the Republic. he state recognized this and bestowed rewards and gits upon the men and their families. his section will analyze the evolution of this relationship from a temporary arrangement to a permanent one. he Ralli were a large clan with many branches. he focus here is the Oises (Issis), the branch that featured prominently in Venice. Manuel or Manoli Ralli Oises was one of the signatories of the 1454 homage to Mehmet. He was famous for his brutality, a characteristic he shared with his fellow archons. Ater Mehmet took away their lands, the Ralli moved to Venetian service. Manoli, his son Niccolò and one of Niccolò’s sons were killed in battle in 1465. On 27 July 1465 the Senate responded favourably to a petition from Maria, Niccolò’s widow, and her brotherin-law Michali di Manoli Ralli. It recognized Michali’s loyalty and the gravity of Maria’s situation ater she lost her husband. he Senate awarded the pair 100 ducats 22 Notara’s will is in ASV, Notarile Testamenti, b. 36, Troylo Manfredi, no. 1, 24 March 1493. 23 Sanuto, Diarii VII, 115, 8 July 1507: “In questi zorni a San Zulian [the parish of San Giuliano located in San Marco ward] morite una grecha signora, stava in questa terra [Venice], di più di anni 100; fo ia di […] [let blank], qual era a Constantinopoli, a tempo di l’imperador Paleologo, in gran stato. Questa havia più di 100 anni, et morì verzene. Fo posta con una zoja di verdure; era richa.” A wreath was place around Anna’s body (zoja di verdure or zoja di morto). 24 From the introduction to a 1563 decision regarding the daughter and granddaughters of Federico Ralli. ASV, Senato da Mar, reg. 36, 29 September 1563, f. 76. Surviving exile: Byzantine families and the Serenissima 1453–1600 119 to sustain themselves and Maria’s children. Within a year Michali too was gone. He died at Patras in August 1466, ater a local priest revealed his identity to the Turks. Michali, his son Niccolò and the bishop of Patras were impaled and strung up on the seashore for all to see. he Ottomans reserved this form of punishment for traitors, and Michali paid for the sins of his father who, having sworn loyalty to the sultan, then turned against him. Michali let a wife and four children, who in turn received a generous allowance from the Venetian state “to sustain themselves.”25 Michali’s sons, Marchese and Demetri took up soldiering for Venice. Marchese fought in the Ferrara War (1480–82) and then went to Puglia where he died sometime between late January and early February 1490. His wife was heodora but nothing is known about her birth family. he couple had two children, Michali and Chiara or Clara, born sometime between 1486 and 1488. Marchese also had an illegitimate son, Niccolò who became a stratioto as well. Marchese’s death let the family in “extreme misery” according to the Senate decision which, in acknowledging his bravery and excellent qualities, awarded his wages to Chiara and Michali to “ sustain them [selves] and the mother and Niccolò their natural brother”.26 heodora was a very young widow and her children could not have been more than a few months to two years old when their father died. At some point ater 1490 she moved her family to Venice; she was certainly there in November 1503 when her brother-in-law Demetri stayed in her house while recovering from an illness.27 hat same year Michali di Marchese, now iteen years old, became a stratioto in his uncle Demetri’s company. By 1510 he was commanding his own troops. On 17 June 1517, while walking through the parish of San Moise, he was set upon by some Albanian stratioti, possibly with the intention of robbing him; there was a scule and Michali was killed. His mother, his sister Chiara and his two children, Chiareta and Marchese (there is no mention of a wife), were again let without a male guardian. Immediately heodora Ralli petitioned for assistance and the Senate awarded Michali’s provision to the family. Once again, heodora was the guardian of babies.28 She could not rest, however, as she had Chiara, still unmarried in 1517 and approaching a dangerous age with spinsterhood just around the corner if she did not ind her a suitable husband quickly. What constituted a suitable husband for the daughter of an illustrious archon family of the Morea and Constantinople, not any family but one with a four-hundred-year-old legacy? heodora could have followed 25 he 1465 and 1466 decisions are in Sathas, Documents Inédits, VII, 2–3, 7–8. 26 he Senate noted on 5 February 1489 [mv] that it had recently learnt of Marchese’s death: “Nelli prossimi passati zorni e morite el quondam Marchese Rali del quondam Magniico misser Michali …” he passage went on to describe Marchese’s merits. Sathas, Documents Inédits, VII, 48. 27 Sanuto, Diarii V, 263. Among other things, Demetri sufered from syphillis, a complaint common to the military: Sanuto, Diarii III, 1604: “Item, fece la mostra a Dimitri Rali, capo di stratioti, qual è ben in hordine de cavalli e de homeni; et è stato amallato in hora con mal franzoso …” 28 Sanuto, Diarii XXIV, 432. 