| Prince Constantine | |
|---|---|
| Prince of Achaea King and Despot of Asia Minor | |
 | |
| Head of the House Zaccaria-Damalà | |
| Tenure | 2017 – present |
| Predecessor | Prince Stephanos |
| Born | 19 April 1992 Manhasset, NY |
| Spouse | Brianna Annecca |
| House | Zaccaria-Damalà |
| Father | Prince Stephanos Damalas |
| Mother | Yvonne Baralis |
| Religion | Christian |
Prince Constantine Zaccaria-Damalà is the senior dynast of the Zaccaria de Damalà—last princely family of the Principality of Achaea and royal family of Asia Minor—and heir to its patrimonial claims according to Salic Law; the observed dynastic succession method of the House during their various reigns.
Biography[edit]
Constantine was born in Manhasset, New York as the only child of Prince Stefanos of Zaccaria-Damalà and Yvonne Baralis.[1] In 2022 he married Brianna Annecca.
He is the senior agnatic descendant of Prince Centurione III (Giovanni Asano Zaccaria) of Achaea; last sovereign prince to have ruled territory in Morea as well as achieve international recognition. Constantine's tenure as head began in 2017, after assuming the full responsibilities of his family's estate.[2]
During a 2023 verification of his lineage by genealogist Michele Soulli and the genealogical committee of the Annuario della Nobiltà Italiana, it was learned that there was an error in 1925 regarding his family's succession. This was when the final member of the previously senior, and very active branch, Pavlos Damalà, died without living children. At that time, the next senior dynast, John Athanasiou Damalas (b. 1877), was not found; having relocated to Alaska. This caused the next member in the succession to become heir, though not in actuality as John Athanasiou was living and had progeny.[3]
Later when Constantine's grandfather, also Constantine, met members of his father's family in Chios in his twenties, the branch that erroneously became heirs to title and fortune did not disclose this error. As such, Constantine's branch was thought to be and was observed as the junior one. Thus prior to learning of this error, he was thought to be next in line to the aforementioned branch, which currently operates the Damalà foundation in Piraeus and Chios, headed by its last surviving member, Anastasia Damalà.
Constantine has since become the first in generations to play an active role in and acknowledge the various hereditary rights of his family publicly, through the review and publication of historical, genealogical and legal studies of his ancestral domains.
Patrimonial inheritance[edit]
Prince of Achaea[edit]
Constantine's principle inheritance is to the defunct Principality of Achaea, a crusader state that was established in medieval Greece after the Fourth Crusade, and for a time, was regarded as the most successful Latin state in the region. He is the fourteenth great-grandson of its last sovereign, Prince Centurione III, whom died in 1469.
The family's direct governance over the principality began with the first bailage of Centurione I in 1364. The Zaccarias held the Baronies of Veligosti-Damalà, Chalandritsa, Arcadia, Estamira and Lysarrea, and were one of the strongest noble families in the principality. This governance would persist with subsequent generations, until his grandson Centurione II supplanted his aunt, Princess Maria II Zaccaria, by successfully securing the full rights to principality from King Ladislaus of Naples as a sovereign polity, on the twentieth of April, 1404.[4]
Prince Centurione II ruled until late 1429, when he was besieged and forced into a surrender by the Despot Thomas Palaiologos. In this surrender, the prince was forced to bypass his eldest son and heir John, and marry his daughter Catherine Zaccaria to Thomas, thus illegally transferring the rights of the principality to him.
In 1453, John took up arms against Thomas and secured international recognition of himself as the legitimate prince by the dominant powers of the time. He was proclaimed under the regnal name of "Centurione III" at the castle of Aetos where he had his seat. This is how he is addressed on the history of Laonikos Chalkokondyles. This rule over territory in Morea would last just under two years however, with the Ottomans coming to the aid of Thomas by his request.
John would later continue to be recognized as the only legitimate titular Prince of Achaea until his death in 1469, in Rome. He was survived by his two sons, Antonio and Angelo, of which Constantine descends from through Antonio.
The styling of this title was appropriated by the Tocco family and their successors from 1642 to 1933. However, this line was ineligible to the original princely title as descendants through a female line, several times broken. The title that they held was a Neapolitan title of nobility, which was created for them in recognition of their ancestry, and in exchange for their patrimonial titles.[5] This line faded away anyway in 1933 with the death of Maria Maddalena Capece Galeota.
King and Despot of Asia Minor[edit]
A further inheritance of Constantine's is that of the royal title of King and Despot of Asia Minor. This title was granted to his direct ancestor King Martino Zaccaria, by the Latin Emperor of Constantinople, Philip I of Taranto and Catherine of Valois-Courtenay (great-granddaughter of Baldwin II, last Latin emperor rulling Constantinople) on the twenty-fourth of May, 1325.
Within the diploma, a passage reads as follows:
"...the said Lord Martinus the King, and his aforesaid heirs may freely possess, use, and enjoy all and each of the dignities, honors, and prerogatives that befit a Royal and Despotic dignity, as they drink in gold, a crown, and a scepter, and the red boots everywhere outside the Palace of Constantinople, but below the Palace itself the Boots of Despots, and other insignia of Regalia and Despotalia…"[6]
While Martino did control a sizable portion of the defined boundaries of this Kingdom, he did not control it in its entirety. Furthermore, with his death in 1345 as leader of the Smyrniote Crusades and the subsequent loss of relevant territories, his eldest living son and heir, Centurione I, did not attempt to reclaim the said territories. Instead he would set his sights on expanding his domains and powers in the Principality of Achaea, through his Barony of Damalà, and later the Barony of Chalandrista after he successfully acquired the full rights to it in 1359.
Sources[edit]
- Stornaiolo Silva, Ugo Stefano (1 May 2024). Achaean Disputes: Eight Centuries of Succession Conflicts for the Title of Prince of Achaea. Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=4821558 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4821558
- Annuario della Nobiltà Italiana (2023), Zaccaria-Damalà, Extract from the Database of the Yearbook of the Italian nobility, amended as of November 20, 2023, Part IV (translated from the original Italian Estratto dalla Banca dell' Annuario della Nobiltà Italiana, aggiorgato al 30 November 2023, Parte IV).
References[edit]
- ^ Stornaiolo Silva, Ugo Stefano (2024). Achaean Disputes: Eight Centuries of Succession Conflicts for the Title of Prince of Achaea. p. 69.
- ^ Stornaiolo Silva, Ugo Stefano (2024). Achaean Disputes: Eight Centuries of Succession Conflicts for the Title of Prince of Achaea. p. 79.
- ^ Stornaiolo Silva, Ugo Stefano (2024). Achaean Disputes: Eight Centuries of Succession Conflicts for the Title of Prince of Achaea. pp. 76–78.
- ^ Dourou-Iliopoulou, Maria (2019). Angevins and Aragonese in the Mediterranean. Athens: Herodotus. p. 167.
- ^ Stornaiolo Silva, Ugo Stefano (2024). Achaean Disputes: Eight Centuries of Succession Conflicts for the Title of Prince of Achaea (published 1 May 2024). p. 98.
- ^ Minieri - Riccio, Camillo (1883). Essay on the Diplomatic Code based on the ancient writings of the state archives of Naples. Naples. p. 75.
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