Francesco II Achchayoli

He spent his childhood as a hostage at the court of the Ottoman ruler, sent there by a weak-willed uncle Nerio II. He dreamed of returning to Attica, and taking possession of the duchy that his father once ruled.

And his dream came true. Francesco received the throne from the hands of the Turkish Sultan after Mehmed II ousted regency Clara Zorzi and her husband Bartolomeo Contarini from power, and left little Francesco I at his court. Such a decision by Mehmed implied that Francesco II would rule at his direction.

The new duke was afraid of revenge from the powerless Clara and Bartolomeo, and therefore ordered his mercenaries to kill the duchess. Clara was killed in Megara, and Contarini turned to the Sultan with a complaint about the Duke, demanding justice. The conversion of the Bartolomeo Sultan regarded as an excuse to end the Duchy of Athens forever.

In 1456, the Sultan sent troops to Attica under the command of the commander Turakhanoglu Omer-Bey. In a short time, the entire Duchy of Athens was captured by the enemy. When the Turks entered Athens, the duke and his entourage took refuge in the Acropolis . The sultan's ambassadors tried, by soft persuasion, to convince Francesco to surrender the Acropolis, assuring that the sultan would leave Boeotius and Thebes in his possession. The siege of this stronghold lasted for two years, until June 1458 . Unable to resist, Francesco II was forced to surrender the Acropolis.

Omer Pasha established himself in the citadel, having expelled priests from the Parthenon . Sultan Mehmed II in August personally arrived in Athens. He graciously treated Francesco, granting him Thebes, whom he had to rule, as the Ottoman vassal. Mehmed equalized the rights of Catholic and Orthodox priests, and rendered mercy to many noble Greeks and exempted from taxes. Omer Pasha was appointed Governor of Athens.

In 1460, the sultan received the news through his Janissaries that Francesco Achchayoli was plotting and was about to regain power in Athens. Mehmed II called the former duke to Morea , where after the expulsion of the despot Thomas was ruled by the Ottoman governor Zaganos Pasha. Having hosted Francesco, the governor invited him to his tent and had fun and feasting with him until late at night. In the morning, Zaganos Pasha announced to Francesco that he had struck his last hour. In preparation for death, the ousted Duke of Athens appealed to the governor with the last request - he wanted to be killed in his camp tent. The Turkish governor fulfilled his desire.

Francesco II was married to Asenia, daughter of Demetrius Asen, ruler of Corinth. He had three sons - Gabriel, Matthew and Jacob. After the death of their father, they were taken to Constantinople, and by order of the Sultan entered the corps of the Janissaries . The duchess-widow was forced to become the wife of one Trebizondian Greek, Georgy Amiruti, who surrendered to Mehmed and converted to Islam. The duke's only daughter was sent to the Sultan's harem.

In 1460, the Parthenon was turned into a Muslim mosque. That was the end of the Duchy of Athens.

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