120 Ersie Burke archon tradition and chosen someone from the noble-military ranks, but she did not. Maybe the supply of Byzantine notable males did not impress her. Perhaps her own experiences of losing a husband and a son deterred her and she did not want this for Chiara. In any case heodora turned her attention to the Venetian patriciate. She provided Chiara with a good dowry, but felt it was not handsome enough to attract the right kind of patrician. Once again, she petitioned the College to secure more funds. Her eforts paid of and Chiara was married in 1519 at what was then considered an advanced age; she would have been at least thirty. Her husband was Zuanne di Bernardo Falier and the couple lost no time in reproducing: four sons and two daughters were born between 1520 and 1527. Remonda Ralli was Demetri’s sister, heodora’s sister-in-law, and Chiara’s aunt. She had been in Venice at least since 1497 when she gave power of attorney to the Venetian patrician Niccolò Contarini.29 Contarini and the Ralli may have known each other from the 1480s when he served as provveditor (governor) of Coron. He continued to hold high oice ater returning to Venice, and in 1497 he was one of the Procurators of Saint Mark’s, exactly the sort of person the Ralli would want to have in their inner circle.30 Remonda never married and was inancially independent, having secured a generous pension as the daughter of a capo dei stratioti. Some of that money was for a dowry, but in the end she invested it to secure her old age. She had commercial interests in Corfu and Padua, and in the 1497 document she asked Contarini to deal with these on her behalf. Ater Contarini’s death she asked two friends to look ater these inancial interests. One was Bernardo Lanci, a Coriot patrician, who looked ater her Corfu investments, and the other was Margarita Sclavena, who oversaw Padua.31 heodora, Remonda, and Chiara were among the irst Byzantine notable women to join the Greek scuola. heodora became a member of the Scuola di San Niccolò in 1527 (she was enrolled as “heodora Rallena, marchesina”), followed by Remonda in 1528, and Chiara in 1536. All three renewed their membership for many years. he last dues paid by a heodora Rallena and a Remonda Rallena were in 1563. If they were the original heodora and Remonda Ralli they had reached a very good age indeed; heodora would have been close to ninety and Remonda in her late eighties. In all likelihood these were one and the same as the women who had come to Venice some seventy years before.32 hat however, was the extent of 29 ASV, Notarile Atti, b. 28, Battaglia di Pietro, f. 10v–11r. I want to thank hierry Ganchou for alerting me to this document. 30 he Procuratori di San Marco was one of the Republic’s highest oices. he Procurators were the public treasurers. 31 ASV, Notarile Atti, b. 10637, Agostino Pellestrina, f. 38r, 21 July 1542. 32 he women’s membership was recorded in the registers of the Scuola di San Niccolò dei Greci. he irst register covered the years 1498–1530, the second 1533–1562 and the third 1563–1701. he irst two registers were published by Antonios Pardos and Fani Mavroidi respectively: Pardos 1980, 173; Mavroidi 1976, 197, 216, 239. AAIEV, reg. 134, f. 279r, 360r, 368r. Surviving exile: Byzantine families and the Serenissima 1453–1600 121 the women’s involvement in the formal structures of the Greek community, though their social circle was very wide and included Greeks of all classes. he other important family was the Paleologo, not the imperial family but possibly distant cousins, originally from the Morea too. hey do not appear among the archons who signed the 1454 homage. One of the irst references to them is a 1479 Senate decision concerning Teodoro Paleologo, the son of Paolo, who had recently proven himself in a campaign in the Friuli. Another branch of this family was descended from a homaso Paleologo da Costantinopoli, while the third identiied itself as being “da Napoli di Romania.” he relationships between these branches were as complex and intricate as those of the Ralli. he discussion here focuses two branches: the descendants of Paolo della Morea and homaso di Constantinopoli. he third branch did not live in Venice until the late sixteenth century. heir story is taken up at the end of this essay. Paolo, who was a capo dei stratioti himself, had four children: Teodaro and Giorgio (Zorzi in the Venetian dialect), who became capi dei stratioti; Matthew, the abbot of a monastery on Zante (Zakynthos); and a girl (name unknown), married to a highly-placed Ottoman oicial in Mistra. In this way the family had all its bases covered. On 15 November 1486 Teodoro married Maria, a daughter of Demetri Cantacuzene and Simone Gudellina in Corfu.33 he marriage supports the premise that this particular Paleologo branch was suiciently notable to become in-laws of the Cantacuzene. Maria and Teodoro had eight children: two sons, Paolo and Demetri and six daughters, Efrosina, Emilia, Lucia, Helena and Nicolosa (the sixth daughter’s name is unknown). In 1483 Zorzi and Teodoro became military governors on Zante, and in due course they moved their families there. he state granted them properties and handsome salaries. Zorzi was killed near Bressano in 1497, and his sons inherited his wages, favours and awards. In 1513 there was an earthquake on Zante. Maria Cantacuzene was killed, her youngest daughter was maimed, and her youngest son, Demetri was injured.34 Subsequently Teodoro moved his own and Zorzi’s families to Venice which became their permanent home. Paleologo looked ater his own underage children and supported heodora, Zorzi’s widow, and their six children: Costantino, Niccolò, Zuanne, Alessandro (?), Elisabeta, and another, unnamed daughter.35 In 1525 his eldest son Paolo was killed and Teodoro assumed responsibility for his family too. Paolo let a wife, Emilia, and six daughters. All in all Teodoro had responsibility for twenty-two people. Perhaps this was why he gave up soldiering and took up a safer occupation, although his nephews and sons 33 Nicol attempts to identify which Demetri Cantacuzene this was. See Nicol 1968, 192–195. 34 Sanuto, Diarii XVI, 265. 35 here is a question mark over the name of the fourth son. Sanuto identiied an Alessandro as Teodoro Paleologo’s nephew and Costantino Paleologo’s brother. He was also a capo dei stratioti and died in September 1512. Sanuto, Diarii XII, 575; XIII, 409–410. Elisabeta Paleologo, Costantino’s sister, named her only son Alessandro. 