Graitzas Palaiologos

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Konstantinos Graitzas Palaiologos (Gr. Κωνσταντίνος Γκραίτζας Παλαιολόγος) was the commander of the Byzantine garrison at Salmenikon near Patras during the Turkish invasion of the Morea in 1460. Descending from an obscure branch of the family, Graitzas showed far more valor than his distant relatives the Despots Thomas and Demetrios Palaiologos. Whereas the former fled to Modon, Corfu, and finally Rome and the latter surrendered outright to the Sultan, Graitzas maintained his position. He held his redoubt until July 1461, long after the surrender of his lords, at which point he was offered safe passage & a commission in the Venetian armed forces.

[edit] Sources

• The Immortal Emperor, by Prof. Donald M. Nicol.
• The Fall of Constantinople 1453, by Sir James Cochran Stevenson (Steven) Runciman.
• Byzantium: Decline and Fall & A Short History of Byzantium, by John J. Cooper, the 2nd Viscount Norwich.
• Prosopographisches Lexikon der Palaiologenzeit, IX no. 21497, ed. E. Trapp et als.