For the Byzantine exile in the Kingdom of Naples, see Thomas Asen Palaiologos.
Thomas Palaiologos
Thomas, detail from the Pintoricchio fresco of Pius II's arrival at Ancona, in the Siena Cathedral
Despot of the Morea
Reign
1428–1460 (claimed in exile until 12 May 1465)
Predecessor
Theodore II Palaiologos (alone)
Successor
Andreas Palaiologos (titular)
Co-rulers
Theodore II Palaiologos (1428–1443)
Constantine Palaiologos (1428–1449)
Demetrios Palaiologos (1449–1460)
Born
1409 Constantinople
Died
12 May 1465(1465-05-12) (aged 56) Rome
Burial
St. Peter's Basilica, Rome
Spouse
Catherine Zaccaria
Issue
Helena Palaiologina
Zoe Palaiologina
Andreas Palaiologos
Manuel Palaiologos
Dynasty
Palaiologos
Father
Manuel II Palaiologos
Mother
Helena Dragaš
Religion
Catholic/Orthodox
Signature
Thomas Palaiologos (Greek: Θωμᾶς Παλαιολόγος; 1409 – 12 May 1465) was Despot of the Morea from 1428 until the fall of the despotate in 1460, although he continued to claim the title until his death five years later. He was the younger brother of Constantine XI Palaiologos, the final Byzantine emperor. Thomas was appointed as Despot of the Morea by his oldest brother, Emperor John VIII Palaiologos, in 1428, joining his two brothers and other despots Theodore and Constantine, already governing the Morea. Though Theodore proved reluctant to cooperate with his brothers, Thomas and Constantine successfully worked to strengthen the despotate and expand its borders. In 1432, Thomas brought the remaining territories of the Latin Principality of Achaea, established during the Fourth Crusade more than two hundred years earlier, into Byzantine hands by marrying Catherine Zaccaria, heiress to the principality.
In 1449, Thomas supported the ascension of his brother Constantine, who then became Emperor Constantine XI, to the throne despite the machinations of his other brother, Demetrios, who himself desired the throne. After Constantine's rise to the throne, Demetrios was then assigned by Constantine to govern the Morea with Thomas but the two brothers found it difficult to cooperate, often quarreling with each other. In the aftermath of the Fall of Constantinople and end of the Byzantine Empire in 1453, Ottoman Sultan Mehmed II allowed Thomas and Demetrios to continue to rule as Ottoman vassals in the Morea. Thomas hoped to turn the small despotate into a rallying point of a campaign to restore the empire, hoping to gain support from the Papacy and Western Europe. Constant quarreling with Demetrios, who supported the Ottomans instead, eventually led Mehmed to invade and conquer the Morea in 1460.
Thomas and his family, including his wife Catherine and his three younger children Zoe, Andreas and Manuel, escaped into exile to the Venetian-held city of Methoni and then to Corfu, where Catherine and the children stayed. In the hopes of raising support for a crusade to restore his lands in the Morea, and possibly the Byzantine Empire itself, Thomas travelled to Rome, where he was received and provided for by Pope Pius II. His hopes of retaking the Morea never materialized and he died in Rome on 12 May 1465. After his death, his claims were inherited by his oldest son Andreas, who also attempted to rally support for a campaign to restore the fallen despotate and the Byzantine Empire.
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