122 Ersie Burke continued in the profession. Ater 1525 he became a member of the Venetian diplomatic corps. He spoke Greek, Italian, and Turkish, and accompanied ambassadors and other high oicials to the Levant. He and his nephew Costantino were also the oicial interpreters (dragomani) for visiting Ottoman dignitaries. he Venetians had the greatest respect for him. hey approved his requests for income-bearing oices in the names of his many wards and bestowed on Paleologo their highest honour, the Knighthood of St. Mark. Despite his heavy workload, he found time to devote himself to the Greek community as a member of both the Scuola di San Niccolò and as its gastaldo. In 1511 a delegation of capi dei stratioti presented the community’s petition to the Council of Ten asking permission to buy property to build a Greek rite church, but it was Paleologo who almost single-handedly pursued the matter for the next iteen years with regular visits to oicials to urge them to hand down a favourable resolution. Indeed, he was one of the community’s key players in its formative years. His fellow Greeks admired and respected him. More than anything else, it was his access to important oicials and the esteem the doge and his councillors had for him that helped the Greeks achieve the goal of having their own church. he Paleologo, then, were one of the few Byzantine notable families highly regarded by local Greeks, stratioti, other capi, and Venetians. Paleologo men and women enrolled in the Greek scuola, and donated to and supported Greek and non-Greek charities and hospitals. Teodoro Paleologo laid the groundwork on which the family’s reputation rested and his daughters, nieces and granddaughters, sons, nephews and grandsons remained faithful to the principles he set down: service to the community and loyalty to the state, familial afection and unity, the importance of kin, and strengthening the family through the acquisition good friends and in-laws. hrough marriage the Paleologo created strong ties to the archon families of the Morea and Constantinople and some of the most important families of the Venetian patriciate. hree of Teodoro’s daughters and several granddaughters married men from the Corner, Balbi and Bembo, Celsi, Trevisan and Minio families. His niece Elisabeta married the capo dei stratioti, Demetri Megaduca Lascari, son of the Protostrator Isaac Paraspondylos. Indeed, the Paleologo of Venice were a rare breed. hey never asked for special privileges that set them apart from other Greeks. Teodoro was oten called upon to settle disputes between feuding capi dei stratioti (a common problem), or towns and the stratioti who were supposed to be protecting them. In 1524 residents from Cattaro sent a letter to the Venetian authorities to complain about how unhappy and dissatisied they were with Zuanne Paleologo (Teodoro’s nephew), who was in charge of twenty-ive stratioti. hey accused Zuanne of spending a good part of the year in Cephalonia where he had property and other interests. his did not sit well with the good burghers of Cattaro since unsupervised stratioti were always causing trouble. In their letter they asked for Teodoro Paleologo, “a loved and much desired man”, to take charge Surviving exile: Byzantine families and the Serenissima 1453–1600 123 and restore order. he Senate agreed and issued its decision on 2 September 1524. Immediately, Teodaro Paleologo and his youngest boy, Demetri went to Cattaro to replace Zuanne.36 But nothing better relects the afection Paleologo generated among his family, friends, his city, and the state he loyally served for ity-three years than his funeral, held on 3 September 1532. Sanuto noted the presence of dignitaries from government and the Latin church, the parish priests from San Giovanni in Bragora where the Paleologo lived, the capitolo, other religious igures from St. Mark’s, and a guard of honour of mariners which carried the coin to a temporary structure on the site where the new Greek church was being built. He noted the way people (even Paleologo’s corpse) were dressed, the Greek rite funeral, and the Greek manner of mourning.37 Paleologo epitomised the successful immigrant who, forced to leave his homeland, ensured that his children and his children’s children would always have a patria. Maria Paleologina Prothimo represented the second Paleologo branch. She settled in the city sometime before 1529, the year she appeared on the scuola’s membership list. With her was her closest relation, a niece named Moysa Gudellina Sguromalli. his was her sister Euphrosyne’s daughter. Both women were related to Teodoro Paleologo. Moysa’s father, Alexios Gudelli, and Paleologo’s mother-in-law, Simone Gudellina, were siblings; Maria was an in-law on one side and cousin on another. Niece and aunt came from good Constantinopolitan and Moreote roots. Moysa had married Matthio Sguromalli whose ancestor was one of the archons who paid homage to Mehmed II in 1454. Like heodora Ralli before her, Moysa was a young widow; in 1528 when she made her irst will she identiied herself as Matthio’s widow.38 Besides other Paleologo, Maria was related to the Spandounes. Her three brothers were capi dei stratioti and a 1529 Senate document recounted the grizzly deaths of two of them. he irst, Manoli, died at the hands of his (in)famous irst cousin, the renegade Mesih Pasha, who had Manoli layed alive and then sent his skin to Constantinople. he other brother, Costantino, was captured at Lepanto in 1499 and taken prisoner to Constantinople where he was sawed in half alive “only because his surname was Paleologo”. heodore Spandounes identiied Mesih Pasha as “a brother of my father’s mother”. Spandounes’ grandmother was therefore a Paleologo, a daughter of homaso Paleologo Gides, irst cousin to homaso Paleologo, Maria’s father. 39 Her Prothimo in-laws were equally notable. hey had 36 Sathas, Documents Inédits, VII, 133. he letter described Teodaro Paleologo as a much loved and needed person “… persona amata et molto desiderata …”. 37 Sanuto, Diarii LVI, 877–878. 