Carlo I Tokko

Carlo I was the eldest son of Count Cefalini and Zakynthos Leonardo I Tokko and the sisters of the ruler of Epirus Esau de 'Buondelmonti Maddaleny de' Buondelmonti. The mother of his father was Margarita Orsini, the sister of Despots of Epirus and Counts of Kefalonia, Nikolai Orsini and John II of Orsini . Thus, Carlo had reason to claim the throne of this Balkan state.

Earl of Kefalonia

After the death of his father in 1376, Carlo received the county of Kefalonia and Zakynthos . He had to share power with his brother Leonardo II, who received the island of Zakynthos as an apanage in 1399. As a son-in-law of the Athenian duke Nerio Achchayoli , Carlo claimed the cities of Corinth and Megara , and also owned a part of Elida from 1402 until 1427. Then the Byzantines defeated his fleet in the battle of Echinad .

In 1402, Carlo I began to organize raids on the southern territories of the Arts despotat . He managed to besiege the despot Angelokastron Sgouros Bois Spatu , and although Carlo's troops were repulsed by the despot Arta Murik Bois Spaty, Sgouros also died from his wounds. The new ruler of Angelokastron Paul Bua Shpat concluded peace with the Ottoman Turks ^[1] . The Ottoman detachment under the command of Yusuf Bey came out against Carlo, but was defeated by the forces of Carlo I Tokko and the Turks concluded a peace treaty with him. In 1408, Carlo captured Angelokastron ^[2] .

Ruler of Epirus

Carlo also controlled several epire fortresses. After the widow of his uncle Esau de Buondelmonti and her son were overthrown in February 1411, the inhabitants of Epirus offered Carlo the throne of Epirus. Carlo arrived in Yanina and began a new war with the Arts despotat . In order to resist Tokko, Murik Shpat concluded an alliance with the governor of Gjirokastra, Gene Zenedebi . Together, they managed to defeat Carlo Tokko in 1412 and besiege Yanina, but the Albanians failed to take the capital of the Epirus state.

At the beginning of 1413, Carlo Tokko was forced to turn to the Turks for support, organizing the marriage of one of his daughters with Musa Celebi , one of the Ottoman princes, fighting for the sultanate during the Ottoman Empire. Thus, in 1414, Jean Zenebishi was defeated by the Ottomans, lost his possessions and fled to the island of Corfu, which belonged to the Venetians. And in 1415, Murik Spar died in battle.

The new despot of Arta Yakup Bois Shpat attempted to seize the epirsky fortress of Voblian from Tokko, but was badly defeated by brother Carlo Leonard II of Tokko near Nikopol . After that, Leonardo tried to build on his success, trying to capture Rogoia from the despot, but he underestimated the strength of the Albanians and was defeated by them ^[1] .

In 1416, Carlo I laid siege to Artoo. Yakup Shpat managed to defend the capital of the despot. Tokko retreated back to Yanina, and soon after that he was able to lure Yakup into an ambush, in which the despot was captured and executed on October 1, 1416 ^[1] . After the death of Yakup, the magnates Arta seized control of the despotat and offered to transfer him to Carlo I Tokko if he retained their rights and privileges. Carlo accepted these conditions and entered Artu on October 4 ^[3] . Leonardo II by that time succeeded in capturing Rogoia ^[1] .

Clan Tokko managed to seize the main cities of Epirus, for the last time rallying the ancestral possessions of the Epirus kingdom ^[2] . In 1415, Charles received from the Byzantine Emperor Manuel II Palaeologus the title of despot , although he later fought with the Byzantine forces in the Morey despotate for Elida. At that time, the Morea despot began the rapid capture of the remnants of the Achaean principality in the Peloponnese. As a result, the hereditary lands of Carlo Tokko came under attack: Elida , Corinth and Megara . In 1426, Tokko declared war against the Despotata of the Sea.

In response, the Byzantines began a siege from the sea and land belonging to Tokko Glarentsy. Carlo, in turn, collected the ships from all his possessions, hired several ships in Marseilles and transferred command of the flotilla to his illegitimate son Turno. In the ensuing battle at the Ehinadian Islands in 1427, the Byzantines won a decisive victory: most of the ships of Tokko were destroyed or captured ^[1] . Thus, Carlo Tokko was forced to abandon his ambitions in the Peloponnese , as well as from Elida and hereditary rights to Corinth and Megara

Carlo was succeeded by his nephew Carlo II Tokko , the son of Leonardo II Tokko . The niece Carlo Kreusa ^[4] (previously it was believed that her sister Maddalena), in Orthodoxy - Theodore, became the first wife of Constantine Palaeologus Dragash, the despot of Morea, the future last emperor of Byzantium Constantine XI.

From the marriage with Francesca Achchayoli, Carlo had no children. But the sovereign left five illegitimate sons from the maids:

• Memnone of Acarnania;
• Ercole;
• Turno;
• Antonio;
• Orlando from Reniassa.

• Battle of Echinad (1427)

• Fine, John Van Antwerp (1994); id = Hh0Bu8C66TsC >  
• Kazhdan, Alexander , ed. (1991), Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium , Oxford University Press, ISBN 978-0-19-504652-6  
• Miller, William (1908), The Latins in the Levant, a History of Frankish Greece (1204–1566) , NY: EP Dutton and Company  
• Nicol, Donald MacGillivray (2010), The Despotate of Epiros 1267–1479: Cambridge University Press, ISBN 978-0-521130899 , < https://books.google.com/ books? id = XIj0FfKto9AC >  
• Soulis, George Christos (1984), Stephen Dušan (1331–1355) and His Successors , Dumbarton Oaks , ISBN 0-88402-137-8