Francesco I Acciaioli

Francensco I Acciaioli

Francis or Francesco I Acciaioli was the son of Nerio II Acciaioli by his second wife Chiara Zorzi. He succeeded on his father's death in 1451 to the Duchy of Athens under his mother's regency.

His mother married the Venetian Bartolomeo Contarini (1453). However, Mehmet II, the Ottoman sultan, intervened at the insistence of the people on the behalf of the young duke Francis and summoned Bartolommeo and Chiara to his court at Adrianople. Another Acciaioli, Francesco II, was sent to Athens as a Turkish client duke. Evidently, the citizenry had mistrusted the two lovers influence over the young duke, for whose safety they may have feared. The young Francesco I remained at the court of the Ottoman sultan.

References

• Setton, Kenneth M. (general editor) A History of the Crusades: Volume III — The Fourteenth and Fifteenth Centuries. Harry W. Hazard, editor. University of Wisconsin Press: Madison, 1975.
• Setton, Kenneth M. Catalan Domination of Athens 1311–1380. Revised edition. Variorum: London, 1975.

Dukes of Athens De la Roche dynasty (1205–1308) Othon Guy I John I William I Guy II Brienne–Enghien dynasty (1308–1311/94)§ Walter I Joanna of Châtillon Walter II Isabella Sohier Walter III Louis Catalan Domination (1311–1388) Roger Deslaur Manfred William II‡ John II‡ Frederick I‡ Frederick II‡ Maria‡ Peter (IV) of Aragon‡ Acciaioli dynasty (1388–1395, 1402–1458)† Nerio I Antonio I Nerio II Antonio II Claire with Bartolomeo Contarini Francesco I Francesco II §from Walter I's death in 1311 titular, but recognized in Argos and Nauplia ‡Also Dukes of Neopatras † Venetian control in 1395–1402