38 ASV, Notarile Testamenti, b. 208, Giovanni Battista Cigrini, 171, 29 November 1528. Maria Paleologo Prothimo and Moysa’s mother, Euphrosyne were the daughters of homaso Paleologo da Costantinopoli. 39 ASV, Senato da Mar, reg. 21, 138r-v, 11 May 1529. “… Ihabino facto benemerito, et degno di la gratia di vostra Illustrissima Signoria et maxime de Domini Constantin, Manoli, et Zorzi Paleologo fratelli … Domino Manoli, che fu mandato per il q. Clarissimo Domino Antonio Loredan, che alhora era Capitanio General alla Morea, per cose importantissime del stato vostro, dove pervenuto ale mano de Mesich Bassa 124 Ersie Burke been one of the leading families on the island of Negroponte (Euboea), where they served successive Venetian administrations. Maria said nothing about other members of the Prothimo living in Venice, nor is there evidence she had contact with her Paleologo and Spandounes relations. here is little chance, however that the three families did not know of each other. he notable community was too small. hat said, it was one thing to be aware of the existence of extended family and quite another to include them among one’s inner circle. Maria created a diverse social network that neatly illustrated how archon women, oten widowed or on their own for most of the year, coped in their new surroundings. he Paleologo and Ralli were already large families, expanding further with the incorporation of Constantinopolitan, Moreote, and Venetian kin. As Maria did not have children, other members of her birth family, or in-laws in Venice, she had to cast a wide social net. Her friends included Moysa’s in-laws, old friends and acquaintances from the Morea, new friends acquired in Venice and their friends and servants. Moysa’s niece Anzola, and Anzola’s husband and daughter became a part of the extended family. Marietta, Tomaso Sguromalli’s daughter (Sguromalli was Moysa’s brother in-law), was Maria’s goddaughter, hence part of the family as well. One of her trusted advisors was the Negropontian notable Demetri Eugenico, and Maria was obviously very fond of his daughter Anzelina to whom she gave gits and a small amount of money. Her closest female friends were Pretiosa Dondi, a Coriot noblewoman, and our very own heodora Ralli. Both women, their children, and their servants were part of the larger friendship group that Maria cultivated. She was particularly close to Moysa, Pretiosa, and heodora, and named all three executors in all her wills. Her closest patrician friends were Giacomo Boldu and Giacomo Salamon, Pretiosa Dondi’s husband. She appointed Eugenico and Boldu trustees of her estate. Maria was very well-of, with a substantial income from a number of proitable state awards and investments. She had a pension from the state, probably in recognition for her husband’s service. here was an investment, another state git, this time from the treasury of Corfu, and the salt licence she inherited from Prothimo. Both Maria’s and Moysa’s households employed a number of servants. Unlike heodora Ralli, neither woman had the burden of raising young children and grandchildren and marrying of daughters. Moysa held a state pension and a concession. She also made continuous attempts in the early 1540s to recover money her family had deposited in the Banco di San Giorgio in Genoa before che era suo zerman, il fece scortegare vivo, et impita la pelli de paglia a mando all Porta. Domino Constantin, essendo sta preso ̀ Lepanto, dove de mandato de la Illustrissima Signoria Vostra lera capo de strathioti, et conducto ̀ Constantinopoli, fu segato per mezo vivo, solim per el cognome di Paleologi …” he rest of the text relates the story of the recent deaths of the third brother, Zorzi and his son Rali Paleologo and the state’s provisions for the families of the deceased men. On the relationship between the Spandounes and Mesih Pasha see Spandounes, On the Origin of the Ottoman Emperors 46. I want to thank hierry Ganchou for information about the relationship between the various branches of Paleologo. Surviving exile: Byzantine families and the Serenissima 1453–1600 125 1453, but it is not known if these were successful.40 Besides Moysa and her women friends, Maria rewarded the female servants who cared for her with clothing, small amounts of money, household goods, and, in the case of her servant Catterina, the bed she slept in, the bedclothes, and three ducats. She gave generously to her confessor, Fr. Tresento, the chaplain at San Giorgio dei Greci, and to his daughter and wife. In return Tresento was obliged to say prayers for her soul.41 In short, Maria presided over a social circle that encompassed servants, acquaintances, friends, family and neighbours. Her generation of notable women enjoyed friendships with people from their own background and class, and those beyond it. In this respect, they were very diferent from Anna Notara and Eudoxia Cantacuzene. One of the lasting impressions of Byzantine notable women was how alone they were in Venice. heir men would have felt the physical and emotional upheaval of immigration too, but the world of commerce and the military was an open door for them. Matthew Spandounes, Demetri Ralli, Teodoro and Zorzi Paleologo and their sons, were capi dei stratioti and even when they let the profession as Matthew Spandounes and Teodoro Paleologo did, they moved to other paid work. Women did not have such options. hey were more dependent on their dowries, inheritance, state pensions and gits to feed and house themselves and their children. heir world was the home and the neighbourhood, friends, family and servants. Whether they were single, married, or widowed, they shared the burden of permanent exile like their men, but in a more conined space. Perhaps this was what drove them to expand their friendship and kin networks to include outsiders, in many cases people with whom they would not have associated as closely in the past. heodora Ralli had young children and grandchildren to care and provide for and marriages to arrange, but then so did most women. he diference for Ralli and others like her was the absence of a large, extended family to which they could turn for advice and support. he world that they, their mothers, and their grandmothers had known, with its extensive network of clients, friends, and family, had disappeared forever. Moysa Gudelli was ill in 1528 with something resembling typhoid fever (pettèchie), which she said almost drove her out of her mind. She felt vulnerable and alone, despite the attention and care she received from Anzola. She recovered and lived another twenty-six years. In 1546 she made a new will however, because with the death of her aunt (Maria Paleologo Prothimo died in April 1539), the number of close relations had shrunk considerably. She let everything to Anzola, the natural daughter of her late brother Emmanuel. Anzola was, she 40 ASV, Notarile Atti, b. 10640, Agostino Pellestrina, f. 15, 21 April 1545. 41 Maria made three wills with three diferent notaries in the last years before her death. ASV, Notarile Testamenti, Francesco Bianco, b. 126, no. 595, 25 November 1537; Agostino Pellestrina, b. 768, no. 302, 26 March 1538; Nicolo Licino, b. 578, no. 290, 28 August 1538. She let money and clothing to her own and her friends’ servants. 126 Ersie Burke said, “like my own daughter”.42 We have no idea how Maria, heodora, Moysa and other women felt about the experience of immigration, the loss of a way of life, or the diiculties of their new circumstances. hese women and their men were the last of a unique group that experienced upheaval and dislocation throughout the latter part of the iteenth century. heir world fell apart irst in 1453, then in 1460, and again until the Ottomans took control over all the Morea. Immigration to Venice ofered them the opportunity to come together again, to ind work and secure an income, to reunite with family and friends, expand their social circle, and make new acquaintances. hat is not to say they became more democratic. Necessity forced them to adapt to very diferent times. Reaching out to Venice’s patricians was their way of maintaining some social cohesion, though they probably looked down on these elites the way they looked down on anyone who was not like them. Despite this, they survived and rebuilt their world not by preserving it (it was long dead, anyway), but by expanding their horizons and incorporating new people and customs into their lives. Instead of having private masses, they attended the Greek church, they enrolled in the Scuola di San Niccolò, and in Venetian scuole, and they gave to charities. In short they became part of the social fabric, not apart from it. Beyond Immigration: Venetian Greeks A handful of irst and second generation families survived and integrated into the Greco-Venetian landscape. As we saw earlier, the Spandounes family continued through Matthew and Eudoxia’s daughters, but the world they now inhabited was strictly a patrician one. Moysa Gudelli’s line continued for a while through Anzola’s daughter Frosina and then disappeared ater her death. he reasons why some families survived and prospered while others disappeared are many and complex. One explanation is the nature of the Byzantine diaspora ater 1453. Notable families did not immigrate to one place; instead they spread themselves throughout the Morea, and then to various islands (Crete and Corfu were popular), Italy proper, and even further aield. hey no longer had one place to gather in large numbers, like Constantinople or the Morea. he fall of the City and the Morea meant the loss of their political and military power as well as their sources of wealth, the very qualities that deined the class. he men continued to command troops, but that was the extent of their authority; they no longer wielded political power and only held lower level positions in the administrations of the states in which they settled. Military commanders and soldiers went where there was work, but as the sixteenth century progressed, the Venetian sea empire became smaller and smaller. Ater the fall of Crete (1669), all that remained of Venice’s maritime territories were the Ionian Islands 42 “… [Anzola] laqual ho in luogo de propria iola.” ASV, Notarile Testamenti, b. 1204, Alberto Marconi, 241, 10 June 1546. Surviving exile: Byzantine families and the Serenissima 1453–1600 127 and a few cities along the Dalmatian coast. he mainland empire, the towns and cities stretching from Mestre to the borders of Milan, had stabilized and required fewer troops for protection. A handful of possessions could not support a large military force in terms of numbers, land, and money. Ater the fall of Crete the stratioti became not much more than a police force in the remaining cities and islands of the Venetian dominion. With the fall of the Republic in 1797 the profession ceased to exist. It is not surprising, then, that from early days stratioti, both oicers and men, went to work in France, England, Spain, and the kingdom of Naples, emerging nation-states that had the resources to hire these sought-ater warriors. Out-marriage also contributed to changes in family structure and outlook and the weakening of customs and traditions. For example, not a single one of the sons of Emilia Paleologo Balbi, Chiara Ralli Falier, Regina Spandounes Trevisan, or all the other Byzantine women married to patricians, went into military service with the light horse, as their maternal grandfathers, uncles, and cousins had done. Even the cachet of “da Costantinopoli” at the end of someone’s name lost its special status. By the early sixteenth century it no longer belonged to the people from the eastern Roman Empire. It now deined the ones who came from the Ottoman capital to trade in Venice before returning home. hey were wealthy merchants and investors like Alessandro Ram, Demetri Marmareto, Demetri Eparco, churchmen sent by the Patriarch of Constantinople to oversee the afairs of the Greek church, or new immigrants like Zuanetto, a rag and bone man (strazaruolo). hey came to Venice to do business, to represent the sultan’s interests, to spy for him, or all of the above. Of greater interest are the families that survived and thrived. hey came from those clans that immigrated in multiple branches, not as individual families. Large numbers were not the only reason these families prospered, though. From the mid-sixteenth century, the men gradually let their military careers and found safer employment in administration (usually in the territories), diplomacy, commerce, the church, and scholarship. he families welcomed Venetians and non-archon Greeks into their ranks, people like wealthy merchants, professionals and high government oicials. By the second half of the sixteenth century there were marriages between the grandchildren of Byzantine notables and Greeks and Venetians whose lineage was not old or distinguished, but who nevertheless possessed immense wealth. he Ralli, Paleologo and Lascari-Megaduca did this, as did the branches of a family that did not live in Venice permanently, but nevertheless were frequent long-term visitors. hey were the Eudemonogianni and they lourished inancially and numerically for two reasons. heir patria, Cerigo (Kythera), remained part of the Venetian sea empire until 1797, and thus beneited from investments and government aid. Teodoro Paleologo’s sons, daughters, nieces, nephews and grandchildren also continued to be a presence in Venice in the second half of the sixteenth century and well into the seventeenth. So were the Ralli. heodora Ralli’s granddaughter, Chiareta married 128 Ersie Burke the capo dei stratioti Vettor Bosichio, whose family were originally Albanian, but with a long and distinguished history as commanders of the light horse; he was a truly worthy partner for a Ralli, even though the Bosichio could not claim archon origins.43 Elena Ralli was the daughter of the capo dei stratioti Federico Ralli. She was a Paleologo on her mother’s side; her grandfather, Niccolò Paleologo was a capo dei stratioti too and her grandmother was called Bocalina, a name that relected another Byzantine archon family, the Bochali. Elena received a portion of Bocalina Paleologo’s dowry and inherited from her paternal grandmother, Marietta Ralli, as well. As a result she had considerable holdings in Corfu, including vineyards and the rights to two churches. She also received the income from her father’s commission following his death in 1563. his was eventually passed on to her eldest daughter, Aurelia (known as Rallena), following Elena’s death on 22 April 1574. Elena was married twice, and each of her husbands was a member of the patrician class.44 One of the consequences of the fall of Cyprus in 1570 was the return or emigration of many Venetians, Cypriots and Greeks to Venice. Among them were locals who worked for the Venetians or had mercantile and other links to them, and Venetian and Greek families who had lived on the island for generations. he immigrants, or more properly refugees, came in small groups over several years. he Ottomans enslaved thousands and purchasing one’s freedom was a drawnout business. Eventually those lucky enough to be freed were reunited with their families in Venice. Among these was a family of Byzantine archon origins, the Paraspondylos-Lascari-Megaduca.45 he family’s association with Venice went back to iteenth-century Morea and the archon Isaac Paraspondylos, protostrator of the Morea. Isaac led his stratioti in the defence of Venetian interests from at least the 1460s. In 1478 he was sent to northern Italy to ight in the Ferrara war and died there in 1479. His oldest son, Niccolò died in March 1492, and aterwards Niccolò’s brothers, Demetri and heodoro shared the burden of looking ater their family. Demetri Megaduca became governor of the stratioti and turcopoli (locally raised 43 Vettor Bosichio died ighting the Ottomans near Napoli di Romania in the summer of 1538, leaving Chiareta a very young and childless widow. he Senate awarded her Bosichio’s salary in recognition of his bravery. Sathas, Documents Inédits, VIII, 310–311. 44 he concession is in Sathas, Documents Inédits, IX, 106. he date of Elena’s death was recorded on the last page of her will, ASV, Notarile Testamenti, b. 1257, Cesare Ziliol, no. 296, 17 March 1572. Elena’s irst husband was Stephano da Canal, the father of both her daughters. Her second husband was Zacharia Contarini. Aurelia-Rallena da Canal married Alvise Boldù and Canala da Canal’s husband was Giovanni Bolani. Aurelia-Rallena wrote two wills within days of each other. hese contain detailed information about the family’s holdings on Corfu: ASV, Notarile Testamenti, b. 395, Marcantonio Figolin, no. 771, 25 July 1580 and b. 344, Niccolò Doglioni, no. 557, 29 July 1580. he main beneiciary of Rallena’s estate was her only child Federico. Canala and her children were let some money and small gits. 45 he family used the surnames Paraspondylos, Lascari and Megaduca. he irst of these was dropped with the death of Isaac, at least in Venetian sources. Isaac’s sons used the Megaduca surname more oten than the Lascari one, although Demetri Megaduca’s wife, Elisabeta di Zorzi Paleologo always referred to their son, Alessandro, by his Lascari surname. One of Alessandro’s sons, Eugenio used both Megaduca and Lascari surnames either separately or together. Surviving exile: Byzantine families and the Serenissima 1453–1600 129 milita) in Cyprus in August 1525 and died there in 1533. Two years later his widow, Elisabeta Paleologo moved to the island when the couple’s son, Alessandro took up his father’s commission. Alessandro never returned to Venice. He was killed in the Cyprus war, but his children survived and eventually returned to Venice. In a series of documents spanning a decade, Eugenio Megaduca di Alessandro recounted the family’s history and its long association with Venice, beginning with his great-grandfather Isaac.46 here were branches of the Paleologo on Cyprus as well. Like the Megaduca Lascari, they too sufered when the Ottomans took the island. As soon as they were able to, these families also returned to Venice, the men to take up commissions on the Ionians or Crete and the women to set up new homes again. Ater the fall of his patria in 1540, Zuanne Paleologo, capo dei stratioti was given a new commission on Cyprus where he eventually became governor of the stratioti at Saline. Before he let Venice to assume his new command he was knighted and awarded property as compensation for what the family lost when Napoli di Romania fell to the Ottomans. Paleologo, his wife, and young son Manoli arrived in Cyprus sometime ater July 1545. Another three children, two boys and a girl, were born on the island. Father and sons fought against the Ottomans during the siege of Nicosia; Zuanne, Manoli, and one other son (name unknown) were killed in September 1570, while the third son, Demetri, was enslaved and eventually freed. Paleologo’s daughter, Speranza, was a widow in 1570; her husband Andrea Rondachi of Napoli di Romania had died in 1556 leaving her with three young children, Piero and Teodoro and a daughter (no name). According to Demetri’s account of those dark days, the women of the household were raped, and the family lost their father, two sons and everything they owned. Speranza said nothing about the rapes in her account, but she did say that she and her daughter were enslaved and eventually ransomed by “a kind Christian named Antonio Armeso of Malvassia”. At the time of her petition (1574), both her sons, Piero and heodoro, were slaves in Constantinople and Speranza was hoping to ind out where they were held and free them. Demetri gave a detailed account of his own eight-year enslavement in a petition he submitted on 27 January 1584 when he requested a new posting. Speranza’s petition recounted 46 It was common for petitioners to recall family history, especially when it included state service. Eugenio Megaduca submitted four petitions between 1589 and 1599. He described his father’s deeds and those of his uncles, grandfather and great-grandfather. He pointed to the family’s inclusion in Paolo Giovio’s histories. His petitions contained requests for property, tax relief and the conirmation of property rights on Zante. Eugenio inherited these last rights from his grandmother, Elisabeta Paleologo who had spent most of her youth on Zante when her father and uncle were governors of the stratioti there. he petitions are in ASV, Collegio, risposte di dentro, ilza 9, f. 7, 12 March 1589 and risposte di fuori, ilza 345, 8 November 1592; ilza 346, 26 May 1593 and f. 352, 13 July 1599. he ilze in fuori are unfoliated. 130 Ersie Burke recent events. Demetri’s did too, but his also included a history of this branch of the Paleologo going back some hundred and ity years.47 he many stories about archons and their descendants are based on two themes: the survival of the family and loyal service to the Venetian Republic. he families highlighted here did not cling to the past or try to recreate a pseudo-Byzantium. Instead they assessed the present, then set their priorities and looked to the future. hose formidable women like heodora Ralli, Speranza Paleologo and Maria Paleologo Prothimo had the task of rebuilding a family life, while their husbands, fathers, and sons risked their lives defending the state’s interests. Families like the Ralli and Paleologo were survivors, and their names continued to feature throughout the history of the Republic. hey became more involved in the community of Greeks. For example, very few archon men and women enrolled in the Scuola of San Niccolò dei Greci in the irst half of the sixteenth century but by the second half their numbers had more than doubled.48 Six families with multiple households were among the members. hey were the Ralli (twelve members), Paleologo (ten), Eudemonogianni (eight), Lascari-Megaduca (two), a man named Zorzi Notara from Crete, and a wealthy merchant, Manoli Cantacuzene.49 Not surprisingly, archon families integrated into Greco-Venetian society as all immigrants do. But they never forgot their past; even at the end of the century they easily recalled their ancestors’ exploits as the petitions of Speranza and Demetri Paleologo, Eugenio Lascari-Megaduca, and many, many others attest. Commoners too recounted their service to the Serenissima. It was a way of airming the strong bond between individuals, their families, and the state. On a more practical level it also increased the chances of securing one’s request. From 1453 on, archon families lived in a state of constant upheaval, disruption, movement and general displacement. hey were not alone of course, as many other people had similar experiences. At the same time, much of the chaos that followed the fall of Constantinople was of their own making. hat a healthy number of families survived can be attributed to a determination to rebuild their lives in a new and more peaceful environment.50 Once upon a time in the Morea the connections had been family, clan, territory, and emperor. Now they were family and the Republic. 47 Speranza inserted her story in her petition for inancial assistance for herself and her children: ASV, Collegio, risposte di dentro, ilza 5, 288, 21 October 1574. For Demetri’s account see Sathas, Documents Inédits, V, 211 – 213. he family’s history, based on Demetri’s and Speranza’s accounts can be accessed at http://surprisedbytime.blogspot.com.au/2012/02/more-palaiologues.html 48 hirty-four men and women from the old archon families joined the Greek scuola according to the third register of members (1563 – 1701); the second register recorded nine and the irst only two. 49 AAIEV, reg. 134. Manoli Cantacuzene served two terms as gastaldo of the scuola, from 1555 – 1557 and again 1558 – 1559. he Notara were Cretan nobility. Zorzi was a merchant and soldier and the manager of the estates of Arsenia Cavopenna, a Naupliot noblewoman. Cavopenna’s trust and afection for Notara was such that she gave him complete control over her afairs and demanded that her husband obey him and never interfere in any of Notara’s duties. 50 A look through the Venice telephone directory brings up several Ralli, Paleologo and Lascari. Surviving exile: Byzantine families and the Serenissima 1453–1600 131 How did these exile families ‘Want Byzantium’? Unfortunately, they let no private documents like letters and diaries to describe what they had lost and probably dearly missed. here is, however, enough indirect evidence to indicate that the memory of what had been remained with them, and that they passed this on to their children. On 22 January 1570 Demetri Paleologo, the son of the famous capo dei’ stratioti Teodoro, made his will. He began with the following: “Io Demetrio Palleollogo, da Constantinopoli, q. messer heodoro …”51 Over a hundred years had passed since the fall of Constantinople, a city and a way of life that Paleologo never knew. Yet the memory of where his family had come from was part of him. His attachment to the old empire was probably romantic rather than realistic, and in this he difered from genuine Byzantines. he irst arrivals such as the Spandounes and Anna Notara felt the loss of homeland strongly. Notara lived her entire life as a Byzantine noble lady. She missed the City and her family’s exalted place in it and held onto its traditions. She had such a strong sense of what Byzantium had been that she endeavoured to create a replica of it in the Maremma. She demanded and got special privileges that set her and the Spandounes apart from all other Venetian Greeks. She referred to a future Eastern rite church as “Romaic” not “Greek”, the term Venetian Greeks used. heodore Spandounes lobbied the Papacy and European rulers to organise a crusade against the new rulers of the City. he Europeans were sympathetic but in the end could not or would not agree to unite or put up the money for a crusade. But it was the others, women like heodora Ralli, who not only wanted to keep the memory of Byzantium, but succeeded in doing so through the continuation of their family lines. 51 ASV, Notarile Testamenti, b. 128, Francesco Bianco, f. 19v, 22 January 1570. Paleologo died the following year, on 6 August 1571. 132 Ersie Burke PRIMARY SOURCES Archivio di Stato di Venezia (ASV) • Collegio, risposte di dentro, ilza 9 • Collegio, risposte di fuori, ilze 345, 346, 353 • Documenti Turchi, busta 1/11 • Notarile Atti: buste 28, 10637, 10640 • Notarile Testamenti: buste 36, 126, 208, 344, 395, 578, 768, 1204, 1257 • Senato da Mar, registro 21, 36 Archivio Antico dell’ Istituto Ellenico di Venezia (AAIEV) • Registro 134 PRINTED SOURCES Sanuto, Diarii. Ed. F. Fulin et al. I Diarii di Marino Sanuto, 1496–1533. Venice 1879–1903. Sathas, Documents Inédits. Ed. C. Sathas, Documents Inédits Relatifs à L’Histoire de la Grèce au Moyen Âge. Paris 1880–1890. Spandounes, On the Origin of the Ottoman Emperors. Ed. and tr. D. Nicol, On the Origin of the Ottoman Emperors. Cambridge 1997. Sphrantzes, he Fall of the Byzantine Empire. Tr. M. Philippides, he Fall of the Byzantine Empire: A Chronicle by George Sphrantzes. 1401–1477. Amherst 1980. SECONDARY LITERATURE Burke, E. 2012. “Our Daughters and Our Future: Elite Greco-Venetian Marriages 1520–1610”, in Marriage in Premodern Europe: Italy and Beyond, ed. J. Murray. Toronto, 167–197. Chambers, D. & B. Pullan (eds) 1992. Venice: A Documentary History 1450–1630. Oxford. Chojnacki, S. 2000. Women and Men in Renaissance Venice: Twelve Essays on Patrician Society. Baltimore. Ganchou, T. 2002. “Le rachat des Notaras après la chute de Constantinople ou les relations ‘étrangères’ de l’élite byzantine au XV siècle”, in Migrations et Diasporas Méditerranéennes (X- XVI Siécles), ed. M. Balard & A. Ducellier. Paris, 149–229. Imhaus, B. 1997. Le Minoranze Orientali a Venezia 1300–1510. Rome. Matschke, K.P. 1995. “he Notaras family and its Italian connections”, DOP 49, 59–72. Mavroidi, F. 1976. Συμβολή στην Ιστορία της Ελληνικής Αδελφότητας Βενετίας στο ΙΣΤ’ Αιώνα. Athens. Mertzios, K. 1953. “Πέρι Παλαιολόγων και άλων Ευγενών Κωνσταντινουπολιτών”, Γέρας Αντωνίου Κεραμοπούλου. Athens, 355–72. Nicol, D. 1968. he Byzantine Family of Kantacouzenos (Cantauzenus) ca. 1100–1460: A Genealogical and Prosopographical Study. Washington, D.C. —1996. he Byzantine Lady: Ten Portraits 1250–1500. Cambridge. Pardos, A. 1979. “Αλφαβητικός Κατάλογος των Πρώτων Μελών της Εληνικής Αδελφότητας Βενετίας από το Κατάστιχο 129 (1498–1530). Αʹ Άντρες”, hesaurismata 16, 294–386. —1980. “Αλφαβητικός Κατάλογος των Πρώτων Μελών της Εληνικής Αδελφότητας Βενετίας από το Κατάστιχο 129 (1498–1530). Βʹ Γυναίκες”, hesaurismata 17, 149–205. Ronchey, S. 2004. “Un’ aristocratica bizantina in fuga: Anna Notaras Paleologina”, in Donne a Venezia, ed. S. Winter. Rome, 32–46. Wright, D. Surprised by Time, blog at http:// surprisedbytime.blogspot.com.au/2012/02/ more-palaiologues.html The following errata in the printed version of this chapter have been corrected in this offprint: p. 115, l. 25–27: “Theodore spent most of the time after his return from France in Venice, Constantinople and Rome. Venice was his base and his home.” has been changed to “Theodore spent most of his time after his return from France in Venice, Constantinople and Rome, but Venice was his base and his home.” 118, 23: First-line indent before “The Ralli were a large clan” 127, 10: New paragraph and first-line indent before “Out-marriage also ” 127, 31: New paragraph and first-line indent before “By the second half ” 130, 1: First-line indent before “How did these”